Spending spree

In my spending spree I re-bought movie 3.75" War Machine and Mark IV Iron Man. I already have them, but War Machine was the one from China-bay with no helmet or weapons. My Mark IV was missing a shoulder piece. I've bought them both carded. I wanted perfect versions of both as they're the versions which served as the inspiration for Avengers: EMH, they are pretty much there but both have a few scratches and chips straight off of the card. I also briefly investigated the Revolmini versions of WM and the Mark VI. Apparently they’re amazing, but expensive now, and for Iron Man, the wrong armour.

I also re-bought the Legends Mark 42 - I previously had the KO. I was in two minds whether I needed the official version of an armour from a film I’m not that bothered about, but I'm glad I did - the gold is lighter, the sculpt a bit more defined and the red plastic is shinier. (Actually, it’s pretty comparable on the torso, but the KO head and limbs are very dull.) Oh, and the armour on the hands doesn't fall off. All quite subtle in a photo, but it looks considerably better in person. Also bought Arnim Zola for my 3.75” collection (though he can do double duty), I have officially given up on my custom. It’s all about A:EMH, though I’d like it he turned up in the MCU again.

I also bought Cyberverse Grimlock, I was hoping I might see it in person but gave up and bought it on Amazon.

And a Jigglypuff for my Smash Bros. collection - would really like a Captain Falcon from World of Nintendo but it doesn't look too promising. And a Ness I suppose. Jigglypuff came with a Pikachu who looks considerably more suitable for a Smash Bros. set up than my old one (which I have no idea who even made it).

Earthrise Smokescreen has arrived. He looks great, almost like a mini Masterpiece. The robot and car modes are incredible, bring on Prowl and Bluestreak! The colours are almost spot on, though a lighter blue would be good. The headsculpt is very cartoon accurate which is not my thing, but I like that he will has a different sculpt to the other two Datsuns. It’s funny to think that up until quite recently I was content with the Universe version - they look terrible now.

Did I mention I bought Titans Returns Overkill? Bit fiddly as I couldn't remember how to get the Titanmaster in properly, but a great little mold. Such a shame they never made a Slugfest. (Or Steeljaw - I really like the Ramhorn as well.)

Just paid for Super 7 Raphael. Very excited, hope he lives up to expectation! He and Mumm-Ra should be here soon. Well (drum roll please), he looks great! A perfect cross between the vintage and the Playmates Classics. The look of the vintage (like Transformers I prefer a toy look), with the posability of the Classics but without the blatent pins. I really like how they’ve done the pattern of the shell, and the size is just right, scaling nicely with Thundercats and Legends (Playmates Classics were too big). I waited a long long time but Super 7 have delivered, bring on the rest plus the Thundercats!

I bought a new (ish) TR Fortress Maximus! This was really quite ridiculous (and a little painful considering how cheaply I could have bought a new one for a couple of years back), but I got it just for the clear green chest window. I've never liked the Takara one despite it being perfect in every other respect. Finally my Fort Max is properly toy accurate.

I've opened Black Shadow. I didn't buy it when it came out because I thought I would get Thunderwing instead. It only recently occurred to me given that figure never happened, Black Shadow was fair game. The Titans Returns leaders are brilliant so it's no problem to have another. His colours are very Decepticon and its kinda cool to have all of the IDW 'phase sixers'.

I also opened Quake, I've had him for ages and kinda thought he might get another release, but a redeco of Hardhead is again not a problem. Need Needlenose now! I also like his colours. It's not G1 toy accurate but I've decided he should wear his turret as an homage to Megatron, I think it looks pretty good on his back rather than forwards like Hardhead. I know I've said this before but Titans Return was so good, I'm all caught up now apart from..... Quickswitch.

Annoyingly I picked up the boxset that he came in but sold the figure. After opening Greatshot I really wanted Sixknight to complete the (Japanese) six-changer trio. The G1 figure is a bit dumpy and so I decided that Titans Return Quickswitch is a better placeholder than G1 Quickswitch. It's funny, Black Shadow is a Japanese placeholder for the US Thunderwing, and the US Quickswitch is a placeholder for the Japanese Sixknight. I think they look good together, I like that the chest fins can tuck away for Quickswitch and are a different size for Greatshot to distinguish them in terms of shape as well as colour.

