Jingle Bells

What a year! This has been quite the momentous year of collecting for me. Started off focused on Lego, built my first big build that I designed (Turtles’ lair). I then started thinking about my Transformers collection - realised that my collecting rules were overly complicated and really, all of G1 was fair game anyway and so played a bit of catchup. Did get rid of a few bits though.

I then decided to change my Marvel collections so that Legends was focused on the heroes and SpiderMan/X-Men villains, and Universe (3.75”) was focused on Avengers/cosmic villains. But really, I’ve given up any sort of pretence that I’ve still a 3.75” Marvel collector. In all honesty, Legends are just a bit too good now. Hasbro have won! With the Marvel advent calendar and X-Mansion the year will finish with Lego as well. Did grab a few last Legends bits this month as the acceptance sunk in - Black Widow, much better than the old figure, as well as Dracula, Wendigo, and Mojo (the last one upgraded from the Toybiz versions).

In terms of acquisitions, I finally got Deszaras, I completed my leader Dinobots, and made major steps to completing the Insecticons and cassettes in Generations. I got my main Marvel Legends wants, I got my main Star Wars Black want, my final Thundercats want (Snarf), and my main (Marvel) Lego want. Wow! I’ve also got a preorder in for Mondo Peter Venkman and happy that the other three will be happening in the future.

As well as acquiring a few most wanted bits, I made the decision to part ways with a few more Mastepiece figures (just have Grimlock, Soundwave and Raiden left) and my larger 3.75” scale vehicles. All great toys but I haven’t been able to display them for years and with my decision to focus on 6” for heroic characters I can’t really justify them.

I got my penultimate Transformer of the year, Mainframe! Very glad they did him in proper colours, though I think this is the version that should have come with the Ark and then we could have had a fully grey/red/blue version in Selects. I’ve come to really like the Actionmaster characters so glad to have him, plus another for the Lost Light display. My final Transformer turned out to be Overcharge, who I think looks great, a bit more of a 70’s/80’s sci-fi look to him. Most importantly though he gives me hope we might see the last few Diaclone repaints next year.

I’m feeling the need for a list or two. Most wanted Transformers (not featuring any Diaclone repaints but I still want them):

Thunderclash

Skyquake

Liokaiser

Road Caesar

Grandus

Metrotitan

Throttlebots

Omnibots

I think Thunderclash is happening - between mentions of Wreckers, Lost Light, Machine Wars and even the bot himself by Hasbro. Surely! Star Convoy has been revealed (looks great) and so I think Grandus could be likely for the Haslab/MTO offering, and finally Skyquake is also an easy repaint for the Mayhems set. They could almost all be repaints - I’d like a Metrotitan from a new toy accurate Metroplex but it could still be a repaint. Actually looking at the old artwork for Grandus, maybe they could share a mold (or limbs at least).

(Superion looks good as well, one for combined mode though rather than individual robot modes as too cartoony for me.)

Beyond these characters/groups, Diaclone repaints, Actionmasters and Turbomasters (and Predators) get a very honourable mention, as do the 1988 Autobots. They’re a bit different as it’s the team I want rather than the actual character so maybe it’s more about completionism. Thinking about this further a heck of a lot of them could also be repaints.

Yes, it would be great to have more new molds but after Mainframe I really like the idea of there being more Actionmaster inspired repaints, Jazz into Rad and Kick-Off for example. It would really tick off a lot of the very empty spaces in my spreadsheet. Still lots left but pretty much all teams represented in some way. With Hasbro apparently doing so badly perhaps they will dig into the easy repaints a little more.

My most wanted (other stuff, mostly Legends) is:

Yellowjacket

Doc Samson

Gorgon

Iceman (Jim Lee, non-powered up)

Thorbuster

MCU Mk IV

MCU Mk V

MCU Mk VI

MCU Mk 37 (Hammerhead)

MCU War Machine Mk I

Lego Baxter Building

Lego Wayne Manor

Black series Holocomm Darth Sidious

Black series Saesee Tiin

6” Mortal Kombat (Jada?!)

