Well, an even quieter news month this time, guess it's to be expected in the run up to Botcon. The only news of note is that Scorponok has been announced as one of the exclusive toys. It's been a long time coming, but I think I'm going to see what PerfectEffect offer up before committing. Looks pretty good though.
I've bought some good stuff this month; Masterpiece Sideswipe and MMC Razorclaw, they're both in my pile of loot, but really looking forward to getting them in hand. (And the rest of Predaking for that matter!)
I recently became aware of a website which specialises in extra parts for 3.75" scale stuff, it looks like some really good stuff for helping with customs. I've started picking up a few figures ready for such customs as well identifying suitable base figures, for instance I'm keen on a Marvel Dracula (modern) since Hasbro look unlikely to go anywhere near. I reckon an Age of Thunder Thor (with torn cape) supplemented by a few Hand Ninja parts will form the body, then just need a good head and a sword. I'll have to try and create some spikes to complete the look.
I think I will wait until after SDCC before starting anything though! They've also got some nice Iron Man hall of armour display stands, looks like a scaled down Hot toys stand to me. Expensive but looks pretty sweet.
I'm slowly working my way through the pile of loot I shipped in February, I opened Abomination and Rhino, nice mold. My Hulk display is looking pretty awesome now, just need a trio of Wendigos and it'll be done.
I'm planning a couple of big purchases in May, roll on!
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Quiet Times
Bit of a quiet month this month; they're doing a Age of Extinction 2-pack past and present Grimlock, interestingly the Energon version of Grimlock (and presumably the same with the Swoop pack), rubbish figure, great shame they obviously can't do a reissue of the G1 figure!
Plenty of news on Masterpiece Bumblebee though, definitely a VW Beetle and going with the anime scale. Incredibly clever move by Takara, appealing to Masterpiece and Classics collectors alike (as well as Beetle fans).
Glad to see they're doing a Kabaya Star Convoy, my WST collection of G1 leaders is looking pretty good now (and for the Autobots, complete), just need a Scorponok and Galvatron for the Decepticons. Scorponok would need to be in scale with Fortress Maximus though. I've just assembled Overlord, great little figure and nicely in scale with God Ginrai. Thinking about my WST collection, I'm not sure how it fits together, maybe I should sell off the non-leader figures..........
Finally decided to pick up an Impossible Toys Hub(cap), other than the Classics Bumblebee with conversion kit, it's the only option at the moment for a posable Hubcap. I guess it might well get replaced at some point. With the Generations Swerve and Tailgate, I just need an Outback figure and that's it for the 1986 Minibots.
Picked up Marvel Infinite Grim Reaper and Hyperion and the DC Multiverse Mr Freeze. Good to have a few extra villains, Grim Reaper will display nicely with Wonder-Man and Hyperion will go well with Nighthawk.
One of my collecting (displaying?) rules is that if I've never seen the character in anything then it won't go on the shelf. I now buy all comic based Marvel 3.75" figures as it seems a far cheaper option than risking them suddenly turning up in some cartoon or film in the future, then trying to pick them up at a greatly inflated cost, but it makes me wonder what to do with those unused figures (currently Sentry, Tigershark, US Agent, Patriot and Moonknight, soon to be joined by Death's Head, Red She-Hulk and Ares).
I reckon a few of those I could quite easily find a home for. Death's Head for instance would display nicely with a Tardis from the 3.75" Doctor Who line (since he also appeared in the Doctor Who comics back in the day), Ares with Hercules, and Red She-Hulk with the rest of the Hulk family. Moonknight is actually already displayed with my Defenders. I think that works!
Plenty of news on Masterpiece Bumblebee though, definitely a VW Beetle and going with the anime scale. Incredibly clever move by Takara, appealing to Masterpiece and Classics collectors alike (as well as Beetle fans).
Glad to see they're doing a Kabaya Star Convoy, my WST collection of G1 leaders is looking pretty good now (and for the Autobots, complete), just need a Scorponok and Galvatron for the Decepticons. Scorponok would need to be in scale with Fortress Maximus though. I've just assembled Overlord, great little figure and nicely in scale with God Ginrai. Thinking about my WST collection, I'm not sure how it fits together, maybe I should sell off the non-leader figures..........
Finally decided to pick up an Impossible Toys Hub(cap), other than the Classics Bumblebee with conversion kit, it's the only option at the moment for a posable Hubcap. I guess it might well get replaced at some point. With the Generations Swerve and Tailgate, I just need an Outback figure and that's it for the 1986 Minibots.
