Grimgrams

I’ve got a Super 7 Retro Grimlock, I only really got him on the off chance they do more Dinobots. The Ultimates figures are quite interesting, I was intrigued by Super 7 saying they are doing a Bludgeon. I’d welcome them doing Octopunch and Stranglehold as well. And all of the Pretenders from Masterforce actually. And of the classic Pretenders as well. Oh and maybe a Marvel style Fangry. With a list that long it could take years, will make the cost a bit more palatable though.

A Pop! Grimlock exclusive popped up for sale from Game so grabbed it. This got me thinking about my Grimlock collection and decided I also needed this.

I saw rumours that the Mark III is going to get a release in Marvel Legends. Someone then speculated that they would also do the Mark II and so..... I went back and bought the 10th anniversary Mark I. It’s too small but nevermind. Came with a new Tony!

Getting Super Megatron for my IDW shelf made me think about it a little more. Pretty much of all the figures on that (hypothetical) shelf are doing double duty. But Drift and Nautica have nowhere else to go. Now I’ve got Siege Ultra Magnus, the Combiner Wars figure is at a loose end. Megatron is double duty with the leaders shelf (as Super Megatron since I’ve also got Netflix/Earthrise Megs), but I’ve got the second and third in command, plus the co-captain..... Then I bought Cloud Rodimus. And weirdly POTP Tailgate. 30th Tailgate can now be a permanent fixture on the IDW shelf (and if we get a new Gears and the likely Swerve repaint) then 30th Swerve can join them. It all makes sense. I also got a GDO Wheelie?!

So I’ve been doubling up on my collection, I don’t think I shared these pictures of Prowl, Ironhide and Soundwave. Inferno came in to complete the fire team. I’m looking forward to Tracks, then I just need the rumoured Earth mode Sideswipe, Mirage and Red Alert. And a new Skids. I might need a new Blitzwing as well.

I've had a little bit of a dilemma recently with upgrading figures, it's expensive and sometimes just a bit unnecessary. I'm glad I upgraded on Thanos though. I feel my Legends collecting has been very balanced recently, I've got a few preorders but I'm not going crazy.

Unlike this. I've been giving a bit of thought to my desk collection and decided these were needed. They're awesome, perfect for my level of MOTU appreciation. It would be quite cool if they took on Thundercats! I then realised I needed another Iron Man armoury. With all of the MCU armours. I've restricted myself to armours that Tony and his mates actually wear, but this is going to be a great thing to have on my desk (if there's room). Here’s team Iron Man.

Once I've bought everything on my want list my brain will search for things that are 'needed'. It reviews all of my collections to make sure nothing's missing, it would be nice if it would have a little rest though.... after my Star Wars collection. I think I might need some minifigures from the prequel and sequel trilogies.

Spin Master are doing a 3.75” scale DC line, the aesthetics are a little cartoony but they’ve done a Riddler so have grabbed him. Might need a bit of extra paint to tidy it up.

Time to slow down.....

Golden Diaclone

So I've now got two identical Optimus Primes. And Cliffjumpers. And Bumblebees. Now I need a Roller so I’ve put in an order for a Japanese Earthrise Ratchet and Centurion. Expensive so hope it works out! I dug out Ironhide, Prowl and Soundwave. The first of which I’m clear on which version should be robot mode and which should be alt mode. Soundwave is a trickier call.

Got Marvel Legends Pyro, he looks great but had to order some flame effects for him. It’s strange how having to spend extra on a figure makes me appreciate them more. Need Blob, Avalanche and Toad!

I’ve got Cordon and Spin-Out on their way, and have got Deep Cover. Up to 8 Lambos now, can’t get enough Diaclone inspired figures! Looking forward to black Ironhide and red Tracks. Now just need blue Bluestreak, Clampdown, yellow Trailbreaker, red Hoist and Mirage, but mostly blue Bluestreak  (ignoring the Skids recolours until he gets a new mold). I opened Cyclonus. Yep, he's absolutely amazing but what a terrible colour. I keenly await the toy coloured version. Between him and Cheetor it seems like Hasbro is looking to make a bit of extra cash. At the same time they seem remarkably reluctant to give us all of those Diaclone repaints, what are you thinking Hasbro?!

