Combine and be Festive

Combiner Wars has hit the UK at the same time as the rest of the World (possibly even before North America). Every now and again, it happens! I picked up Silverbolt and the three other Aerialbots (passed on Drag Strip). I'm saving Silverbolt for opening on Christmas Day, but have opened the other three. I haven't really played with them much yet, but they look good, just the right level of complexity and are a good size. Nice job Hasbro!

I'm not quite sure about Menasor yet, from the pictures released so far he doesn't look as good as Superion, but there's a strong indication of us getting Defensor, and so if we get Bruticus as well (and given how easy it would be for them to do so it would make sense), then I'm in. There have also been rumours of Devastator which I'm not quite sure about yet. The four scramble city combiners would be sweet though.

I haven't seen the Legends yet but am keen to pick up Powerglide and Bombshell. Potentially some tough decisions to make about Maketoys Powerglide and FansProject Insecticons, Superion and Bruticus. I have a one toy of each character rule, although with the Insecticons I could easily make an exception given their ability to clone themselves.

I am making some good progress with opening everything from the last pile of loot I shipped, I opened KFC Ratbat who I rather like. He has some incredibly small balljoints so some nice posability. The rule I work to with my Classics collection is to get the best version of each character, with the cassettes this is slightly muddled by the Masterpiece cassettes who are the same size as the G1 cassettes. I've got all of the MP cassettes apart from Ratbat, but they're part of my MP collection, so I have the Real Gear Laserbeak and custom Buzzsaw, Perfect Effect Rumble and Frenzy and Universe (Classics) Ravage. I have KFC Steeljaw and Ramhorn, so for Ratbat I had a choice of the KFC or KO MP versions (because I really can't justify spending over £100 on actual MP Soundblaster). I've also got KFC Overkill and Slugfest in my current POL, so opted for KFC Ratbat to go with. I might give him a bit of silver paint on his 'ears' but I'm happy with my decision.

I've also opened Botcon Metalhawk, I'm a fan of the Thunderwing mold, so am happy to have him. I think the face sculpt is okay, straight on it's not so good, but in profile it looks good. Play with this Too have hinted that they may also do Metalhawk, so again, could be a tough decision. They also revealed Waverider and Cloudburst, so it would also be pretty cool if they did a Grand Maximus and Gilmer to complete the Masterforce lineup. I'm getting pretty excited for their figures! I also opened Hoist who I had as a kid, so good to add him to my Classics display.

Masterpiece Bumblebee and Wheeljack have also arrived, as with pretty much every other MP I have they're still sealed in box. I will open them up at some point, I'm not quite sure what I'm waiting for. Maybe because so much is happening with Classics at the moment that I'm saving them for a dry spell. Speaking of which, I've decided that for the first 6 months of 2015 I'm only going to buy figures at retail. I will make an exception for FansProject and Loyal Subjects Dinobots though! So could well be a dry spell coming up pretty soon given that Wave 1 of Combiner wars is already here.

That means that I'm going to hold off on MP 11 Skywarp, Legacy Tigerzord (and I'm still holding off on Maketoys Computron), plus a few other bits. Experience tells me that those things won't be impossible to find after that time, but I really need to pay off my overdraft!

I'll also be working on some custom stuff in that time, I'm building a Iron Man Armoury at the moment, it's going to hold 24 figures and will have lights. I've built a prototype version of the stand. Hopefully I will get a chance over Christmas to work on it. After that I'm going to try and do something similar for Punisher (with all his weapons). I'm conscious that a lot of my display looks rather white and sterile so am going to try and make it more interesting. Another thing I'm thinking about is doing something with my beast Pretender shells as I have the inner robots displayed with my Primatives, but the shells are stored away.

My predictions for next year (well 2016) are that we will see some animal mode Transformers: Beast Wars, I reckon Tarantulas with Blackarachnia repaint. Possibly some Dinobots and a Titan class Trypticon. If the Combiner Wars goes well maybe some Terrorcons. We can hope!

Happy Christmas everyone and good luck finding those Combiner Wars figures!

Call of the Primatives

Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Civil War, two part Avengers 3, Inhumans. Where to start...... Black Panther. In Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, he was one of the my favourite Avengers (along with Hawkeye) so I really hope they do him justice. I liked how they hinted at the film by showing Klaw in the Avengers Age of Ultron trailer. Captain Marvel: Carol Danvers. Okay, call her what you like, I don't read the comics, so she's still Ms. Marvel to me, but a sensible decision for Marvel. Civil War; between Movie Cap and Avengers: EMH, I've really grown to appreciate Captain America as a character, similarly in fact to Iron Man, so this will be very interesting to me. Two part Avengers 3, cool, I'll enjoy all the action I can get, and if it means doing Thanos well then I'm all for it. Inhumans is also extremely interesting; I like the characters from their appearances in various cartoons. Wouldn't say no to a Lockjaw figure either. I'll leave it to other people to speculate how they might use the characters.

I think it's fair to say that Marvel has got a little bit of attention with its recent Phase 3 announcement. They've certainly got mine, excited is not the word. It's incredible how they've put together this universe using different vehicles for different characters (films, TV, Netflix). They've cast some great actors that work well together. It's not a competition, there's no reason why we have to choose, but if there ever was a competition between Marvel and DC, I think it's finished before it's even started.

I opened Mastermind Razorclaw at the start of the month. As you might surmise from my avatar and username, I'm a fan of Razorclaw; I have a fledgling collection in fact (G1, Kreon and Botcon). Mastermind Creations' effort does not disappoint. I can not wait to get Divebomb and Rampage from BBTS. Okay, yes I could ship my pile of loot immediately, so yes, I suppose I am choosing to wait. Gawd, give it a break won't you! The head sculpt in both modes is spot on and the metallic red paint on the eyes works a treat (ala MP Grimlock); that is something I would like to see more of. He obviously has some compromises for being the centre of a combiner, but I'm really enjoying him. He's in lion mode now looking at me as I write this, ready to pounce. (Definitely not being lazy.)

I finally got round to buying a Lego AT-AT, having waited just shy of a year, I managed to get it with just over £30 off. I actually took a day off work, popped Top Gear Great Adventures volume 1 into the DVD player, made a cup of tea and built. It's a great build; the point where you put the legs on is guaranteed to evoke happy Empire Strikes Back memories (that film is linked to Christmas in my subconscious). I'm a little bit tempted to buy two more for some real Hoth goodness.

Obviously  it didn't take me the entire day to build it, I had also decided to extend the trailer on Kreo Prime. I bought a second Prime just to do this, the trailer is three panels according to the build, and looks stupidly short. I tried it with four, and that still wasn't quite right (plus with the pieces you have it's impossible to get a correctly fitting roof). With five I managed to get the roof to work and now Prime looks like the all American truck he's supposed to be.

