I find myself at a crossroads of sort, ever since I got my hands on RiD Brave Maximus and all the little accessories from most of his mold mates, authentic or repro I've been over the top of the mountain, and sliding down the steep slope of the other side.
I find other things attracting my attention, and I only have so many hobby dollars I can split up. So I find myself re-evaluating my collection. Unfortunately for my wallet, a lot of what comes out I find appealing. But that has become too expensive to maintain. And now I need to focus my collection on the items I really really like, rather than just everything that I like or looks cool.
Do you limit yourself to Masterpieces, G1 Characters (In my case, what I grew up on)etc etc..
I had already resigned myself to begin exiting the third party bandwagon, it has just exploded and become more and more expensive. iGears Miniwarriors were looking like the last of the 3rd Party for me along with Fans Project Assaulter.
And I find as much as the movie stuff had it's appealing designs, I'm eying up that shelf for liquidation. Which, isn't going to be easy when a large chunk of it is still shelf warming in most locations.
In the end when I look over all my shelves the pieces that I find I like the most, are the G1s, G1 inspired (Classics / Generations / Universe) and Robots in Disguise. Followed closely by Beast Wars / Beast Machines, Transformers Animated and Transformers Prime. With a little dash of Armada / Cybertron and Energon.
And when it comes to the new stuff, even though the Cyberverse stuff coming out is very cool, do I really need 3 different versions of Prime?? Cyberverse, Deluxe and Voyager?? No, not really. Not too mention I was looking forward to the Energon Driller and the 'Hammer. But as cool as the playsets look. I have The Ark from DOTM and it doesn't really fit in anywhere. So I have to look at the fact that here will be cool pieces that come out, but don't really fit into my collection.
I thought about scaling back all the way to Masterpiece alone. But as few as they are, and cheap on a yearly basis. The line doesn't represent much of the series as whole. And likely never will. Even though we are supposed to get like 5 this year.
So as I have read and heard from others over the years. Wait for deals, patience is key. Don't buy assortments of 4 figures just to get 2 you want. Because you will need to sell those other two, and that takes time and you probably will be lucky to get your cost back out.
Only collect the ones you really want. And you don't need to have every version of every character. Just get the best representation to you. And don't be afraid to downsize if it's needed. That cash can go back into the collection, or to some other hobby you've been neglecting. Which is what I plan to do now that there is a budding Warhammer league here. I always liked the modeling aspect of the hobby as well as playing. But I didn't like the idea of doing one, but not the other. And it's been almost 16 years since I was into that.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Hotwheels - Another collection..
So not too long ago, maybe a month or so I was browsing the isles at Walmart and seeing nothing new for Transformers like usual. We're still stuck on wave 1 of PRID. And not every store here even has that.
I walked past the Hotwheels section, and the 1966 Batmobile just jumped out at me. I'm not entirely sure why that was. But I took it down to look at it, and I remembed that as a kid I had a much larger metal version of this one that came with little Batman and Robin figures that sat in the seats. It also had a red plastic flame in the back and a movable metal saw on the front bumper.
Anyway, I ended up leaving Walmart with like 5 versions of the Batmobile and the A - Team truck. And when I got home I checked out Ebay and picked up a Ghostbusters Ecto-1, Back to the Future Time Machine and another Batmobile.
Now, I don't have much of an interest in cars in general. I don't know much about them. And I don't see that changing much anytime soon. But there are some cool looking Hotwheels cars outside of the TV and Movie ones. But the ones that really interest me are those. And the majority seem to be Batman. But I find myself eying up some of the others. Like the Breakfast cereal ones of Count Chockula, The Flintstones and the new SDCC 2012 Scooby Doo Mystery Machine. I would really like that Mystery Machine, but I don't yet see myself paying $50 it seems to be asking for on Ebay for a little Hotwheels car. But this is the same thing I said about Transformers when I started that. And now I have some very expensive pieces.
So it would seem that that one little 1966 Batman Batmobile, has managed to slightly spark onto something I remember from being a kid much farther back than my mid 80s transformers days. The sub 10 year old days of playing in the dirt with my 'Dinky', 'Matchbox' and 'Hotwheels' cars.
