Takara Transformers

[pcsguy88]

This one is mine too. I taught myself how to paint on these guys which is why the drybrushing is waaaaay to heavy.

Custom Transformers Movie Jazz Metallic Paint "Battle Damaged" Look | eBay

And this one:

Custom Transformers Movie Ironhide | eBay

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Good lord. How long have been a Bay-slut? :trollface:

 

[pcsguy88]

I just like Transformers. The idea and the engineering. I'm not pigeon-holed to some stupid cartoon from when I was 9yrs old. Same reason I jumped all over BBI and 21st Century toys once discovering them weeks after discovering 25th Joe 5pks. Cool robots are cool robots and if they happen to add nostalgia, then that's a huge bonus.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

 

[pcsguy88]

Robots > Fiction :trollface:

 

[nacho]

It's not that I don't like random cool robots. But my toy collection is friggin nuts, and I don't have room to display or play with a huge percentage of it. Thus in the interest of money and space, I'm simply very selective these days. Something has to be really compelling for me to get excited, and bugformers, no matter how neat the engineering, simply don't make the cut.

I'm not pigeon-holing myself to the cartoon specifically, but G1 items often get a grading bump because of the nostalgia factor... and the fact that they fit with the rest of my collection. When I see collections that are just a random mish-mash of scales, styles, eras, and such, my inner child cringes. I simply like to curate a bit more tightly than that. Sticking with G1 3P/MP keeps my robots from looking like they were accumulated by Sandford & Son. But again, my collecting priority is to get a display setup that gives me a shot of nostalgia when I walk by. Random things, no matter how cool, don't fit and are a huge hangnail, usually resulting in buyer's remorse.

But if engineering is the #1 factor for your collection, then it seems like you've chosen the right bots.

 

[pcsguy88]

My total collection for everything including Transformers, Robotech, 3.75" and 6" Joes/Star Wars and their vehicles Static/RC is well under 100pcs. You've seen my MP geewun display above my cabinets and that stays unmolested or untainted. But for stuff that gets constantly rotated in and out of display and play, I can get a bit eccentric.

Right now all my movie bots are out while I'm finishing up some painting and maybe next week I'll get bored, throw them in a box and pull out my MB COD hovercraft and stage a beach assault dio, then a few weeks later, Lego SW re-appears. Whatever property I'm into at the moment, that's what I keep accessible. Usually spurred by a new movie, tv show, video game or a new purchase.

I just absolutely love brilliant engineering like Takara Ironhide or this new M-01 Commander. Not many figures can compare to what they do. I fucking hate Inferno, but damnit if that transformation doesn't leave me wanting him. I have too many red Autobots, so I will wait for a KO Grapple version and if it reviews well quality wise, I'll buy him just to play with as if he's a Rubix Cube. It's also why I do not own a duplicate mold beyond the cassettes that came with Soundwave.

I almost purely buy KOs because I play with them and don't give two shits about resale value or "knowing" they are not real. So yes, I keep my stuff mostly separated into nice clean segments, but beyond my geewun display, everything else rotates like the flavor of the month. It's brilliant having my woman of 3 years live across the parking lot from me and not having a damn say in my decoration even though we spend basically every evening at my place. This is why I can rotate so much and never worry about someone else messing with it or bitching about a project taking space.

If I walked into a room that just had hundreds of figures standing at attention in bookshelfs or crowded into a curio cabinet to where I cannot see all of them from every angle, I'd lose my shit. 95% of online collection photos look this way and I just cringe. What a dusty mess and mental gotta collect them all illness is all I can think. You can't even appreciate what you own Bob.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Yeah, random cool things just don't have the lasting impression that nostalgia based toys do. The "OOoooo!" factor wears off extremely quick. Heck, even the "OOooo!" factor wears off quickly for toys that are nostalgic, but don't fit in anywhere in my collection. I bought that Before and After General poseable PVC Devastator, and while it is/was super cool, it doesn't/didn't fit in anywhere and the wow factor vanished before a spec of dust had even settled on him.

So yeah, like you, nacho, I don't have the space or money to be wasting on "cool" only.

 

[pcsguy88]

Everyone collects how they want and that's the whole point of all this, to have fun and love it. Of course none of us can buy all the cool stuff that comes out (even if it all fits nicely into geewun) because it's never ending. There is always something else that's cool. We all have to draw our lines and stay true or it gets out of hand in the blink of an eye.