This has actually been the first brick thing I've done since I was a child where I haven't been following instructions, making it up as I go (and having to make do with what I had). Several adventures and cups of tea later I managed to put together something reasonably solid.

Doing these two builds concurrently really brought home where Kreo falls short of Lego. Firstly the difference in detail is staggering considering they are compatible; Kreo are like shrunken Duplo in comparison to Lego. Secondly, when putting together the panels on Prime's trailer, I know it's not an official build, but it just doesn't want to hold together. Considering I just want to use it as a display stage it's not a problem, but it's just not at the same level of quality. (I'm sure this is a great revelation to many people.)

Since the reveal of the Play With This Too stuff last month, they've now also revealed a Landmine. With Bombburst and Skullgrin, that's three of the Masterforce Pretenders. I'm rather looking forward to them, they're going to have a Kickstarter which I might just have to get involved with.

In one of my very first posts I stated that one of my collecting goals was to get all of the G1 animal based Transformers, at some point a couple of years ago I actually achieved this (well technically I have every mold - I don't have Black Zarak, Sixknight or Greatshot).

This goal (and in fact my username) was motivated by the G1 episode 'Call of the Primatives', so here they are, the Primatives:

Terrorcons

Tis the year of the Dinobots and barely a Predacon did growl. Apart from Feral Rex, quite loudly in fact. Thanks to Transformers 4, Grimlock and the Dinobots have had more toys than ever before; there seems to be a strategic move on Hasbro's part to establish Grimlock as a top tier character, so he'll be in the new RID series and even in Angry Birds; technically birds are dinosaurs so I suppose that makes sense.

This all makes for bumper pickings for my Grimlock collection. I'm not sure about the Green Grimlock that's been shown at NYCC, but maybe it's a G2 homage, or even the previous RID. Actually, that would make quite a lot of sense. If I can buy it in store then I'll pick it up.

Loyal subjects have shown off the entirety of their Wave 3 and it contains Sludge. In addition to Swoop. This makes me very happy, and so I performed a happy dance on the spot upon spotting the character (Sludge) in the new photos. A complete set of dinobots is a rare thing indeed, particularly in the UK where later waves never see the light of day....

Speaking of NYCC, it's good to see pictures of the next wave of Marvel Infinite. I'm not sure about the use of Absorbing Man's legs for Doc Ock, but at least it's the classic version of the character, and similarly with Vulture. I'm surprised they waited so long to get a second use out of Falcon's wings. Shanna looks okay, I'm really hoping for some decent dinos from the Jurassic Park line next year to go with and hopefully Ka-Zar won't be far behind. A 3.75" scaled T-Rex would serve a dual purpose - going nicely with my Grimlock and Marvel collections.

There wasn't much new stuff revealed at TFCon Chicago, although I was rather intrigued by the stuff from 'Play with this too', 6" figures based on Pretender shells - the Skullgrin and Bombburst looked pretty good and the Grimlock could also grab my fancy. Skullgrin and Bombburst would both go in my Masterforce display, hopefully they'd do the other the one as well, y'know, the other one...... One google seach later: Submarauder, that's the fishy fella. I want one of him too.

I had the realisation/observation that the Dracula in the new Untold film is visually pretty close to the Marvel version, I also found out that they're planning a franchise much like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which if they did a 3.75" toy line could all work out rather sweetly for a Nick Fury's Howling Commandos display.

Thinking about the MCU, it just seems to go from strength to strength: Agent Carter and Daredevil TV series, Ant-Man and Doctor Strange films, possibility of Spider-Man being incorporated. Everything being linked together really appeals to me, just need to get those X-Men and Fantastic 4 back (although it seems that the X-Men films are getting back on track now).

I haven't bought much this month, or in fact opened much of the unopened stuff I've already got, one thing I did pick up though was the AOE Prime Evolutions 2 pack which made an appearance at TRU. I've been following the FansProject Classics Prime upgrade (hoping there will be an additional apex armour upgrade component), so well worth picking up an additional version of that figure whilst I had the chance. It's better than the original Classics version I've still got so even if the FP thing never happens (no mention from TFCon), it's no great loss.

One thing I did open was Marvel Infinite Death's Head; a slight remold of Colossus, he comes with a good selection of accessories which fit nicely on to his back (attached to the shield). In anticipation of getting this figure I bought a 3.75" scaled Tardis a while back (I didn't really need an excuse) and now am going to display him with my 1986 era Classics Transformers.

I also opened FansProject's Columpio  - Sludge; mine seems to have perfectly acceptable joints with nothing missing, not sure whether that was just luck. I think the figure is great; the dinosaur head in particular is very nicely sculpted, and the neck is posable. I think the tail is a bit short and it's not movable, but I guess this is so that it can be folded away into the robot mode legs as part of the transformation. I'm not sure which mode I'm going to display him in yet although for space reasons it might have to be robot. I'm looking forward to getting Slag soon.

I also opened Generations Swerve, nice little figure, I've also bought Gears, looks like we're getting Brawn from the same mold. I wonder about Outback?

I've been looking at Transformers and toy fan sites for a good few years now; I listen to podcasts -Seibertron and TFW's for instance. But I've never really looked at stuff on YouTube, however, a chance comment on a thread about a video review caused me to and go and watch it, and it's gone from there; there's a whole universe of fan made media which I've never really paid much attention to. There's one guy doing video reviews who spookily really reminds me of myself, he has a similar way of talking and obviously similar interests. One thing I came across was a review of the various Marvel films by ralphthemoviemaker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvJLOFhmogw), well worth a watch!

It's time to whiz back in time again, this time to 2011.......... I remember 2011 Toy Fair and SDCC very fondly; the Marvel Universe reveals were particularly good that year, and although we never got Fin Fang Foom, the Legends version is a more than acceptable stand in.

My custom Metroplex that I was working on has been well superseded by the Generations version so I decided to revert mine back to the classic G1 look; I gave him the 'upgrade' stickers from Reprolabels and so now display him with my WST. I can highly recommend the upgrade if you want something to display with your smaller figures.

In 2011, I promised pictures of my custom Terrorcons in several years, and whilst it's possible it may have ever so slightly have slipped my mind, here goes:

I bought a set of crappy KO Terrorcons a good few years ago, they were the ones where the colours were swapped around a bit. I originally gave them to a mate, but in 2011 he gave them back to me (sans Hun-Grrr), so I thought it might be cool to upgrade them with balljoints and some replacement limbs. I had the aim of making them actually a bit a terrifying. I used Energon Terrorcons for Rippersnapper and Sinnertwin, and then Cybertron Brimstone parts for Cutthroat and Blot.

I think Rippersnapper worked out the best but I'm pretty happy with them all. They all still transform, just with a bit more kibble!