Picked up Marvel Infinite Grim Reaper and Hyperion and the DC Multiverse Mr Freeze. Good to have a few extra villains, Grim Reaper will display nicely with Wonder-Man and Hyperion will go well with Nighthawk.
One of my collecting (displaying?) rules is that if I've never seen the character in anything then it won't go on the shelf. I now buy all comic based Marvel 3.75" figures as it seems a far cheaper option than risking them suddenly turning up in some cartoon or film in the future, then trying to pick them up at a greatly inflated cost, but it makes me wonder what to do with those unused figures (currently Sentry, Tigershark, US Agent, Patriot and Moonknight, soon to be joined by Death's Head, Red She-Hulk and Ares).
I reckon a few of those I could quite easily find a home for. Death's Head for instance would display nicely with a Tardis from the 3.75" Doctor Who line (since he also appeared in the Doctor Who comics back in the day), Ares with Hercules, and Red She-Hulk with the rest of the Hulk family. Moonknight is actually already displayed with my Defenders. I think that works!
Friday, February 28, 2014
Most Wanted
In previous years I've done my most wanted figures, I think it's at the stage now where it's a bit simpler.
There are a few characters I want/need a toy of, Marvel Universe Bishop and Classics/Generations Dinobots. They are the toys that when I look at my collection are missing. Planet X have hinted at a Sludge being their next toy, so we're getting there. I'd be fairly surprised if Hasbro didn't address the issue post AOE and DoFP.
Then there's a few toys which I'm not really that fussed about the characters, but they fill a gap. Inevitably most teams in comic books have a couple of top tier characters, and then a couple who are more filler characters. Defensor fits into this definition for me, the least interesting scramble city combiner, but the only one we don't have yet. Marvel Universe wise, Pyro and Avalanche. The brotherhood needs them!
Then there's a couple of characters who are a bit more out there, awesome characters, but are a bit more stand alone. Trypticon; if Hasbro created one in scale with Metroplex that would be great. One roughly the same size as G1 would also be fine though, perhaps a bit more WfC styled. For Marvel, I think Dracula and Odin would be amazing. (Odin needs to have a similar build to the Hercules mold.)
There are also toys which I'm happy to wait for, I'm in no rush with Masterpiece, but characters like Sunstreaker would be great, with Kabaya, a Scorponok would be cool. I'm sure eventually the 3.75" Batman, Mortal Kombat and Streetfighter lines will pick up again, and I'm sure we'll eventually get some decent classic Thundercats figures.
Finally, there are characters who have been hinted at, Sasquatch and Wendigo in Marvel Universe, presumably if they've started the design then it would be wasteful not to use them. The X-men line next year perhaps. Perfect Effect have suggested a Scorponok (which if it goes with Fort Max would be great). Mastermind Creations have hinted at an Overlord. TFC are doing a Defensor, though I don't think that's gonna work for me. Machine Boy (who!?) are doing a Sky Lynx. Xovergen are doing a God Bomber to finish God Ginrai.
Yep, it's an exciting time to be collecting, and I'm sure there's plenty of other stuff I'll be tempted by in the future!
There are a few characters I want/need a toy of, Marvel Universe Bishop and Classics/Generations Dinobots. They are the toys that when I look at my collection are missing. Planet X have hinted at a Sludge being their next toy, so we're getting there. I'd be fairly surprised if Hasbro didn't address the issue post AOE and DoFP.
Then there's a few toys which I'm not really that fussed about the characters, but they fill a gap. Inevitably most teams in comic books have a couple of top tier characters, and then a couple who are more filler characters. Defensor fits into this definition for me, the least interesting scramble city combiner, but the only one we don't have yet. Marvel Universe wise, Pyro and Avalanche. The brotherhood needs them!
Then there's a couple of characters who are a bit more out there, awesome characters, but are a bit more stand alone. Trypticon; if Hasbro created one in scale with Metroplex that would be great. One roughly the same size as G1 would also be fine though, perhaps a bit more WfC styled. For Marvel, I think Dracula and Odin would be amazing. (Odin needs to have a similar build to the Hercules mold.)
There are also toys which I'm happy to wait for, I'm in no rush with Masterpiece, but characters like Sunstreaker would be great, with Kabaya, a Scorponok would be cool. I'm sure eventually the 3.75" Batman, Mortal Kombat and Streetfighter lines will pick up again, and I'm sure we'll eventually get some decent classic Thundercats figures.