Now unlike the Transformers, which unfortunately has sprawled more than my Wallet would like. I favor quite a few different lines. I think I should be able to keep the Hotwheels limited to the Movie and TV varieties. And coming in at about $1.33 here when I see them. They are absolutely cheap. Even with Ebay they are usually only been a few bucks.
Of course the dark side of the coin is that in almost 5 years of TF collecting I have only run into other 'mature' collectors a few times. And none were clearing the pegs like I heard about. In the last three weeks or so since I bought that first Batmobile I've seen it twice with Hotwheels.. in two different cities. Men older than I am, just going through the pegs and dumping stuff into the cart at their feet. So I guess it's true and this does happen.
And when I think about it, I guess it should be all the more common with little Die Cast cars. Since so many are licenced and exact little duplicates of real world cars. Which makes me wonder if the in-laws and such would be so different in their outlook if I had a large miniature car collection, or of military planes and vehicles instead of robots. I think every TF collector knows the answer to that one.
I walked past the Hotwheels section, and the 1966 Batmobile just jumped out at me. I'm not entirely sure why that was. But I took it down to look at it, and I remembed that as a kid I had a much larger metal version of this one that came with little Batman and Robin figures that sat in the seats. It also had a red plastic flame in the back and a movable metal saw on the front bumper.
Anyway, I ended up leaving Walmart with like 5 versions of the Batmobile and the A - Team truck. And when I got home I checked out Ebay and picked up a Ghostbusters Ecto-1, Back to the Future Time Machine and another Batmobile.
Now, I don't have much of an interest in cars in general. I don't know much about them. And I don't see that changing much anytime soon. But there are some cool looking Hotwheels cars outside of the TV and Movie ones. But the ones that really interest me are those. And the majority seem to be Batman. But I find myself eying up some of the others. Like the Breakfast cereal ones of Count Chockula, The Flintstones and the new SDCC 2012 Scooby Doo Mystery Machine. I would really like that Mystery Machine, but I don't yet see myself paying $50 it seems to be asking for on Ebay for a little Hotwheels car. But this is the same thing I said about Transformers when I started that. And now I have some very expensive pieces.
So it would seem that that one little 1966 Batman Batmobile, has managed to slightly spark onto something I remember from being a kid much farther back than my mid 80s transformers days. The sub 10 year old days of playing in the dirt with my 'Dinky', 'Matchbox' and 'Hotwheels' cars.
Now unlike the Transformers, which unfortunately has sprawled more than my Wallet would like. I favor quite a few different lines. I think I should be able to keep the Hotwheels limited to the Movie and TV varieties. And coming in at about $1.33 here when I see them. They are absolutely cheap. Even with Ebay they are usually only been a few bucks.
Of course the dark side of the coin is that in almost 5 years of TF collecting I have only run into other 'mature' collectors a few times. And none were clearing the pegs like I heard about. In the last three weeks or so since I bought that first Batmobile I've seen it twice with Hotwheels.. in two different cities. Men older than I am, just going through the pegs and dumping stuff into the cart at their feet. So I guess it's true and this does happen.
And when I think about it, I guess it should be all the more common with little Die Cast cars. Since so many are licenced and exact little duplicates of real world cars. Which makes me wonder if the in-laws and such would be so different in their outlook if I had a large miniature car collection, or of military planes and vehicles instead of robots. I think every TF collector knows the answer to that one.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
KO City Commander & Shadow Commander Add on Kits
Picked these two up a couple weeks ago now. They came in a plain bubblewrap with no paperwork, or anything at all. The plastic quality on them is quite nice, feels like a real thing.
Got the two shoulder launchers and rifle. The colors are matched up to suit the City Commander and Shadow Commander color schemes. My displayed City Commander is a KO Armor with a KO Ultra Magnus. And they plug in tightly. And the rifle is also snug in the hand. The missiles themselves have a little spring to them, makes them feel spring loaded. But they don't seem to launch.
The Shadow Commander is also a good fit, mine is also a KO Shadow Commander Armor with a KO Nemesis Prime.
