New to collecting

[drifand]

Thanks for the response guys.

Just a quick question, which store is it better to order these items from? HJL or AmiAmi?

AmiAmi is a bit cheaper, but my (quick research) has shown that HJL uses plastic air bubble bag things when sending these items out, while AmiAmi mainly uses paper.

,My main concern is that i dont want these toys damaged when sent to Australia, or the boxes have dents/destroyed.

Lucky draw my friend, you can bubble wrap and still come damage and is all up to postal services.

Hlj may be a bit dearer but their shipping charge can be cheaper.
Service wise hlj will entertain you more than amiami would if anything goes wrong

It helps if you are not a box collector as slightest dents would just upset you.

[ampoldj]

I have tried amiami with MP cars only and they all came in very good condition and boxes are also very mint. HLJs prices are usually a little bit more but you are allowed to cancel your order

[PROVOST]

[Bidoofdude]

Welcome to the boards?

[AussieVectorSigma]

Thanks for the responses guys and i may have a few more questions sorry.

Question 1:
I was thinking of collecting some of the combiner war figures as i doubt they would appear in the MP line (or any time soon). However from my brief research it seems like Takara have a "unite warriors" collection of toys as well. From the looks of things it seems that the combiner wars and unite warriors toys are almost the same? Im guessing it comes down to preference of the paint job as to which to get? Or does one company have the better release in terms of design?
Which should i collect?

Im leaning towards the Unite Warriors as they are all in the one box and i have those bubble wrap things.


Question 2:
Would love to get the older MP toys like soundwave, starscream etc but the prices on ebay and gumtree are a bit too much for me. Do you think Takara will re-release them later on? Or am i stuck with trying to find a decent price on ebay?


Question 3:
Similar to question 2 - i would love to get a Starscream MP toy (such as MP3 or MP11) but the second hand prices are too much and im not sure if Takara will re-release them.
I know a few Toys R Us stores that have MP-07 but the reviews i have read are not so good of the figure.
You think its worth buying the MP-07 or just wait and hope to find a better MP starscream in the future?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Unfortunately collecting Masterpieces late to the party tends to be an expensive affair. They’re a “high-end” collectible item and with it comes the price gouging down the track. Some well-known online stores like BBTS seem to sell older Masterpieces at a reasonable prices which are nowhere near as bad as ebay, however when the currency conversion comes into play then things start getting expensive.

I’d honestly be surprised if there were re-issues of figures dating back more than 2 years. Figures like Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus I think are being re-issued soon by TakaraTomy, however they were only released in the past 18 months or so. For quite a number of figures, your best hope is to wait for Hasbro to do a re-packaged release, but they’ve already done that for Soundwave. Keep an eye out on these forums to see if anyone has pieces to sell…people here tend to be pretty reasonable when it comes to selling.


In regards to TRU MP-07 Starscream, the bottom line is do you want a MP-11 mold Starscream and how much are you willing to pay for it? I have one myself, as I missed out on the MP-11 Coronation Starscream. There was no way I was going to pay $300+ for the MP-11 mold, and $150 was how much I was willing to pay. In terms of the figure itself there’s plenty of differing opinions… TT MP-11 and Hasbro MP-07 Starscream are presented in an unpainted grey plastic which looks quite bland and cheap compared to other masterpieces. Even though I also have the gloriously painted Walmart Masterpiece Starscream, Hasbro MP-07 stands alongside the other Decepticon Masterpieces as I enjoy the mold a lot, lot more.

[Megatran]

Question 1:
I was thinking of collecting some of the combiner war figures as i doubt they would appear in the MP line (or any time soon). However from my brief research it seems like Takara have a "unite warriors" collection of toys as well. From the looks of things it seems that the combiner wars and unite warriors toys are almost the same? Im guessing it comes down to preference of the paint job as to which to get? Or does one company have the better release in terms of design?
Which should i collect?

Im leaning towards the Unite Warriors as they are all in the one box and i have those bubble wrap things.

The forum has a toy review section. Have a read of other member's reviews & make up your own mind.

Some characters are different between Hasbro's Combiner Wars & TakaraTomy's Unite Warriors. Some differences in paint apps as well.

Question 2:
Would love to get the older MP toys like soundwave, starscream etc but the prices on ebay and gumtree are a bit too much for me. Do you think Takara will re-release them later on? Or am i stuck with trying to find a decent price on ebay?

Recent history has shown newer items in the Masterpiece line to be reissued. And not just once either. Hold off paying high prices if you have the patience.

Question 3:
Similar to question 2 - i would love to get a Starscream MP toy (such as MP3 or MP11) but the second hand prices are too much and im not sure if Takara will re-release them.
I know a few Toys R Us stores that have MP-07 but the reviews i have read are not so good of the figure.
You think its worth buying the MP-07 or just wait and hope to find a better MP starscream in the future?

Refer to answer to Question 2. All the best!

[AussieVectorSigma]

Sorry to bump up this thread.

I have been looking at the store "Big Bad Toy Store". How do you guys find the customer service and are the products that you order traceable?

I notice that they are selling some older masterpiece figures like soundblaster, grimlock ,starscream etc
Im willing to buy these figures but am worried if they are second hand products or something dodgy like that.