Last year I was concerned about the level of my spending, I’ve recently bought a lot of new things but it feels somewhat controlled. Everything I’ve bought I’ve wanted for a while, and planned to get at some point. The extra money came from selling things I no longer wanted so it feels okay (more on that at some point). I think my challenge now is not giving into any impulse purchases which aren’t well considered despite having a bit of money. It feels quite nice not having a ‘want’ list for things from eBay.

Horsies

I just bought the cassette Gurafi/Noizu/Frenzy set on Kapow. I wasn’t really too bothered but it was only £25. I have the KOs of the dino cassettes and my Frenzy is a vintage one not in great shape so it made sense. I’m not going to hunt down the Bumblebee releases of the other two, but if they get another release I might have to pick them up.

Have also bought Legends Elektra. I’ve always thought she was an important character but I sort of realised that was based on the Ben Affleck film (and Jenifer Garnier Elektra spin-off). Watching the Netflix Daredevil and Defenders seasons I’ve reaffirmed that view. (I've decided to keep my 3.75" hand ninjas as well.) Looking at the upcoming MCU projects, Eternals, Shang-Chi and Ms. Marvel, I wonder whether I will subsequently consider them important? They are missing that all important historical connection (I did see Ms. Marvel on sale for £15 though...).

I’ve got 21 characters on my wish list. Aside from Elektra and Alpha Flight it’s been the same list for over six months. That’s not to say there aren’t a few that I already have where I would replace them or add to them (Iron Man armours for instance). I’d like a A:EMH Giant Man as well if one was going.

The Transformers rumours seem to be shaping up nicely - voyager Dinobot and Tigatron. Whoop! Went on a shopping trip today, bought Doubledealer! It seems to me that someone on the design team is a fan - so random. I haven't opened him yet but he just looks great, already having a version of him took the gloss off slightly, but updates (not repaints) of '88 and '89 characters is really cool.

I've also put in a very expensive order for some Bossfight horses! The shipping was expensive and so will the custom fees when they arrive, but having Aragorn and Valinor for Valkyrie and Black Knight is really awesome. I don't care particularly for either of those characters but having some winged horses in my collection is cool. Almost any non-humanoid character seems more interesting to me. I've got Valkyrie and Black Knight out of storage to await their steeds!

Having put almost everything I storage, I was thinking about having a few things on display. Very minimalist, but I want to have the 90's X-Men displayed. With a few of my favourite teams, the villain is just as important. And so, I thought about Magneto. He needs to be there too (and Loki and Doom). I don't like the head I have for him, but I rather like the non-helmet head from the Apocalypse wave figure. It's on it's way..... I previously made an exception to customising my Legends figures for Wasp. I've now made an exception for Magneto as well. I realise as a collector, there's something rather good about 'upgrading' your figures. It's different to getting something new, it feels a bit more personal. Looks good.

Need to take it a bit easy now although hopefully the Super 7 figures will turn up soon. I've opened Jubilee and Gambit, my 90's cartoon X-Men lineup is complete (once Magneto arrives). They look amazing, this is why I started collecting Legends!

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Have just paid for the Strong Guy legends wave, so much for taking it easy! I'm really excited about getting him. X-Factor are somewhat special within my collection, if I had them in 3.75" then I wouldn't be buying them in 6". I'd get Quicksilver and Forge anyway, but the other guys not. I do like Havok in his X-Factor costume rather than his black 3.75" one though. Did I mention I need a Wolfsbane?! Have paid for Transformers Snapdragon as well.

So the entire lineup for Kingdom has been revealed through insiders and listings from retailers. Why don't they just reveal this stuff themselves?! Anyway, it looks amazing. For G1, looks like a long awaited Huffer and Pipes (hope they can pull Optimus' trailer), Tracks, Cyclonus, Inferno and Galvatron. Could be in the market for Warpath and Ultra Magnus (I mostly just want a lighter shade of blue). Between this line and Studio Series it looks like I've got pretty much everything I wanted re-doing, just finish off the Dinobots, and perhaps a Blaster and Perceptor please.

There is a suggestion that the Commander could be Rodimus (which would make sense opposite Galvatron). I'm pretty happy with the Hot Rod component of POTP Rodimus as Rodimus. I would mostly be grumpy because we wouldn't get a Thunderclash redeco. If it's Broadside I could be tempted. Titan, if it's Metroplex then I'm in, almost anything else I think I'd pass.

Beast Wars! My S1 collection is all over the place, reissue (but improved decos) Primal, Megatron and Tigatron, Universe Cheetor and Dinobot, 30th Rhinox, Waspinator and Rattrap, Legends Blackarachnia, and original Inferno. So, Airrazor and Scorponok are definitely needed. Cheetor needs a new version no questions asked. Dinobot and Tigatron need to be bigger so they're needed. I will wait and see on new Primal, Megatron, Waspinator, Blackarachnia and Rattrap to see whether to replace. Hopefully we will then get Tarantulas and Terrorsaur to complete the cast.

Pictures are out of the new Masterpiece Starscream and...... yeah, not really my thing. I was never a fan of either iteration of the original seeker mold, so decided against having a MP Starscream. I briefly decided not to get MP Megatron (MP-36+) either, but thought would just check eBay (can you see where this is going?!), price really quite high, but then I thought to check Amazon Japan. He’s on his way.......

As is Bluestreak (hopefully - I've tried out an e-tailer I’ve not used before). The usual suspects sold out very quickly. A hobby should not be this stressful. Ratchet has popped up an Amazon US exclusive, I went to preorder but not allowed any further. I'm not sure whether this is a bit of grumpiness, but I'm not sure whether I need him - Siege Ratchet's altmode is more IDW accurate, and he has more red on him. The Earthrise version looks a little grey. Ironhide and Ratchet not sharing an identical mold is a little disturbing, but the Earthrise is still a remold so it's not too bad. Maybe I can and should live with it.

I've sold a few bits on eBay so feeling reasonably flush - found a website still selling Titans Return Sky (Black) Shadow and Krok for a reasonable price. Bring on Blue Bacchus! I've just started reading the final volume of IDW's Lost Light so Krok was really needed. Fulcrum is probably a bit optimistic, but perhaps a Crankcase would be possible to almost complete the Scavengers. As a child of the 80's, I love the bright yellow on Krok, it's beautiful! It's nice to have toys of different colours and Krok is something unique. Titans Return was such a great line, so many different colours from the entire spectrum of G1. I can't see it being topped.

I’ve also bought Greatshot. Really had to hunt around online to find him for a reasonable price (kicking myself for not getting him from Kapow). Found him on Robotkingdom. He's one of three animal based G1 characters I don't have toys of, just need Black Zarak (please!) and Sixknight (unlikely). Would be cool to have the trio of Japanese six-changers (even if Greatshot is a reformed Sixshot in some continuities).

Boss fight horses turned up, crazy expensive custom fees but they look amazing. I also bought a ‘Goldie’....

I've taken a shotgun to my 'to get' list, the remaining few things are Lego (which I want to wait until I've moved house to get) and stuff for customs. There's no rush on that stuff. I did buy a new Combiner Wars Hot Spot (I’m calling him Hot Spot part deux....). He’s a great figure but my original got a little yellowed and it was easier to buy a new one than to try and fix it. I have an attachment to the toy that I couldn’t quite place but I think it stems from the Euro gold reissues - I seem to remember looking at the G1 figure in a particular shop over and over again (similarly to Snarl).

I’ve bought everything I ‘really’ wanted from my wish list, there could be a Fort Max and other bits on their way..... I need to train myself to not checking eBay again. It's been an exciting month. Breathe.......

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RIP Chadwick Boseman. I can't quite believe the news. A tragic loss for the world and the MCU.