Jaisun
27th August 2009, 10:47 AM
Hello all at OTCA =o)
It's great that us Australians have our own little Transfans collective, because until I found a link to here on Seibertron.com last week, I thought I was quite alone in my adult collecting of Transformers. Well, here's a little something I typed up a while back, intending to make my own small web page for my small collection, but that may never happen, so I'll put it here. As you can see, I kinda got carried away typing this up, so feel free to skip my scary big wall of text if you only wish to see the list of what I have, because it's just me rambling about my past etc. =oP
My History with Transformers:
I was but a young lad aged 6 when I first discovered the Transformers, back in the small Victorian town of Merbein. For many reasons, my collection of Generation 1 Transformers was limited, but thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed. As best as I can recall, between the years of 1986-1992 I owned Hotrod, Hound, Prowl, Soundwave (+ Buzzsaw), Sandstorm, Ravage, Seaspray, Mudslinger and Beachcomber. Some were purchases by my parents for either me doing jobs around the house or Christmas/Birthday presents, and others were obtained through toy trades amongst friends. I also have fond memories of many other G1 toys that belonged to the friends I layed with, such as Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Cyclonus, Starscream, Thrust, Trailbreaker, Motormaster, Frenzy, Warpath, Cosmos, Powerglide, Shockwave, the Constructicons, the Aerialbots etc etc. Unfortunately though, as many home and school relocations occured through my childhood/early teens, alot of my things vanished, including my beloved Transformers.
Now that I am in sheer envy of the youth I once had (I feel old =oP), I am now living in Adelaide as a married father of one. I have observed Transformers from a distance for some time, often feeling disappointed in the childish, flurescent plastic look of some of them compared to the die-cast originals I was used to. But in recent years, it is great to see how far they have come and how much more appealing they are to me now as an adult with their increased details and complexities. Because in all honesty, as much as I love and adore the originals for nostalgic purposes, they were a turd to get any decent kind of battle pose out of them. But with the figures of the last 5 or so years, some of the transformations and articulation are really quite facinating!
My first step into becoming an adult Transformers collector came about when I saw the Alternators box of Smokescreen at Port Adelaide K-Mart. As a rally fan, When I saw a Subaru Impreza WRX in a box marked Transformers, I just HAD to have a look. Not only did it look great as a vehicle, I just loved the bot form too, which was something I often noticed absent about previous offerings. That's not to rag on the lines prior to Alternators/Binaltechs, but from what I had seen in shops over the years, they just lacked a certain something in my own personal opinion.
Although I am (and always have been) pretty anal in keeping my collectable belongings in top condition, when I first got Smokescreen, I decided not to be a MISB Nazi and just enjoy it. The appeal I have for these creations is the intricate transformations and the cool battle poses that can now be achieved with modern articulation, and to spend good money on a Subaru Impreza WRX and just leave it in a box, I would be better off getting a much cheaper model of just the car itself. This got the ball rolling, as shortly after that I saw the Universe Prowl, as I had the G1 of him as a child, I thought it's a good follow up. Although not my favourite figure (I kinda got him purely based on nostalgia), he has grown on me and is proudly displayed.
After my first two purchases, I started googling Transformers for images and information, discovering that Alternators were the plastic versions of the die-cast Binaltech figures. Straight away I was on eBay looking for Binaltechs, eventually buying 5 of them. There was no turning back by now, and sure enough, as time has passed since then, the collection has grown to what I would call a comparitively small, but equally loved collection. I am not a hardcore collector for for a number of reasons, most noticably being lack of finances for such high-end prices the rares and vintage fetch these days, but also for reasons shown below...
Here are the basics behind my purchase decisions:
-Appealing; I like both bot and alt mode, or at least bot mode, as that's how I display them.
-Highly poseable; enough for some cool displays, as I'm not a fan of "stand straight up" or "transformable toy in a static box" displays. I do give kudos to those collectors who can keep them in the box though, but for me, they are too cool to not tinker with =oP
-Nostalgia; For example, the Classics versions of G1 characters I had as a child.
-Unique; Has a certain something that sets it apart (ie. RotF Scout Ransack, RotF Deluxe Ravage)
-It's on sale =oP
What I try to avoid:
-Pure nostalgia; If it's a remake of a character I fondly remember, but the figure does nothing for me, no sale!