2x1 Lego Tiles

At some point in the IDW comics Bumblebee became the leader of the Autobots, as part of this (or maybe because he died beforehand and got rebuilt, I can't really remember) he got a new body which was heavily based upon his movie appearance. The thing I don't like about the movie designs is that they all seem to have bits of car pointing in random directions (it's like 2007 all over again isn't?!). So this new Bumblebee has a movie inspired look which features bits of bonnet pointing diagonally upwards.

Bumblebee then got a new Generations figure based on this new design, I have a Classics collection 'rule' of one figure per character, so I shrugged my shoulders, looked over at my iGear VW legends Bumblebee, nodded approvingly and carried on with my day. Bumblebee then gets a redeco as Goldbug, again, I give iGear Bumblebee the nod and carry on with my day.

Nightbeat is one the few characters who alongside the likes of Bludgeon and Thunderwing, was a popular character due to the Marvel comic, despite not being in the cartoon. I can't remember whether I was aware of him when he was originally released, probably not, but somehow he feels important. He got his own Spotlight so he must be important, and what's more, he's a detective, with a trench coat. A bit like the Turtles Raphael and the Fantastic 4 member Thing. He is also clearly a master of disguise..........

Rumours started that Nightbeat was going to get a figure as a repaint of Generations Jazz, I think there might have been a listing as such. Nightbeat is a Porsche, Jazz is a Porsche; clearly Hasbro has done this repaint thing before. Jazz is an awesome figure with bits of car pointing in acceptable and certifiably G1 directions. But then........... official pictures arrived, and he's a repaint of Bumblebee with the shoulders at funny angles. But, give Bumblebee a different colour scheme and a really good head sculpt and suddenly, the shoulders can point in whatever damn direction they want. We have a winner, Mr Nightbeat, come on down! And feel free to give Bumblebee a kick on the way.

So I think I might get Nightbeat. What I might also get is the Million Publishing repaint of the Nightbeat remold, GoShooter. If I can afford him that is, but he also has me abandoning my long held beliefs on shoulder orientation. The other Million Publishing figure, Shouki (a repaint of Astrotrain) also has shoulders pointing slightly diagonally which I have never objected to. I like the figure, I like the Trainbots, but it seems a bit pointless having one Trainbot, especially when they never got any character development in the cartoon, unlike say, Leozack. One hundred-odd dollars seems a bit much for pointless. Still, pretty pictures of them both.

I like Reprolabels; several of my more tatty G1 figures have been tarted up nicely with a new set of labels. They might be slightly yellowed with missing accessories and loose joints, but at least their insignia is bright and true. I also like what Reprolabels do for Classics figures, adding in details that were on the original G1, but missing from the new version. Particularly with third party figures it can help give my figures a joint sense of identity. Also, it often makes them more shiny where chrome has been woefully neglected.

I am particularly interested in one of their new releases, a set of stickers to turn 2x1 flat lego tiles into the G1 cassettes. They have done a stunning job in making stickers of just about every cassette ever envisioned. I have to applaud Reprolabels for such a simple and ingenious idea. They are suggesting it as being part of Classics, but I think they will fit in nicely with Kreons; you could have Soundwave with a cassette in each hand for instance. I think I will just create the original twelve cassettes that appeared in the cartoon and display them with my Grimlock and Predacon Kreons.

Speaking of which, I built my Grimlock Unleashed Kreo set recently. They seem to have given up on the 2 in 1 build thing and just concentrated on the one mode. Similarly to the original larger Kreo sets, he utilises several ball joints which works pretty well. Hasbro aren't quite ready to challenge Lego with their builds just yet though. Still, I enjoyed it, and my Grimlock collection has increased in size, variety and interest. A robot dinosaur made from bricks is fun! Dinosaur + (Small) Robot + Sword = Win. I hope we get the remaining Dinobots as Kreons soon.

I picked up another Kreo Prime set, there's tonnes of the bloody things sitting in TRU and I feel I should do my bit to help shift them, but frankly, at the the price they're offering them at, they're not going to go quickly. I'm not sure they could even give them away really. I bought it primarily to make the trailer on the Prime I already have longer by an extra section. It's supposed to be an American truck; one thing I know about American trucks (and in fact any American vehicle) is they're supposed to be big, not stumpy (or munky). I'll donate the extra cab/robot section I have to charity which will be a test of whether you can actually give them away. If you're wondering why size is so important it's because I intend to use it as a platform to display my Lego minifigs.

Whilst at TRU I also got the Strafe then and now set, which is retailing at exactly the same price as the regular deluxes, so you effectively get a free minicon; if I didn't already have it I'd be rather happy. I'm not sure whether we're going to see Wave 2, let alone Wave 3, so this might be the only way to get him. I'm in it for the long haul though, and I reckon we might see them at discount stores if TRU don't do the business, and given how much stuff they've got lying around from the last couple of years, I don't think they will. Strafe is a nice enough figure; not sure why he's double headed, symmetry I suppose, but they could have just had the head split in two if that was so important. Some wrist swivels would have been good, but he has a nice colour scheme and I like displaying him in robot mode with his wings out for a rather dynamic look. Dinosaur + Robot + Swords = Win.

My big purchases this month were the Divebomb and Rampage figures to complete Feral Rex, sadly they will be sitting in my pile of loot for a little while yet, but the pictures I've seen of completed Rexes look solid and imposing to say the least. I've got Leo Dux in hand, but haven't opened him yet. I could put together an armless Rex I suppose. I love what Mastermind Creations have done with Sixshot and Predaking, and am really looking forward to their Overlord. Mastermind Creations' figures tend to be on the larger size, luckily they create figures of characters I like, and so am happy to have in a larger size, I wouldn't want a movie inspired Bumblebee with weird shoulders towering over everyone else for instance.

Looking over my posts from 2010 (as part of my ongoing celebration of five years of self-indulgent rambling), we have got pretty much every figure I wanted, yay. The other thing that stands out to me is my enthusiasm for larger figures: Galactus and Unicron for instance. They are just great centre pieces for a display, surrounded by smaller figures so they really stand out as something special.

Hot Topic

As time has passed since the Combiner Wars reveals at SDCC I've thinking over what I might do; Superion looks great, Menasor looks okay. I'm the sort of collector who wants either all Fansproject/Maketoys or all Hasbro stuff, at the moment we don't know what we're going to get - Defensor and Bruticus seem like dead certs, but beyond that it's tricky. I do quite like the idea of getting Hasbro versions of the four Scramble City combiners. Hasbro has shown a reluctance to do animal transformers so the likes of Predaking, Abominus and Piranacon seem less likely. Wait and see I guess!

GoShooter won the Million Publishing competition to be made, happy with that outcome. It's from the Nightbeat version of the Generations Bumblebee mold, not great apparently, but it'll be the only version I have.