Finally, there are characters who have been hinted at, Sasquatch and Wendigo in Marvel Universe, presumably if they've started the design then it would be wasteful not to use them. The X-men line next year perhaps. Perfect Effect have suggested a Scorponok (which if it goes with Fort Max would be great). Mastermind Creations have hinted at an Overlord. TFC are doing a Defensor, though I don't think that's gonna work for me. Machine Boy (who!?) are doing a Sky Lynx. Xovergen are doing a God Bomber to finish God Ginrai.
Yep, it's an exciting time to be collecting, and I'm sure there's plenty of other stuff I'll be tempted by in the future!
Toy Fair Extinction
Transformers: Age of Extinction, okay, first film I wasn't expecting much, pleasantly surprised, second film, extremely hopeful, disappointed, third film, again not expecting much, but quite good. Fourth film, okay............. I'm quite looking forward to it. The Superbowl trailer looks pretty much what you'd expect, Grimlock looks cool, I'm hopeful once again. Please have a vaguely coherent plot, don't waste the Dinobots like Devastator was wasted in the second film and I'll be happy.
At the Wonder Festival in Japan a Megatron Mega Drive was shown, looks good to me. I realise that Transformers are eventually doing crossovers with most of my other collections (Lego and 3.75" scaled stuff, and now video games).
The New York Toy Fair; some pretty exciting stuff although nothing too crazy, Generations Leader Jetfire was leaked a few days before, but properly shown at the fair. Looks amazing, but I currently display my Voyager Jetfire with small deluxe FOC Shockwave. I have Shockwave in a flight stand so he's vaguely the same height, that just wouldn't work with a leader. Of course, if they decide to give Shockwave the Voyager he deserves then that could change. In addition, I feel quite sentimental about Voyager Jetfire as I actually bought him in person, so I'm thinking I'll pass at the moment (I have a rule to only own one version of each character), but I'm open to having my mind changed!
I'm all aboard for a set of movie Dinobots, they're slightly funny colours (in the trailer they just look metallic), but look like decent molds, especially Grimlock.
Roadbuster who was hinted at in the Hasbro website leak was confirmed and shown and all good, I'm pretty happy with the deluxe Roadbuster, but it'll be good to have a figure that scales well with the new Whirl.
Nightbeat was shown as a repaint of Generations Bumblebee rather than Jazz, suits me, especially as I don't have that mold. So, nothing too crazy in the Transformers news, but some solid looking toys which I can look forward to. One surprising thing which was revealed which I'm quite excited about is Loyal Subjects vinyl Slag and Snarl, Slag was shown previously but Snarl is exciting. (I've just opened the Grimlock which I think is pretty neat piece of 'hipster trash'!) I'm also up for the Potato Head Grimlock figures, available in both robot and dino mode! Poor Sludge continues to be the most ignored character of G1 though, no reissue and absolutely no homage whatsoever. I think the Justitoys WST Sludge is about the only love he's had.
The legends figures were also shown, Swerve and Gears, plus Tailgate confirmed. Look good (and pre-orders have just gone up at BBTS to ward off any fears of them not actually turning up at retail). Cliffjumper was also mentioned, if he gets a bit of a remold I could be tempted.
Good to see a teaser silhouette of MP Bumblebee, looks like I'd expect and looks to be a VW! Also an interesting comment from Shago Hasui that getting licensed cars is easier due to Takara's merger with Tomy. Hopeful for Jazz and Ironhide (Porsche and Nissan) in the future!
On the Marvel 3.75", equally nothing too unexpected due to an early sneak preview of the Legends Guardians of the Galaxy figures. I'm all up for the BAF Groot, will be pretty expensive for one figure though. Deathlok, Ares and Whirlwind were the only figures that were completely unexpected, but good to see ionic Wonderman, Red She-Hulk and Death's Head. I'm still sticking to my rule that I'll only display characters that have appeared in some sort of media that I've seen or read, so three of those six will go straight into storage, but I've learnt from bitter experience that there's not point passing on anything as there's a really good chance those characters will turn up in something soon. Especially Red She-Hulk, as I reckon she'll turn up in Agents of Smash at some point.
This month I have pre-ordered Perfect Effect's Fort Max, looks pretty amazing from the photos so am looking forward to getting that. Also looking forward to seeing their Scorponok which they've hinted at. I bought the new Lego Batmobile in store which is a pretty nice build. I think sitting on the sofa in Winter with a hot drink, watching Top Gear and building some Lego is about as relaxing as it gets! I think I may have found my happy place. The Batman minifig works really nicely, a good fusion of an iconic toy and an iconic character. They really got it right when they designed the basic minifig all those years ago.
