I've recently started working from home on occasion, this has had the advantage of me spending time in my office with my collection, this has had the further effect of me staring at my display and rearranging figures as well as keeping it a bit tidier, I was a bit prone to leaving new stuff in a pile on the desk. It's a great little room, I rearranged the desk a little to make room for the Lego Firehouse, I've now put my Star Wars and Turtles minifigs on the in progress build. The Turtles look pretty sweet! I also finally got the Thundertank out of its box, pretty heavy. Looks great, I really like the sculpting on the front.
Getting the Firehouse completes all of the Ghostbusters stuff I want. Makes me think though that I'd really like some other bases like the Turtles' sewer base, the Thundercats' Lair and Tracy Island. There are a few options with the Turtles from the Mega Bloks non-collector stuff, nothing's really grabbing me. Actually, I wonder whether they still have the Power Rangers license, would be really cool to see some MMPR Zord sets. [Update: I'm pretty sure they don't!]
More leaks from Titans Return; I enjoy hearing about the leaks and then having them confirmed at conventions with photos. It's a bit like when they say they have a figure planned, you know there's a little bit of a chance it might not happen. With photos it just kinda takes away the magic - future conventions are going to be a bit rubbish. That said, Doublecross and Triggerhappy look fantastic, not sure about Getaway yet, I think the Hot Rod figure also leaked might be a better fit than Chromedome. Also very happy to hear Chase is being planned - I'm surprising myself how excited I am about potential Throttlebots!
More leaks from Titans Return; I enjoy hearing about the leaks and then having them confirmed at conventions with photos. It's a bit like when they say they have a figure planned, you know there's a little bit of a chance it might not happen. With photos it just kinda takes away the magic - future conventions are going to be a bit rubbish. That said, Doublecross and Triggerhappy look fantastic, not sure about Getaway yet, I think the Hot Rod figure also leaked might be a better fit than Chromedome. Also very happy to hear Chase is being planned - I'm surprising myself how excited I am about potential Throttlebots!
As a collector I'm obliged to make lists of figures I want, naturally the list is never entirely finished as new things constantly get added. I thought for Transformers, I would put together a couple more lists. First is characters I don't have a toy of, including G1. The list is as follows: Chromedome, Hardhead, Highbrow, Blast Off, Broadside, Scattershot, Afterburner, Lightspeed, Strafe and Nosecone. Yep, half of them are Technobots. Nine of them have toys coming out so very good chance of completion. The Technobots and Highbrow have the added distinction that I've never owned a toy of them (including third party).
I'm actually really excited about Computron, I realise that I have or have owned most Decepticons from '84-'88, mostly from collecting animal based Transformers, but I also bought the Targetmasters and Powermasters. I think Scourge and Cyclonus were the main exceptions. When I got back into collecting they just seemed to have the more interesting figures. This has had the result that the toys of the '86-'88 Autobots seem more exciting now because I'm not familiar with any version of them. The Throttlebots get an honourable mention, not sure whether Goldbug is a separate character from Bumblebee. Maybe.
The second list is toys I have the G1 figure of, but would also like a modern version of. So: Scorponok, Trypticon, God Ginrai/Powermaster Optimus Prime, Overlord, Skullcruncher, Weirdwolf, Mindwipe, Kickback, Slag, Sludge, Swoop and Snarl. I think the Terrorcons get honourable mentions, but mostly because Combiner Wars has been so great. At the start of Classics they would never have been anywhere near the top of the list. Six of those twelve should be coming out. Rumours of some of the others though!
So that's my transformers lists, 32 including the honourable mentions (not counting Goldbug yet). I really don't think there are any others I'm that bothered about, but if someone becomes important in IDW, or they release 2/3 of an established team or group (like the Insecticons for instance), then there will be replacements, I'm looking at you Triggerhappy, Doublecross and Getaway.
I just received an arm for Bruticus - Vortex, when I first saw him I immediately decided I'd get the Takara version as I was keen on all the colours going on. I then decided I liked the Takara version even less. In hand I don't mind the colours so much, it's actually accurate to the original G1 stickers. One thing that's not accurate though is the missiles, especially in bright yellow so I might just paint over them. I will wait until I complete Bruticus to decide though.
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I went to see Captain America: Civil War! It's amazing how far the comic book genre has evolved since the typical goodie gets powers, baddie gets powers, goodie and baddie have big fight days. What a great film! So many fantastic moments. It was never going to end well though so not the happy ending like so many other films. The Russo brothers described it as their Empire Strikes Back, I totally get that. It's also quite a relevant comparison for another reason.
I think I'm team Iron Man, although his motivation is ultimately emotional, it's starts off as the most reasoned. That and I've spent quite a bit of time putting together an armoury! The motivation of all of the characters is expertly set out. Phase 3 is looking to be absolutely stand out.
I've got a deluxe Groove for my Defensor! So lucky to be able to get one, I think Hasbro have made a right old mess of making it available before the alleged street date, but so glad I did. Great figure, also glad I'm going to get a remold of it as Afterburner. He will look right at home in my Lost Light newbies display with Hot Spot and Streetwise. Sorry Rook! Hope we get shuttle Blast Off for next year's May Mayhem as W6 has now turned up at retail suggesting that the UK is missing out on both Decepticon waves. Also, I wonder whether we might get some of the Titans Returns titanmasters as full figures for a May Mayhem type event rather than just the heads by remolding existing figures, like Nightbeat for instance could be a remold of Chromedome with a Loudmouth redeco. It's quite cunning by Hasbro, we would be grateful rather than grumpy about Nightbeat being another repaint.