This month I bought Loyal Subjects Grimlock (Hot Topic version), Slag and Snarl, very happy with them and even happier to see that Swoop will be in series 3. I find it funny that they seem to be a celebration of kibble compared to series 1. Hope we see Sludge eventually!

In third party news, Fansproject have released new pictures of Quickswitch, looks very promising, though I'll get the Sixknight repaint as my collection is anime based so I want the Masterforce version. There also seem to several new unofficial Dinobots being announced. Some have speculated that this could result in the 'bubble bursting'. I think the bubble will burst soon, but I don't think it's going to be as a result of too many Dinobots, I think it'll be because almost all of the main characters in Transformers now have a figure in some form. Quickswitch is actually an example of a not very popular character getting a figure, but of the 84-86 characters there really aren't many left, and I wonder, as companies make figures from other years, how well will they sell? As Dinobots go, the new pictures of Fansproject Slag are also looking really good.

The Afterburner GI Joe bike from the Collector's club is interesting, I think I might be tempted.....

Finally got round to opening some stuff that I've had sitting unopened for about six months, Mastermind Creations Sixshot, really good sized figure reminiscent of the original (bodes well for their Overlord) and Fansprojects Headmasters (Code line). I've had Chromedome opened for a while but never got round to transforming him, I also opened Weirdwolf and Brainstorm. Wow! What a great line, really fun transformations whilst doing a good job of updating the G1 designs with posability.

It will be good when they release the rest of the figures (including Apeface) and Perfect Effect release their Scorponok. It does occur to me though that pretty much my entire 1987 Classics shelf will be third party efforts.

My Power Rangers collection has gone full circle: I started off with the idea of getting Dragonzord and Tigerzord and displaying them with Micro Machines rangers. I then decided to sell Tigerzord and get the Megazord and Titanus as well as 4" versions of the rangers. I thought they looked a bit cheap and so decided to replace the rangers with Figuarts Green and White rangers, whilst getting rid of the Megazord and Titanus (who took up a little bit too much room). I've now decided to get the Legacy Dragonzord and Tigerzord who whilst looking pretty sharp also happen to combine. The circle is complete, and yes, Tommy was the best ranger.

My pile of loot has shipped from BBTS: MP Prime and Sidewipe, MMC Razorclaw, Fansproject Sludge and more. Oh yes!

I recently had a message from longtime Transformersandstuff reader 'Grimbots85' pointing out that it's now been five years since I started this blog, and asking how I was going to celebrate. Well Grimbots85, firstly I have to ask where your message was back in March when it was actually five years (I don't want to be pedantic but it's five and a half now.) Well in short, I thought I might read over my posts from 2009 and see how things have changed for me, so here goes..........

I was definitely much more about the G1, at one stage I had 26 more figures to get. I ended up getting all of the figures on that list (although Shockwave was a KO), but ended up selling Devastator, Menasor, the Targetmasters, Skyhopper and the Powermasters. I confidently predicted that my collecting would calm down once I no longer had figures already out that I wanted. Well, I still want a load of Beast Wars figures that have long been out so, so much for that theory.

Incidentally, as G1 goes, I was pretty much done by the middle of 2010 with the completion of Monstructor, though I did decide to pick up a bit more in late 2012 with Quickswitch, the Firecons and some animal based Pretenders. I am in a state of 'done' at the moment though if I had the money I'd love to get Black Zarak, Sixknight and Greatshot. I can at least say I own every single G1 mold with an animal altmode though so that's pretty awesome.

I think I'm now in the same situation with Classics as I was with G1, less than 20 to go!

It's interesting looking at my Grimlock and Ravage figures list, I got all of the ones in red, plus the TM2 and Alternators Jaguar Ravage. With the Movie, Grimlock has had loads more figures which I've picked up so the list has expanded greatly. I also added Razorclaw and Steeljaw to the characters collection.

I've owned KO Shockwave for five years now and he's gained authentic signs of ageing so my prediction may start happening now; I did seriously consider selling him but the fear that someone might sell him on as authentic worries me a little so I'll hang on to him. I don't think I'd get much for him now anyway.

It was interesting going over my thoughts about the Universe Superion and Bruticus again, my excitement at the time seems especially relevant given the upcoming Hasbro Combiner Wars.

In a post I wrote about Alternators and Masterpiece I wrote that they didn't appeal to me but if they had the Volkswagon and Lamborghini licenses I would get them. Well! They got the licenses and I got the figures (almost). I am limiting myself to the 1984 characters though as the point about having four versions of a character still holds.

As well as thinking about what figures I've acquired since 2009, it's also interesting to think about what I've got rid of: Gremlins and Star Wars Transformers have both gone, as have Classics Bumblebee and Universe Onslaught from my 15 best figures list. Incidentally I now appreciate that Henkei Dinobot is far too small.

I finished off the year with a list of 50 toys I wanted. With the Transformers I just about got everything I wanted (although I didn't actually necessarily get them). With Marvel I got them all apart from Pyro and Kingpin, and with Batman I got Mr Freeze (that I'm actually happy to get). 43/50 in five years. I'm sure we'll get some decent 3.75" scale Batman figures, eventually.............

I'll go over this post again in 2019!

Dinobots Yay!!!

FansProject have pulled it out of the bag; colour pictures of Sludge plus a pre-order, prototype pictures of Slag and Swoop, and silhouettes of Grimlock, Snarl and one other (Paddles?). Then pre-orders for Mindwipe and silhouettes of the other Headmasters. Wowsers! Looks absolutely amazing, very excited for the Dinobots.

Planet X have also put up a pre-order for Sludge which makes life tricky, FansProject will be my 'Classics' Dinobots, I could put the Planet X dinos with my Grimlock collection (especially since I've already got their Swoop). With the new pre-orders I don't think I can afford the Planet X efforts when they come out, I might not even be able to get Maketoys Computron. Wait and see I think......

I'm selling quite a lot of stuff on eBay, so some of it depends on how well that sells. I have a spreadsheet to keep track of what I'm selling, it goes back a few years, it's amazing how much I've stuff I've sold! It represents a fair amount of 3.75" stuff, some where better versions have been released, some where I've bought them for customs, but then decided against it. Some are just where I've bought an entire wave and haven't needed all of the figures.

There is also some of that stuff for Transformers, but most of it represents a change in my collecting mentality; when I started collecting it was all about G1 and mostly about reissues. At one stage I owned virtually all 1984 and 85 figures, which has now pretty much been reduced to just the Takara Collection reissues. When I started collecting Classics I bought any figures which have appealed to me (such as Universe Dropshot), I've now refined that just to those who appeared in the cartoon.

It also represents a time when I wanted to get some representation of every character from my other favourite franchises such as Ghostbusters, Power Rangers and Star Wars; I've refined those as I've got smaller (often Lego) versions, or just realised I don't care about those characters. Certainly makes me think twice about buying anything! I feel like I've turned a corner, hopefully it will just be the odd thing here and there now.