I had an absolutely amazing delivery from BBTS at the start of the month; Generations Whirl, Doubledealer, Rhinox, Trailbreaker, Sandstorm and Black Shadow. Mastermind Creations Sixshot, Tantrum and Headstrong. Fansproject Motormaster, Dead End, Weirdwolf and Brainstorm. KFC Steeljaw and Planet X FOC Swoop, plus the last waves of Marvel Universe. I'm slowly working my way though it, Planet X Swoop is brilliant, I can't stop looking at it. If they release a Slag, Snarl and Sludge I will be very happy to use them as my Classics Dinobots with the official Grimlock.
Fansproject Motormaster is also brilliant, but fairly time consuming to transform. I've just put him into robot mode so I've yet to experience Menasor. Rhinox and Trailbreaker are great figures, very happy additions to my collection. Steeljaw is a nice little figure to compliment Ramhorn, looking forward to Overkill and Slugfest and hope can get the Ratbat (without Soundwave). Thinking about it, I've barely made a dent!
At the Wonder Festival in Japan a Megatron Mega Drive was shown, looks good to me. I realise that Transformers are eventually doing crossovers with most of my other collections (Lego and 3.75" scaled stuff, and now video games).
The New York Toy Fair; some pretty exciting stuff although nothing too crazy, Generations Leader Jetfire was leaked a few days before, but properly shown at the fair. Looks amazing, but I currently display my Voyager Jetfire with small deluxe FOC Shockwave. I have Shockwave in a flight stand so he's vaguely the same height, that just wouldn't work with a leader. Of course, if they decide to give Shockwave the Voyager he deserves then that could change. In addition, I feel quite sentimental about Voyager Jetfire as I actually bought him in person, so I'm thinking I'll pass at the moment (I have a rule to only own one version of each character), but I'm open to having my mind changed!
I'm all aboard for a set of movie Dinobots, they're slightly funny colours (in the trailer they just look metallic), but look like decent molds, especially Grimlock.
Roadbuster who was hinted at in the Hasbro website leak was confirmed and shown and all good, I'm pretty happy with the deluxe Roadbuster, but it'll be good to have a figure that scales well with the new Whirl.
Nightbeat was shown as a repaint of Generations Bumblebee rather than Jazz, suits me, especially as I don't have that mold. So, nothing too crazy in the Transformers news, but some solid looking toys which I can look forward to. One surprising thing which was revealed which I'm quite excited about is Loyal Subjects vinyl Slag and Snarl, Slag was shown previously but Snarl is exciting. (I've just opened the Grimlock which I think is pretty neat piece of 'hipster trash'!) I'm also up for the Potato Head Grimlock figures, available in both robot and dino mode! Poor Sludge continues to be the most ignored character of G1 though, no reissue and absolutely no homage whatsoever. I think the Justitoys WST Sludge is about the only love he's had.
The legends figures were also shown, Swerve and Gears, plus Tailgate confirmed. Look good (and pre-orders have just gone up at BBTS to ward off any fears of them not actually turning up at retail). Cliffjumper was also mentioned, if he gets a bit of a remold I could be tempted.
Good to see a teaser silhouette of MP Bumblebee, looks like I'd expect and looks to be a VW! Also an interesting comment from Shago Hasui that getting licensed cars is easier due to Takara's merger with Tomy. Hopeful for Jazz and Ironhide (Porsche and Nissan) in the future!
On the Marvel 3.75", equally nothing too unexpected due to an early sneak preview of the Legends Guardians of the Galaxy figures. I'm all up for the BAF Groot, will be pretty expensive for one figure though. Deathlok, Ares and Whirlwind were the only figures that were completely unexpected, but good to see ionic Wonderman, Red She-Hulk and Death's Head. I'm still sticking to my rule that I'll only display characters that have appeared in some sort of media that I've seen or read, so three of those six will go straight into storage, but I've learnt from bitter experience that there's not point passing on anything as there's a really good chance those characters will turn up in something soon. Especially Red She-Hulk, as I reckon she'll turn up in Agents of Smash at some point.
This month I have pre-ordered Perfect Effect's Fort Max, looks pretty amazing from the photos so am looking forward to getting that. Also looking forward to seeing their Scorponok which they've hinted at. I bought the new Lego Batmobile in store which is a pretty nice build. I think sitting on the sofa in Winter with a hot drink, watching Top Gear and building some Lego is about as relaxing as it gets! I think I may have found my happy place. The Batman minifig works really nicely, a good fusion of an iconic toy and an iconic character. They really got it right when they designed the basic minifig all those years ago.
