Displaying combiner toys - combined or separate?

[GoktimusPrime]

One set's enough for me. What do i need 2-3 sets of the same thing for? If i want a bit of variation i split them up.I can use the money to buy different toys.

^+1. Yup, agree with this. For this reason I generally don't buy the exact same toy for anything. There is also the other point that when you collect exact duplicates, you're leaving less in the "pool" for other collectors to have. What I sometimes do is collect variations -- having said that, I'm not a full on serious collector of variants by any means. Most of these variants are reissues.

With G1 -- I collected G1 in the 1980s and 90s. So my G1 collection is also my childhood collection, and having had these toys for so long, a lot of these toys are just getting worn. When a reissue comes out, it gives me two main opportunities:
1) A chance to replace old toys. When I get a reissue, my original G1 toy becomes 'retired' as a display piece, whereas the reissue becomes my new play piece! Some G1 toys have been "forced" into retirement because they've become so fragile, e.g. Slog and Bristleback. I really wish they would reissue the Monster Pretenders so I can play with Monstructor again!
2) A chance to collect all the little weapons and accessories that I've lost. I used to keep a LOT of my accessories in my old S.T.A.R.S. bases... I've since lost them, and the weapons (and tech specs!) they contained. Collecting weapons separately is too time consuming and would probably cost just as much as buying the reissue in the end.

But keep in mind that often years if not decades pass between when I buy one toy, and then a reissue of it. e.g. I collected G1 Devastator in 1985... at $9 each, it was relatively easy to collect the whole set in a few months (although my friends and I had collectively completed the set before I'd done so individually -- I remember we would come to school with our different Constructicons, and assemble Devastator at lunch time. ). Then 26 years later I got the Encore reissue.

Well I suppose if one had the funds, the space and the rescources to track it all down the ultimate would be to do the following:


Using Combaticons as a guide:

*Combined form of Bruticus
*Combaticons in individual robot form
*Combaticons in alt-mode form
*MISB(/MOSC) of each character
*Japanese packaging MISB of each character
*Combaticon Gift Set MISB
*Then repeat all of the above with their G2 colours

Also...
* Combined form of Bruticus, metal variant
* Combaticons in individual robot form, metal variant
* Combaticons in alt mode form, metal variant
* Japanese packaging MISB separate boxes
* Japanese MISB gift set
^repeat for all other variations!

[Deonasis]

Each display is different. Display space and cost usually influence personal preference too. Once combined, looking at an individual figure can be a pain (esp. a leg + the combined forms are always at the back of any shelf).

I would rather track down the hard to get stuff and expensive items on my wants list before looking for doubles. And if someone comes over and wants to see Bruticus i think it is more fun to build him right there then to squeeze him out from the back of a shelf.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I will say that after combining my Kreon Combaticons into Bruticus last night I like how he looks much better than as individual Cons - so I may have to change my mind on them and have the combiners together in the back row

[Deonasis]

I will say that after combining my Kreon Combaticons into Bruticus last night I like how he looks much better than as individual Cons - so I may have to change my mind on them and have the combiners together in the back row

Yeah Kreons are different in that they are all the same height (so the teams only stand out by colour) and some really don't look much like their g1 versions. I dont think they stand out much on their own and really do look better combined.

[Starscream77]

All of mine are combined
Partly due to space restrictions but mainly due to the fact that IMO they were made to be combiners so that is the way they should be displayed.

If i want to fiddle then i can separate them and have a play but for display they will always be in combined mode

[GoktimusPrime]

There is an appeal to having the gestalt members displayed separately -- and that is so that one can visually appreciate each individual member as a Transformer in their own right, as opposed to just being a body part. And I think this is one advantage Australian G1 collectors had during the 1980s-90s because the gift sets never came out here, we had no choice but to collect the gestalt members individually. And as kids lacking disposable incomes, we often collected them slowly. This allowed us to really appreciate each individual toy as a toy in its own right. e.g. my first gestalt TF was Long Haul (and Scavenger, which belonged to my brother at the time) - which we got in 1985. We played with these toys as individual Decepticons. Eventually we collected the whole set (at $9 a toy, it wasn't too difficult ), and finally constructed Devastator - but that took several months. So because of that, I've always appreciated each individual Constructicon as a Transformer toy in its own right, and not just a component of Devastator.

When you collect a gestalt all at once, it's harder to gain that same level of appreciation, unless you purposely set time aside to do so (e.g. forcing yourself to stagger the opening of each toy, or setting time to play with each gestalt member in isolation from the rest of the team). e.g. I purchased all the FoC Combaticons at once, and at first I played with them as a set -- Bruticus. But then after that, I played with each Combaticon in isolation away from each other so I could have a better appreciation for each individual toy, and not see them just as components of Bruticus.

When you look at each gestalt-former separately, you can see them as individual Transformers who happen to combine together to form a single robot, as opposed to seeing them as components of a single robot that happen to transform into separate robots. Have a look at each gestalt member and ask yourself... what do you know about that character as an individual?
e.g. Hook is arrogant, Swindle is conniving, Breakdown is paranoid, Groove is a pacifist, Blades is an adrenaline junkie, Silverbolt's bravery masks his own insecurities etc.

As a kid I used to display my gestalt teams individually... then I displayed them combined as I started running out of shelf space. The funny thing was that I hadn't completed all of my gestalt teams yet at that time, so I'd sometimes mix gestalt teams up and form "mixed up" ("scrambled!") gestalts just to save space! Here's a picture of me playing with one of my scrambled gestalts in 1988...

^a combination of Protecobots and Technobots forming... Compusor or Defensotron. I had various other mixed up gestalt teams, but that's the only one that I actually have a picture of! So yeah... did that for a few years until after I finished collecting all my gestalt teams (thank Primus for the 1990/91 Classic reissues! )

[Sinnertwin]

Hey Goktimus, check this out:
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Abomenaticus
Plenty of mix and match G1 action going on

[snaketales]

I have mine combined - they look cooler and take up less space.

Plus after reading up on GPS I'm too terrified to touch Monstructor again.

[GoktimusPrime]

Birdbrain, Wildfly, Icepick and Scowl are fine. It's just Bristleback and Slog that suffer from GPS. Bristleback is the worst, because so much of him is gold plastic, and in structural places too. Slog's not so bad because the gold plastic isn't as "load bearing" as Bristleback's.

[liegeprime]

I have mine combined - they look cooler and take up less space.

Plus after reading up on GPS I'm too terrified to touch Monstructor again.

Agreed, which is why I was searching for the second set passively, coz I couldn't separate monstructor coz of that GPS issue, didn't wanna risk it, luckily I finally got the second set, even with GPS it's easily fixed. Also the fact that MOnstructor components are horrendously overpriced online. I'll track down an affordable Computron yet.

Birdbrain, Wildfly, Icepick and Scowl are fine. It's just Bristleback and Slog that suffer from GPS. Bristleback is the worst, because so much of him is gold plastic, and in structural places too. Slog's not so bad because the gold plastic isn't as "load bearing" as Bristleback's.

True, Bristleback's legs just shouldn't have been gold plastic or at least they could've made it not so tight. It's what breaks it, the joints simply need a bit more firce just to move em.

So far with the Kreon combiner Ive still only opened Bruticus... it's in combined mode due to shelf issues (space) but yeah, I think Ill settle for now for it to be in Gestlat mode. The individual bots are nice to display too but I wont be getting an extra set - not for Kreons.