The part that cracks me up about you two is how absolutely faithful you are to the source material of any toy line we all collect. Listening to you guys rip apart and hate 3 different 3rd party or official versions of the same character is mind blowing. I get being picky since I am too (once again, my collection is under 100pcs), but you guys are just brutal in what you compliment. It's like listening to the old guys from the Muppet Show tear apart the performance instead of just enjoying something for what it is. I mean, how as a toy person can you HATE M01 Commander? You can't get past "It's not geewun" and just appreciate it for being one of the best transforming toys ever produced. It's goddamn gorgeous with quality that Takara has not produced in 5yrs.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

We're the rivet counters of 80's toys.

 

[pcsguy88]

We're the rivet counters of 80's toys.

Dude... How did I not see that before? :lmao:

I wish you guys lived close enough together to do a YouTube review show.

 

[nacho]

Maybe we are. :lmao:

However, compared to a huge swath of the TFW populace, Eddie and I are extremely forgiving. I love Kronos, Ollie, Spinout, and Apollyon... arguably the four most reviled 3P TFs ever produced. They look good, they're poseable, and they check all the boxes I'm looking for in my display. Yet the truly "picky" collectors get out their pitchforks at the mention of any one of them. Sure, I'm not blind to their flaws, just not particularly fussed by them.

So while I might seem picky, I could be worse. And what might appear to be rivet-counting is really just verbally trying to sort out what makes the cut. There are plenty of figures that I really like, but I didn't buy them because they just don't fit. Just because I don't buy something doesn't mean I hate it, just that it didn't meet the high bar to get into my overcrowded collection.

And when there are three or four competing versions of the same character, I have to narrow it down somehow. I have neither the space, money, or desire to own three of every character. I pro/con them (or some subjective gut feeling approximation thereof) and figure out which option works for me. Doesn't mean the others are shit*.

But yeah, when I'm in it for the nostalgia, having stuff that's faithful to the source material is kind of the point. I don't hate M01... I simply have extreme apathy for bayformers. They aren't what I'm looking for, not even close. They don't tick the boxes. Thus I simply have no interest. --- Imagine someone really into muscle cars. You show them your brand new Subaru WRX, and while they can appreciate it for what it is and the modern engineering therein, that's just not their thing. You can't blame them if they drool over a hemi 'Cuda instead.

(* except SunSurge. While I don't like his goofy aesthetics, I mostly hate the figure for the hyper-aggressive fans that will not accept that some people prefer an alternative)

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I simply have extreme apathy for bayformers.

I think I hate them, not necessarily due to their "design", but because they are a constant reminder of what could've been, film wise. They are impostors. They are the bad, bitter taste in my mouth. I see them and they actually bubble up a tiny bit of anger thinking about what they prevented.

I think of the people who say more direct translations would've been resisted by the masses, but then I think of live action Disney films. Did the Beauty and the Beast live action that was identical to the toon not connect with the masses?

 

[nacho]

Bayformers are to Transformers what Star Trek is to Star Wars... i.e. similar looking to the casual observer, but different enough that I absolutely give no fucks.

 

[pcsguy88]

I'm yet to see anything since the original animated movie that has recaptured the magic. Guessing it's because nothing else has tried to be the same. I can't even make thru an episode of any other toon. For some reason, I'm able to completely separate the live action films and enjoy the first one as it's own entity. The rest are utter garbage, but the first one was actually pretty good fun other than murdering the bot designs.

 

[nacho]

I enjoyed the first couple of films well enough. Great special effects, weak plot, and off-putting bot designs, but not terrible films. But they are in no way the TFs that stir my soul, and I don't feel the need to own toys of them any more than I do Terminator, Bond, or (insert random action franchise here).

I've watched some of the subsequent animation. "Animated" was weak. "Prime" was substantially better, and the current RID series is just a watered down sequel to Prime with crappier characters and even more annoying humans. I watched them with my son, but they couldn't hold his interest for the long haul.

But truth be told, I don't need them to recapture 84-86. I'm fine with them trying to find a new path. I have the old toons on my media server and I'm surrounded by MP/3P figures that look like they did in my 10-year-old head. That satisfies the itch.

 

[pcsguy88]

I liked Joe Renegades. Wish they could do something that good with TF toon reboots. I guess I'll give Prime another chance since it's on Amazon or Netflix for free.

 

[nacho]

Yeah, Renegades wasn't half bad. I would have preferred the team be larger and not on-the-run as it were, but the animation and characterization were good. It's a shame that we didn't get another season or sequel where the team could be properly headquartered and each episode would be more like an issue of Special Missions. That would have been great.

