Huge and green

Have finally bought Multiple Man, I’ve been fairly restrained, but his price seems to be creeping up so thought was time to grab him. Guess other people are also looking to complete X-Factor. He’s the first member of the team I’ve got. Unfortunately I've also got what will hopefully be my last sizeable eBay invoice for a while, damn those blood sucking bastards..... I was probably a bit premature buying Multiple Man but hopefully I can find the money for everything I've preordered.

So the Mark IV turned up, he’s a knock off but some mold flash aside, he’s fine. I guess they might well do the Mark V soon. I was expecting the hips to be god awful, but man, the hips are god awful! He really can’t stand in anyway that doesn't look like he's got a stick up his arse or sticking his butt out. Luckily he came with a display stand!

I fancy putting down a top 10. I want many Legends but a classic Doctor Strange tops the list. Followed by classic Ms. Marvel, Falcon and Red Skull. That would complete a few teams as well as giving me all of the 'main' villains. Falcon seems quite likely given the release of Vulture and the upcoming Disney plus series. Transformers wise, Scorponok tops the list, followed by Victory Saber and Deszaras (complete the G1 leaders) and Thunderclash (because IDW). Surely it is Scorponok's time?! Finally (finally), I want Tygra and Cheetara to complete my Thundercats. I want a Snarf as well but since that would be 11, he can be an accessory for Cheetara. Come on Super 7!

This 10 wants feels a bit different to previous lists, if I had these then what feel like the major gaps would be filled. I previously said that I would have a break from collecting Legends. I am thinking about a break from collecting generally. With Legends, really I just want Dr. Strange, I will make do with the black costume one. With Transformers, it’s about Scorponok. So a really key thing is whether he’s the Titan for next year. The other key thing is what’s happening with Thundercats. I think the end of February (Toy Fair really), will be my cut off for any news. If they announce anything before then then it’s fair game. If not, I won’t hear about it. I realise I'm checking online retailers just in case I miss a preorder, things like Ratchet and Reflector go so quickly. I don't need the stress.

I will continue to listen to podcasts and I'll continue to blog, but I want to stop going to websites and clicking refresh constantly in the hopes of some news. I want to stop making lists of all the things I want to get or wish for. Most importantly I want to stop wishing my life away - I just need this one thing to be happy and complete. I will check back in again at some point but hopefully with my priorities in life a bit clearer.

I've got 80th anniversary Hulk. He is huge, he really towers over the Thing. The headsculpt is amazing. I'm not sure whether the old KO movie Hulk I had was fading, but wow, this thing is bright bright green, it really pops. He has a bit of scuffed paint on his chest, but the quality on the figures is just astounding. He makes a nice centre piece to my A:EMH collection since none of the others are green and are all colours that go well with it. I wonder if such high quality figures had been available in 2009 I might have made a different decision about collecting 3.75". The figures now are statue quality. Very happy to have the figure.

The X-Men wave has finally come in! Beast, Gambit, Jubilee and Forge. That’s three new X-Men and another member of X-Factor. I always liked the 3.75” Beast so despite being the most important, he’s possibly the least exciting. Getting a decent Gambit is great, and getting a properly 90’s Jubilee is really cool, despite her being the annoying one in the cartoon. Getting a Forge seems like a big deal since he never got a 3.75” figure, but if I could only have nine Legends figures, the other three would be in it. Getting a complete set of 90’s cartoon X-Men is one of my collecting goals, and I’m a third of the way closer now!

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More Thundercats! Well, more of the same Thundercats. Actually it suits me as I'm not ready to put down multiples of $45 plus shipping before September. It's all I wanted - a bit of hope that Tygra and Cheetara might be on their way!

I feel that my collecting goals have focused somewhat - I want a set of Thundercats, Turtles, Power Rangers and X-Men in the same scale. Unfortunate they’re all happening at the same time.

Time for a break?