-Vintage; My collection is all about how it looks to me, not if it will impress others etc, so I'm not really interested in vintage because they are not as poseable as todays Transformers, and getting good condition versions of them is ridiculously expensive, especially for a family man on a standard wage. That being said, if I did still have my original G1's, my thoughts on this may be different =oP
-Rares; Convention exclusives etc are no interest of mine, purely based on the fact that to obtain them, you either spend thousands on a trip to the US and attend, or be willing to make some greedy yank very rich because he bought 10 of them solely to make a hefty profit on eBay. Having said that, if I lived in the US, my thoughts on this may be different =oP
-On Sale; If I don't like it at RRP, I must resist forcing myself to like it when it goes cheap =oP
-Repaints/remoulds; I like my bots to be their own bot, not have 5 remoulds side-by-side. This has occasionally found me doubled up after discovering a figure I bought, was later re-released under a more appealing character/colour scheme -.-
Anyways, here is my collection to date, for no other purpose than sharing what I have with anyone who cares enough to look. This is by no means a jaw-dropper collection, it's just my own little personal slice of the shape-shifting wonders, and I love it =o)
NOTE: I'm not 100% sure on series names etc, I just went by what the box said =oP
Alternators:
-Smokescreen (#8)
-Sideswipe
Binaltech:
-Smokescreen (#7)
-Hound
-Silverstreak (Streak)
-Meister (Red)
-Grimlock
Energon:
Voyager:
-Bulkhead
Masterpiece:
-Ultra Magnus
-Convoy (with Trailer)
-Starscream
Robots In Disguise:
Deluxe:
-Astrotrain
-Bumblebee
-Rodimus
-Starscream
Voyager:
-Jetfire
-Optimus Prime
Universe:
Deluxe:
-Prowl
Universe Classics:
Legends:
-Beachcomber
-Bumblebee
Deluxe:
-Hound (with Ravage)
-Prowl
Voyager:
-Blades
-Inferno
Ultra:
-Onslaught
-Powerglide
Titanium:
-Menasor
Transformers Movie:
Deluxe:
-Arcee
-Big Daddy
-Jolt
Leader:
-Nightwatch Optimus Prime (Allspark Power)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen:
Scout:
-Dead End
-Depth Charge
-Dune Runner
-Knock Out
-Ransack
Deluxe:
-Breakaway
-Bumblebee
-Chromia
-Interrigation Barricade
-Ravage
-Sideswipe
Leader:
-Optimus Prime
It's great that us Australians have our own little Transfans collective, because until I found a link to here on Seibertron.com last week, I thought I was quite alone in my adult collecting of Transformers. Well, here's a little something I typed up a while back, intending to make my own small web page for my small collection, but that may never happen, so I'll put it here. As you can see, I kinda got carried away typing this up, so feel free to skip my scary big wall of text if you only wish to see the list of what I have, because it's just me rambling about my past etc. =oP
My History with Transformers:
I was but a young lad aged 6 when I first discovered the Transformers, back in the small Victorian town of Merbein. For many reasons, my collection of Generation 1 Transformers was limited, but thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed. As best as I can recall, between the years of 1986-1992 I owned Hotrod, Hound, Prowl, Soundwave (+ Buzzsaw), Sandstorm, Ravage, Seaspray, Mudslinger and Beachcomber. Some were purchases by my parents for either me doing jobs around the house or Christmas/Birthday presents, and others were obtained through toy trades amongst friends. I also have fond memories of many other G1 toys that belonged to the friends I layed with, such as Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Cyclonus, Starscream, Thrust, Trailbreaker, Motormaster, Frenzy, Warpath, Cosmos, Powerglide, Shockwave, the Constructicons, the Aerialbots etc etc. Unfortunately though, as many home and school relocations occured through my childhood/early teens, alot of my things vanished, including my beloved Transformers.
Now that I am in sheer envy of the youth I once had (I feel old =oP), I am now living in Adelaide as a married father of one. I have observed Transformers from a distance for some time, often feeling disappointed in the childish, flurescent plastic look of some of them compared to the die-cast originals I was used to. But in recent years, it is great to see how far they have come and how much more appealing they are to me now as an adult with their increased details and complexities. Because in all honesty, as much as I love and adore the originals for nostalgic purposes, they were a turd to get any decent kind of battle pose out of them. But with the figures of the last 5 or so years, some of the transformations and articulation are really quite facinating!
My first step into becoming an adult Transformers collector came about when I saw the Alternators box of Smokescreen at Port Adelaide K-Mart. As a rally fan, When I saw a Subaru Impreza WRX in a box marked Transformers, I just HAD to have a look. Not only did it look great as a vehicle, I just loved the bot form too, which was something I often noticed absent about previous offerings. That's not to rag on the lines prior to Alternators/Binaltechs, but from what I had seen in shops over the years, they just lacked a certain something in my own personal opinion.