So overall these are great quality, and the price was fair. And shipped from overseas they arrived really fast.
They complete the look of my Commanders. And allows me to keep my authentic CC in his box. I'm far from a MISB collector. But the real valuable pieces I hesitate to open.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
RiD BRAVE MAXIMUS
Well, a little over a month ago after a year of watching prices and even twice I tried to bid one for a decent price on Ebay I finally sprung for and bought a Robots in Disguise Brave Maximus.
None of the two Ebay attempts panned out for me. They always ended up getting bid up too high for my blood. Certainly with the nature of Ebay I wasn't comfortable with such an expensive purchase should there be anything wrong with it, or not as described. I could only imagine the nightmare of having to try and return something of that size and weight. And the headaches increase.
So I got a line on one from a reputable source. And he was supposed to be in very good condition and complete. Box and all accessories. The price was a little more than I would have liked. But the shipping was good, and the security and peace of mind was worth it.
So he came with his box, insert and all of RiD BM original accessories. And since he was such a crown piece for my collection. I decided to hunt down some repro parts from Fortress Maximus to kit him out. So I managed to get FM two guns. The FM Twin Blaster and FM large Photon Rifle. As well as Cog who forms two small tanks and a larger robot. So all I am missing is the repro gun for Cog. I find when it comes to the FM guns the dark blue color seems to go well with BM. Rather than the more appropriate repro color matched to BM. Although I do think that Cog would look better if he was color matched to BM in red and black. I'm thinking about painting him myself but I haven't yet. And I even grabbed the Crazy Devy Massive Sword since it was on clearance. And it's just about as tall as BM himself is.
The last thing I picked up was the Headrobots Courageous Headmaster kit. It was also a little pricier than I would like. But it was supposed to be limited to 200 pieces. Not that that made it any cheaper. But, that gave me two nicely detailed Headmaster heads and a nice translucent blue sword.
Over all BM was somewhat dusty when he arrived. Nothing that a dry cloth and a can of air didn't mostly fix. And to my surprise it seems that all of his stickers are in excellent shape. None seemed to be faded, scratched to coming loose at all. I found that to be amazing really. I've transformed him once, from robot to city mode and back again. His joints seem to be tight and in good shape. All in all I couldn't be happier with him. It's fun just to look at him. And being the largest transformer ever made is a fun fact. And I prefer this color version of Fortress Maximus to the other two version. The colors as was mentioned somewhere else, looks fantastic as a city at night with the lit up windows.
And a reminder of him being from a bygone age in toys, the plastic he is made of, is of just a better quality than you see with Hasbro today. And maybe even Takara. It just feels sturdy, and not cheap or fragile at all. The heft of the whole figure is surprising. This thing is heavy.
And one last surprise I had when I got looking at the box and little details. It seems that I ended up with a Takara release of Brave Maximus. I had assumed that it would have been the Korean release. So that was a nice cherry on top. From everything I checked out it definitely seems to be the Takara version.
RiD is becoming one of my favorite continuities in Transformers. And is starting to rank up there with G1 as far as I am concerned. There just seems to be a lot of nice figures, and good quality materials in the line. And there is a handful of figures I still want to get from the line. It's too bad it didn't go on even one more season than it did.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Headrobots Courageous
I receieved the Headrobots upgrade / replacement kit for Robots in Disguise Brave Maximus recently.
The set consists of two heads, one with the typical face plate and the other with nose and mouth. As well as a transparent blue sword. I've read in other reviews of the set that the reds didn't come out well, and didn't go well with Brave Maximus. I didn't find this to be the case at all. They are not an exact match, but they seem quite close to me. An don't look bad at all. They also both come with the headmaster attachment while in head form.
If you have ever seen or handled a Headrobots release before than there is nothing really new about these two bots but for the colors, and the design of the heads.
This was an exclusive set from Megatoyfan limited if memory serves to 200 pieces. If Brave wasn't going to be my giddy big bad boy of my collection I don't know if I would have been able to justify the cost. But I had some money I could spare on it, and I want my BM to have all the pieces and upgrades to make him 'Complete'
So in the end I would have to say the choice is yours if you think you would want it for yours.
The set consists of two heads, one with the typical face plate and the other with nose and mouth. As well as a transparent blue sword. I've read in other reviews of the set that the reds didn't come out well, and didn't go well with Brave Maximus. I didn't find this to be the case at all. They are not an exact match, but they seem quite close to me. An don't look bad at all. They also both come with the headmaster attachment while in head form.
If you have ever seen or handled a Headrobots release before than there is nothing really new about these two bots but for the colors, and the design of the heads.
This was an exclusive set from Megatoyfan limited if memory serves to 200 pieces. If Brave wasn't going to be my giddy big bad boy of my collection I don't know if I would have been able to justify the cost. But I had some money I could spare on it, and I want my BM to have all the pieces and upgrades to make him 'Complete'
So in the end I would have to say the choice is yours if you think you would want it for yours.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Classics Bumblebee Upgrade Kit
I decided that since I liked the original Beezleboss Devil Horns upgrade kit for Classics Cliffjumper that I would get the Growing Pains kit for my spare RTS Bumblebee. I didn't know how well it would look since I didn't have a United Gold Colored version of the mold. But figure I would try it anyway.
The kit came in a tiny little box, which is of no real surprise since all it is is a head and two pistols. I kind of wish the guns were a little heftier, but they are pretty cool. And I like the head sculpt just fine.
The plastic seems to be of pretty good quality, and the details are nice. No complaints there.
The only thing I could see is I do wish it was a little cheaper, by around $5 to $10. It would have been a lot nicer to have the kit be around $20 to $25 instead of $29.99. But over all, I am satisfied with it. And my new Goldbug looks very nice with the upgrades.
Installation was simple, just one small screw to change out the head and it's all done.
Here is the picture of him alongside my classics 'Bee with his FP Pistol from the G3 Trailer.
The kit came in a tiny little box, which is of no real surprise since all it is is a head and two pistols. I kind of wish the guns were a little heftier, but they are pretty cool. And I like the head sculpt just fine.
The plastic seems to be of pretty good quality, and the details are nice. No complaints there.
The only thing I could see is I do wish it was a little cheaper, by around $5 to $10. It would have been a lot nicer to have the kit be around $20 to $25 instead of $29.99. But over all, I am satisfied with it. And my new Goldbug looks very nice with the upgrades.
Installation was simple, just one small screw to change out the head and it's all done.
Here is the picture of him alongside my classics 'Bee with his FP Pistol from the G3 Trailer.
Monday, April 30, 2012
RiD Scourge
Today I received my latest figure, a Robots in Disguise Spychanger Scourge. I won this one on Ebay about two weeks ago from a seller in England. I was the only bidder, I didn't expect to win it. But no one else wanted it, or maybe I flew under the radar.
He arrived today in small little box. And except for a little dust his joints are tight, and everything seems to be in order except for a small scuff on his chrome bumper.
I really like the Spychangers, they remind me a lot of the old G1 minicars, of which I had quite a few when I was a kid. I picked up a bunch of them last year second hand. And they all have simple transformations, and that suits me fine. And after watching all of RiD recently the series has become one of my more favorites of the available transformer series.
Scourges robot mode is nicely detailed, espeacially his head sculpt. And frankly he looks just like a small exact replica of what I presume is his more articulate and detailed big brother.
So in the end to sum up, a great little figure. Not very articulate, but nicely sculpted and detailed. A great addition to my other Spychangers and G1 minibots on my shelf.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Post Wrestlemania 28
It has been a week now just about since the biggest wrestling extravaganza of the year. And I have to say that I wasn't as impressed with it after I've seen it than I thought I would be going into it.
The opening match was one that I was interested in seeing. And should have been a great match. And then I sit down to enjoy a great start to a four hour show and see it end in roughly 18 seconds. What.the.hell.. This wasn't a good way to start. I like D Bryan as Booker would put it. And if they wanted him to drop the belt to Shamus then that was fine. I liked him before he became the 'Great White' back when that was actually an insult to him.
