Dinobots

Masterpiece Dinobot looks incredible, but what a price! I had an idea with the MP line that I would pick up those characters that appeared in the first season of the cartoon, with a few of my favourites thrown in (like Tracks, Blaster and Dinobot), but at these prices something has to give. I've already passed on Thundercracker and Skywarp.

I really want Jazz and Sunstreaker, I'd like Trailbreaker, Hound and Mirage, but I might pass on the other Minibots if they ever do them. It depends on the price point I think, if they're comparable to Bumblebee then fine, but if they're getting towards £100 it's got to be a pass. For some reason I'm not as keen on those other Minibots, perhaps because they were mostly a bit grumpy in the cartoon, perhaps because they weren't pretty sports cars.

If they do a toy coloured Shockwave then I'm on board, but other than Blaster, I think I'd pass on almost any other character that they'd reasonably do. Maybe, Reflector, I do quite like the random nature of some of the original Decepticons' altmodes. I assume G1 Dinobots are off the table, but would love to be proven wrong given the deluxe nature of the new Power of the Primes figures.

Thinking back to Titans Return, I've picked up a few more of the figures I was after - Seaspray, Wheelie and Slugslinger. I haven't opend the Minibots yet, but managed to find them in person. Slugslinger is fantastic, the colour and altmode is spot on, not quite sure about the head bring cartoon accurate (much like Triggerhappy and Slugslinger), but what a trio. I'm one step closer to completing the headmasters lineup. Bring on the Autobot Targetmasters!

I've picked up a few other random bits, action master Rad to complete my Lost Light action master line up and Henkei ghost Starscream for my beast wars display. Having him also means I can do quite a cool pre and post G1 Movie display. Also picked up 3.75" Jessica Jones, I'm not quite sure about her yet as although I haven't seen her Netflix series yet, I might prefer her MCU look (having not ever read a comic with her in). One of my collection rules is not to display characters unless I've seen something with them, so it's a moot point at the moment, but I buy the figures anyway just in case (to avoid potentially paying more at a later date!). The Agent 13 figure from the Civil War set might be a good base figure though.

Here's a random thought; somewhat inspired by a question to a podcast I listen to (WTF@TFW), what human characters would I want toys of? I'd like 3.75" posable figures of the entire Masterforce cartoon - the pretenders, the headmaster juniors and godmasters! Possibly not the Decepticon pretenders as I think they were larger than human size (though 6" scale might work for them), but Metalhawk, Shooter, Ginrai, Giga and Mega would all be great.

Have just seen that Vitruvian Hacks are doing a Kickstarter for a 3.75" scaled horse. Sweet! They've shown concepts for Pegasus and even a centaur, love me some mythical creatures! I believe it starts in March so will have to keep an eye on that.

Have been looking at Storm Collectibles Mortal Kombat figures (again). They look utterly incredible, high price for a 6" figure but the detail and accessories are amazing. The fact they've gone for MKI/II pulls me straight in. I feel that Sub-Zero and Scorpion would have to be bought as a pair, but perhaps Reptile by himself would be cool. I think he has the best accessories - acid dripping, force ball and animal head. Even a long tongue for replicating one of his fatalities. Goro and Shao Kahn look great as well, I've forgotten how much I love Mortal Kombat!

Have just watched a few festive episodes of Thomas the tank engine, as you do. Feeling ready for Christmas now!

Two's company, three's a crowd

Well, the Terrorcons look amazing. Did I mention what an amazing line I think Power of the Primes is going to be? I do have a bit of a dilemma though, I generally like toy accuracy rather than cartoon, but I really like the way Abominus is coloured in the cartoon. However, I prefer toy Hun-Gurr to cartoon. I think I will default to Hasbro as hopefully I can buy them more easily and cheaply. Hopefully there will be an upgrade option for a cartoon Abominus.

I had Triggerhappy as a child, and a few years ago I had the trio of G1 Decepticon Targetmasters so I have a fondness for them. Again, I would prefer toy accuracy but happy to make do. Triggerhappy and Slugslinger (I haven't got him yet) look fine, but Misfire looks off. I think it's that he just looks generic; it might be the IDW influence but he just looks like a purple/pink seeker. Luckily, being a headmaster and all it's quite easy to change the head. I think the Perceptor head is a better fit so picked one up and painted some of the details. I went IDW rather than pure G1, so red eyes and a little black goatee. I gave him Percetor's gun as well so there's a bit less purple going on. Am pretty happy! (Apart from the increasing costs of deluxes when you just want a head.

Thinking again about the gaps in my classics collection, there are several leader characters I need (I'd throw Thunderwing in as well), after that there are a few Headmaster, Targetmaster and Powermaster gaps, then a few missing combiners but really, seem to be getting close now. The Monsterbots are favourites of mine, because of the monster altmodes, plus the fact they only turned up in the Japanese cartoon makes them a bit more exciting. With the NYCC exclusive Grotusque I've now got, they are complete. I'm strangely okay with Repugnus being a Titanmaster with no (deluxe) body. I've got the G1 figure, so maybe that's why, but him just being a head seems okay, much like the Decepticon headmaster juniors perhaps he can borrow one of the others' body for special occasions. Scorponok on the other hand, despite actually being a headmaster, really needs a transector. Preferably leader sized!

Coming back to the toy versus cartoon accuracy thing, Astrotrain is a character where I went anime in Henkei (mind you, when the Hasbro option was white there wasn't really a choice), but am thinking of going toy accurate. I've made the decision to upgrade my Decepticon triple changers to voyager, and so have got Titans Blitzwing and Octane, and need to make a decision for Astrotrain.

