... I would have waited an eternity for these...

[Hursticon]

I think HD should sell the whole G1 collection (to me ) And then start from scratch all over again

I think E might have something to say about that.

[heroic_decepticon]

wow, so this means they you have completed all of G1
Congrats mate i know how long you have been trying to get this, now we need a shot of the completed collection

Thanks mate! A complete shot of the collection may not be possible until I get the entire collection all in the one country! while that has been my aim for the past couple of years, I think its something that is still not viable in the medium term simply because of the size (my TFs in Singapore are in close to 50 mid-sized plastic storage boxes, in shelves in a 2m x 2m store room (completely filled to the top) and in a couple of cabinets).

If I bring them all to HK, I'd have no place to walk or sleep...

Bam!

A massive congratulations HD as this has been a long time coming with this figure, or at least that is how it feels , but might I say that he certainly does have quite an interesting sculpt for a retool/repaint.

*snip*

Rampagesss brings up an interesting point though, does this recent acquisition not suggest that you've completed G1 from all 3 points of it's release? - If so that is a simply astounding feat of which I'd like to both commend and congratulate you on dude!

Something tells me though HD, that you've not finished with the Robots in Disguise just yet...

In answer to both your questions, I think BB certainly has brought my Japanese G1 collection to a close, although there are loose ends. Examples of loose ends are Stepper (don't have the vintage one), Shuffler (don't have vintage), vintage Sixbuilder (sold), vintage Sixtrain (sold) and a few of the Operation Combiner giftsets which I have sold.

In other words, I can't really claim to have a complete Japanese G1 collection, but in my mind, I'm quite done unless I want to go after these specific pieces.

As to US releases, I don't collect ActionMasters, so again, cannot claim to have completed US G1. It's complete for my purposes though.

but might I say that he certainly does have quite an interesting sculpt for a retool/repaint.

I agree with you that he does have a nice facial sculpt, it's almost Autobot-esque but the eye-colour and proximity of faction logo address that quite quickly.
His arms on the other hand seem somewhat kibbly , is it indeed kibble or do the various parts serve as actual Bot mode weapons?

Yes, the face sculpt is awesome! And very robotic too, which is good (but that makes him not much of a pretender I fear). heh.

Also are you going to get the Japanese Transformers Jr's?

The short answer to that is 'no', but I will explain why.

I used to have lots of TF jnrs when I was young. but that is because we could not afford the real thing, so my brother and I had to make do with 'cheap' downgraded versions of real TFs that were neither here nor there (eg: Ultra Magnus with a paper trailer section; a 6 inch Galvatron in only 3 tones of colour; etc). Of course, most of these had poor(er) quality plastic, no chrome and no metal.

By that same token, we also had a lot of Kabaya type TFs (ie: model kit that comes with candy, etc), and these are things I'm simply not going to be interested in no matter how rare or valuable they are now due to scarcity of supply or otherwise.

I see jnrs and Kabaya as replacements or placeholders of the real thing, so I'm not that fond of them... hahaha

Therefore, if I can buy the real thing, I almost certainly will not buy the jnrs (that's my view anyway).

[Hursticon]

If I bring them all to HK, I'd have no place to walk or sleep...

LOL, I could very well imagine that.

In answer to both your questions, I think BB certainly has brought my Japanese G1 collection to a close, although there are loose ends. Examples of loose ends are Stepper (don't have the vintage one), Shuffler (don't have vintage), vintage Sixbuilder (sold), vintage Sixtrain (sold) and a few of the Operation Combiner giftsets which I have sold.

In other words, I can't really claim to have a complete Japanese G1 collection, but in my mind, I'm quite done unless I want to go after these specific pieces.

Ah, so you've sold a couple have you? - well at least that gives you something to hunt should you decide to indeed.

As to US releases, I don't collect ActionMasters, so again, cannot claim to have completed US G1. It's complete for my purposes though.

Meh, they're not really Transformers anyway dude - So I think you can still make that claim.

Yes, the face sculpt is awesome! And very robotic too, which is good (but that makes him not much of a pretender I fear). heh.