When I started off collecting I just bought figures I thought looked cool, over time I've thought more about whether they fit in with my collection, some I've just sold off such as Drift, even Deluxe Classics Bumblebee and Ultra Universe Onslaught. Nice figures, but they don't really have a place as there are now figures which work better with the other (smaller) Minibots and Combaticons.

Some however, I've actually bought additional figures so they fit in, BWII Seacons, I've bought other BWII Destrons to go with them, Magnaboss, Lio and Big Convoy I've bought Maximals and Destrons to go with them. Car Robots Black Convoy I'm going to get Generations Sky Byte to fight against him. Cybertron Scourge, I got Botcon Razorclaw to go with him. I bought Sixtrain many years ago and I've just bought Sixliner (apparently they're brothers) to go with him for my WST display. It's as if I've slowly legitimised them all.

I bought the Lego Creator Ecto-1, really good set and the minifigs are a nice replacement for the 6" Mattel figures which I sold off (I realised I'm not really that bothered about them). As well as Sixliner, I also bought some other figures for my WST collection; Justitoys Blitzwing, I wonder if their quality has dropped a little, the tailfin on the leg came off on mine, upon dismantling I realised it's held in my place by a screw which just about goes into the tailfin piece, so it's not broken but I think I'll need to try not to fiddle with it too much. I also got Kabaya Star Convoy, I haven't assembled it yet, but I will display him with my Sixbro's (Sixtrain and Sixliner).

TFCon is this weekend and SDCC is in a couple of weeks so I will update shortly! Hoping to see some updates on various third party projects and some reveals from Hasbro.

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I think courtesy of FansProject and Maketoys, TFCon was a good one! Great to see more of the Dinobots and Headmasters as well as Computron and Defensor. Quickswitch looks good as well, not sure about Scorponok though, I might well go with the Perfect Effect version as I prefer the standing upright option.

I think Quickswitch is an interesting choice, not many characters beyond Headmasters have had their own mold, most are just repaints (particularly from Hasbro) it makes me wonder how far it will go. I suspect the leaders might get figures, but other than that it will be opportunistic repaints. For example I just got Botcon Leozack.

FP also showed a Classics Prime update which was a little Powermaster-esque, if it comes with a Godbomber for a God Ginrai look then I could be interested. There was no sign of Overlord from Mastermind Creations, maybe at the Chicago TFCon?

Maketoys put up a slide showing that they're doing a series of larger toys; an upgrade for Omega Supreme, Metroplex and now Scorponok. I reckon Trypticon might be a good bet for one of the later ones! Very happy with the showing though; Outback, Abominus, Sky Lynx and Trypticon are the only characters left on my really want Classics versions of list.

Thinking about the Dinobots more, the FP versions will be my 'Classics' versions, though if Hasbro do ever release them I will still get them for my Grimlock collection. I'm not sure about Planet X, I think there will be a lot of pressure on them to get them out quickly, so I hope they can maintain the quality. I could still be tempted to get them if they can. Will wait and see!

I started thinking about third party TF toy companies; FansProject are by far the greatest contributor to my collection, Maketoys have made a solid contribution with Devastator, and Mastermind Creations have given me Predaking and Sixshot. Perfect Effect have really stepped it up with Fort Max. The rest have been mostly just small figures, such as the cassettes or minibots. I have experienced a few other companies efforts, but they just haven't worked for me. It's funny to have become loyal to particular third party companies.

SDCC next week, MU X-Men, come on down...

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Well...... we didn't get MU X-Men, but we did get Bishop, this makes me very happy. Classics Dinobots and MU Bishop, I got exactly what I really wanted in this round of conventions and I can't ask much more than that. So not a right lot of exciting reveals for me at SDCC, some Spider-Man villains, 90's Beast, a decent looking official Superion, so some good stuff. I was encouraged to see Legends BAF Odin as I don't think he's had a regular retail figure before.

I think the remaining few characters I want will come eventually, just at quite a slow rate but with the amazing amount of stuff I want that FansProject are putting out that might not be a bad thing. Dinobots and Bishop, whoop whoop!!!!

It's that time of year..........

Okay, so there was a certain convention happening this month, but first............ Masterpiece Star Saber! Looks like the business to me, slightly small for Masterpiece, but hopefully the right size for Classics. I have a rule with my Classics not to have the same character twice, I let Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge off as in certain continuities they're not previous characters re-formatted, but with say, Bumblebee/Goldbug and potentially God Ginrai/Victory Leo, I'd only go with one. Not sure which I'd rather have out of the last two.

Ultra Magnus, Wheeljack and Bumblebee are all looking rather good. I'm all paid up for the latter two!

Transformers and Angry Birds? Okay........... then!!!

The Dinobots SDCC set looks pretty damn good, Snarl in particular looks a bit good. I think the gold chrome in particular works rather well. I'm not going to pick them up though, firstly because of cost, and secondly because I'm rather enjoying the possibility of picking up the regular releases at retail and figures which I buy in person always mean a bit more to me. I found Grimlock at the start of the month!

So speaking of Dinobots......... Planet X decided to use Botcon to show off their Sludge prototype. Looks good to me, in scale with Grimlock. Can't wait to get them all!!! Fansproject showed off a colour version of Mindwipe, glad to see it's still in progress.

On to Hasbro! I think the one figure I'm definitely going to get is Powerglide, happy to replace my Maketoys one. Arcee looks really good, was already happy to replace my Impossible Toys figure though. Legends Bombshell and Voyager Brainstorm looks interesting, and Superion could be very interesting.

All of these figures raise an interesting question though. For the most part if I've got an official figure of a character, then an unofficial figure is released I pass quite happily (I've only ever made an exception for iGear Bumblebee because I wanted a VW altmode.) But, I'm not sure what to do when the opposite happens, I've got unofficial versions of all of those figures. I'm happy to replace Powerglide and Arcee, but Bombshell and Brainstorm, I'm happy with my Fansproject versions, what really seals it for me though is that in both cases I've got their buddies in the same scale and that's what I want - Shrapnel, Kickback and Chromedome (and hopefully eventually Hardhead and Highbrow). I am actually choosing unofficial over official which seems strange.

There are a couple of precedents with Botcon figures; Deathsaurus and Overlord didn't work for me, I think Scorponok is in that same category. Actually I think it depends which series they're from - early G1 most characters tend to get their own mold, later on they tend to be repaints that may or not work, if they get a figure at all and so unofficial is the much better option.

The Superion reveal is an even trickier one, currently I've got an Energon repaint with an unofficial upgrade that whilst cool, never really evoked G1 Superion. I remember picking that set up though as one of the best finds of my collecting career. Happy to see what it looks like though and make an informed decision!