I need Astrotrain, Slugslinger, Seaspray and Wheelie then I'm done with Titans return. Kinda kicking myself on two of those as they have previously been available at a good price. Seaspray will potentially replace the iGear version I have.

I think the era of third party is well and truly over for me now, I sold off my Mastemind Creations Predacons as soon as I could after the leak of Titan Predaking came out, which leaves me with no unofficial figures larger than legends in my collection. I do have Perfect Effect Warden, but he is arguably an accessory to G1 Fortress Maximus. It's been quite a journey, from upgrade kits to full on combiners, but I'm done with them. It's been expensive, but I bear them no ill will. I think at some point I will review all the figures I have owned and their effect on me.

I've accidentally bought another Groot! He's a bit smaller than I expected, but I like the face sculpt. I think at some point I will have to try and decide which one should be my main representation of the character. I've also bought a World of Nintendo 3.75" Starfox Slippy to go with the Peppy I got previously (can't remember if I mentioned that). Falco is ridiculously expensive on the second hand market, but there is something compulsive about having the whole team from a game I wasn't particularly fond of. I do have some happy memories of 4 player Starfox in the N64 though so perhaps that's it.

I think Power of the Primes will be here soon, looking forward to the Dinobots, just hope they don't seem too small!

What a line!

I opened Trypticon, wow, Hasbro really didn't take any risks with this one. It's a scaled up version of the G1 with articulation added, exactly what I wanted. It's so G1 that I'm not sure there's any point keeping the original! This thing scales beautifully with my WST Dinobots to recreate some Call of the Primatives scenes. Just have to decide between G1 and combiner wars Sky Lynx!

There is of course the small issue of the hip joints which is extremely disappointing, it really takes the edge off knowing you've got to mess around with taking the legs apart to deal with the springs. I've just removed them for the time being before deciding which fix I should go for.

I finally got round to combining Ginrai with God Bomber. I think this figure looks incredible, but bugger me if the balancing issues don't almost completely ruin the figure. Did they even test it before putting it out?!

Just a few days later I got Overlord. I waited for pictures of the Takara figure first as I figured that might look best along side God Ginrai, but really for me, Hasbro is the way to go as the Takara colours weren't quite working. Would have been great to have Giga and Mega though. Overlord is great, smaller than G1 but with articulation.

Trypticon, God Ginrai and Overlord in one year! Wow, what a line. Throw in the 'classic' headmasters and Titans Return has been amazing. Overall, I'd say the Prime Trilogy is shaping up to be one of my favourite iterations ever. Classics, Universe and Generations really did the ground work of the well known characters, but the Prime trilogy is giving me my favourites.

Combined with the leaks from last month, what a line. My collection is going to look great. Generally I don't worry about size too much, FOC Shockwave I can live with, but I think the Dinobots being deluxe troubles me. Particularly with the Constructicons and Predacons all being voyagers. I need to swap the Dinobots and Constructicons around! If someone upscales the Dinobots it will be very hard to pass on.

With Hascon confirming the dinobots and Terrorcons, it does really come down to needing Scorponok. And Deszaras, and Star Saber and Victory Leo, okay and Thunderclash. I feel like one of those at least seems likely, probably Star Saber, but Scorponok is definitely top of the want list. I think the other toys I want are more about completion than the actual character in question.

I've slowly been re-watching A:EMH, and have slowly been adding figures to my list of customs to make - particularly those who are appearing in the MCU. Back to eBay I go! I started looking the episode descriptions and hit on Graviton, previously I hadn't given him a second thought, but then it occurred to me he's in the MCU (Agents of Shield at least). Then I thought I need more characters with big beards and I was sold! Hela and Surtur being in Thor Ragnorok has also inspired me, who to use for the base figures?!

There's not been much Masterpiece news for a while, but I must just raise one thing that annoys me. I lean towards toy accuracy over toon accuracy, but I'm fine with the recent changes to the line, but would it kill them to include a toy accurate face rather than all these different expressions? I'm not too worried about Megatron, but I would appreciate a slightly more toy accurate face for Sunstreaker. Grumpiness over, Trypticon and Overlord are fantastic, what a month!

Rumours Incoming!

Another disappointing SDCC for toys! After last year I told myself not to get my hopes up, but I just had a feeling there was going to be some exciting stuff. We already knew about the Enchantress/Executioner 375" set so nothing exciting there. Transformers wise, I'm glad we're getting Rodimus Prime, Darkwing and Dreadwing, but when you're hoping for Deszaras, Apeface, Snapdragon, Crosshairs, some Throttlebots and maybe a sneak preview of the next Titan it really doesn't measure up! Could be some big reveals at Hascon I suppose.

It looks like Rodimus Prime could have an easy remold into Thunderclash at least, which would be awesome (IDW Rodimus would love that). It's funny, I can't seem to stop liking any character which is described as 'fan-favourite'.

In other smaller scale news, I'm still going with my Konami Thunderbirds models. This time Thunderbirds 4 and 5. These models are great, something about them is very pleasing, similar perhaps to the diaclone based G1 figures, they make me appreciate toys in general. The models are beautifully painted, TB4 has a little weathering and even a little Gordon visible. TB5 is something of a milestone for me, I had the Matchbox die-cast figures in the 90s, but I've never had a TB5 model before. Very happy to have them both in my collection.

I'm on holiday at the moment and there's a white tiger statue, makes me think how much I would like a Masterpiece Tigatron!

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Rumours!!! Predacons, Dinobots, Terrorcons and Pretenders!!! Oh, yeah. The Dinobots are deluxes, possibly a combiner. Don't care about the combining, but I feel they should be the same size as the Titan class Predacons, though if I keep Predaking combined then I think that's fine. I think that leaves Scorponok as my one figure I really really want (I think he's becoming the Transformers equivalent of Kingpin in 3.75" form).

