Transformers questions by newbies, and not-so-newbies

[Trent]

So... are IDW G1 Rattrap and Waspinator are the same characters as IDW Beast Wars Rattrap and Waspinator? Because... that makes no sense at all, right?

And Tankor. Don't forget Tankor.

[Sky Shadow]

And Tankor. Don't forget Tankor.

Oh yeah - assuming IDW Beast Wars leads into Beast Machines then that one's really crazy unless Beast Machines Megatron reformatted Rhinox into Tankor based on the template of the original Tankor, who isn't actually the original Tankor, because Octane is the original Tankor and the other guy just has the same name. Or something. Where's the head-exploding emoticon again?

[Paulbot]

So... are IDW G1 Rattrap and Waspinator are the same characters as IDW Beast Wars Rattrap and Waspinator? Because... that makes no sense at all, right?

No they are not the same characters because IDW Beast Wars is part of the Beast Wars cartoon continuity, not part of IDW's G1 continuity.

The Rattrap, Waspinator and Tankor are multiverse equivalents. They have no more connection to the cartoon versions as say IDW G1 Prowl has to the G1 cartoon Prowl.

[Sky Shadow]

No they are not the same characters because IDW Beast Wars is part of the Beast Wars cartoon continuity, not part of IDW's G1 continuity.

Okay, that makes sense - thanks. Well in that case, they might as well go all out in G1 and use every great Transformers character from the multiverse (I guess Sky-Byte is part of that too). And the reason I was trying to work that out was because I deliberately left Dinobot out my offhand list of characters McCarthy should have used instead of inventing Drift. But in that case, he's on my list too.

[Bidoofdude]

Three questions for me:

-When insuring collections, would you cost an item on how much it would cost to replace it, or how much you bought it for? (I'm highly guessing it's the former)

-How tall is MP-10 up to the tip of his horns?

-Does anywhere still have Takara MP-10 in stock?'


Thanks.

[Iriorne]

Three questions for me [...]

1. Not an expert, but will depend on the policy. Often you use a depreciated value, with the rate specified by the insurer. For example, a 3 year old computer depreciated at 20% per year with a new price of $1000 will have a current insured value of $400. You should definitely contact a/your policy provider for advice on what is most appropriate for your needs.
2. Roughly 24.5 cm.
3. Have only seen YOTH MP-10 on the usual e-tail sites. Try ebay?

[griffin]

Some insurance questions were asked here... and a policy would depend on "purchase" value, "replacement" value or "current" value, particularly when it comes to collectables that are constantly changing value.
Purchase value - what you originally spent on it.
Current value - what you can get for it now if you sold it right now.
Replacement value - what it would cost to replace it, fast (as in, paying extra to replace it now in the same condition, without searching months or years for a cheap replacement).

So for that last one, if you had a complete Optimus Prime that you bought in 1984 and it is out of packaging...
Purchase value - about $40-50.
Current value - probably about $100-200
Replacement value - could be up to or over $1000, depending on how quickly you want a complete original... that might need to be in a sealed original packaging just to guarantee it.

It's necessary to pre-allocate your collection's value according to how you want to be compensated by your Insurer, and see if an insurance company can calculate a policy to that value.
As long as you or your area is not deemed high-risk by an Insurance company, and can have the value of your items authenticated in some way (that they accept), they would just charge you a rate based on your designated value - the more you want in return for lost items, the higher the premium.

[Bidoofdude]

1. Not an expert, but will depend on the policy. Often you use a depreciated value, with the rate specified by the insurer. For example, a 3 year old computer depreciated at 20% per year with a new price of $1000 will have a current insured value of $400. You should definitely contact a/your policy provider for advice on what is most appropriate for your needs.
2. Roughly 24.5 cm.
3. Have only seen YOTH MP-10 on the usual e-tail sites. Try ebay?

Thanks man. He's taller than I thought, which is good.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Did any Aussies get the TFCC issue 54? 55 just showed up for me but I never got the last one

There was a post somewhere about the non-US issues going missing, and that they'd send them out again.... whenever they get around to it.

Finally arrived yesterday. Can't say it was massively worth the wait

[Verno]

So... are IDW G1 Rattrap and Waspinator are the same characters as IDW Beast Wars Rattrap and Waspinator? Because... that makes no sense at all, right?

Perhaps the most interesting thing about their inclusion in IDW is their size. In the BW TV series, Rattrap and Waspy were around 2m tall. But in IDW, they're G1-scale, so 6-8m tall perhaps. So if they were to ever meet their multiversal selves, it would be a a lot like this: