Dinobot Month Pt. 1

I’ve finished my final Transformers custom: Grimlock! That’s all my Transformers projects done, I’m glad my Dinobot shelf will have a custom on it. I feel like I’m on the home straight now, one project left…..

It is Dinobot month although sadly no G2 set yet. However, as as well as finishing the aforementioned custom, I did get the plush Swoop. The set is now complete. Cuddly goodness!

I got an upgrade for Sureshot. There were a few parts included but I just used the head. Much better. As much as I prefer the toy style head, I think the original head just had a bit too much blue for me.

I finally got hold of a Klassic Kitana. I think she actually looks really good. Johnny Cage is on his way, Smoke is a bit of a dead cert. Leaves Sonya, Kano, Jax, and Kung Lao as my must haves. I’d like the bosses but I’m not too bothered.

Leaks! Nothing too exciting (apart from maybe Guzzle), but a few things are quite promising - MW Starscream specifically hints at something far more exciting. I’m a bit surprised nothing on Omnibots. I’m potentially interested in Nautica, Drift, Fort Max, and Scoop, but generally get a bit more excited about new figures rather than updates. I mean they’re all updates really, but new in the sense they haven’t had a figure since actual G1!

Another round of Marvel Legends with nothing I’m interested in. Seems to be the way with everything at the moment. Maybe I need a new hobby……

So that’s it for the month, I’ve put in a cheeky Lego order which I won’t open until the first of December, and there might be some preorders popping up but otherwise it’s going to be a quiet month or so. I’ve made some moulds and casted some pieces. Gotta finish that final custom.

Distinct Heads

I sometimes re-read old posts of mine. Looking back I just wanted to get some of my thoughts out there, but I was trying too hard to be balanced. At a time, it was almost like I was just commenting on the news, and other times (before I used my phone!), I clearly couldn’t be bothered to take photos and upload them to my laptop. I find it interesting though as I can see the evaluation of my collecting mindset. 2010 me would be very happy with my collection as it is now. 2013 me would be grumpy that we still don’t have Throttlebots, and 2016 me would be grumpy we don’t have Thunderclash.

Looking back though I have finally achieved pretty much all my goals - all G1 animal based Transformers, complete ‘84-‘87 Classics, complete sets of Turtles, Thundercats, Ghostbusters, and Power Rangers. I worked out (and got) what I wanted from Marvel, Batman and Star Wars (turns out it wasn’t Star Wars Transformers). I used to predict the end of my collecting, several times it felt like I was almost there. I’ve cut out my eBay habit (apart from selling) and have greatly slowed my level of upgrading/replacing. I’ve almost completed all the custom projects I wanted to do, I made a major collecting change (no more G1) and have sold off a big chunk of figures, previously where there was WST, G1, MP, and Generations there is just Generations. I’m where I want to be. This blog is my collecting diary to record all my thoughts and hopes. And just in case it’s not clear, I’m still hoping for a Thunderclash.

That said, I need to appreciate what I have and three that I’m really grateful for are Titans Return Trypticon, Earthrise Scorponok and Haslab Deszaras. There was a time when they all seemed really unlikely, but Scorponok seemed like a very long wait once Fort Max was on the scene.

No Thunderclash, but Sureshot, Quickstrike and Blast Off turned up. It’s been funny with AOTP - I’ve bought most of the deluxes, a couple of voyagers, all of the Commanders and Titan. None of the leaders. Sureshot looks great apart from the head. I’m not a fan of the blue visor, but also just not a fan of the headsculpt. I’ll have to consider options. Quickstrike looks great although the original is still pretty great (is it a bit too big?). Blast Off also looks good and goes really well with Brawl and Vortex.

I wasn’t planning on getting the new Monstructor but then it went up for preorder and….. yep, I preordered it. I do like that headsculpt.

Have moved on to my final customs, started the penultimate one and thought actually, I need to get this done and working on them in tandem is more time efficient as if I’m waiting for something on one I can be working on the other. One is a Transformer and the other a Mortal Kombat character. Amazingly the ideas are only a few years old! As I started thinking about them I realised I needed a couple of bits (in one case a whole new figure). My plan after this is to call it a day on making rubber moulds and casting things in resin. All that stuff takes up a lot of real estate.

Decided to set up a Lost Light shelf. Wow, a lot of the Titans Return figures aren’t as good as I remember. Nightbeat wasn’t looking so good, looking a bit yellowed. A lot of the main figures - Rodimus, Megatron and Cyclonus I’ve never actually had on display before. I then had a thought, I’ve got almost everything I really want on display actually on display. Apart from the characters that turn up in Call of the Primatives. But if I put my Lego somewhere else I’d have room……

Anyway, I ordered another Cosmic Legions figure, I has two very distinct heads. I’m leaning towards the predator head as the better option. Looking forward to the upgrade set later in the year.

Stalking the Skies

Did a bit of a head swap on Medusa. Prefer the bodysuit look over the leotard, but the new headsculpt/hair sculpt is much much better.

Also did a bit of Transformers upgrading, popped a new noggin on Kup (again), no question it looks much better, and now he looks a little more alive. Also put some stickers on Sunstreaker. I think I’m finally happy with this figure now (having changed the head as well).

Winston arrived. I always thought he looked the coolest as a kid since he had the mint coloured jumpsuit. Thankfully no incorrect parts this time. The figures seem to be coming quickly now after a big old wait for Peter. The team is almost complete.

In a slightly unexpected arrival, the corrected Haslab RID Optimus Prime/Fire Convoy (cab only) arrived without notice. I finally transformed it into super mode. Okay, it’s pretty amazing. To my mind it’s beast wars (according to Takara and the Japanese Beast Wars mook). Works for me. A fine addition to my leaders collection, it also came with an Ultra Magnus. I like the Optimus super mode more than the Omega mode so that’s how it will stay. I think his gun looks like a hairdryer mind.

I’ve started to catch up on MCU TV stuff - watched Ironheart (enjoyed the science/magic dynamic) and Marvel Zombies (dark). All good fun. Am going to rewatch Black Panther 2 then watch the Eyes of Wakanda mini series. (Then Wonderman.)

Got a Star Wars VC figure for the first time in a few years - Shaak Ti - it’s been less than a year since I got the BS version.

News month! Or not. Preorders for Powerglide and Swerve. Good to get them lined up. Watched a Marvel Legends panel and….. nothing I’m interested in (or I already have those characters), which set the scene for Toy fair: McFarlane are doing a Johnny Cage (to be fair new moulds were also hinted at). Absolutely nothing else of interest. There was a briefly a chance of a Lego Marvel modular but it looks like it’s going to be a Helicarrier. Bruticus looks decent but in truth I’m hoping for a toy deco (Swindle is very yellow), and he’s going to need a third party gun. There was a Sunstorm name drop in the recap which was encouraging. I listened to a podcast about the Transformers news, and again just nothing for me. I better get used to this.

Still going with a bit of customising, though slow progress. Managed to slow myself further by realising I needed to buy some new paints. Anyway, got there eventually - Skystalker! To quote myself from March 2009 (after putting in an order for Universe Countdown): “It would be good have a Skystalker for him to face off against”. Finally managed it.

Finally, a couple of new (old) figures to finish the month, Brawl! It looks pretty great (and so it should for a deluxe masquerading as a voyager), but I do apparently need to sand a bit down. Looks good though. And also in a dirty shade of green, Abomination! I had a part swapped version of this figure before but the head and body match properly this time.

Inhuman New Year

2026 is going to be a good year for completing things. Inhumans, A:EMH (finale) Avengers, Ghostbusters, plush Dinobots, and hopefully Lego minfigs. Maybe a few other bits as well. I watched the latest leak video for Marvel Legends and there’s nothing new I want - still want Doc Samson and that’s it. Marvel Legends is now like Star Wars black series - just waiting for a couple more figures but otherwise I’m not really collecting it anymore.

The first step towards that is finally getting Gorgon to finish off the Inhumans (and Medusa, although I already had the Walgreens version). He is huge! Taller than the Hulk. I’d rather he was a bit smaller but he looks great. The Inhumans are complete!!!

My resolution for the year I think is more of the same - I did really well tracking my spending last year so will do the same again. Hopefully a few less unplanned bits though.

Starting the year off with….. an unplanned thing. Sky Byte! I’d heard good things about this one and it was at a price which is hard to say no to. But, I prefer the greater symmetry of the T30 version and then it dawned on me - T30 is closer to the Cyberverse version of the character, and so that’s the one I will keep. Should have listened to that little voice.

I started working on a new custom - started by using rubbing alcohol to remove some paint. Very tedious. This is actually the second iteration of my idea for this custom but found myself thinking about the first again, and so re-bought the original figure I got for it. Which then also needs paint removing and the old UV treatment. Custom has doubled in work required.

My first proper Transformer of the year is Windcharger. The blue/green is a bit cartoon-ish for me but it’s a nice figure, and the transformation is quite surprising - it all comes from the legs. Am sort of hoping they do a toy deco release in the carded retro line.

The best present I got for Christmas was the Lego Game Boy. I’ve not built anything quite like it before but a really impressive build. Looks the business!

Thinking about my future transformers wish list - I think I may just have passed a tipping point where (assuming Throttlebots and Grandus do actually happen), I’m more excited about the prospect of certain characters being redone in Generations rather than G1 characters that haven’t had an update yet. Thunderclash aside, the prospect of an updated God Ginrai, Metroplex, Broadside, Dai Atlas, Defensor and Predaking is where the excitement is.

Talking about excitement - Missing Link Grimlock! Looks great, immediately put in a preorder. Also preordered Abomination, hopefully it’s not too long until we hear about Doc Samson.

So not quite the cheap January I might have expected but a good start to the year.

Ghostly Christmas

Egon turned up! I heard of a few QA issues and I thought after opening that I’d gotten away with it, but realised the joint on the foot wasn’t sitting quite correctly. Sadly after closer examination (and looking at the soles of the feet), he has/had two right feet! Luckily Mondo have said they’ll fix the issue. The feet are fairly symmetrical so it’s not really a big problem anyway, but glad they’re going to sort it. Anyway, looks great - I’m into uncharted territory now as I only ever had Peter as a kid.

Also got a bit more Kombat. I really like the extra accessories for the ninjas to differentiate them, Scorpion is great, can’t quite decide which accessories to display Reptile with (Sub Zero, Scorpion and Reptile have the distinct honour of going on to the shelf rather than into a storage box). I guess Sub Zero is the most festive because of the ice?! Because of buying the two-packs I ended up with P2 versions, but some lightning accessories for Raiden at least. I like him a lot more than Liu Kang.

I did another Transformers thing, got this on eBay as thought it looked pretty good. Certainly makes Carnivac shine. I wonder if they’ll do anymore pretender beasts? (Presumably not as headmasters.)

I actually did two Transformers things - I made a Browning custom. I went with the toy deco, I generally prefer the toy deco and it saves painting half the figure bronze. Casting the head was a real struggle - three attempts and it’s still a bit iffy in places. Overall, pretty happy though.

The other head I cast was Mace Windu. This was a slightly strange idea but when looking back over my blog I spotted a photo of the vintage collection figure and thought it could work as the Hood! (Not many bald man options in the toy world.) I think it works better than it has any right to. The cast wasn’t brilliant and one side came out a little squished but all things considered, happy.

Whilst casting the heads I also did some thighs for Shao Kahn since the 90’s version is really quite muscly. I used the Storm Collectibles version as a reference - very helpful as there’s not any pictures of him from all angles otherwise. It’s funny, 10 odd years ago I thought it would just be a matter of painting the red a bit darker and making the mask metallic rather than bone. Turned out to be more complicated than Goro. Probably good I didn’t realise. Somewhat appropriately for a boss I feel like I used everything I’ve learnt in the last 15 years - using casts to improve a sculpt (like Groot), making spikes using styrene rods (like the Terrorcons), plus all the painting and sculpting. He’s done! I’ve finished the MKI/II lineup of characters in 3.75” scale. Whoop, it’s been quite the celebration of Kombatness recently.

Feel like I’m running out of energy a little bit on my customs, down to three now (gave up on one to make T30 Jetfire look more G1 toy accurate) - time for a break before switching to some Transformers ideas I have (I’m starting to feel more enthusiastic about them in comparison). There’s also been quite a lot of life admin stuff I’ve been putting off so better get on with that now.

I watched a video on ‘Black Friday Shopping’ and whilst I didn’t buy anything, it made me think, and so I’ve decided to cancel Missing Link Ultra Magnus. I can’t quite explain it, I love G1, the idea behind Missing Link is great, yet somehow, I’m just not feeling it. For me it’s about 20 years too late, it was starting to feel a bit more like an obligation and that’s not a great place to be. I’ll keep Sunstreaker, and will gladly buy Sideswipe, and any cassettes or Dinobots they offer up but I just can’t justify starting another sub-collection.

Speaking of which; I’ve got my plan for slowing down my collecting, which is come up with a list of 10 ‘exceptions’ then stop buying everything unless it’s on that list. The ten is quite easy at the moment: Metroplex, Broadside, Defensor, God Ginrai, Road Caesar, Omnibots, Throttlebots, Thunderclash, Skyquake and Grandus. The more tricky part is if in the next couple of years we get any of those then I need to pick replacements. The replacement list is: Lego Baxter Building, Lego Wayne Manor, 1996 Maximals, Diaclone repaints, G2 Sureshot, G2 Archforce, Thunderwing, Mayhems (Octopunch and Stranglehold), Headmaster Jnrs, Targetmasters, Powermasters, Flamebots, Triggerbots, and Transmetals (Depthcharge and Rampage). I’ve got a couple of years though! (And maybe could cheat a little by grouping a little.)

It’s the end of the year! Eek. It’s been a fairly average year for Transformers, finished a couple of subgroups but nothing that really stands out in Generations. Devastator and Superion were better than expected but not amazingly exciting. My favourite has been Missing Link Sunstreaker - can’t resist a Lamborghini, especially a yellow one. I think the year has been mainly about Marvel Legends though - it has given me just about everything I wanted (I might have said this before): Chameleon, Ms. Marvel and Shanna at the start of the year, and Triton and Werewolf by Night to finish (Gorgon sadly bumped to next year). Plus Yellowjacket and Shuma Gorath in the middle who is my favourite figure for the year - it’s a six armed green inter dimensional creature with a posable eye, what’s not to like?! As well as the aforementioned trio, I also got a new Iceman and Gladiator. I can’t see myself getting too many more Legends figures next year (not really anything on the leak list) but I’ll definitely enjoy what I’ve got now.

I’ve managed to stick to a proper budget this year - partially from selling, but also from almost entirely avoiding buying on eBay. I had a list of planned purchases which I really stuck to, the exceptions have primarily been Marvel Legends and McFarlane Mortal Kombat (which we only found out about this year). My aim is to carry on with this approach next year, though I haven’t got quite so much to sell.

Happy Christmas everyone!!!