I had an absolutely amazing delivery from BBTS at the start of the month; Generations Whirl, Doubledealer, Rhinox, Trailbreaker, Sandstorm and Black Shadow. Mastermind Creations Sixshot, Tantrum and Headstrong. Fansproject Motormaster, Dead End, Weirdwolf and Brainstorm. KFC Steeljaw and Planet X FOC Swoop, plus the last waves of Marvel Universe. I'm slowly working my way though it, Planet X Swoop is brilliant, I can't stop looking at it. If they release a Slag, Snarl and Sludge I will be very happy to use them as my Classics Dinobots with the official Grimlock.
Fansproject Motormaster is also brilliant, but fairly time consuming to transform. I've just put him into robot mode so I've yet to experience Menasor. Rhinox and Trailbreaker are great figures, very happy additions to my collection. Steeljaw is a nice little figure to compliment Ramhorn, looking forward to Overkill and Slugfest and hope can get the Ratbat (without Soundwave). Thinking about it, I've barely made a dent!
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Movie Year
The Dinobots are in Transformers Age of Extinction, Bishop is in X-men Days of Future Past. I want Classics Dinobots and a Marvel Universe Bishop figures dammit!
I had an somewhat epic trip to pick up a large shipment from UPS, missed the original delivery so thought I'd go and pick up the parcel in person, on foot........ Thing about parcel depots is that they tend to be on trading estates, in the middle of nowhere. Ended up going almost two miles along a path along a train line, only to find a puddle about half a foot deep! With no way to get round and obvious that my shoes would be completely submerged, I remembered that I had a spare pair of socks in my bag. I took off my shoes, rolled up my trousers and walked through! I took the wet socks off, put the dry ones on and carried on my way!!! Trading estates are very strange places, seemingly inhabited but with no one around. I found the UPS depot and got my parcel. (I got a taxi home!)
Masterpiece Wheeljack looks awesome, I'm thinking I would have found it very hard to resist had I not already made the decision to collect Masterpiece. There's a suggestion (an image from a Japanese retailer) that the rumoured Nightbeat from the leaked Hasbro listings could be a repaint of Generations Jazz. I guess I can cope with that.
PerfectEffect's Warden (Fort Max) looks pretty good, I'm particularly liking some of the poses people have shown him in. A pretty fun dynamic toy by all accounts. I'll have to get meself one! Xovergen have shown images of their God Bomber, I passed on their previous Super Ginrai figure, but it's looking pretty damn good in combined mode as God Ginrai. I'm also keeping an eye on MakeToys Gears and Omega Supreme add-on, although I'm pretty happy with my Platinum Omega as he is and I'm hoping we see the (rumoured) Gears from Hasbro.
Speaking of Hasbro, Generations Arcee has been confirmed. Again, pretty happy with my Impossible Toys Delicate Warrior, but an official version would be gratefully received! There have also images shown of a Mr Potato Head Grimlock. Yup, that's the kinda crazy I'd like to add to my Grimlock collection.
I've got quite a lot of my figures on display now, pretty well spaced out with room for the few characters that haven't had Classics incarnations yet. I've included Beast Wars with them so have got separate shelves for the US series as well as the Japanese BWII and BW Neo. Unicron has pride of place standing over the Neo figures!
I picked up the one Neo character who isn't available from Sonoking - Heinlad, I really like him, he's very Japanese which I enjoy. I think I might keep him in animal mode holding his lanterns.
I've picked up quite a few Lego minifigs - Yoda, Palpatine, C-3PO, R2-D2 and a custom Punisher, Carnage and Ghostbusters. They're pretty damn cool and once I pick up the Millennium Falcon with the other original trilogy Star Wars characters it'll be fun to do a few photos. I am in equal parts gutted and delighted with the recent Cuusoo announcement of Ecto-1 plus minifigs, gutted because I've wasted money on customs, delighted because I'll get an official Ecto-1 to go with. On balance, I'm very happy about it!
I had an somewhat epic trip to pick up a large shipment from UPS, missed the original delivery so thought I'd go and pick up the parcel in person, on foot........ Thing about parcel depots is that they tend to be on trading estates, in the middle of nowhere. Ended up going almost two miles along a path along a train line, only to find a puddle about half a foot deep! With no way to get round and obvious that my shoes would be completely submerged, I remembered that I had a spare pair of socks in my bag. I took off my shoes, rolled up my trousers and walked through! I took the wet socks off, put the dry ones on and carried on my way!!! Trading estates are very strange places, seemingly inhabited but with no one around. I found the UPS depot and got my parcel. (I got a taxi home!)
The parcel contained FansProject Diesel and Mastermind Creations Headstrong and Tantrum. I've heard combining Menasor is a pretty epic task but from pictures looks well worth it! Yay. Feral Rex, come on down!