I think I'll have to go Takara for Abominus - he (along with Astrotrain for some reason), is one that I need anime colours on.

The other reveals (Pretenders), leave my Masterforce lineup looking pretty good, Seacons don't seem so crazy for a future wave, so along with Darkwing and Dreadwind, it's pretty much there (Minerva and a couple of Autobot Powermasters shy). The Headmasters lineup also has a few gaps still, but I'm optimistic we'll see the Autobot Targetmasters and Throttlebots eventually.

We could even see some of the Victory combiners out of the new molds which have been created. I don't think any of them would be first choice uses of a mold, but they could be clever uses a bit like Lio Kaiser was (would like Takara to have a crack at him with Leozack as the central robot). For Road Caesar, a yellow Lamborghini limb already exists, just need a couple of extra members. Landcross and Dinoking equally could be done with a bit of change to the formula (5 rather than 6 members, or use a legend as the sixth).

Seeing these leaks in this format, specifically where the later waves are holding pictures makes me think back to the Titans Return leak, and that the leaks for the later waves were also likely holder pictures. That would explain why almost of the rumours came true, but the ones that didn't were the later wave ones which were still under consideration (which kinda explains why Hasbro didn't make them public!). Several of the 'unreleased' figures are those that could easily be repaints of figures we did see (the Throttlebots for instance).

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I think 2018 is going to be an incredible year for all the geeky things I love - Black Panther, Avengers Infinity war (I can understand actually having listening to descriptions of the trailer shown why they are holding off a release until November after Thor 3), Ant-Man and the Wasp and the above Transformers releases.

Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I'm a bit of an Avengers EMH fan, so to see more of Black Panther and the introduction of Wasp will be brilliant.

I think in some ways it will be the pinnacle, yes there will be more MCU films, but Infinity War will be the culmination of ten years. I've invested a lot into these films, it's been absolutely amazing, but at some point the actors will leave. Some might be replaced, but RDJ will always be my Iron Man, Chris Evans and Hemsworth will always be Cap and Thor, in the same way that 90s cartoon X-men will always be my X-men. It coincided with a particular point of my life, I've not quite grown up with it but I have moved into the next phase of my life during it.

Similarly with Transformers, there are still loads of characters for them to do, but with the Dinobots, Predacons and Terrorcons they will have done all of my favourite characters. They'll be more, they'll redo some of the older figures, but I think Classics/Generations for me will wind down a little. It will be about filling gaps rather than a wholesale, I need every figure they're releasing because I haven't got a toy of that character (incidentally, that's where I think 3.75" Marvel figures are for me now - there are gaps, but it's pretty damn close to everything I want).

I could probably pick a reason why most years were significant, but 2008 was significant for me because I got into the 2006 Classics line late, but I was into the 2008 Universe line from the beginning - that's when my collecting really changed - I started collecting a mainstream line and so followed anything related to it.

I think this viewpoint could be setting myself up for disappointment, what if it's not as exciting as I hope? What about 2019? Things can't keep getting bigger and more exciting. Everything has to end eventually and I'm fine with that, it's been one hell of a ride. Toys and films are an important part of my life, that won't change.

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I've spent the last few days mulling over Victory combiners! Lio Kaiser is basically already there, guess you have to miss Jaraguar out, but replace Deszaras with Leozack, so either the Silverbolt mold or the new Starscream if it really has combiner ports. Could add Deathcobra is as well for fun. Landcross would also be easy to do, probably miss Waver out and make Wing the torso (again with Silverbolt or Starscream). Road Caesar's legs are easily done (see above) not quite sure about Blacker, the Hot Spot/Onslaught mold I guess. Dinoking from the new Dinobots and Terrorcons, probably missing Rairyu out. Done!

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Having just missed out on Trypticon last month I saw he was available again. I had the option of going to get him straight away, but thought better of it as I needed to get home early. A few days later I had the time and so went and got him, there he was sitting on the shelf waiting. In the event it made no difference, but I feel quite proud of for putting other people ahead of myself. I've got TRYPTICON now though, mwa ha ha ha!!! I was so excited when he got announced, Call of the Primatives is one of the episodes I had as a kid so to get a little bit closer to a modern complete version of that lineup is incredible. I'm waiting until next week to open so will let you know what I think!

Good times, bad times

I grew up watching X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman. As the cinematic universes have been built up around those franchises, it's Marvel, and specifically the MCU who have come out on top for me. I passed on Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, but I was talked into going to see Wonder Woman. I didn't really know anything about the character so it was all new to me. I really quite enjoyed it! I'm glad they changed her origin to be based around WWI rather than WW2, I guess it was partially to avoid copying Captain America, but I was glad not to have a film featuring Nazis for a change. I know BvS didn't get the best reviews, but I might have to check it out now.

Having said that, Marvel has really got me excited right now; trailers for Thor, Black Panther, Inhumans and the Defenders. All awesome, all different, on the back of an excellent Guardians film. Oh, and Spider Man looks pretty good as well, if a bit more traditional in the superhero film stakes! I'm hoping Inhumans finds a home in the UK, reminds me though that I need Crystal and Gorgon figures.

I saw Premium LK Grimlock in store today; I had thought I might upgrade my AOE orange figure to a more accurate metallic deco, but really, these prices are really starting to hit me. Part of it, I think, is that I'm no longer just buying things online without question and am instead waiting to see if they turn up in store. Buying individually, in person, really makes you think more about the money. I think my sense of the value of money is stuck in time and although I can afford the price increases, I'm increasingly finding it hard to stomach. I'm starting to take more of a relaxed approach to buying, I used to plan what I would get, now I wait and see if I see it, and then if I don't and I actually still really want it then I'll get it. Case in point, the W2 TR legends, I wouldn't mind having them, but at the moment I refuse to pay the online markup.

Masterpiece Sunstreaker looks awesome!!! With the interview came with him, Trailbreaker and Hoist were very strongly hinted at (they also want to make them different), I would definitely be in the market for a Trailbreaker. News has also just come out of a cassette based set with a Steeljaw recolour - very strongly hinting at Blaster. This all makes me very happy, after Megatron and Sunstreaker, Blaster was up there as one of my most wanted. I think this leaves Jazz, Galvatron and Beast Wars Megatron as the most glaring omissions from the line (and possibly some of the later leaders such as Fort Max and Scorponok, but they seem highly unlikely to me). Really hope that Takara can sort out the licensing for Jazz.

I think it's time for a new top 5 most wanted Masterpieces: Jazz, Mirage, Runabout and Runamuck (if they got the licenses for those two it would be amazing), and a toy accurate Shockwave (surely at least Hasbro Asia might do this?) would top my list. Happy if they finished off 1984 lineup though.

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Had some good luck and some bad luck; I wanted to get the TRU Black Panther Agent 13 set, but it's always been too expensive. By chance, I googled "Iron Man 3.75", and spotted a picture of the four figures (BP, A13, Cap and Iron Man) and upon clicking on it realised it was an eBay auction from Hong Kong selling the figures at a reasonable price. Yay!

I saw that 1 Trypticon was available at my nearest Smyths, so chipped off work early and headed there. Just as I was walking into the store I saw someone coming out carrying him. Ridiculous! If I'd been there 5 minutes earlier it would have been mine. I think I took it quite well though, I'd rather buy it in person than online but I might not get a choice.

Went to see Spider-Man! By the time I got there I was pretty excited, I think it delivered. Michael Keaton was brilliant, one of the best villains we've had. The high school element was absolutely pivotal and they didn't use Tony Stark too much. What felt really central to the plot was that he had choices at every stage, things didn't just happen to him. It also tied nicely to the rest of the MCU.

Mixed Bag

Earlier this month, I started thinking about getting Titans Return Fortress Maximus again. I've decided to wait and see what happens with Scorponok. I like the idea of Metroplex and Trypticon being the only Titans in my collection. If Scorponok was leader sized that would be perfect opposite Perfect Effect Warden, and alongside Overlord and Deszaras. Hope he comes along soon regardless!

Masterpiece Sunstreaker!!! Woo woo woo! Yep, had a little fist pump when I heard the news. I bought into MPs because I liked of having the Lamborghini bros together, so finally that has paid off. I'm so excited that I might even open Sideswipe...

I picked up a Titans Return Sixshot from the Forbidden Planet in London, very happy to have him, even at a slight premium. He looks very cartoon accurate, it's good to have the ninja consultant for the Decepticons in hand. Just need Horrorcons, Clones, Throttlebots and Autobot Targetmasters, and Headmasters is looking pretty complete!

Got a Swoop (Ptero) as well, I wasn't too fussed, but he's a solid little figure. As is Repugnus, who actually works really nicely at the smaller size, perhaps because he has such a distinctive look it still works. Need a Grotusque!

I had a random idea to pick up the action master characters that are (were) on the Lost Light in IDW land; just got Mainframe (who I'd love a modern figure of), Rollout and Powerflash! (An obscure Europe only release.) Not sure what I can say about them really, I think they're pretty cool. I like obscure, but I still need a reason to get them.

I've been working on a couple more customs - Gamora and Phyla-Vell. I wasn't happy with the single release Gamora, and I wanted a Phyla-Vell to complete my A:EMH guardians lineup. For some reason I've decided that they should be the one team in matching costumes (although the blues aren't strictly consistent), pretty happy with them! Incidentally, I realise that Drax and Gamora were both in the Silver Surfer 90s cartoon so if I decided to make my display cartoon only, they would still make the cut. (I haven't seen any of the latest cartoons.)

Whilst I've been painting them I've been catching up on Red Dwarf. It used to be a favourite of mine growing, up but after series 8, I gave up on it and so didn't watch the newer Dave only episodes. I recently realised the new series were available to watch online so gave 10 and 11 a go. They succeed in bringing back some of the old magic despite the long period of time that has passed. I think just having the core four cast members is a winning formula for it to work, despite my fondness for Holly and Kochanski.

Mattel Mattel Mattel. I collected Infinite Heroes, I collected 3.75" Multiverse. Both lines got cancelled. I collected their Thundercats line, which it seems Super 7 is not picking up. Now it also seems like the Megabloks TMNT are being cancelled as well, not cancelled so much as new products don't seem to be getting developed. I don't seem to have much luck with Mattel! Of course Hasbro have greatly slowed down on the 3.75" front, so perhaps it is a sign of the times that toys and in particular 80s nostalgia is slowing down as the generation who used to buy them buy houses, get married, have children and generally have less disposable income. Hope I can get all the Transformers I want before that slows down as well!

Speaking of which, I fancy putting down a top 10; I want toys of all the 1984-87 characters, that's kinda a given. So, I think it's more interesting to think about what other characters I want. From the Lost Light, I want Thunderclash and Mainframe. From IDW generally, I want Monstructor and Thunderwing. For a bit of Masterforce appreciation, I want Buster and Hydra (or Darkwing and Dreadwind), and Poseidon (Piranacon). I want Victory Saber (Star Saber would be a good start!)) and Deszaras. Finally a bit of Zone - Dai Atlas. Anything else is gravy, but those 10 (give or take the odd combiner) would make me very happy!