The official Nightbeat pictures showed that it was going to be a Generations Jazz repaint, I think it was a great shame they changed it to be Bumblebee. Seeings how we might get a Go-Shooter repaint of that Bumblebee, I think I might just pass on Nightbeat. Leader Megatron also looks pretty damn G1, I will probably though unless it could somehow pass for a Masterpiece version.

So, not an outstanding Botcon in terms of news really, I hope they're holding something back for SDCC!

Make space it's Masterpiece Convoy!

Maketoys have released a few colour pictures of their upcoming Computron, looks good. I'm really excited for the figure now. The bow and arrow, although not his traditional weapon, works really well and serves to make him a bit more unique. And news just in, they're doing a Defensor! I was never much of a Defensor fan but when he's the only Scramble City combiner missing he becomes much more exciting. If he comes out in 2015 then works nicely for me.

Some very unexpected news from Million Publishing, they're doing a Trainbot - Shouki from Classics Astrotrain, seems pretty cool to me. They've also set up a vote for the next figure, some interesting stuff, Omnibots and various re-colours. I'd like to see a Go-Shooter to go with my Masterforce Classics figures.

Some Age of Extinction news as well, Wave 1 Generations Deluxes and Voyagers have been released. Managed to snag Slag and Scorn, hoping to find Grimlock soon! Pictures have also surfaced of Snarl and Slog, look pretty damn cool. I think the bright colours used for the dinobot toys are actually working for me. There's also a G1 style Kreo Grimlock Unleashed with Kreon, looks like a fun set. Hope we get the rest of the G1 Dinos as Kreons soon.

Perfect Effect have released a few pictures of their upcoming Scorponok, I'm going to wait for for a few more pictures before deciding whether to go for the Botcon version. Perfect Effect are also doing a Brave Maximus recolour of their Fort Max. If it was a Grand Max I think I could be tempted. It's hard to imagine that they won't do that at some point.

I bought the Lego Millennium Falcon, managed to get one on sale. Fun build, I think I'll just keep the minifigs and sell the actual ship though. I'll get the new AT-AT at some point. Gotta watch out for the space!

Finally got Masterpiece Convoy, he's in my pile of loot but looking forward to finally getting him in hand.

Also picked up a few Beast Wars II figures, got Apache, Tasmanian Kid and Scuba (US versions though since they're identical) to round out my Maximals. It's good to have Lio Convoy's crew. Also got Thrust and Dirge to go with Galvatron, still need to get BB and Megastorm though.

I've been sorting through all my boxes, so many instructions and parts! I think when you start collecting, you keep all of the packaging. You eventually get to a point where it becomes overwhelming, so you throw the inner packaging away, but keep the box because they can be easily flattened. Then eventually even that becomes too much, that's where I am! I've decided just to keep the packaging which has nice artwork on. Should keep me going on space for a bit. It was amazing going through some of the instruction booklets, most of which I never bothered opening, lots of little bits of generic mail away offers and catalog bits which can easily be thrown away.

I'm now systematically going through my various collections, making sure I actually want everything I've got. Will be taking a few photos as I go, it's a nice way to interact with them. Then it's time to eBay off the stuff I don't need!

Custom Plans

Well, an even quieter news month this time, guess it's to be expected in the run up to Botcon. The only news of note is that Scorponok has been announced as one of the exclusive toys. It's been a long time coming, but I think I'm going to see what PerfectEffect offer up before committing. Looks pretty good though.

I've bought some good stuff this month; Masterpiece Sideswipe and MMC Razorclaw, they're both in my pile of loot, but really looking forward to getting them in hand. (And the rest of Predaking for that matter!)

I recently became aware of a website which specialises in extra parts for 3.75" scale stuff, it looks like some really good stuff for helping with customs. I've started picking up a few figures ready for such customs as well identifying suitable base figures, for instance I'm keen on a Marvel Dracula (modern) since Hasbro look unlikely to go anywhere near. I reckon an Age of Thunder Thor (with torn cape) supplemented by a few Hand Ninja parts will form the body, then just need a good head and a sword. I'll have to try and create some spikes to complete the look.

I think I will wait until after SDCC before starting anything though! They've also got some nice Iron Man hall of armour display stands, looks like a scaled down Hot toys stand to me. Expensive but looks pretty sweet.

I'm slowly working my way through the pile of loot I shipped in February, I opened Abomination and Rhino, nice mold. My Hulk display is looking pretty awesome now, just need a trio of Wendigos and it'll be done.

I'm planning a couple of big purchases in May, roll on!

Quiet Times

Bit of a quiet month this month; they're doing a Age of Extinction 2-pack past and present Grimlock, interestingly the Energon version of Grimlock (and presumably the same with the Swoop pack), rubbish figure, great shame they obviously can't do a reissue of the G1 figure!

Plenty of news on Masterpiece Bumblebee though, definitely a VW Beetle and going with the anime scale. Incredibly clever move by Takara, appealing to Masterpiece and Classics collectors alike (as well as Beetle fans).

Glad to see they're doing a Kabaya Star Convoy, my WST collection of G1 leaders is looking pretty good now (and for the Autobots, complete), just need a Scorponok and Galvatron for the Decepticons. Scorponok would need to be in scale with Fortress Maximus though. I've just assembled Overlord, great little figure and nicely in scale with God Ginrai. Thinking about my WST collection, I'm not sure how it fits together, maybe I should sell off the non-leader figures..........

Finally decided to pick up an Impossible Toys Hub(cap), other than the Classics Bumblebee with conversion kit, it's the only option at the moment for a posable Hubcap. I guess it might well get replaced at some point. With the Generations Swerve and Tailgate, I just need an Outback figure and that's it for the 1986 Minibots.

Picked up Marvel Infinite Grim Reaper and Hyperion and the DC Multiverse Mr Freeze. Good to have a few extra villains, Grim Reaper will display nicely with Wonder-Man and Hyperion will go well with Nighthawk.

One of my collecting (displaying?) rules is that if I've never seen the character in anything then it won't go on the shelf. I now buy all comic based Marvel 3.75" figures as it seems a far cheaper option than risking them suddenly turning up in some cartoon or film in the future, then trying to pick them up at a greatly inflated cost, but it makes me wonder what to do with those unused figures (currently Sentry, Tigershark, US Agent, Patriot and Moonknight, soon to be joined by Death's Head, Red She-Hulk and Ares).

I reckon a few of those I could quite easily find a home for. Death's Head for instance would display nicely with a Tardis from the 3.75" Doctor Who line (since he also appeared in the Doctor Who comics back in the day), Ares with Hercules, and Red She-Hulk with the rest of the Hulk family. Moonknight is actually already displayed with my Defenders. I think that works!

Most Wanted

In previous years I've done my most wanted figures, I think it's at the stage now where it's a bit simpler.