And things on the card didn't go a whole hell of a lot up from there. At least with the exception of the Hell in a Cell match. I need to see that one again. But, we did have three veterans working that match. And they all knew what they were doing. I found this one to be much more entertaining than last years. Which I would have to give the credit to Michaels for adding that level of uncertainty to the outcome. Although I was very very doubtful that Undertaker was ever going to lose this thing. Hopefully he will retire undefeated at Wrestlemania. Seeing I don't find anyone worthy of the rub, and with the pace of things these days it would be forgotten in weeks anyway. But if they must, I would love to see someone like Ziggler get it.
Anyway as the card wore on things didn't get much better. The Punk and Jericho match didn't thrill me either. And I know both men can work. Maybe it has something to do with the storyline. Which doesn't interest me at all. And the tag match was tossed to the dark. I've seen good womens matches, and most of them seem to be over in TNA / Impact these days. And The Rock and Cena didn't work well for me either. I was disappointed in Team Teddy losing, but maybe this will provide an opportunity to do something with Teddy. He is miles more interesting and likeable than Johnny Ace.
We get to RAW and Smackdown! and things for me just get worse. RAW was good with the Rocks promo and all downhill from there till we end with Lesnar. What anyone sees in him I will never know.
I've been watching the Wrestlemanias starting at #1 this past week. And it's going to take awhile. But so far I'm up to number six and they have all been much better than what I watch now. Maybe it's because I'm a product of the 80s and that's what I grew up with. But maybe they just did it better then. You know, they don't make things like they used to. A good example being this weeks ref reversing a decision on (Smackdown! was it??) over an incident he didn't even see.. I just saw two WM in a row where Jesse was complaining and praising the fact that the heels cheated well, and kept things hidden from the ref. And they didn't go around changing the decison for things they thought they saw.
I guess alot of this boils down to something I probably said before. Modern wrestling is now so totally shifted to the entertainment (WWE at least) that they don't even pretend to be a sport anymore. Or even act like there are rules and this is supposed to be an atletic competition. And it shows. From what I have been told I should be watching Ring of Honor. Or maybe I need to watch more Impact. But Impact has a lot of failings in other areas. But they do have some good talent.
I have quite a few WMs to get through, and it will be interesting if the decline hits your like a brick wall once I get past the Attitude Era into the PG era and rise of Cena. Maybe it's a gradual thing. Should be interesting to see..
The opening match was one that I was interested in seeing. And should have been a great match. And then I sit down to enjoy a great start to a four hour show and see it end in roughly 18 seconds. What.the.hell.. This wasn't a good way to start. I like D Bryan as Booker would put it. And if they wanted him to drop the belt to Shamus then that was fine. I liked him before he became the 'Great White' back when that was actually an insult to him.
And things on the card didn't go a whole hell of a lot up from there. At least with the exception of the Hell in a Cell match. I need to see that one again. But, we did have three veterans working that match. And they all knew what they were doing. I found this one to be much more entertaining than last years. Which I would have to give the credit to Michaels for adding that level of uncertainty to the outcome. Although I was very very doubtful that Undertaker was ever going to lose this thing. Hopefully he will retire undefeated at Wrestlemania. Seeing I don't find anyone worthy of the rub, and with the pace of things these days it would be forgotten in weeks anyway. But if they must, I would love to see someone like Ziggler get it.
Anyway as the card wore on things didn't get much better. The Punk and Jericho match didn't thrill me either. And I know both men can work. Maybe it has something to do with the storyline. Which doesn't interest me at all. And the tag match was tossed to the dark. I've seen good womens matches, and most of them seem to be over in TNA / Impact these days. And The Rock and Cena didn't work well for me either. I was disappointed in Team Teddy losing, but maybe this will provide an opportunity to do something with Teddy. He is miles more interesting and likeable than Johnny Ace.
We get to RAW and Smackdown! and things for me just get worse. RAW was good with the Rocks promo and all downhill from there till we end with Lesnar. What anyone sees in him I will never know.
