Damn near perfect

I’m trying to reduce the amount of stuff I buy. Looking at my patterns of spending, it tends to be months where I buy stuff I hadn’t planned to buy where I spend a lot. Specifically, stuff from eBay, stuff which is more expensive than when it was available at retail. I think buying stuff from eBay is the symptom not the problem. When Toy Fair and various comic cons happen they announce toys. I need to get better at working out what I want at that point. That means not ignoring that little voice at the back of my head (‘that looks cool’). But principally, is there anything which if released might change my view on that item?

Legends Rogue was released in 2016, in an ideal world I would have asked myself ‘what if they release all of the 90’s X-Men?’. It’s not easy, but it’s the way to save money in the long run. (As it happens I only paid double for her compared to the quadruple she’s now going for.) It takes a bit of imagination, but worth it. I’m now trying to work out whether the future MCU films might change my view on what I want - difficult when they haven’t been announced.

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I went to see Endgame again! First time I’ve seen a film twice since (weirdly), Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I was becoming a bit obsessed so it could only help, and I think it has. There’s a bit of an RDJ voiceover at the end, it should be a celebration, and it’s true, it should be. We can’t live the same lives forever, things always have to change. I was driving this morning and it just occurred to me that all of the changes in my life over the 11 years of the MCU seem a bit unlikely, I can’t quite believe they’ve happened. So Endgame, my favourite film ever, it’s the end of the journey. But if I can get a little display of Marvel Legends Mark 85 Iron Man, Mark VI War Machine, Rescue and Iron Spider then that would be a sweet way to mark that end.

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My excitement for X-Men Marvel Legends is building, still waiting for Beast, Gambit, Jubilee and Forge, as well as really looking forward to Nightcrawler, Storm and Mister Sinister. Hopefully a preorder for Colossus and Juggernaut will pop up soon, and I will be able to put in an order for Magneto, and then wow! Almost all of the X-Men!

I saw a new picture of the 80th anniversary Cap, and that headsculpt is spot on. I thought the same when I first saw it, but when trying to prioritise everything, decided replacing my vintage wave Cap was not needed. Sadly, I think it is. Part of my thinking, is how dark the blue is. In both the 90s Spider-Man cartoon and Avengers: EMH, Spider-Man is a darker blue than Captain America (in A: EMH Spider-Man is almost in black). My current setup is the vintage wave figures which reflects the 90's cartoon very well (Cap being almost sky blue). But, in A: EMH, Cap's costume is closer to the 80th anniversary figure, as well as it having sculpted scales and an infinitely better headsculpt(s). In this new photo, the blue does not look so dark, but regardless, I've decided the comparison between the two is less important than each character matching their respective (main) series they are in.

I've said on many occasions that I'm not going to customise my Legends figures, nor buy any with the dodgy leg swivel joint. I'm going to make an exception for Wasp. The (TAS) X-Men are the key focus of my collection. Spider-Man comes in very close after that. Then it's the (A:EMH) Avengers, with the Fantastic 4 bringing up the rear. Those 22 characters need to be perfect, and I think popping the vintage line Wasp headsculpt on the older modern figure is the way to achieve that. Along with the 80th Cap (and the new Hulk and Thor) I will have a perfect Avengers lineup. (And with good a new Jean Grey, all 22 will be damn near perfect.)

I've just received the new Hasbro MMPR White Ranger. I previously had the Figuarts figure which looked great with its pearlescent paint, but was a strange size compared to most of my toys, plus it always seemed a bit smooth - the legs particularly, no muscle definition, nor any evidence of it being fabric. I think also though, I've always had a slightly issue with high end toys. I can't quite explain it, they look great certainly but the unease they give me really takes away the enjoyment. Figuarts aren't that expensive, but more than £20 Legends figures (which is what this is, just with a different license). So he looks great, glad to have a DJF head for the classic helmet tucked under the arm look. Bring on the green ranger! (As a random aside I realise I don't have many white figures, need Storm!)

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I've had a trip to London and visited my place of worship (Forbidden Planet). I love the place, I normally do buy something, but thought if anything it might have been a Siege Prowl. Nothing doing in that department, but it was amazing how many things they had which I bought online for a bit extra - they had a fine selection of Legends (including Forge who I've got a preorder for). They had the Hulkbuster set as well all of the second wave of Vintage figures, including Vision who I paid a bit more for, but they also had Wasp. For a good price (£15.99), so yep, I bought her. She looks great! Wasp now has a very special status - the only Legends figure I've customised. And I think, the only figure I ever will.

Another set I saw in FP was Siege Laserbeak and Ravage, but I had already ordered it from Amazon last week. It's the only set from the line I've bought which is smaller than Deluxe, but given I have Soundwave and collect Ravages, it was needed. I think there's a general trend that Laserbeaks are better than Ravages, and this is no different. This won’t be my ‘classics’ Laserbeak or Ravage it's a bit small, but it’s a fine set.

Opening stuff

I have opened stuff! And looked at stuff, and done some stuff. I have no more stuff to open. I've had 30th anniversary Jetfire sitting in a cupboard for several years now, so I opened him. Time has not been so kind to Classics Jetfire, and so figured it was to time to make the switch. Despite being in a cupboard he has already started to yellow slightly (remarkably the chrome in still in tact). He's a fine figure and I have no plans to replace him with the new Siege version.

I had a bit of a play with Legends Fortress Maximus, popped his noggin on and everything. Wow, he is a good looking figure, I can't quite believe I almost passed on him. I would prefer a green chest door though (it's only a hundred odd quid for a Hasbro version so I'll probably just pick one of those up........).

I also opened Legends Dai Atlas. My first impressions weren't great, the head didn't seem to want to pop on, the waist was a bit wobbly and of course, the distinct lack of calves. He has warmed on me though, the blue, orange and white is rather nice (is he Dutch I wonder?), and he comes with two rather good deluxes. I will need the Shockwave Lab filler pieces though.

So all in all, I've been appreciating the figures I have, as well as Jetfire, Fortress and Dai Atlas, Soundwave and the Hulkbuster have spent the day on my desk.

I have a sense that if I could just make it to the end of the year my finances will be okay. There's a phenomenal amount of Marvel Legends coming out at the moment, but once I've got the figures I want (and this is true for Transformers as well), there's not many more characters I want. It seems pretty unlikely they'd put everything I want out in one year, so surely next year will be easier to manage? There is of course a reasonable chance of a scorpion themed Titan that I might be interested in, but other than that, not too many large purchases? I know I sound like a broken record but if I can avoid finding any other lines to be become invested in then surely the spending goes down.

At the same time I'm wondering what will happen with the MCU, it sounds like there will be an announcement at SDCC. From the rumours though, I'm not sure whether I will be interested in Shang-Chi and the Eternals. (Fin Fang Foom as a villain would be incredible though.) Mind you, I wasn't interested in Guardians and I was pretty wrong about that - I think it's the only MCU film I haven't seen at the cinema.

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I’ve just had another fairly horrific invoice from eBay, really feels like they’re out to cripple the little man! It’s an extra incentive to make sure I know what I want ahead of release. Avoid buying there if possible, but also selling. For low value items, it’s really not worth it and I’m almost only selling them so they don’t go in a bin, particularly BAF parts which can’t go to a charity shop. Sadly it is the only realistic way to recoup so of the value of items you don’t want any more, but ouch!!!

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I have been changing the way to I organise my collection, but mostly how I think about it rather than any physical change. For example, there are a good number of figures I bought for my Marvel 3.75" collection, which can do double service for my 6" collection. Ant-Man and the Wasp are good examples, but also Galactus, Sentinels, Fin Fang Foom, Dormammu, Apocalypse, Mojo and MODOK.

This is especially true for my Transformers. For about the last 10 years I've thought of my collection as being several distinct collections - G1 reissues, G1 primatives (animal based transformers), Classics, WST, Masterpiece, Grimlocks and Ravages (G+R), Beast Wars and G1 leaders/citybots. I don't have original Dinobot, Cheetor, Rhinox, Waspinator and Rattrap figures - I use the Universe/Generations versions, so really Beast Wars is a subset of Classics rather than a separate group. The G+R group is comprised of G1, Classics, WST, Masterpiece and Beast Wars so those figures have always done double duty.

Beyond that, more recently. I was collecting Masterpiece figures of the 1984 cast. However, I don't like the new cartoon orientated direction, so I got rid of Ironhide, Ratchet and Sunstreaker. The remaining characters I realised were almost all in my reissues (apart from Wheeljack). And so although I don't have them on display, I merged the collections. If I ever have the space I will have the reissue in altmode with the Masterpiece in robot mode next to it. I might pick up the toy accurate Megatron, and I will consider any future figures, but otherwise I'm very happy with how I've got it organised now. (I'm going to display Wheeljack with Perceptor.)

I've now taken this idea further and got rid of some of my G1 primatives on the basis that Classics has provided better versions of those characters. Mostly I have kept the G1 figures, but the Terrorcons?! They're not good, the Power of the Primes figures on the other hand are. The Seacons similarly, we should be getting updated figures soon. (I also have the BWII versions so don't really need two sets.) Trypticon is another one, the Titan figure works perfectly with my Primatives, but the G1 figure is now part of my WST collection (recreating the 1986 box art) so is still needed. I've got the G1 Countdown and Skystalker plus the four smaller micromaster sets as part of my WST setup, I got rid of G1 Omega Supreme as he didn't quite fit in.

I started to arrange my collection in this cross-line way with my collection of G1 leaders - apart from Dai Atlas I had every leader (Optimus, Rodimus, Fortress, Ginrai, Star Saber, Megatron, Galvatron, Scorponok, Overlord and Deszaras). I slowly sold them off. Optimus and Megatron are reissues (see above), Scorponok and Deszaras are Primatives (though I think I'd keep them anyway, especially as Scorponok was donated by a mate). Ginrai is the Powermaster Prime toy from my childhood (with God Bomber armour), so I'm not getting rid of that, Fortress is the biggest (heaviest) transformer ever, I can't quite part with him. I got rid of the rest, but I'm hoping that we get a Classics Star Saber and I will be able to put the collection back together (I have Titans Return Galvatron and Overlord). Even better if we get Scorponok so I can have a completely modern incarnation, more compete than before with Dai Atlas.

I suppose the upshot of all of this is that I'm moving towards a collection where I get what I want, and starting to move away from getting figures because they complete something. I think a collection is a series of ever evolving ideas, with sub-collections that overlap, but sometimes there are stand alone figures, just because they're amazing.

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Mystique has arrived! Really wish I'd made a decision to buy her when preorders were still available, but she's here now and didn't cost too much. At the same time, Storm has been announced for the vintage X-Men line! Yessssss!!! (I've cancelled my plans to do a custom 3.75" figure.) But once again, it's with a release date of August, oh dear good god. Hasbro wants me properly bankrupt before the Summer's out (I suspect eBay might be in on it as well). Back to Mystique, she looks great (I kinda knew she would). I am getting into some serious X-Men nostalgia now which is strange given my preoccupation with all things Avengers over the last few years.

I think I've drawn the line, I'm not getting Psylocke (again), and I don't want to get the rumoured Havok and Polaris. I wouldn't get a Banshee either. I think they're the only characters who are anywhere near consideration. I would like a 3.75" Banshee and Polaris and have given some thought to customs, but for 6", aside from First Class (the film), they are (mostly) just cameo characters in the various cartoons. Villain wise, Omega Red, Silver Samurai and Sauron are all tempting (especially Sauron - I've got a 3.75" custom planned). But I don't think they're important enough, they're mostly one episode characters, rather than reoccurring. Finally, the Brotherhood, I've decided against getting characters who are in villain teams, but not much of a credible threat by themselves, so will pass on them as well (if they get made). It's harder to pass on characters when they don't have 3.75" figures, I have made customs of the Brotherhood though.

This leaves me needing (badly!) Jean Grey. And maybe Emma Frost (similarly to Storm, only in her white costume). I can't remember if I said but I have some 'rules' around Legends. Ball jointed/thigh swivel legs only. And no customising. Actually as I wrote that I remember stating Iron Man was an exception, so I did say it. I'm going to pass on Iceman for the time being, partly because of money, but also I prefer him a bit more blue, and I quite like the spiky hair look. I wouldn’t mind a non-powered up version mind. But wow, a couple more sets this year and my X-Men lineup will be very close to finished. Storm, yay!

Dammit!!!

I ordered blue Swoop. Dammit. I blame Hasbro, though I can understand why they’ve gone with a bog standard grey plastic rather than silver if they’re not making all of the Dinobots. But you expect better for a premium release.

Well, even if they had used the proper silver plastic it’s still nice to be able to keep the gold beak to match the Dreamwave Dinobot poster (which I have in my study).

Start again on giving up the eBay addiction...... Actually buying a second version of a character is something I'm desperately trying not to get into with Marvel Legends, turning figures into £40 figures is not a good idea if you can help it. With Marvel Universe it was part of the fun. Swoop though, is a Dinobot and therefore I have to have the best version possible.

Transformers is generally somewhere between Marvel Universe and Legends. I have been eyeing up the United version of Grapple for ages, generally I’m all about the toy accuracy, but for some reason the cartoon yellow/orange head appeals. I’d like a green chest for Fortress Maximus, but for both of those characters I can’t justify the cost, Swoop I can.

I opened up Professor X. I am very hyped about Legends X-Men figures now - the inner packaging has a picture of the 90’s cartoon team. If that’s not a hint about Jean Grey and Storm then I don’t know what is! Becoming hyped about X-Men I have reconsidered which characters I need. I am happy with my actual X-Men lineup, but doing some thinking around the villains, have concluded I need Mystique. I want a Brotherhood lineup, given I have (or will have) Magneto, Juggernaut and Sabretooth, I feel Mystique is a good addition since she’s a credible threat by herself, has appeared in most X-Men films and cartoons and is a rare female villain. I’m now banging my head against the table again as I consider eBay again. Dammit.

What about (white) Emma Frost? I’m going to add her as she was a main character in Wolverine and the X-Men, and Mister Sinister as well since he was the other key villain in the 90’s cartoon (as it happens the preorders have just popped up for him and Nightcrawler - yay!). I saw a rumour for Havok and Polaris Legends figures, for a moment I was sold. I then thought about my X-Men collection, I'm very happy with it. Those two characters have never been X-Men in anything I've seen or read, or in fact been of any importance.

I'm a bit torn generally on villain teams comprised of relatively less important characters - the regular Brotherhood, Sinister 6 and the Masters of Evil. I started investigating, but the prices for the Sinister 6 are incredible. I am happy with the characters I've already selected cover all of the key villains in the 90’s Spider-Man and X-Men cartoons as well as Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Really hope I don't revisit this decision. I have randomly added Dracula though, if they did a long hair armoured version of him, like Avengers Assemble, I would be unable to resist. Have to be honest with myself!

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Here's Swoop, looking good!