I have a craving for news, luckily SDCC is only a month away. I think it will be all about Transformers this year, presumably the reveal of W6 stuff. Not expecting much from my other interests, maybe some cool MCU stuff.

Getting old

After my quiet month I've had another bit of a blow out. I kicked things off with Marvel Select Groot. I saw some guys talking about it online and was mildly intrigued. I think it's the best comic Groot available, but I'm not sure about the Hulk hands and I prefer Groot to be in his Guardians costume. It's a nice solid figure though, much like the Hulkbuster figure I bought previously.

I bought a She-Hulk figure for a custom, which I think might just have stopped me buying anything from the US again. It really seems like packages from the US get targeted for duty, which is fine, but paying duty on the cost of shipping as well as the 'handling fee' really takes the piss. I'm pretty much caught up on figures I want for customs now though so it's not too much of a problem. Hello Europe, oh wait.....

A happier purchase was generations deluxe Warpath. I passed on the figure when it was released as I wasn't sure I wanted a deluxe minibot, and it seemed that the figure would get a Hardhead repaint which seemed like a good way of getting the mold. He's a great figure, very glad to finally pick him up as he's always seemed like a figure I missed out on. He was a favourite of mine as a kid so that adds to the charm. You'll notice how I managed that entire paragraph without using the word 'kapow'. Almost.

I bought the movie Doctor Stranges 2-pack from Amazon, partially because it was the cheapest way to get an astral Strange figure (which I just realised I needed), and partially so I could replace my existing Strange head with the movie one. I wanted to do that because my comic Strange has wonky eyes, and also because rather than collecting MCU figures I like to put movie heads on comic bodies. The eyes on the movie Strange weren't great either, but better at least and so he looks pretty good.

I also bought a Konami Firefly model, nice figure with amazing detail though I did manage to break one of the lights on it when taking them off the sprue which was a bit disappointing. Looks sweet with the mole, still thinking about whether to get a Thunderbird 4 to go with.

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My collecting has taken a bit of a backseat recently, mostly because of a lack of time but also because I've caught up on (almost) everything I want. With Marvel 3.75" really slowing down and Transformers being between waves and the rumour mill slowing down, it feels calm. After a bit of a hiatus I've starting working on some customs again so that's giving me something to focus on.

You will all keenly remember me buying some blank female Bossfight studios figures, it's time to reveal what I made them into: female ninjas from Mortal Kombat, Kitana, Mileena and Jade! (I did have to scalp a few Spider-Women....)

For all their multitude of sins, for me one of Jazwares greatest for me was their lack of any female characters. Particularly the female ninjas - they did the male ninjas, fair enough, but they also did the cyber ninjas. Surely the female ninjas are more important! Anyway, I have resolved to make the complete cast of MKI and MKII in 3.75" scale! (As it happens, I think the cyber ninjas are the best figures they did.)

I will mostly stick to the aesthetic from those games, but I will use my Jazwares figures as a starting point. I liked MK3, but the characters don't mean as much. Beyond Ultimate, I've never played another MK game. I note that they basically turned the female characters into strippers, I guess being a princess turned assassin turned fighter didn't pay very well for Kitana. Luckily for Peach, Daisy and Zelda, Nintendo still has the money to pay their princesses a decent salary.

Before I start ranting on about how Mileena still managed to be my favourite character as a teenager without being half naked, I bought Titanmasters Fangry and Lione on Amazon. £15 for the pair, which considering I haven't seen them available in the UK isn't bad. I am starting to feel I'm not getting value for money anymore though. That said, I really like Fangry and it's nice to complete the Decepticon Headmaster junior trio.

Moaning about over sexualisation of women and high prices?! Yep, I'm getting old.

Decade of Classics

I've had a very quiet month, not a cheap month since I've paid for Masterpiece Megatron (not received yet). Time for a bit of reflection...

It is now 10 years since I got into Classics, it and its various successors now constitute most of my toy collection. At the moment that's over 160 figures. What started me off on Classics was FunPub releasing pictures of Thundercracker, Dirge and Thrust. This combined with the Ramjet I'd seen in a shop was enough to convince me that it was time to get onboard.

I thought it would be quite timely to consider the figures' (including those from the 2007 Botcon, given its importance to me) impact on my collection now.

The lineup consisted of deluxes, some repainted Cybertron legends figures, packs of minions, a handful of voyagers, some convenient repaints and fairly random other figures. I'm going to ignore the Cybertron legends and randoms because I didn't buy them. I bought one pack of the minicons - the dinobots, on a trip so they have happy memories attached to them. I did later replace them with the G1 dinobot coloured repaints though (which included a Catilla figure from the Snarl in the predator pack). I don't think of them as Classics though so they sit with my Grimlock figures.

I bought the Grimlock, but quickly replaced him with the Henkei version as I liked the paint deco on the head. He is a homage to the Pretender version of the character so when the Fall of Cybertron figure was released he was also replaced. He now also sits on my Grimlock shelf. I also replaced Bumblebee with the Henkei version, who I then replaced with the Universe legends figure, who I then replaced with the iGear Beetle figure, who I then replaced with the Generations scout figure. (The iGear figure now sits with Universe legends Starscream and Jazz, and Henkei Grimlock as a pretender classics homage.) I also replaced Cliffjumper with his (legends) Henkei figure, and then similarly with his Generations figure.

I also bought and replaced Starscream with the Henkei version, who is still in my collection. I repainted the original into Sunstorm which I also still have. I held off buying Astrotrain because he was white and so got (and still have) the Henkei version.