Although I am (and always have been) pretty anal in keeping my collectable belongings in top condition, when I first got Smokescreen, I decided not to be a MISB Nazi and just enjoy it. The appeal I have for these creations is the intricate transformations and the cool battle poses that can now be achieved with modern articulation, and to spend good money on a Subaru Impreza WRX and just leave it in a box, I would be better off getting a much cheaper model of just the car itself. This got the ball rolling, as shortly after that I saw the Universe Prowl, as I had the G1 of him as a child, I thought it's a good follow up. Although not my favourite figure (I kinda got him purely based on nostalgia), he has grown on me and is proudly displayed.
After my first two purchases, I started googling Transformers for images and information, discovering that Alternators were the plastic versions of the die-cast Binaltech figures. Straight away I was on eBay looking for Binaltechs, eventually buying 5 of them. There was no turning back by now, and sure enough, as time has passed since then, the collection has grown to what I would call a comparitively small, but equally loved collection. I am not a hardcore collector for for a number of reasons, most noticably being lack of finances for such high-end prices the rares and vintage fetch these days, but also for reasons shown below...
Here are the basics behind my purchase decisions:
-Appealing; I like both bot and alt mode, or at least bot mode, as that's how I display them.
-Highly poseable; enough for some cool displays, as I'm not a fan of "stand straight up" or "transformable toy in a static box" displays. I do give kudos to those collectors who can keep them in the box though, but for me, they are too cool to not tinker with =oP
-Nostalgia; For example, the Classics versions of G1 characters I had as a child.
-Unique; Has a certain something that sets it apart (ie. RotF Scout Ransack, RotF Deluxe Ravage)
-It's on sale =oP
What I try to avoid:
-Pure nostalgia; If it's a remake of a character I fondly remember, but the figure does nothing for me, no sale!
-Vintage; My collection is all about how it looks to me, not if it will impress others etc, so I'm not really interested in vintage because they are not as poseable as todays Transformers, and getting good condition versions of them is ridiculously expensive, especially for a family man on a standard wage. That being said, if I did still have my original G1's, my thoughts on this may be different =oP
-Rares; Convention exclusives etc are no interest of mine, purely based on the fact that to obtain them, you either spend thousands on a trip to the US and attend, or be willing to make some greedy yank very rich because he bought 10 of them solely to make a hefty profit on eBay. Having said that, if I lived in the US, my thoughts on this may be different =oP
-On Sale; If I don't like it at RRP, I must resist forcing myself to like it when it goes cheap =oP
-Repaints/remoulds; I like my bots to be their own bot, not have 5 remoulds side-by-side. This has occasionally found me doubled up after discovering a figure I bought, was later re-released under a more appealing character/colour scheme -.-
Anyways, here is my collection to date, for no other purpose than sharing what I have with anyone who cares enough to look. This is by no means a jaw-dropper collection, it's just my own little personal slice of the shape-shifting wonders, and I love it =o)
NOTE: I'm not 100% sure on series names etc, I just went by what the box said =oP
Alternators:
-Smokescreen (#8)
-Sideswipe
Binaltech:
-Smokescreen (#7)
-Hound
-Silverstreak (Streak)
-Meister (Red)
-Grimlock
Energon:
Voyager:
-Bulkhead
Masterpiece:
-Ultra Magnus
-Convoy (with Trailer)
-Starscream
Robots In Disguise:
Deluxe:
-Astrotrain
-Bumblebee
-Rodimus
-Starscream
Voyager:
-Jetfire
-Optimus Prime
Universe:
Deluxe:
-Prowl
Universe Classics:
Legends:
-Beachcomber
-Bumblebee
Deluxe:
-Hound (with Ravage)
-Prowl
Voyager:
-Blades
-Inferno
Ultra:
-Onslaught
-Powerglide
Titanium:
-Menasor
Transformers Movie:
Deluxe:
-Arcee
-Big Daddy
-Jolt
Leader:
-Nightwatch Optimus Prime (Allspark Power)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen:
Scout:
-Dead End
-Depth Charge
-Dune Runner
-Knock Out
-Ransack
Deluxe:
-Breakaway
-Bumblebee
-Chromia
-Interrigation Barricade
-Ravage
-Sideswipe
Leader:
-Optimus Prime