Friday, January 3, 2014
New Year, New Collection Goals
Well, Generations Rattrap has been rumoured for a while and finally thanks to the TFCC front cover it has been confirmed, looks awesome to me and saves me having to track down the Japanese anime version of Rattrap from back in the day. Hope we see a few more Beast Wars figures at Toy Fair, I think Terrorsaur would get my vote! (I am now fully committed to getting the Season 1 cast.)
Not much news of interest otherwise this month, a silhouette has been shown of Masterpiece Wheeljack, good to see he's on his way, some have suggested that he could be retooled in Sunstreaker given the similar transformation. Certainly an interesting idea. In package pictures of Whirl look promising, looking forward to that particular figure.
I've been thinking about my non-TF toys, in particular Power Rangers and Star Wars. I currently have the Bandai USA 2010 4" rangers as well as the 2010 versions of the Megazord and Titanus. I've been eyeing up the Figuarts versions of the Green and White Rangers (after getting Figma Link and Samus I like the idea of super posable figures). I am therefore going to get rid of all of my old stuff except the Dragonzord, then pick up the Figuarts figures plus Tigerzord (then get some nice reprolabels to get it look super shiny). Quality over quantity!
With Star Wars I currently have most of the Transformers Crossovers with miniatures of the characters, because some of them vaguely work in scale. Over the years I've been tempted by Star Wars Lego, 3.75" scale figures and even 'Galactic Heroes' (the children's non-posable collectables). It seems I haven't quite found the right line for me, I was born at a time between the original and prequel trilogies so Star Wars wasn't a big thing for me as a kid (although I did have the odd toy from a cousin) so also considered just getting rid of everything.
Thinking about what I really want though - some version of the classic characters plus an army of Jedi, I have decided to go in different directions for the different trilogies. For the original trilogy, I'm going to go with Lego - they're iconic characters, but don't need be posable (I don't remember Han pulling too many crazy poses). I think iconic works well with Lego. For the prequel trilogy, I will get the Black line 3.75" figures, I can have an army of dynamic jedi (and sith). This also has the advantage of being a relatively new line and so I don't need to play catch up, I can just get them as they come out.
Getting Star Wars Lego has made me think more about my Lego collection, at the moment it's a mostly theoretical collection with only the Marvel, TMNT and Transformers (Kreo) parts represented. My Thundercats minimates also work quite nicely with the Lego minifigs, and so my Lego really is like a microcosm of my whole collection. I have decided that my Lego should be the fun part where crossovers occur, throw in some Star Wars, some Batman (I've decided to get the Lego Batmobile), and maybe some Ghostbusters (custom Lego or minimates maybe) and it could be really fun - Deadpool driving the Millennium Falcon, Donatello driving the Batmobile, Yoda driving Optimus Prime. Yes, that's a plan right there!
After all of these changes in collecting philosophy (particularly deciding to get Masterpiece figures), it's been an expensive old month - I've picked up Prowl, Bluestreak and Starscream for starters. I've also got Classics Doubledealer and Rhinox, Mastermind Headstrong, Fansproject Brainstorm and Planet X Swoop! Plus a Kabaya Overlord for good measure. I also ordered a job lot of Beast Wars Neo figures (Sonoking) so hopefully will get those soon.
********
Non-TF I did get the Green and White ranger Figuarts figures, Darth Vader and Mace Windu Black series figures, the Plo Koon 3.75" scale Starfighter (I need at least one vehicle), plus some Star Wars Lego (the Endor pack with the Stormtroopers). And finally the Thundercats Ho! minimates with the 'new' Thundercats. I look forward to actually getting all of that stuff.
Happy New Year!!!
Not much news of interest otherwise this month, a silhouette has been shown of Masterpiece Wheeljack, good to see he's on his way, some have suggested that he could be retooled in Sunstreaker given the similar transformation. Certainly an interesting idea. In package pictures of Whirl look promising, looking forward to that particular figure.
I've been thinking about my non-TF toys, in particular Power Rangers and Star Wars. I currently have the Bandai USA 2010 4" rangers as well as the 2010 versions of the Megazord and Titanus. I've been eyeing up the Figuarts versions of the Green and White Rangers (after getting Figma Link and Samus I like the idea of super posable figures). I am therefore going to get rid of all of my old stuff except the Dragonzord, then pick up the Figuarts figures plus Tigerzord (then get some nice reprolabels to get it look super shiny). Quality over quantity!