(There’s actually a sniff of a rumour that Gorgon is on his way.)

I could easily add an extra few Legends, but my Spider-Man and X-Men collections are pretty much there. Actually having thought about it a bit more, I’m missing a X-23. If we do get a Gorgon then I’ll swap him out for Laura. The few I do want are mostly for completion and not as exciting. Have to think though, it’s at the stage where I’m only ever to get what I want in very small amounts at a time from now on. Hopefully I get a few of these things by the end of next year. Finished up the year with Deadpool. Merry Christmas all and Happy New Year!

Feeling Good

Feeling quite good about my collecting at the moment, got some fantastic Marvel Legends figures last month (and Ms. Marvel has been revealed/confirmed!), plus finally sold a load of bits that I made the decision to get rid of a long time ago.

Shaak Ti has been revealed for Black series, fantastic! I only wanted three more figures and that was one of them (the others being Saesee Tiin and holo Palps). This happened at more or less the same time as my most wanted Black series figure finally turned up! Prequel Yoda. The head-sculpt and printing is very nicely done.

Talking about most wanted, I put in a preorder for the extortionately priced Mondo Real Ghostbusters Peter Venkman. Talking about preorders, I’ve been looking at the Joytoy Turtles stuff. Most of it is fairly stylised but I like the look of Bebop and Rocksteady. Pretty expensive though.

The new Constructicons look great, I will be buying two lots since I’ve decided that for the big five combiners (Devastator, Superion, Defensor, Bruticus and Menasor), I need them individually and in combined form (the other four I will keep the Combiner Wars versions but since CW Devs was supersized I will replace it). All up though, quite a good set of reveals. The Fallen was also shown off with a picture of Star Convoy on the side (I’m not convinced I would have identified it as such), but there is some suggestion that bits of look like Powermaster Optimus Prime. Makes sense for a remold. I hope the focus is on PMOP though, as I feel he (God Ginrai) is the one who most needs a decent figure (those ankles!).

Couple more Marvel Legends rumours, Triton, Chameleon and Mandarin. Nice! The Inhumans are a strange team, I don’t really know them but they rather appeal to me. (There’s a strange parallel between the prequel Jedi and the Inhumans, my new most wanted Jedi is Saesee Tiin, my new most wanted Legends is Gorgon, both have bull like features! Kit Fisto is like Triton……)

The Chameleon and Mandarin rumours really got me thinking - I had decided to focus on heroic characters in 6” scale and more villainous characters in 3.75” scale. (With an exemption for important villains such as Mandarin.) But then I thought how cool it would be to have the Insidious Six (from the Spider-Man cartoon) in figure form, and how fun to have the X-Men game characters in the same scale as Streetfighter. So I’ve made a bit of a change to my thinking - for Avengers and Fantastic 4 I will do my scale plan (especially since I’ve made lots of custom 3.75” A:EMH villains), but for Spider-Man and X-Men I will get everything in 6” (I say get, apart from Hydro Man I already have them, so really I mean keep). I also grabbed the new Phoenix (force) since it was available at a decent price.

Important villains is quite a subjective thing - I’ve come up with the following (based on the characters I think are important enough to warrant a space on my shelf. Importance is easily conflated with favourite! But I think Loki, Dr Doom, Magneto, Red Skull, Mandarin, Ultron, Ronan, Thanos, Norman Osborn, Kingpin, Sabretooth, Carnage, Dormammu, Abomination, Apocalypse and Galactus. (Some of those probably aren’t that important in a wider Marvel sense but from an individual character’s perspective, Iron Man for example.)

I received some Transformers. First up was Xaaron who I thought I wouldn’t like too much, but I like the Reflector mold, and although I didn’t read too much of the Marvel comic with him in it he’s a welcome addition for my Lost Light crew. (I’m not going to keep Flame.)

I also got Dinoking. I didn’t get the actual core Dinobots so these figures are all new to me. Dino modes are mostly a bit rubbish but the bot modes are pretty reasonable (apart from Rairyu). Combined mode is nice and I enjoyed putting it together. Overall, happy!

Also got the new Sludge plush (very glad I didn’t just jump at the SDCC version).

In less exciting news, I got Quake, who’s is neither a new character or mold. The mold does fit the character better than Hardhead though. I like him more than I thought I would.

I’ve decided to expand my Maximals to include the four ‘96 characters who weren’t in the cartoon - Wolfang (almost in the cartoon), Razorbeast (key IDW character), Armordillo (had him as a kid) and Polar Claw (he’s a polar bear!). Anyway, got the Wolfang reissue.

Finally, I bought the Lego X-Mansion (yay!), and got the couple of extra bits. I won’t open it until Christmas but the freebies are fair game. I also bought myself the Lego Marvel advent calendar, it’s a rather expensive way to get Venom but it’s fun. It’s Christmas……..

Top Marvel Legends

Somehow loads of preorders have piled up and were all expected at the same time so bit of a crazy end to the month. Couple of things I bought were upgrades so have got the old versions to sell, a couple were multipacks so have got ‘other’ figures to sell. The result being: lots to resell.

When thinking about the remaining Marvel Legends I want, I got to thinking about the Guardians. I quickly decided I need the Cosmo BAF (since it could double as a comic version). I quickly worked out that Amazon (UK) was the best bet since although initially cheaper shipping made the US Amazon more expensive. I was about to drop £100 plus I’d need to sell the actual main figures, when I suddenly thought better of it! Phew. I reckon though, Guardians aside, there’s only 10 comic based figures I want and I’d be surprised if they come out anytime soon.

First off the actual buying conveyer belt was a couple of Marvel Legends. Crystal and Lockjaw! Very happy to have these two - they were very high on my most wanted list. Up to five royal family Inhumans now, just need the last two.

Next was Wong and ghost dog. I must admit Wong wasn’t on my want list but I think he’s an essential character for me now with the films.

Finally got the new Straxus, pretty good retool of Galvatron. Glad I decided to collect leaders!

An interesting new Transformers leak - Star Convoy (as well as Silverbolt, Seaspray and G2 Dinobots). Given a recent interview comment about someone at Takara wanting to make a Grandus, surely he and Sky Garry should be on the way (Haslab maybe, or made to order perhaps?). This got me thinking - when I started collecting and learnt about all the Japanese G1 toys, I actually now own some version of most of the really exciting ones - maybe just need a Metrotitan? (I’d like Road Caesar as well but the repaints of the citybots stood out as the most exciting in those early days.) Hope the G2 Dinobots are the brightly coloured (Tango) Sludge and (Mountain Dew) Swoop to go with (Fanta) Grimlock.

Got another new Transformer - Ruckus. I like how they’ve taken Beachcomber and made him bigger. It’s great to see the ‘88 Decepticons and Triggercons get another member. Need their Autobots counterparts!

I opened the Siege cassettes (again) as well as SS’86 Rumble and Frenzy and Buzzaw (who came with an extra Cassetteman). With Ramhorn on the way I think it’s just Overkill and Slugfest who need a bit of attention (especially Slugfest):

It’s been a great month for most wanted Legends, Odin arrived. He looks great and some cool accessories to boot. Also got the new Hulkbuster. The plastic looks a bit pink in certain light but it photographs well. Having the Tony Stark head really elevates it above the old Selects version (which had beautiful paint to be fair).

G-Man turned up! It’s always exciting opening such a large box. Reminds me of when I got Marvel Universe Galactus and Sentinel. It’s a great looking figure, the face is somewhat Alex Ross inspired but the musculature is much more modern. It’s also impressively stable. Those eyes though, they scare me a little. Happy though!

Almost everything

Mondo Real Ghostbusters, Marvel Legends (dark) Ms. Marvel, Black series Yoda and Lego X-Mansion. I really am getting my most wanted toys. (And having gotten Deszaras, a completed set of leader Dinobots and Snarf this year I’ve also got my wanted Transformers and Thundercats.) I’m trying to adopt a new mentality: I’ve (almost) got everything I really want, anything else is just polish for the collection - it’s not super important.

Put in a preorder for Lockjaw and Crystal, I think my most wanted Legends are now Gorgon, Triton, Yellowjacket and Doc Samson. I sort of want Werewolf by Night and Shanna. I’d also buy (blue) Angel and non powered up versions of Iceman and Human Torch. And any new MCU Iron Man armours, oh and a Thorbuster armour. There’s none that I really feel a need to replace/upgrade but I could perhaps be tempted on a couple, but otherwise Legends feels very close to done! I got a new headsculpt for my Wolverine. Pretty sure I’m done with all things Wolverine now, apart from maybe a new brown one - not feeling the secret wars version.

I’m also done with all things Venom after getting the new one. I really liked the previous one I had since you could get a really good hunch pose out of it. New one is not far off though, and no holes in the upper back. Much smoother as well of course since the previous one was movie based. I only had that one for two years so hopefully I keep this for longer!

Looking through some of my ‘wanted’ lists since I’ve been blogging got me thinking, I got everything Transformers I wanted when I started - which was seasons 1, 2 and 3 characters. Season 4 (Headmasters) quickly got added. The problem was that my wanted list got bigger and bigger until it got to the point where everything (G1 adjacent) is on the list. I feel I’ve got reasonable representation of most areas of G1 in my collection (cartoon/Marvel/IDW/G2/Japanese/Beast Wars), the only thing really missing is Euro G1. Rotorstorm doesn’t really cut it by himself. This needs addressing! Most of my remaining wants are groups (Omnibots, Throttlebots, etc), and although I’d like all the Turbomasters, Thunderclash would be really great to add to my Lost Light shelf (I’ve wanted him for at least 7 years!). He keeps on getting hinted at by Hasbro.

Got Steeljaw. He’s probably my favourite cassette so very glad he’s finally got a figure. He’s fairly dinky but I like him, just need Buzzsaw and Ramhorn (my other most needed/wanted toys) then that’s the main 10 cassettes all done in a coherent style. Also got Road Pig, for a character I know nothing about I rather like him, quite a cool ninja look. And Side Burn who is a very exciting repaint of Shadow Striker.

My spending has been reasonably calm over the last couple of months after a few crazy months early in the year. I’ve even managed to start selling off a few bits. Selling is an inevitable part of collecting, but thinking back on the things I’ve sold - they’re not just things I don’t like anymore. I’ve sold a great number of things I still think are cool but for whatever reason they just don’t fit into my collection anymore (G1 being a great example). I’m content just to enjoy looking at pictures of them every and then. I wonder if I’m capable doing the same for things I’ve never owned? I really hate selling though, it’s such a horrible stressful process. It also takes so much time. Each time I have a major selling spell I tell myself never again but it keeps on happening. The big chunks are from when I have a major change to my collecting philosophy, but then there’s an almost constant turnover from characters simply getting better figures, and often it’s just getting rid of figures from multipacks when you only want one figure. It’s an aim of mine to increasingly stick with what I’ve got but like I say, it’s inevitable.

Speaking of being content just to look at things and not own them, really tempted by Missing Link Sunstreaker. One of my favourite G1 toys and characters. And I love Lamborghinis, so I’d need Sideswipe as well. And the Dinobots of course. I keep on thinking about it so I must be keen.

Well, Pulsecon was a wild ride, I preordered Dinoking as expected and…… Overcharge. Crazy crazy times. I’m feeling a bit down about next year based on the various rumours. Should be getting (Transformers) Venom, hopefully the Sureshot materialises and Maccadam could be fun. There are various combiners which I’ll get but aren’t very exciting and so it’s all down to the capsules of exclusives from the various retailers. (Of which Ironfist and Carnivac are genuinely exciting.)

Got another Cosmic Legions figure, a woman! Pretty cool looking, bit of a Lara Croft-esque character to my mind. Don’t think I’m going to get any more unless a new release really stands out to me.