Studio Series '86 has arrived! Jazz, Kup, Blurr and Grimlock. Jazz is great, I thought he would need some Reprolabels but with him in hand I'm not sure. I've bought an extra figure just to make sure. I wasn't sure about Kup's headsculpt before I got him, but to be fair, the original Generations one was pretty terrible. I like him though and his transformation is fun in a puzzle sort of way. Similarly with Blurr, I only ever had the original (Drift repaint) Generations so it's pretty clear cut to me that he's better. Grimlock is.... superb. The size is great and although I'd like a toy deco version I'm very happy. Really can't wait to see Slag!

It feels like a golden age of collecting for me at the moment. Transformers wise 1984-87 is finished and has been done well. Yeah, there are a couple of gaps (Throttlebots and Targetmasters) and a couple that I'd like to see redone but otherwise my main wants are Japanese (Masterforce!) and European G1.

Glad to see Legends Red Skull is on his way, that's all the main villains done for me. classic Doctor Strange and Ms. Marvel are the main gaps for me now. Need a ROTS Yoda in Black Series. Also quite intrigued by a MCU Surtur.

Got Selects Super Megatron, it had previously occurred to me that he looks a bit like IDW Megs but I also like the idea of an extra leader for my display. Also bought Star Convoy. Oh dear. Also got a Rung (finally!) for Lost Light display. Would be great to get a deluxe but can make do.

Have received and opened Kingdom  Beast Wars Megatron and Rattrap. They’re great, the way everything tucks in on Rattrap is great. Megatron is amazing in hand, just that robot mode purple..... just a little too dark.

I also have Siege Smokescreen now as I’ve decided I need doubles of all characters whose toy was from Diaclone (or Microchange), so all of the ‘84 and ‘85 Autobot cars. I’ve also doubled up on Grapple and Hoist. It’s all Kingdom Tracks’ fault, I’m expecting a lot from him.

There are rumours about another Motormaster. If he’s Combiner Wars compatible then I’ll take a look, but otherwise I’m not interested. I want limbs that can be swapped Scramble City style and I’m not replacing all of them. Really. No, really really......... Really.

Several decisions later

I seem to have a long list of things I'm waiting to be delivered. I wonder if I'm done with all the spending I've been doing. In retrospect, I made several decisions. Firstly I decided I needed to get the Sinister 6 and Masters of Evil as Marvel Legends. Then I decided I need Diaclone based (Generations) Transformers figures, then to get doubles of important characters. (I've decided important characters are those from Seasons 1 of G1 and Beast Wars, and the leaders of the various series.)

I got a Siege Ultra Magnus, I also got Netflix Hound. I've set myself the rule that although I'm getting two versions of important characters, they should be different in some way (if only a packaging difference). I think I'm done with Siege now, again. I'm eyeing up another Wheeljack, choice between Netflix and Kingdom, I guess the Netflix version would be a bit more interesting.

Ultra Magnus is great, my only thing against him is the dark blue plastic and the battle damage. He could be amazing. I like the whole white Prime thing (thanks Dreamwave). Transforming him for the first time was quite a challenge - his shoulders were pegged together incredibly tightly, and it took me a while to work out what happens to his butt bumper for white Prime mode. This figure reminded me of the Fansproject upgrade for Classics Magnus. Very happy though, I think I prefer the Cybertronian look to the front of the cab so I might keep this figure as white Prime and the Kingdom figure as Magnus.

I decided I needed 6" figures of the Star Wars characters from the Clone Wars cartoon (not that one), plus my favourite vehicles in 3.75" scale, complete with clones (specifically vehicles I used to have as Transformers). I think that's it..... I rewatched the Clone Wars cartoon (not that one) again. This time, I really watched it. Keeping a mental note of Jedi Starfighter types, the clone vehicles you see. Which characters you see. I hope we get an updated ARC trooper but I'm happy to have some good stand ins. I also realise I probably need a Starfighter for Saesee Tiin and Kit Fisto. Doh! I might need some droids but otherwise I have all the important characters and vehicles in toy form.

I opened Clone Wars/Episode III Obi-Wan and Anakin. They look great but sadly not quite posable enough to recreate the DVD cover. I also got Tsui Choi, apparently he is in Episode III, just very briefly. Good enough for me! I also got Darth Plagueis on some rather shaky ground, I need more little blue alien Jedi (the greens have got a monopoly....). If he was more humanoid I might have passed. He's too cool!

I received Battle Cat but he’s pretty huge so really doesn’t work for a smaller scale, so I will sell him on. I opened my first Kingdom figure - battle gorilla, Optimus Primal. He's got a significant scratch on him, but hopefully I can cover it with some paint. He's great, I opened him whilst watching Doctor Who (starting from the 2005 reboot with Christopher Eccleston). Off to a promising start on both counts.