Of the other deluxes; Mirage, Hot Rod, Ramjet, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Dirge and Thrust are still in my collection. I think the seekers should probably be voyager, but I really like the mold, especially the coneheads, and with owning Masterpiece Starscream, I'm happy that I've got at least one super detailed seeker figure. Hot Rod has his Reprolabels on and is holding his G1 targetmaster guns. Mirage has held up very well, so I've never really considered replacing any of them.

I bought Optimus Prime and despite buying an Age of Extinction 2-pack with a chromed redeco, I have stuck with it (I painted over the yellow paint apps though). With Megatron, I bought the Henkei version and again, despite buying Hegemon have stuck with it as my definitive Classics version of the character (chrome Prime and Hegemon were sold). I've kept my Ultra Magnus and Jetfire despite buying the newer leader versions, the difference being that Magnus has replaced his predecessor on the shelf, but Jetfire has not (I think of the leader as fitting more with my Masterpiece figures). I might display Magnus in a Dreamwave homage pose where he's breaking out of the armour so kept the voyager. I bought and sold the FansProject upgrade for Ultra Magnus, at the time it came out it was very exciting, but the headsculpt never really worked for me.

I bought (Walmart Energon repaint) Devastator some time after he was released, but sold him in favour of the Crazydevy upgraded G1 version. (I think Fansproject missed a trick on an upgrade kit for the Energon repaint.) The Crazydevy set-up was replaced by the Maketoys set and finally the Takara Combiner Wars set who is just awesome (like Jetfire I think of him as half Classics and half masterpiece).

From the Botcon box set I also got Bugbite and Dreadwind who I eventually both sold - I couldn't find a place for Bugbite to fit in and Dreadwind as a repaint of Jetfire didn't really work for me (hoping for a new version!).

Classics completely changed my collecting, if it hadn't have come along I think I would have stuck with G1, maybe until I had them all. Instead posability and sculpting became all important. I started paying attention to conventions to see what new figures were coming out, suddenly what was in the news was important! I still have several of the original figures in my collection and on display ten years later. They did well enough to get a continuation as Universe and went from strength to strength. What a line!

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Starscream as a character irritates me, whiney and back-stabbing. I accept him as a main iconic character, and so am willing to admit that no collection is complete without him. But bugger me, if I haven't accidentally bought a ridiculous amount of toys of him. Grimlock I actively buy toys of, Starscream, I just seem to acquire them!

Part of it is I think because of his altmode (and because Megatron and Soundwave have non-vehicle alt modes, which are dated or non modern toy friendly), Starscream has become the poster boy for the Decepticons. Robotmasters, Classics, WST and Masterpiece he was up there from the beginning. The other reason of course is because he has multiple easy repaints.

So I collect G1 reissues, Classics, WST and Masterpiece, so I should have 4 Starscream toys. I indeed have a Starscream from each of those lines, but then I have a custom bi-plane Starscream from Movie Rampage, I have a custom from a GI Joe Skystriker, I have a legends version to go with my Classics Grimlock to act as a Pretenders homage (with Bumblebee and Jazz). I did have a G1 black Starscream and a Kreo build once, but since have seen sense and sold them. I also have BWII Starscream, Starscrem if you will (technically a different character, but could have been a G2 release). I was all set to buy the Play With This Too homage. Now I'm also thinking of buying a ghost Starscream to go with my Beast Wars figures. I can't stop!

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Have got Masterpiece Megatron now, yeah, he looks amazing, but I think my appetite for expensive transformers is getting seriously diminished. Titans Trypticon and Scorponok, Masterpiece Shockwave (if they do a toy accurate one) and Blaster, then hopefully that should be it.

Spending spree

I've sold quite a lot of stuff on eBay recently and so have been able to go on a mini spending spree!

I bought the Cyclonus and his armada Platinum set. Very happy with this, I realise that I've slowly been applying my Marvel Universe army building philosophy to Transformers. I now have multiples of the Insecticons, Junkions and now Cyclonus and Scourge (the Sweeps). Actually you can Sharkticons to that list! I bought two online then having having checked five Asdas, eventually found one in person.

In those five trips I also found two Kickbacks, so am very happy to have a complete set of Insecticons. (Again - having sold my Fansproject Insecticons.) Kickback is another nice legends update to one of G1's smaller figures. I ordered W4 online so now also have another figure that I sold my Fansproject version of - Broadside. I really like this figure, he's the perfect mix of chunky and the thin panels needed to create the aircraft carrier mode. I'm half tempted to keep him in said mode and put with my WST.

I've also got my first Throttlebot - Chase, who I had as a kid. Really hope we can get all five. (Maybe all six, not sure with Goldbug whether I'm buying versions of the same character yet.) I now have Classics versions of just about every toy I had as a kid, not including dinobots or micromasters mind (I've included WST Slag in the photo for completeness, but failed because I forgot about poor Sludge). The mold is pretty good, won't be replacing my current Bumblebee with Chase's mold mate version. Happy for a couple more Throttlebots out of it though.

I haven't opened Brawn yet, will have to decide whether to replace my Henkei version when I do. I also bought the W4 Titanmasters so have Repugnus and Shuffler. I'm not opening them just yet though.

I found Maria Hill at a great price on eBay (from Asia). Think will have to paint her blue. I randomly decided that the three pack Fantastic 4 set version of the Thing is more A:EMH accurate so (re) bought that. Also bought the Konami Mole model as the modern version wasn't working for me. Fantastically well detailed. I need to get the Firefly now!

Finally, I got the Mega Construx Donatello battle pack. Wasn't interested in the rock soldiers, but great to complete the team. Shame his staff uses the purple rubber rather than the off white it should be, but the four together look great. Just need Splinter and the blimp! (I had big hopes for toy fair news, but Mattel seems to prefer just to release the toys rather than announce them.)