LOL, I guess that little facet never really did bother the Decepticon Pretenders much huh?

[heroic_decepticon]

LOL, I could very well imagine that.

yeah, E would definitely not approve of that!

Ah, so you've sold a couple have you? - well at least that gives you something to hunt should you decide to indeed.

yup, have sold a couple to help others reach their collecting objectives, so its a good cause. Anyway, these are not so difficult to find if I wanted to look out for them (fingers crossed).

Meh, they're not really Transformers anyway dude - So I think you can still make that claim.

Hahaha, I agree, but there are collectors who are fond of them, although I must confess, I cannot fathom why.

LOL, I guess that little facet never really did bother the Decepticon Pretenders much huh? [/QUOTE]

hahaha... guess, not, they have no need to pretend anyway, they destroy.

Oh, didn't answer your question on the kibble. The stuff on BB's arms are actually the helicopter landing skis. they would be kibble except that there are 3 missiles (not firing type) on each ski that I presume he can use in robot mode. Then the large blue tail of the helicopter he is holding is also actually his gun. Not sure if you consider these kibble.

[Hursticon]

yup, have sold a couple to help others reach their collecting objectives, so its a good cause. Anyway, these are not so difficult to find if I wanted to look out for them (fingers crossed).

With the detective skills you've got along with the Team of E and UM, I don't imagine it would take you too much to find them again; and knowing you they'll be better condition than the last too!

Hahaha, I agree, but there are collectors who are fond of them, although I must confess, I cannot fathom why.

Hehe, neither can I man; the only one I felt was worthy of me owning him was Soundwave.

hahaha... guess, not, they have no need to pretend anyway, they destroy.

LOL, yeah, you're right and especially if you take Skullgrin into account! - A movie star!?!

Oh, didn't answer your question on the kibble. The stuff on BB's arms are actually the helicopter landing skis. they would be kibble except that there are 3 missiles (not firing type) on each ski that I presume he can use in robot mode. Then the large blue tail of the helicopter he is holding is also actually his gun. Not sure if you consider these kibble.

Ah, so they are his actual weapons; I'd definitely accept him using the the landing gear/missile launchers in Bot mode and the fact that he uses his Tail-plane as a weapon I certainly wouldn't say is kibble - In actuality, Id go so far as to say that it looks like the design and engineering pre-cursive approach to weapons the TakTom engineers would eventually take with the later-end G2 and Beast Wars figures, so BB also doubles as an example of TF evolution on a number of fronts!

[heroic_decepticon]

I have recently been playing catch up with posting stuff that I have photographed.

Presenting the 4 dino-cassettes, with detailed photos here:

1. C-121: Gurafi MIB
2. C-122: Noizu MIB
3. C-123: Dairu MIB
4. C-124: Zauru MIB
5. Collective photos of all 4

Here's hoping that these can help collectors descern, in High End TFs' words, "the creme from the crap".

***

SUMMARY

C-121: Gurafi MIB review
Gurafi has a nice cassette mode and even a fun transformation, but his dino-mode just does not do it for me. It's kind of boring and just stands there upright with wings that are difficult to position convincingly. The weapon attachments to the wings also appear to be after-thoughts and do not add much utility. I think the key reasons the design was so limited is because it needed to combine, so at least that is forgivable. I would rate this as my least favourite among the 4 dino-cassettes and give it an overall rating of 6.5/10.



More photos here.


C-122: Noizu MIB review
The first thing I thought when I said Noizu was that 'I like his colour scheme'. There is something about this shade of blue he is in that works for me, somehow. To be honest, I think his transformation sequence from cassette to dinosaur is highly reminiscent is not substantially similar with Overkill's transformation. Even his dino-saur mode looks like Overkill. The similarities, of course, stop there - Noizu has additional engineering and can further transform to combine with Gurafi to form Decibel. In dino-mode, I'm not like the after effect of parting the legs for stability - it results in Noizu having '2 tails', which is weird. Noizu is otherwise my third favourite dino-cassette and I give him a rating of 7/10.