The rumour mill seems to be going crazy. I accept that the leaders from Victory might not be mainstream enough, but I feel a bit aggrieved that the Throttlebots and Targetmasters don’t seem to be happening. They could just be repaints/remolds. Glad to hear a Tarantulas seems to be planned though.

It’s amazing thinking over the history of Classics/Generations, all the way up to thrilling 30, there was a definitive version of most characters. I changed Bumblebee and Springer a couple of times, but things were simple. There was the odd upgrade to a superior Takara version. Then came the Prime Wars trilogy, a few characters got better versions and crucially it stopped me collecting third party.

The WFC trilogy has been a reboot, and I've replaced a lot! Some like Shockwave, Cheetor and Dinobot definitely needed new versions. I had a look at the list of everything that's been released and which I consider new characters. Flywheels, Spinister, Crosshairs, Apeface, Snapdragon, Scorponok, Airrazor, Beast Wars Scorponok and Tigatron. (Two of those - Flywheels and Apeface had Titanmasters.) So a good few additions to the 1987 and 1996 lineups, plus Spinister, but not that many considering how much I've spent. I can't see myself replacing so many figures again.

I’ve preordered Legends She-Hulk, very happy they’re done the grey version in green. Looks like a great sculpt and it’s more interesting to have her in a different costume to her Universe figure. What I would do if money were do if money were no object is how I make my collecting decisions - I try and do a slightly scaled down version of that extreme. I like the idea of some carded Legends figures but unless I could get an entire team in matching packaging it doesn’t appeal to me. The MCU 10th anniversary figures might have been quite a good line to collect, I’ll keep an eye out for anything new that might appeal.

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I received Siege Bluestreak and Reflector (standalone), Netflix Wheeljack and Hound, and Dragon Shield and regular Black ranger. Bluestreak looks excellent and it will be a tough call whether to keep him or the Earthrise figure in robot mode. Reflector looks good and I will display him with the Pulse set in camera mode. Wheeljack and Hound look good despite me generally not being that keen on 'battle damage'. Dragon shield Black ranger I just got for the headsculpt - the regular one looks terrible, the hair colour is really off! Black Ranger is the first character to really be able to make use of the butterfly shoulder

I've paid my invoice for Super 7 Leonardo, he turned up quickly. Similarly to Raphael he grew on me quickly and although the second head is cool, I can't quite convince myself to not display the default one.

I grabbed an Earthrise Megatron and popped in a preorder for two Scourges. I realise that this really has to be it, even if Generations gets a reset again, I've really bought into the WFC trilogy - I've bought multiple versions of each character and mold. Of course they will do new and better versions and swapping out the odd figure is fine but it's financially and mentally draining to do it to such an extent. So despite saying they should be different in some way, I've doubled up on Sunstreaker, Trailbreaker and Blackarachnia. I did get a spoiler upgrade for Sunny though. Speaking of which, Blackarachnia’s great. An amazing transformation. Kingdom is shaping up to be pretty great. Preordered Magnus and..... done. For now.......

Cool for Cats

Time to start reflecting back on 2020, apart from being utterly crap generally, we got some really good toys! Classics got reset, and so super modern versions of key characters.

War Machine arrived, he's great! I was a bit unsure about whether to get him but the effect parts are really versatile and fun. I always appreciate an actual head for an armoured figure. Bring on modular Iron Man. Soundwave ditto! As everyone seems to be saying, this is the Soundwave we wanted in 2006. Super tight arms but he looks the business and great light piping.

I've made the transition from Jedi (and Sith) to troopers! I got the Episode II Clone Trooper. I've never really taken the time before to appreciate the evolution of the clone/storm troopers. It's fairly obvious when you look at them side by side. Still find the various colours on the clones quite confusing (which given the significance of colour changed from being rank based to division based is not surprising). I don't think I've ever had a figure with a removable helmet with headsculpt underneath. I tried to buy three 3.75" (phase 1) clone troopers, I got sent a Black series (6") figure. Guess might as well keep it.