And time to ease to ease off the spending........

Photos of Misfire and Slugslinger have emerged from the Australian toy fair. Oh yeah! Now I am even more excited about the prospect of a Crosshairs repaint of Kup, and hopefully a Sureshot and Pointblank from somewhere.

I feel increasingly with Titans Return that there are some tough decisions to make - Perfect Effect Warden or Fortress Maximus? Updated Brawn and Seaspray? New Astrotrain, Blitzwing and Octane? What about Topspin and Twintwist? I have existing versions of those characters which I'm mostly very happy with. It would nice to have all three Decepticon triple changers as voyagers, but do I want them as headmasters? I really like my Mech Ideas jumpstarters.

I think cost money is the main factor here so for the most part I'm going to stick, but I think I will let chance come into it - if I see Blitzwing and Octane I might just update those guys. Astrotrain is a character where I much prefer the cartoon deco so would go Takara.

£2.50 worth of happy

I bought some more Bossfight studios figures, this time three female blanks - blue, purple and green. More details soon on what I plan to turn them into! Great figures though I don't think I need the nipples to be so prominent.

I caved in and bought Zelda from the World of Nintendo line. Not much in the way of posability but a nice figure. Need a Ganondorf to go with!

I finally got round to buying the four mini micromaster bases to create the zone base (from Zone funnily enough). I had the garage set as a kid so it's nice to have it again. Am going to make a little city on my desk!

So I thought I would hit up an out of town supermarket on the way home. It was a bit of an epic trip, walking down country lanes, no pavement in the pouring rain with darkness setting in. I had hoped to find some W3 Transformers Legends, sadly nothing doing. I did find Power Rangers Mega Construx (nee Bloks) blind packed figures, with a white ranger right in the middle of the picture on the front! This is remarkable for a couple of reasons, I don't think I've ever gone to a shop and found something I didn't even know existed that I wanted (since I was a kid at least). Secondly, I really wanted a white ranger to go with the other six rangers I already had (from the 20th anniversary set).

I was feeling lucky, so grabbed a bag and bought it. I got a green ranger, close but not quite there. On the way home it occurred to me to find the codes for the white ranger online. I duly found (two sets of) the codes and decided to go back the next day. On the bus I checked the code of the green ranger I already had, no match. The UK had yet again another set. I realised I would have to delve into the dark art of bag feeling. I found something I thought was the white rangers sabre and so started to walk to the checkout. Then something clicked, I might have the putty patrol figure. I went back and resumed my feeling (in retrospect I did have the putty patrol).

The red ranger and Lord Zedd both have long stick like weapons, pink ranger and the putty patrol have semi-circular weapons. Green and white ranger both have short stick like weapons. I sorted through several bags, and using the green ranger code that I already knew, eventually found something which a short stick like weapon with a different code to the one I already had. I bought it.

Success! Rarely has a £2.50 item made me so happy, I walked towards work back down the country lanes. It was a bit misty but a clear sky day, the sun was just coming up. Everything seemed right with the world! I had a little read online about bag feeling, there's guides to several of the different Lego series. It was quite an interesting look at a fandom I don't know much about. With transformers we discuss the ethics of third party figures and KOs. With Lego they talk about the ethics of bag feeling, but particularly where the person is army building or re-selling the identified figures (so depriving other people a chance at those figures). I feel that my identifying one figure was fine.

I'm not sure if it's just that I am easily satisfied, but online no one else seemed very happy with the new figures. I think the white ranger is the nicest figure in the wave (nice gold decals), so maybe that helps. I agree in comparison to the TMNT figures they are under articulated, but they are consistent with the ones I already had. I now have a complete set of rangers, this makes me happy! Incidentally, the green ranger I already had is much better than the new one, it has the dragon shield and is a nicer shade of green.

In other news, I've re-bought Universe Countdown. Partially I think because of his appearance(s) in IDW as a full size transformer, but also because I've watched Zone, he's fair game for my Classics collection. There are now a handful of toys I've bought, sold and then re-bought, Botcon Razorclaw, Generations Drift and now Universe Countdown. (Razorclaw being a particularly ridiculous example because I then sold him for a second time!) I really like the Cybertron Defense figures so it's good to have a representative in my collection again.

Toy Fair is finally here! Was really excited about the potential Transformers Marvel Legends 3.75", Mega Construx Turtles and maybe, just maybe some Super 7 Thundercats news. This feels a little bit like deja vu from SDCC (or maybe NYCC, feels pretty familiar anyway!).....

So Trypticon and Overlord look great, can't wait for them, but we did know about them before. Transformers wise, I think Pounce and Fastlane are the only other two I want. Metalhawk and Nautica look interesting, but given they're in box sets I'm not sure I'll go for them. Hopefully Takara will do something with all four clones. That was it, nothing else to get excited about. Booooooo!

Takara did partially redeem the weekend though, Masterpiece Dinobot! Oh yeah. I'll start waiting for SDCC then.

Happy New Year!

Transformers Classics started off as 1984/85 characters with some fan favourites from later years (Hot Rod and Ultra Magnus). As Classics turned into Universe and then Generations it became 1984/85/86 with fan favourites from later years. With Titans Return it's become 1984/5/6/7. With the sole exception of Scoop all other later characters have been some what opportunistic repaints. So will they extend it to 1988? I really don't think so, they'll have done Overlord and God Ginrai (whom I have just got, looks great, can't wait for God Bomber), I don't think there's enough interest for those characters (those characters being Pretenders), they will do some of the double Targetmasters (e.g. Quake) and headmaster juniors when they're convenient repaints, but otherwise it's time for the beasts. That said, I didn't think they'd do the 1987 characters, we're getting figures I never thought I'd see! There's a sense of no figure is off the cards and that's exciting.

