The Kid Collection You Never Had

[Dan]

JJJ

My information for collecting was the cartoon, the in-box catalogues, and just browsing shelves (which was easy in Melbourne suburbia). The discrepancy between those sources (like how Reflector became a mail-away item after the character was phased out of the cartoon) was frustrating.



I too found the mini-vehicles a bit crappy, even compared with the similarly sized mini-cassettes, which had the same quality feel as the rest of the 84-85 line. What surprises me now is that they were both by Takara, but I guess they were made with a different purpose in mind.



I was never aiming for a complete collection, but even now I like to have a comprehensive sampling of the line, which is why I made sure to get a stand-alone toy like Reflector.

The Phantom



I’ve never even handled Powermaster Prime, but the super-robot mode looks cool, and I like how it brings him to the size of Galvatron. However, I’ll never forgive the inner robot for bringing us faux-part chest windows. 



Swoop gets mentioned a few times here and I agree. You not only get a Dinobot, you get an Autobot who can fly and, if Desertion Of The Dinobots is anything to go by, a character with a lot of personality.


Skyfire



I liked the third cartoon season, for getting away from the ‘energy source of the week’ formula and expanding story-telling options in a pretty wild way. However, the toyline did seem to take a downward turn, with a lot of the toys looking more kiddy. Interestingly, even a pre-existing Takara design, like Ultra-Magnus, contributed to this feeling. A caveat, though, is that even if I call a toy more ‘kiddy’ I’ll admit that they can still be very nifty.

Paulbot



The 1985 catalogue does indeed feel like the core in many ways. It is large and yet to involve the discontinuation of items. I think it’s too skewed towards Autobots, and part of my decision-making over time has involved evening that out.

My younger brother and I ruthlessly optimized our collections to have zero overlap, and out parents even consulted us on that. He was happy to have an excess of Autobots, but I till recently managed to keep my sides more even. The recent entry of more neutral characters has been a fun thing for me to explore.

Goktimus Prime


I love that trick of your friend - nicely targetted trolling. I also like the way you were using some boxes as further shelving. I get that friends were impressed - I've found that even smaller displays send adults (who've supposedly put toys behind them) into a charmed state and rarely do they just look at the morsels of childhood fun.

Dirge

Hahaha do you include the pack-in Mini-Spy line as part of that collection?

Kelpie



I don’t have kids, but I do think about which toys to display versus store in drawers, and while I try to keep them circulating, the truth is some are in the spotlight far more than others. Also, I’m thinking these days about a time in which I’ll want to cut down, which has been spurred by having a parent in aged care. This sort of conversation works for that too.


* * * * *



My memory of that ‘great big collection’ that is now smaller than what I have is blurred because, of course, it changed over time. Here’s an approximation of the sort of thing I would think for G1…



Mechabot-1 from Playbox

Defensor
Bruticus
Optimus Prime
Megatron
Perceptor
Soundwave with Buzzsaw
Tracks, Trailbreaker, Mirage, Hound

Starscream, Dirge, Ramjet, Thrust

Snarl & Swoop

Kickback

Bonecrusher

Yellow Cliffjumper with White Buggy Mini-Spy


There’s a story here. The big guardian robot is a neutral base that both sides try to take over for themselves, and the mini-spy is its patrol drone. Even the combiners cannot overcome the base-bot, unless maybe they join forces…