As a kid, I of course wanted all the (Transformers) toys. We all did Never knew anyone who could have come close (although I did know a couple of people who had more than most), though. As an adult, it turns out that I can afford them all, right in the middle of a sort of golden age for someone with my tastes; and so when I started collecting modern HasTak toys that's what my aim was - modern versions of all the toys I wanted as a kid. Really all. For me, that means all the Transformers from 1984 to 1988, excluding the Pretenders and Micromasters. A little over 200 in all. I'll also be grabbing other toys as they crop up, should they appeal to me (because there are plenty of interesting toys outside that original range). Things like Unicron, or Star Saber, or Ricochet, or Deadlock, or Windblade, or Overlord or Bulkhead or... You get the idea

My collection is deluxe and up; no legends/legions/battlemasters/core. As a kid, as much as I loved my Transformers, I always wanted them to be better. Now they are, but the low-end things are, to me, as bad as back then. Do not want. Also, the modern practice of keeping things roughly in scale with each other is just soooooo appealing, and the low-end toys just don't work that way either. So that's my line in the sand, and my list of items.

Anyway, today I took possession of the last of the existing toys that I want (Unite Warriors Aerialbots and Technobots), just edging over 70% of my list. Of the remainder, a lot have not had a re-make of any sort (such as Crankcase, Landfill, and Ransack), and most haven't had a re-make in the modern scale or style (Horribull, Squeezeplay). Some have had recent toys, but they don't appeal to me (or don't fit my rules) and are about to get new, much more appealing toys (such as the Dinobots, the Insecticons, and the Stunticons).

And things are looking promising. From next year's leaked and announced listings, more than a third of the remainder of my list will be filled out (along with a few other rather interesting items), and what is coming (due to Hasbro's stated commitment to finishing groups) gives good reason to think that a further third will be along presently. So while it has been reasonably clear for a while now that actually finishing this collection is a real possibility, it seems quite realistic at this point to think that I might do so within the next two or three years at most. This wasn't at all what I expected when I started buying modern HasTak toys two and a half-years ago; I got into this fully expecting a very lengthy duration, possibly with no actual end point, because while it was clear that the 84 and 85 toys were definitely being re-done, bar a couple of oddities like the Deluxe Insecticons, the same could not be said of later toys. Not going to complain, though

So, yay! And also thanks very much to the Ozformers members who have helped me in my efforts to obtain the toys that came before Siege. I can't recall you all (and because of the space requirements here, I can't look up the messages for the sales because I've deleted them), but you're all very much appreciated (especially the jovial madman who practically gave away Fort Max) - really could not have done it without you. This is an awesome community, especially given how unpleasant many fandoms (or even some parts of this particular fandom) can be. Thanks one and all, and I'll be sure to let you know when it is complete - and if I remember, I'll do it without a single Furmanism :P