I've been watching the Wrestlemanias starting at #1 this past week. And it's going to take awhile. But so far I'm up to number six and they have all been much better than what I watch now. Maybe it's because I'm a product of the 80s and that's what I grew up with. But maybe they just did it better then. You know, they don't make things like they used to. A good example being this weeks ref reversing a decision on (Smackdown! was it??) over an incident he didn't even see.. I just saw two WM in a row where Jesse was complaining and praising the fact that the heels cheated well, and kept things hidden from the ref. And they didn't go around changing the decison for things they thought they saw.
I guess alot of this boils down to something I probably said before. Modern wrestling is now so totally shifted to the entertainment (WWE at least) that they don't even pretend to be a sport anymore. Or even act like there are rules and this is supposed to be an atletic competition. And it shows. From what I have been told I should be watching Ring of Honor. Or maybe I need to watch more Impact. But Impact has a lot of failings in other areas. But they do have some good talent.
I have quite a few WMs to get through, and it will be interesting if the decline hits your like a brick wall once I get past the Attitude Era into the PG era and rise of Cena. Maybe it's a gradual thing. Should be interesting to see..
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wrestlemania 28
It's that time of year again, time for Wrestlemania.
Now I haven't been too excited in recent years, the PPV events just don't seem to be all that grand and dazzling anymore. Compared to my memories of the early years, they just seem like extended episodes of RAW or Smackdown! Maybe returning to an outdoor arena. With the large setup might give it back some sense of atmosphere. I really need to go back and watch the old 'Manias. I remember when the WWF/E released the big boxset of all of them. I wish I could have found it for a good price. After that I would have loved a set of the Rumbles. Even if it was just a set of all the Royal Rumble matches themselves.
But oddly I am finding myself getting a little excited this year. Even though I had said I wouldn't be. After all, I saw HHH and Undertaker last year. But I am interested in seeing them now in a Hell in a Cell match, with Mr. Wrestlemania as the guest referee. And Punk and Jericho along with Rock and Cena. Against my better judgement I'm looking forward to Sunday night.
I'm even interested in the 12 man tag match, hopefully team Teddy wins.
So here we are at another Wrestlemania, one I said I wouldn't be excited about. And yet I find myself drawn to it. We shall see how it all goes by Monday night.
Now I haven't been too excited in recent years, the PPV events just don't seem to be all that grand and dazzling anymore. Compared to my memories of the early years, they just seem like extended episodes of RAW or Smackdown! Maybe returning to an outdoor arena. With the large setup might give it back some sense of atmosphere. I really need to go back and watch the old 'Manias. I remember when the WWF/E released the big boxset of all of them. I wish I could have found it for a good price. After that I would have loved a set of the Rumbles. Even if it was just a set of all the Royal Rumble matches themselves.
But oddly I am finding myself getting a little excited this year. Even though I had said I wouldn't be. After all, I saw HHH and Undertaker last year. But I am interested in seeing them now in a Hell in a Cell match, with Mr. Wrestlemania as the guest referee. And Punk and Jericho along with Rock and Cena. Against my better judgement I'm looking forward to Sunday night.
I'm even interested in the 12 man tag match, hopefully team Teddy wins.
So here we are at another Wrestlemania, one I said I wouldn't be excited about. And yet I find myself drawn to it. We shall see how it all goes by Monday night.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Dark of the Moon : Darksteel
Picked this guy up at TRU last weekend. They were having a $10 sale on the deluxes. And until I heard that he was a Beast Wars homage to Quickstrike I wasn't much interested.
But once I got him transformed into robot mode and put his weapons into his hands. He actually does look really cool. The head especially, and with the weapons in hand they resemble claws / blades.
The mold looks like a repaint and tooling of DOTM Sideswipe.
If you liked Quickstrike I'd say you should grab this guy while you can. If not, I wouldn't bother. Since he's just another 'Sideswipe' and I actually already have two versions of movie Sideswipe already. But this one is more than different enough to fit in for me with my like of Beast Wars.
Thanks to the WTF@TFW 2005 podcast and Vangelus or I would not have known he was a Quickstrike BW homage.
3.5 out of 5
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