Yeah, I don't know why a G1-esque modern TF cartoon is such a taboo. It's almost as if the people who make this new stuff don't actually know what made the original so much fun. They just flail around hoping something sticks rather than keeping to the roots of the property. I just chalk it up to "I am not the target audience" and move on.

 

[pcsguy88]

So damn weak... I just found an MP-10 at my TRU online and bought it. Have never had a real one or a trailer. Better be one damn good trailer for that ass rape price.

 

[pcsguy88]

And I mean n.e.v.e.r. had the trailer. Even as a kid.

 

[nacho]

The original was fun as a kid. My only modern one is the one that came with the 1st run Takara MP-10, but I'm pretty sure that it's never been out of the box. It's huge and I've never had enough spare display space, and my bot will never again see truck mode (IIRC, I kragled his chest closed because it gapped so badly).

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Renegades was decent, but I too didn't like the A-Team'esque on the run nonsense. Resolute on the hand, was awesome. That was some fantastic modernization of JOE while still keeping a semblance of their individual character and look intact. Both had really cool animation, even if Renegades was a hint kiddie. At least it wasn't some CGI crap like Prime.

 

[pcsguy88]

SDCC Prime is REALLY toon-y... Almost DVD Prime colors. He might not be staying long.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I like that toony colored one. I wish MAS-01 had been toon colored.

 

[pcsguy88]

Yeah, it's already grown on me and I find it endearing since they really nailed the toon colors without going overboard like DVD Prime. What is killing it for me now is the chest gap. Passenger side chest door only closes in a somewhat acceptable manner when the matrix is removed, but even then you can tell it's not quite formed correctly. The mold is obviously still bad after all these years. It really bothers me because the KO company went out of their way to correct that issue. The lack of paint and abundance of spruce marks is also a bit unsettling for a $160 toy.

 

[pcsguy88]

KO matches the trailer way better since his legs are the same silver. Pretty sure every part on the KO is painted unless the red plastic is molded with metallic flake. All the blue is 100% metal flake sprayed.

 

[nacho]

I like the KO. Is that a recent release or the one that's been around a while? The blue flake is excellent, making the toony one look like the KO.

I have the white "nekkid magnus" MP-10 KO... in all three sizes. Regular, knocked-up, and knocked-down.

 

[pcsguy88]

I bought it 2yrs ago from TF-Direct. It was version 2 which corrected the arm gap the first one had. The only thing I dislike about him is that they painted the tiny grill parts below the windows which stands out against the chrome. It has not annoyed me enough to paint them red though.

I might just buy the KO trailer for $60 or get a whole new combo pack for $130 so I can have one down to play with. I'm going to give the official one as much of a chance as possible, maybe hit the chest door with a hairdryer unwarp it, but seeing the two side by side isn't helping the cause.

I'm trying to support you Hasbro! You don't make it easy.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I think a mix with the bright blue and slightly toned down red would be the best combo...maaaaybe.

 

[pcsguy88]

I'm having way too much fun with this stupid trailer. It has actually brought out the real kid in me instead of the tweener who thinks things look cool, but is too cool to play.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

Please tell me that you're making sound effects and laying on the floor...? Maybe flying 'guys' around?

 

[pcsguy88]

This cracks me up.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I hate that pathetically underscaled Bee.

 

[nacho]

To be fair, G1 Roller was waaaaaay bigger than G1 bumblebee, toy-wise.

 

[pcsguy88]

I'm just glad I went KO with him. Asking $60 for that deluxe chug is laughable.

It'll be ok lil' buddy.

 

[pcsguy88]

Eddie, will MAAS lay like this? If so, you should do a new banner with him laying down and the Joes lined up like your spotcat one.

Or maybe him on his back with the Joes dragging off the matrix?

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

I'll try that. That would be great. Even if he does, I'm certain that his head won't articulate into a "comfortable" looking position.

 

[pcsguy88]

I'll try that. That would be great. Even if he does, I'm certain that his head won't articulate into a "comfortable" looking position.

I meant that to be head resting/supported by her hand. Guess I saw bewbs and forgot what I was doing. Just need some pose with him laying down so he'd fit. Or maybe have them standing on a roof top and just show Ops from the chest up behind them?

 

[pcsguy88]

"You know Hound, sometimes I feel like there are imposters among us. Unlicensed bots. KOs even..."

 

[pcsguy88]

I just thought about how much money is standing on that table. :explode: