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!