After SDCC it feels like it's going to be an expensive end to the year - four X-Men Legends sets, one Iron Man set, various singles, some Transformers and probably some Turtles. I've been trying to convince myself that I don't need to collect the (90's cartoon) Sinister Six. I have Doc Ock, but need/want Rhino, Shocker, Chameleon, Mysterio and Scorpion. I like the figures of all of those characters except Chameleon (I want a cartoon version!). Mysterio and Scorpion both have little details that I'm not so keen on, that could easily be rectified with a little paint but really don't want to have to do that. Add to that they're mostly all really expensive now and I have very nice 3.75" versions of them which is perfect considering they are mostly minor villains. I accept the same argument for the Masters of Evil (though to be fair Skurge and Crimson Dynamo don't even have modern 6" figures), so need to extend it to the Six. (If I did decide I want them it would be a long time before I could find the money.)

X-Factor has (will have) a strange status in my Legends collection, in that it’s only there because I don’t have those characters (Quicksilver is the sole exception, probably because he's the most important) and costumes in 3.75”. The Masters and Six are not either of those and I have them in 3.75”, need to try and remember that. The Brotherhood would be the same, if they decide to release them.

I am thinking about putting a limit on my Legends collecting, a break really. End of February next year then that’s it, anything that hasn’t gone up for preorder before that date I won’t be getting. The end of February would be 18 months. I’ve realised that Legends collecting is somewhat stressful - the prices increase quickly, figures are released all at the same time. Transformers isn’t like that (though that might be because I've focused so much on Legends), my collecting Transformers is much calmer and controlled because I already have the vast majority of what I want and so it’s just (mostly), the odd figure here and there. With Legends (with any luck) I will have a complete X-Men and Avengers team (TAS and A:EMH), that’s all I need. I will see what happens at Toy Fair but I think putting a line under it would be good. If they haven’t released a classic Doctor Strange by then I will get the black costume version. I think I will also work out how much I’ve spent, always a sobering exercise!

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I’ve gone almost a month since getting anything new, I’m getting withdrawal symptoms. That might motivate me to get on with some customs. I have however paid for Legends Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, so it shouldn’t be too much longer. Except Iron Man they are the 80th anniversary versions so look absolutely incredible. Iron Man is the Mark IV from Iron Man 2. He looks good (I like it more than the Mark VI), and it’s the design used for Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The only issue really is articulation and size (similarly to the Mark I War Machine), but for display, if I use a stand its lack of height should not be so obvious. When they all arrive it will be my A: EMH lineup finished, a milestone worth celebrating! I wouldn’t mind getting a classic Ms. Marvel, but I'm not so concerned about the Season 2 lineup, there are also some costume changes (particularly Ant-Man/Yellowjacket), so it would be more than that if I wanted to go all out.

I’ve also popped in a preorder for Colossus and Juggernaut - I’ve sold a couple of bits so have got a bit more money to play with and I reckon it’s not a set I want to try and pick up in a few months time - I’m guessing it’s quite a weighty set!  I saw a photo online of someone who had replaced the 6” figures with the 3.75” ones. They were really good figures! Anyway, I’m committed now, it will also mean I will have all of the X-Men I want by the end of the year. Whoop.

I have now run out of things to sell, which means I have to be a bit more careful with my spending (I was already being pretty careful) - most of my Legends spending has been funded by selling, but it feels good to have cleared all of that stuff out. In a few cases I was fairly ruthless - the moment a new figure was announced or even hinted at, selling the old version. I've simplified how I think about my collection, I've stopped collecting Masterpiece (just keeping an eye on it at the moment). I've decided not to sell any of my Transformers reissues, and I've got rid of a couple of bits of G1 where the modern version is much better (the Terrorcons for instance), I’m keeping most of them though, they’re what started me off in the first place.

I see preorders are up for Bossfight studios ‘steeds’, would be great to get a ride for Valkyrie and Black Knight, but with shipping and customs it’s going to be almost £70 for each. Definitely haven’t got that sort of spare money sitting round, but they’re one of those weird things that really appeals to me. One day!

Updated versions of all three Powerdashers have been revealed, not quite sure whether I care! I do like the diaclone looking heads, and I haven't got of the weaponisers. I am also keen to get the Omnibots, it would be nice to really complete the 1984/85 lineup (rather than just the cartoon lineup). So many good things being released, I’ve not even mentioned Unicron... Will see how I’m going getting those Legends/Turtles sets.