With Star Wars I currently have most of the Transformers Crossovers with miniatures of the characters, because some of them vaguely work in scale. Over the years I've been tempted by Star Wars Lego, 3.75" scale figures and even 'Galactic Heroes' (the children's non-posable collectables). It seems I haven't quite found the right line for me, I was born at a time between the original and prequel trilogies so Star Wars wasn't a big thing for me as a kid (although I did have the odd toy from a cousin) so also considered just getting rid of everything.
Thinking about what I really want though - some version of the classic characters plus an army of Jedi, I have decided to go in different directions for the different trilogies. For the original trilogy, I'm going to go with Lego - they're iconic characters, but don't need be posable (I don't remember Han pulling too many crazy poses). I think iconic works well with Lego. For the prequel trilogy, I will get the Black line 3.75" figures, I can have an army of dynamic jedi (and sith). This also has the advantage of being a relatively new line and so I don't need to play catch up, I can just get them as they come out.
Getting Star Wars Lego has made me think more about my Lego collection, at the moment it's a mostly theoretical collection with only the Marvel, TMNT and Transformers (Kreo) parts represented. My Thundercats minimates also work quite nicely with the Lego minifigs, and so my Lego really is like a microcosm of my whole collection. I have decided that my Lego should be the fun part where crossovers occur, throw in some Star Wars, some Batman (I've decided to get the Lego Batmobile), and maybe some Ghostbusters (custom Lego or minimates maybe) and it could be really fun - Deadpool driving the Millennium Falcon, Donatello driving the Batmobile, Yoda driving Optimus Prime. Yes, that's a plan right there!
After all of these changes in collecting philosophy (particularly deciding to get Masterpiece figures), it's been an expensive old month - I've picked up Prowl, Bluestreak and Starscream for starters. I've also got Classics Doubledealer and Rhinox, Mastermind Headstrong, Fansproject Brainstorm and Planet X Swoop! Plus a Kabaya Overlord for good measure. I also ordered a job lot of Beast Wars Neo figures (Sonoking) so hopefully will get those soon.
********
Non-TF I did get the Green and White ranger Figuarts figures, Darth Vader and Mace Windu Black series figures, the Plo Koon 3.75" scale Starfighter (I need at least one vehicle), plus some Star Wars Lego (the Endor pack with the Stormtroopers). And finally the Thundercats Ho! minimates with the 'new' Thundercats. I look forward to actually getting all of that stuff.
Happy New Year!!!
Friday, December 13, 2013
November Rain
There are some exciting potential exciting releases in the Generations line according to a sneaky bit of investigation on the Hasbro website - Voyager Brainstorm and Roadbuster, Deluxe Arcee and Hardhead, and Legends Brawn, Gears and Gnaw. (These are the ones that stand out for me.) The Headmasters figures would be interesting, especially given the quality of FansProjects offerings, I like the idea of Hardhead though as presumably it would be a repaint of the Warpath mold which I don't have but want. Roadbuster would be ideal given the Voyager Whirl (although I'm fairly happy with the old Cybertron Defense Red Alert repaint). I wonder whether Brawn could actually be Outback as he's one of the few minibots that hasn't had a modern (Classics) update and they were G1 mold buddies. Gears would also be great for the same reason.
Seems that we're also going to get a full compliment of Age of Extinction Dinobots, the designs look pretty good from the few leaks we've seen, I'm on board with some Dinobots. Hope we get some official Classics versions soon! Speaking of which, Planet X have released some colour pictures of their FOC Swoop, looks pretty damn good to me, nice that it compliments Grimlock, looking forward to seeing more. FansToys have released prototype pictures of a Masterpiece Slag, wow! This looks great, makes me realise how I want Classics Dinobots. Could be expensive, but again would display brilliantly with the official Grimlock we've already got.
It seem that Star Saber has won the Takara Tomy competition for an anniversary Masterpiece figure, I was personally hoping for God Ginrai (who came third) as I was hoping for something for my Classics Masterforce shelf, but Star Saber is a good second choice, hopefully he won't be too crazily large. More on this later. I guess they still might do some of the other figures on the list - often when companies do fans choice they know roughly who's going to win so have designs lined up for all of them.
My new thinking about Beast Wars has got me thinking about the rest of my collection, if money was absolutely no object, what would I buy; I would buy every single G1 figure (possibly in duplicate so I could have one in each mode), every single Beast Wars figure, every single Classics figure, I'd create a Micromaster City (with all the WST), every single Masterpiece and every Grimlock, Ravage, Razorclaw and Steeljaw figure. It then follows that what I should actually collect should be a scaled down version of this, whilst this is almost what I already do, I have purposely not bought into Masterpiece, but if I'm honest, they're fantastic figures and it looks like it has a very healthy future with Bumblebee, Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus on the horizon.