More photos here.


C-123: Dairu review
This is one of my favourite dino-cassettes in terms of the stunning box art and also the dinosaur mode. The transformation and engineering built into this little guy is very very impressive - it has easily the most complex transformation among the 4 dino-cassettes and is very intricate in its design. The transformation from cassette to dinosaur is complex and fun and so is the transformation into its combined form Legout. The teal-green colour scheme of the toy is a little odd, but suitably dino-like. The colour scheme shown on the box art and the box art itself is just stunning. I just cannot decide whether Dairu or Zauru is my favourite dino-cassette - on the one hand there is the intricate complexity of Dairu and on the other hand there is the clean, simple and effective elegance of Zauru. Man, I can't decide! Overall, Dairu gets a rating of 8.5/10.



More photos here.


C-124: Zauru MIB review
Zauru have a nice and pretty symmetrical cassette mode. It's transformation from cassette to dino-mode is simple, elegant and yet effectively achieves the key features of a 'Brontosaurus' (okay Apatosaurus, but I like the misnomer better) - it is really lanky with a long neck and long tail making it the longest cassette transformer. It is not complex like Dairu is, but there is a lot about its simplicity and its quiet colour scheme that makes Zauru mysterious, shy and yet an attractive piece. This guy is easily one of my favourite dino-cassettes - love the box art and the toy is the best all round because it achieves its intended dino mode with its simple yet effective elegance. However, as mentioned previously, I just cannot decide whether Zauru or Dairu is the favourite. Overall, I would rate Zauru 8.5/10.



More photos here.


The dino-cassettes, Decibel and Legout






MIB with the communicators


More photos here.

Season's greetings and a happy new year!

~ HD

[GoktimusPrime]

The gestalt forms really don't look as good as the '88 cassette gestalts - but as you rightfully pointed out, these did come first. And Graphy's robot mode looks like it's better designed than Grand Slam's -- at least it still looks like a pterosaur on it's own, whereas Grand Slam's tank mode is heavily reliant on accessories. Without the guns he's just a box with treads.

[heroic_decepticon]

The gestalt forms really don't look as good as the '88 cassette gestalts - but as you rightfully pointed out, these did come first. And Graphy's robot mode looks like it's better designed than Grand Slam's -- at least it still looks like a pterosaur on it's own, whereas Grand Slam's tank mode is heavily reliant on accessories. Without the guns he's just a box with treads.

Grand Slam is actually quite fun with the number of weapons he has though. I do think that Decibel at least, is better looking than Squarkbox, who looks terrible with a case of elogated groin...

[GoktimusPrime]

Grand Slam is actually quite fun with the number of weapons he has though

Sure, but from an engineering perspective, I find Grand Slam to be among the weaker of the G1 cassettes since his robot mode is so reliant on accessories. It's no where near as bad as say Gunrunner (whose alt mode is nothing without his accessory!) - but still...

When I look at photos of Graphy I can see that the robot mode is fairly solid insofar that it still holds on its own without the guns. I'm not too fond of Transformers that are so reliant on their accessories that they can't "function" without them. If you take say Raindance or Beastbox - they still look like a jet and gorilla without their accessories. Likewise all these dino cassettes look like dinos regardless of their accessories. The thing I have with Grand Slam is that if you lose his guns he just fails at transforming into his robot mode. If you lost Graphy's guns (not saying that you would, but speaking hypothetically of course ) I imagine that he could still adequately transform into his saurian robot mode. So in that regard I can appreciate Graphy's engineering over Grand Slam's... well, vicariously appreciate it through your photos and text descriptions - as I've yet to see any of these toys for myself IRL! (donations always welcome )

[heroic_decepticon]

Obtained another item that is "worthy" of this thread... heh

Not-for-sale 立体ユニワロンPOP (ie: inflatable "3D" Unicron POP) promotional display for Transformers: The Movie (1986)

Far as I know, there are only 3 known pieces of this in the world and mine is the only unused, unassembled piece (not that more cannot be discovered).





More photos and full story on my blog!