There are a few characters I want/need a toy of, Marvel Universe Bishop and Classics/Generations Dinobots. They are the toys that when I look at my collection are missing. Planet X have hinted at a Sludge being their next toy, so we're getting there. I'd be fairly surprised if Hasbro didn't address the issue post AOE and DoFP.

Then there's a few toys which I'm not really that fussed about the characters, but they fill a gap. Inevitably most teams in comic books have a couple of top tier characters, and then a couple who are more filler characters. Defensor fits into this definition for me, the least interesting scramble city combiner, but the only one we don't have yet. Marvel Universe wise, Pyro and Avalanche. The brotherhood needs them!

Then there's a couple of characters who are a bit more out there, awesome characters, but are a bit more stand alone. Trypticon; if Hasbro created one in scale with Metroplex that would be great. One roughly the same size as G1 would also be fine though, perhaps a bit more WfC styled. For Marvel, I think Dracula and Odin would be amazing. (Odin needs to have a similar build to the Hercules mold.)

There are also toys which I'm happy to wait for, I'm in no rush with Masterpiece, but characters like Sunstreaker would be great, with Kabaya, a Scorponok would be cool. I'm sure eventually the 3.75" Batman, Mortal Kombat and Streetfighter lines will pick up again, and I'm sure we'll eventually get some decent classic Thundercats figures.

Finally, there are characters who have been hinted at, Sasquatch and Wendigo in Marvel Universe, presumably if they've started the design then it would be wasteful not to use them. The X-men line next year perhaps. Perfect Effect have suggested a Scorponok (which if it goes with Fort Max would be great). Mastermind Creations have hinted at an Overlord. TFC are doing a Defensor, though I don't think that's gonna work for me. Machine Boy (who!?) are doing a Sky Lynx. Xovergen are doing a God Bomber to finish God Ginrai.

Yep, it's an exciting time to be collecting, and I'm sure there's plenty of other stuff I'll be tempted by in the future!

Toy Fair Extinction

Transformers: Age of Extinction, okay, first film I wasn't expecting much, pleasantly surprised, second film, extremely hopeful, disappointed, third film, again not expecting much, but quite good. Fourth film, okay............. I'm quite looking forward to it. The Superbowl trailer looks pretty much what you'd expect, Grimlock looks cool, I'm hopeful once again. Please have a vaguely coherent plot, don't waste the Dinobots like Devastator was wasted in the second film and I'll be happy.

At the Wonder Festival in Japan a Megatron Mega Drive was shown, looks good to me. I realise that Transformers are eventually doing crossovers with most of my other collections (Lego and 3.75" scaled stuff, and now video games).

The New York Toy Fair; some pretty exciting stuff although nothing too crazy, Generations Leader Jetfire was leaked a few days before, but properly shown at the fair. Looks amazing, but I currently display my Voyager Jetfire with small deluxe FOC Shockwave. I have Shockwave in a flight stand so he's vaguely the same height, that just wouldn't work with a leader. Of course, if they decide to give Shockwave the Voyager he deserves then that could change. In addition, I feel quite sentimental about Voyager Jetfire as I actually bought him in person, so I'm thinking I'll pass at the moment (I have a rule to only own one version of each character), but I'm open to having my mind changed!

I'm all aboard for a set of movie Dinobots, they're slightly funny colours (in the trailer they just look metallic), but look like decent molds, especially Grimlock.

Roadbuster who was hinted at in the Hasbro website leak was confirmed and shown and all good, I'm pretty happy with the deluxe Roadbuster, but it'll be good to have a figure that scales well with the new Whirl.

Nightbeat was shown as a repaint of Generations Bumblebee rather than Jazz, suits me, especially as I don't have that mold. So, nothing too crazy in the Transformers news, but some solid looking toys which I can look forward to. One surprising thing which was revealed which I'm quite excited about is Loyal Subjects vinyl Slag and Snarl, Slag was shown previously but Snarl is exciting. (I've just opened the Grimlock which I think is pretty neat piece of 'hipster trash'!) I'm also up for the Potato Head Grimlock figures, available in both robot and dino mode! Poor Sludge continues to be the most ignored character of G1 though, no reissue and absolutely no homage whatsoever. I think the Justitoys WST Sludge is about the only love he's had.

The legends figures were also shown, Swerve and Gears, plus Tailgate confirmed. Look good (and pre-orders have just gone up at BBTS to ward off any fears of them not actually turning up at retail). Cliffjumper was also mentioned, if he gets a bit of a remold I could be tempted.

Good to see a teaser silhouette of MP Bumblebee, looks like I'd expect and looks to be a VW! Also an interesting comment from Shago Hasui that getting licensed cars is easier due to Takara's merger with Tomy. Hopeful for Jazz and Ironhide (Porsche and Nissan) in the future!

On the Marvel 3.75", equally nothing too unexpected due to an early sneak preview of the Legends Guardians of the Galaxy figures. I'm all up for the BAF Groot, will be pretty expensive for one figure though. Deathlok, Ares and Whirlwind were the only figures that were completely unexpected, but good to see ionic Wonderman, Red She-Hulk and Death's Head. I'm still sticking to my rule that I'll only display characters that have appeared in some sort of media that I've seen or read, so three of those six will go straight into storage, but I've learnt from bitter experience that there's not point passing on anything as there's a really good chance those characters will turn up in something soon. Especially Red She-Hulk, as I reckon she'll turn up in Agents of Smash at some point.

This month I have pre-ordered Perfect Effect's Fort Max, looks pretty amazing from the photos so am looking forward to getting that. Also looking forward to seeing their Scorponok which they've hinted at. I bought the new Lego Batmobile in store which is a pretty nice build. I think sitting on the sofa in Winter with a hot drink, watching Top Gear and building some Lego is about as relaxing as it gets! I think I may have found my happy place. The Batman minifig works really nicely, a good fusion of an iconic toy and an iconic character. They really got it right when they designed the basic minifig all those years ago.

I had an absolutely amazing delivery from BBTS at the start of the month; Generations Whirl, Doubledealer, Rhinox, Trailbreaker, Sandstorm and Black Shadow. Mastermind Creations Sixshot, Tantrum and Headstrong. Fansproject Motormaster, Dead End, Weirdwolf and Brainstorm. KFC Steeljaw and Planet X FOC Swoop, plus the last waves of Marvel Universe. I'm slowly working my way though it, Planet X Swoop is brilliant, I can't stop looking at it. If they release a Slag, Snarl and Sludge I will be very happy to use them as my Classics Dinobots with the official Grimlock.

Fansproject Motormaster is also brilliant, but fairly time consuming to transform. I've just put him into robot mode so I've yet to experience Menasor. Rhinox and Trailbreaker are great figures, very happy additions to my collection. Steeljaw is a nice little figure to compliment Ramhorn, looking forward to Overkill and Slugfest and hope can get the Ratbat (without Soundwave). Thinking about it, I've barely made a dent!