My compromise I think will be to stick with the G1 reissues, leader, base-mode and animal based figures I already have. Then for Classics and Beast Wars pretty much only get the figures that appeared in the cartoon (including the Japanese series), keep the Grimlock et al figures I already have, but to get some Masterpiece figures. To limit the number I get I'm just going to the Season 1 (1984) figures. Okay, and Ultra Magnus. Previously I have not collected Classics figures that belong in Victory, but with MP Star Saber I think it would be good to collect those as well (assuming he works with those figures), this means getting Botcon Leozack and Generations Black (Sky) Shadow. Doubt we'll ever see Classics Deszarus though and the Botcon version just isn't working for me. I think display the Masterforce and Victory era figures together would make quite a nice display, especially as we're getting a couple of unofficial Overlord figures.
I've bought a few Marvel figures this month - Avengers Assemble Black Widow, I haven't opened it yet but it's nice to have a more cartoon accurate version (with the gold belt and wristbands), I've also picked up Legends Man-Thing (it works in the 3.75" scale), since watch the Halloween episode of Ultimate Spider-Man I'm quite liking the idea of putting together a Legion of Monsters collection - really need a Werewolf by Night and N'Kantu the living Mummy in 3.75" scale. I also bought a couple of Chitauri figures from the Avengers movie line as originally they were only in the Ultimate Universe, but they've made an appearance in the 616 universe now as well as in the different cartoon series. I'm looking forward to Christmas and getting some additional funds!
Seems that we're also going to get a full compliment of Age of Extinction Dinobots, the designs look pretty good from the few leaks we've seen, I'm on board with some Dinobots. Hope we get some official Classics versions soon! Speaking of which, Planet X have released some colour pictures of their FOC Swoop, looks pretty damn good to me, nice that it compliments Grimlock, looking forward to seeing more. FansToys have released prototype pictures of a Masterpiece Slag, wow! This looks great, makes me realise how I want Classics Dinobots. Could be expensive, but again would display brilliantly with the official Grimlock we've already got.
It seem that Star Saber has won the Takara Tomy competition for an anniversary Masterpiece figure, I was personally hoping for God Ginrai (who came third) as I was hoping for something for my Classics Masterforce shelf, but Star Saber is a good second choice, hopefully he won't be too crazily large. More on this later. I guess they still might do some of the other figures on the list - often when companies do fans choice they know roughly who's going to win so have designs lined up for all of them.
My new thinking about Beast Wars has got me thinking about the rest of my collection, if money was absolutely no object, what would I buy; I would buy every single G1 figure (possibly in duplicate so I could have one in each mode), every single Beast Wars figure, every single Classics figure, I'd create a Micromaster City (with all the WST), every single Masterpiece and every Grimlock, Ravage, Razorclaw and Steeljaw figure. It then follows that what I should actually collect should be a scaled down version of this, whilst this is almost what I already do, I have purposely not bought into Masterpiece, but if I'm honest, they're fantastic figures and it looks like it has a very healthy future with Bumblebee, Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus on the horizon.
My compromise I think will be to stick with the G1 reissues, leader, base-mode and animal based figures I already have. Then for Classics and Beast Wars pretty much only get the figures that appeared in the cartoon (including the Japanese series), keep the Grimlock et al figures I already have, but to get some Masterpiece figures. To limit the number I get I'm just going to the Season 1 (1984) figures. Okay, and Ultra Magnus. Previously I have not collected Classics figures that belong in Victory, but with MP Star Saber I think it would be good to collect those as well (assuming he works with those figures), this means getting Botcon Leozack and Generations Black (Sky) Shadow. Doubt we'll ever see Classics Deszarus though and the Botcon version just isn't working for me. I think display the Masterforce and Victory era figures together would make quite a nice display, especially as we're getting a couple of unofficial Overlord figures.
I've bought a few Marvel figures this month - Avengers Assemble Black Widow, I haven't opened it yet but it's nice to have a more cartoon accurate version (with the gold belt and wristbands), I've also picked up Legends Man-Thing (it works in the 3.75" scale), since watch the Halloween episode of Ultimate Spider-Man I'm quite liking the idea of putting together a Legion of Monsters collection - really need a Werewolf by Night and N'Kantu the living Mummy in 3.75" scale. I also bought a couple of Chitauri figures from the Avengers movie line as originally they were only in the Ultimate Universe, but they've made an appearance in the 616 universe now as well as in the different cartoon series. I'm looking forward to Christmas and getting some additional funds!
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