I got some ARC troopers from back in the day, they look the business but possibility is lacking. Also got Depa Billaba, she's pretty much five POA. I can put together pretty much any Jedi Council lineup together now. I also got the Eta Jedi Starfighter for Mace Windu. It looks amazing. I've rewatched Episodes I and II. It's been ages since I last saw them - Episode I especially. I enjoyed watching for the Quinlan Vos appearance, I also noticed Aurra Sing. Which is weird because I didn't know I even knew who she was - I saw her and the name popped into my head. Subconscious thought and memory is a strange thing. I enjoyed them both, particularly trying to identify the background Jedi. I think with a few tweaks they could be the films I really want (introduce Dooku earlier, his relationship with Qui-Gon, perhaps mention Plagueis - who apparently paid for the clone army in the books). I opened 6" Dooku and Obi-Wan after finishing Episode II. Great likenesses.

My appreciation for Star Wars vehicles came from collecting Star Wars Transformers - my collecting is becoming strange last  self-referential as I want to get 3.75" versions of my favourite Transformers. I'll be keeping an eye on what vehicles are released in the Vintage line. I did get the Tigershark deco of the Republic Gunship though. What a beast!  It’s a solid old toy, and huge. I’m not quite sure whether collecting 3.75” vehicles is a good idea but will go with it for the time being.

My ARC Commander turned up to command said gunship. He’s great, I like the flexibility of phase 1 or 2 helmets. Shame they didn’t do the troopers in the same way. The new Rex figure is close so maybe we’ll see something. I also got Darth Plagueis, the main villain of the piece (in my mind at least). I also gave in and got an Anakin (mostly so I had an excuse to get another Starfighter). He's from The Clone Wars (yes, that one), but I like the deco and given I'm getting Episode II and III Anakin in Black series, it's nice to have him be different.

I opened Tigertrack and Exhaust, they’re both great molds so happy to have an excuse to get them again. I’d really like some reprolabels for Exhaust, he just needs a bit more decoration. I like Tigertrack more than I expected, but you can’t go wrong with a yellow Lambo (unless they use cheese coloured plastic). Thinking about the other Diaclone decos, I could happily take a blue Bluestreak and a black Ironhide but would be grateful for whatever they give us. Orange and red Trailbreaker and Hoist perhaps?!

There have been more leaks/reveals/nonsense about upcoming Transformers releases. Sounds like a mix of things I want and stuff I don't really care about. The frustrating thing about leaks is when the thing you want isn't mentioned you know you've got a really long wait. There are some figures I want which are straight up recolours of existing toys, Sunstorm, Diaclone releases. Then there are opportunistic recolours/remolds for characters which aren't import enough for their own mold - Omnibots, Throttlebots and Autobot Targetmasters. Then there are the big asks, but I don’t think there’s many left. Star Saber and Deszaras are top of my list, they need big dedicated molds. I hope with the move from one titan and one commander to two commanders we could see them - it would make sense to have them with opposing factions. I also hope we see commander Fortress Maximus and Scorponok, I don’t want those characters mind, I want Grand and Black Zarak.

I started looking at some scans of old Argos catalogues, I remember in particular one of the four Dinobots (no Swoop in the UK). Turns out it was from 1986 which makes sense but I’m surprised I remember it so well. I also remember when I got Powermaster Optimus Prime thinking about different it was to ‘proper’ Optimus and that must be an even earlier memory. Anyway, I’ve always thought (if money were no object) how cool it would be to have multiples of each figure like they had in the catalogues. (Can you see where this is going?) The WFC Trilogy really lends itself to this because you have multiple versions of the main characters with slightly different altmodes.

For a couple of days I went a bit crazy working out all of the different (or same) versions of figure I was going to get. It did feel like madness. I’m going to get doubles of the Dinobots, and I think I will get doubles of some others but only where it’s cool or economical. I bought Reflector so will display him next to the combined toy deco set I already have. I finally bought in and got Siege Jetfire - it’s oversized, but the ‘Jetfire’ (rather than Skyfire) robot mode looks great and I’ll have the old 30th anniversary figure in jet mode. I already have the Siege and Earthrise versions of Prowl and Ironhide (and Soundwave if WFC counts as Earthrise). I might pick up Earthrise Ratchet if I can. I particularly like the idea of doubling up on Optimus and Magnus, and also the seekers, so I might get another Starscream from Kingdom - I figure getting the same figure from different lines is fair game. Phew.......

Smyths have Kingdom figures in stock so.... I ordered Blackarachnia, Cheetor, Primal and Cyclonus. I'm not sure about the colours on Cheetor and Cyclonus but figure I might as well see what I think along with Primal who I'm not sure about.

And now for something completely different, Battle Cat from Masters of the Universe Origins. I want to see how I feel about the scale. I'm not a huge He-Man fan but like the idea of having He-Man and Skeletor (the latter mostly for my villains collection), and their cats.