I bought an Avengers Assemble Falcon as I wanted a more modern costume for him (read, more EMH). He's quite chunky, and I think I might get rid of the stripes he has, but it's amazing how good the Avengers Assemble line was in retrospect - I've also a Leader, Black Widow and Iron Man from the line. I've popped a movie Falcon head onto the figure (I was going to use it for another custom, but it didn't fit).

I finally got round to opening my Titans Return Galvatron, he's a decent size, great sculpt, but yep, severely let down by the headmaster gimmick. So unnecessary, so will look into a Shapeways upgrade for him.

I got my Panthro, great sculpt. He looks amazing with Lion-O and the twins. A few rumours are emerging about a deal by Super 7 to get the Thundercats license. Super hopeful that they put out the remaining Thundercats. (And for other collectors' sake, mutants.)

Photos have come out of wave 4 of Titans Return, Broadside, Quake and Chase look great, just hope I can get them!

I've been quite prolific with customs over Christmas (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year by the way!), I've completed Odin, given Hydro-Man his classic look, given Iron Man a bit more paint and given Black Panther an EMH makeover (the sculpt is perfect for it). I've also completed Toad, Pyro and Avalanche. They still need a bit of work (Pyro needs his flamethrower backpack for instance), but fairly happy. Going to take a bit of a break now to sort a few things I've been putting off out (like publishing this blog!).

Real quirky

I've preordered Masterpiece Cheetor, I realised that I have a soft spot for big cats and the Universe figure is just plain shocking. I'm not getting Optimus Primal just yet as I like having the original Ultra figure in the same class as Lio and Big Convoy as well as Megatron. I'd happily get a Tigatron repaint though and would be over the moon if they do a Dinobot (surely?!). My Beast Wars collection is now going to be an even more eclectic mix of toy lines.

Photos and preorders have popped up for God Bomber, wow! Looks amazing, I stuck in a preorder as soon as I could. The combined God Ginrai looks stunning, just need an Overlord to go with!

I've completed a couple of further customs, comic style Malekith and Mephisto. Both use Vortious heads. I'm pretty happy with them, I can now display my SDCC Casket of Eternal Winters with Malekith.

I picked up a cheap MCU Falcon from Amazon, I've given the goggled head to comic Falcon for my comic figures with movie heads line up. I've got plans for the regular head.....

Mega Bloks are putting out a few new interesting classic Turtles and Power Ranger sets. Great to get a cartoon Donatello to go with the other three, just a shame it's not a set with a blimp! The Rangers sets are interesting, a few of the individual MMPR Zords, I'll be keeping an eye on what they do. If they do a white ranger set then I'll be very happy.

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I've been thinking about my spending habits (not for the first time), about half of the stuff I buy is planned: I want a Masterpiece Megatron, they announce one, I put in a preorder and then will buy it when it's released. The other stuff is as the result of for the want of a better word, ideas. I think these 'ideas' can grouped into three categories.

Firstly products, something is announced or rumoured or sometimes I see something in a shop that I want. That in turn makes me want something which has been around for a while, for instance, I passed on Masterpiece for many years, but Sideswipe, Bumblebee and Soundwave won me over. I then bought Optimus Prime and Starscream. The same thing happened with Classics and WST. When Spider-Man Noir was announced I sought out Spider-Man 2099 and Miles Morales Spider-Man to complete the set.

Secondly, thinking about my collection, I sometimes spot 'gaps'. I planned out a load of Marvel customs, then something made me think 'what about DC?', so I planned a load of Batman villains and accordingly bought the base figures. Thinking about my WST collection I have displayed on Metroplex, I thought wouldn't it be cool to have the four scramble city leaders to go with (Silverbolt and co.) as they were designed to all work together.

Thirdly is media inspiration, after watching Beast Wars I decided I needed some more Beast Wars figures, after reading MTMTE I decided I needed a Lost Light shelf (not everything results in buying stuff, sometimes it's just rearranging what I already have). But cartoons, films and comics ultimately are the inspiration behind almost everything I buy.

So this tends to happen with my 3.75" figures more than Transformers, mainly I think of a new custom figure, or identify a better base figure to use and so my 'want' list never quite goes away. The million dollar question is what next? I always think that's it, then something happens to make me want (need?) something else. I think identifying new things to buy is what keeps my enthusiasm going.

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The Entertainer got Wave 3 deluxes in and are selling them for £13.33! Fantastic, I picked up Getaway, Doublecross and Triggerhappy. It really struck me with this wave that deluxes have started getting a bit smaller again. Getaway is just a repaint of Chromedome, so no real surprises, but he doesn't seem quite as plain in person as in pictures. Doublecross and Triggerhappy both have great transformations, intuitive, not too simple and fun. Doublecross does a great job of hiding his beast arms and legs in robot mode. I had G1 Triggerhappy as a kid so initially was a bit disappointed that his transformation is different (the nose of the plane no longer just becomes his chest), but you can still use his vehicle guns in robot mode which makes me happy (perfect if you lose the targetmaster!). So all round, very happy. I'm really enjoying Titans Return so far.

There are several Beast Wars figures I want but am holding off because I hope they might get updates. A couple of the figures are Japanese Beast Wars II, so no chance of an update. I had a look on eBay to see what they were gong for. One figure I'd forgotten about was the Tako Tank, as every time I'd ever looked for it previously it was going for well over £100. I was very surprised to find one going for a third of that. Absolutely no accessories, packaging or Ikard, but for me absolutely perfect. He turned up super quick and it's a bit bigger than I was expecting, but it's awesome! A real quirky toy for sure.