Movie Year

The Dinobots are in Transformers Age of Extinction, Bishop is in X-men Days of Future Past. I want Classics Dinobots and a Marvel Universe Bishop figures dammit!

Masterpiece Wheeljack looks awesome, I'm thinking I would have found it very hard to resist had I not already made the decision to collect Masterpiece. There's a suggestion (an image from a Japanese retailer) that the rumoured Nightbeat from the leaked Hasbro listings could be a repaint of Generations Jazz. I guess I can cope with that.

PerfectEffect's Warden (Fort Max) looks pretty good, I'm particularly liking some of the poses people have shown him in. A pretty fun dynamic toy by all accounts. I'll have to get meself one! Xovergen have shown images of their God Bomber, I passed on their previous Super Ginrai figure, but it's looking pretty damn good in combined mode as God Ginrai. I'm also keeping an eye on MakeToys Gears and Omega Supreme add-on, although I'm pretty happy with my Platinum Omega as he is and I'm hoping we see the (rumoured) Gears from Hasbro.

Speaking of Hasbro, Generations Arcee has been confirmed. Again, pretty happy with my Impossible Toys Delicate Warrior, but an official version would be gratefully received! There have also images shown of a Mr Potato Head Grimlock. Yup, that's the kinda crazy I'd like to add to my Grimlock collection.

I've got quite a lot of my figures on display now, pretty well spaced out with room for the few characters that haven't had Classics incarnations yet. I've included Beast Wars with them so have got separate shelves for the US series as well as the Japanese BWII and BW Neo. Unicron has pride of place standing over the Neo figures!

I picked up the one Neo character who isn't available from Sonoking - Heinlad, I really like him, he's very Japanese which I enjoy. I think I might keep him in animal mode holding his lanterns.

I've picked up quite a few Lego minifigs - Yoda, Palpatine, C-3PO, R2-D2 and a custom Punisher, Carnage and Ghostbusters. They're pretty damn cool and once I pick up the Millennium Falcon with the other original trilogy Star Wars characters it'll be fun to do a few photos. I am in equal parts gutted and delighted with the recent Cuusoo announcement of Ecto-1 plus minifigs, gutted because I've wasted money on customs, delighted because I'll get an official Ecto-1 to go with. On balance, I'm very happy about it!

I had an somewhat epic trip to pick up a large shipment from UPS, missed the original delivery so thought I'd go and pick up the parcel in person, on foot........ Thing about parcel depots is that they tend to be on trading estates, in the middle of nowhere. Ended up going almost two miles along a path along a train line, only to find a puddle about half a foot deep! With no way to get round and obvious that my shoes would be completely submerged, I remembered that I had a spare pair of socks in my bag. I took off my shoes, rolled up my trousers and walked through! I took the wet socks off, put the dry ones on and carried on my way!!! Trading estates are very strange places, seemingly inhabited but with no one around. I found the UPS depot and got my parcel. (I got a taxi home!)

The parcel contained FansProject Diesel and Mastermind Creations Headstrong and Tantrum. I've heard combining Menasor is a pretty epic task but from pictures looks well worth it! Yay. Feral Rex, come on down!

New Year, New Collection Goals

Well, Generations Rattrap has been rumoured for a while and finally thanks to the TFCC front cover it has been confirmed, looks awesome to me and saves me having to track down the Japanese anime version of Rattrap from back in the day. Hope we see a few more Beast Wars figures at Toy Fair, I think Terrorsaur would get my vote! (I am now fully committed to getting the Season 1 cast.)

Not much news of interest otherwise this month, a silhouette has been shown of Masterpiece Wheeljack, good to see he's on his way, some have suggested that he could be retooled in Sunstreaker given the similar transformation. Certainly an interesting idea. In package pictures of Whirl look promising, looking forward to that particular figure.

I've been thinking about my non-TF toys, in particular Power Rangers and Star Wars. I currently have the Bandai USA 2010 4" rangers as well as the 2010 versions of the Megazord and Titanus. I've been eyeing up the Figuarts versions of the Green and White Rangers (after getting Figma Link and Samus I like the idea of super posable figures). I am therefore going to get rid of all of my old stuff except the Dragonzord, then pick up the Figuarts figures plus Tigerzord (then get some nice reprolabels to get it look super shiny). Quality over quantity!

With Star Wars I currently have most of the Transformers Crossovers with miniatures of the characters, because some of them vaguely work in scale. Over the years I've been tempted by Star Wars Lego, 3.75" scale figures and even 'Galactic Heroes' (the children's non-posable collectables). It seems I haven't quite found the right line for me, I was born at a time between the original and prequel trilogies so Star Wars wasn't a big thing for me as a kid (although I did have the odd toy from a cousin) so also considered just getting rid of everything.

Thinking about what I really want though - some version of the classic characters plus an army of Jedi, I have decided to go in different directions for the different trilogies. For the original trilogy, I'm going to go with Lego - they're iconic characters, but don't need be posable (I don't remember Han pulling too many crazy poses). I think iconic works well with Lego. For the prequel trilogy, I will get the Black line 3.75" figures, I can have an army of dynamic jedi (and sith). This also has the advantage of being a relatively new line and so I don't need to play catch up, I can just get them as they come out.

Getting Star Wars Lego has made me think more about my Lego collection, at the moment it's a mostly theoretical collection with only the Marvel, TMNT and Transformers (Kreo) parts represented. My Thundercats minimates also work quite nicely with the Lego minifigs, and so my Lego really is like a microcosm of my whole collection. I have decided that my Lego should be the fun part where crossovers occur, throw in some Star Wars, some Batman (I've decided to get the Lego Batmobile), and maybe some Ghostbusters (custom Lego or minimates maybe) and it could be really fun - Deadpool driving the Millennium Falcon, Donatello driving the Batmobile, Yoda driving Optimus Prime. Yes, that's a plan right there!

After all of these changes in collecting philosophy (particularly deciding to get Masterpiece figures), it's been an expensive old month - I've picked up Prowl, Bluestreak and Starscream for starters. I've also got Classics Doubledealer and Rhinox, Mastermind Headstrong, Fansproject Brainstorm and Planet X Swoop! Plus a Kabaya Overlord for good measure. I also ordered a job lot of Beast Wars Neo figures (Sonoking) so hopefully will get those soon.

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Non-TF I did get the Green and White ranger Figuarts figures, Darth Vader and Mace Windu Black series figures, the Plo Koon 3.75" scale Starfighter (I need at least one vehicle), plus some Star Wars Lego (the Endor pack with the Stormtroopers). And finally the Thundercats Ho! minimates with the 'new' Thundercats. I look forward to actually getting all of that stuff.

Happy New Year!!!