Miscellaneous Toy acquisitions (if no other topic exists).

[Hursticon]

This thing is awesome and soooo heavy!! It is mint as they come but box is a little dinged as can be seen.

*snip*

Oh wow! - Nice score on the Rocklords vehicle dude!

The More Rocklords/Gobots Love The Better!

[Hursticon]

So last Thursday I was at my local Big W store looking to grab a Transformers: Hero-Mashers - Soundwave figure, as they're meant to be on deep discount so as to make way for new 2015 stock.

Upon arriving I notice the shelves had been rearranged and the Transformers floor stock area had been SEVERELY reduced and as a consequence, the figure that I was after that'd been shelfwarming for close to 6+ months had entirely vanished.

To say I was disappointed and kinda annoyed is putting it quite lightly; So my attention turned when I caught sight of, out of the corner of my eye, a trio of boxes in amongst the TMNT shelves & pegs that I thought too good to be true!

I turned and bee-lined for said shelf and to my astonishment & amazement there lay 3x (2014/15) Reissue '80s TMNT Party Vans!!!!

I couldn't believe my luck as these were only available at this particular chain for a limited time leading up to last year's Xmas Toy Sales (Or is that just the Mid-Year? ) in May/June, costing $60 and by the time I got to my local they were flying off the shelves and I missed out. :?
(Had one in my hands but had to put it back owing to space & finances at the time )

I was determined to not let history repeat itself as I had wanted one of these toys since about '89/'90 (4 or 5y/o :P) and had never had an opportunity to own one in the 23 years after its initial release, so you can imagine how quickly I grabbed one and hit-up a scanner to see if they too were being discounted (Seeing as though they were likely old stock from storage)...

$30!

...I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story!










I'm so amazingly chuffed with this! - Even though the OG Turtles (Not Reissues ) are somewhat of a pain to decently position within it, I've gotta admit I got quite a bit childishly happy when they were all in & cruisin' in the Party Van, even more so when they met up with the NickToons Turtles, who jumped in to bust some shell!

[sideswipes brother]

That Turtle van is awesome!!

Does it feel cheaply made or is it nice and sturdy. I ask as i'm sure the plastic composition has changed since 89 and i believe the plastic these days is thinner and less durable.

[5FDP]

I saw those reissue TMNT in my local Big W a couple of months ago for $12 each. I was so tempted as I was a huge fan back in the day but I only ever bought Raph. Long story short, I passed on them which I now regret. Nice score Hursti

[drifand]

I saw those reissue TMNT in my local Big W a couple of months ago for $12 each. I was so tempted as I was a huge fan back in the day but I only ever bought Raph. Long story short, I passed on them which I now regret. Nice score Hursti

I only like Ralph as it is the original turtle's colour.

[Hursticon]

That Turtle van is awesome!!

Does it feel cheaply made or is it nice and sturdy. I ask as i'm sure the plastic composition has changed since 89 and i believe the plastic these days is thinner and less durable.

You're right to be sceptical SB, dude, especially with regards to the Reissue stuff as I'll go into a little further in answer to 5FDP's comments.

Unlike the Reissue Turtles themselves, this feels really quite solid indeed; The build quality seems very much on-par with that of the Accessories/Playsets Playmates was putting out back in the day, right down to the 2 steel rods/axles used - Such a nostalgic bit of engineering in of themselves!

I've given it a good going over, everywhere that needs to be thick is thick but sadly there has been no attempt to improve upon the design however - The little latch that holds the fling-out seat (Located in the ceiling of the Van, that passes through the top cross-member just behind the Driver's Seat/B-Pillar) is still thinner than I'd like it and I worry that after heavy use this will crack/stress and cause the seat to always fling out?...

The only other parts I'd raise as potentially problematic is the clips on either side of the Blast-guard that folds down over the front windshield; As soon as I popped these over the stalks that hold the Blast-guard in place, the clips immediately grew stress marks - I think these would break long before the above mentioned clip but really, I think it all comes down to how often/heavily you're going to muck around with the thing.

I better note that there are 4 sticker omissions with the Reissue (1 on the Fling-out door, the 2 Bombs & just at the base of the central laser atop the Blast-guard), along with all stickers being factory applied as opposed to sticking them on yourself as with the original.

I'd definitely recommend it however, so much easier than trying to get a good conditioned original with all it's parts; Best of all? - It's brand new and packaged in a near complete replica box!
(It's housed in a plastic clamshell too, I assume the original was a foam insert )

I saw those reissue TMNT in my local Big W a couple of months ago for $12 each. I was so tempted as I was a huge fan back in the day but I only ever bought Raph. Long story short, I passed on them which I now regret. Nice score Hursti

Truth be told 5FDP, mate, those Reissue Turtles are nothing but overpriced knockoffs in my opinion; They suffer badly from Mold degradation, the colours are off, the paint applications appear badly airbrushed and really light, not to mention they're actually noticeably smaller - Not by a heap but very glaringly obvious to the naked eye as you'll see here, here & here.

I bought the Reissue Raph & Donnie, as I needed a replacement Sai for my OG Raph and a new belt for OG Donnie - I paid a premium just for those 2 but sold them on eBay and recouped a bit of their cost.

Raph's Sai is ever so slightly off-colour & Donnie's belt was noticeably tighter too, owing to the downsizing of the Reissue; I also had to use a Yellow Highlighter to get the rich hue back into his Belt-buckle's "D" initial which worked REALLY well if I say so myself.

So you probably dodged a bullet there man, I'd say if you really want a set of the original TMNT figures? - Definitely buy the OG Brothers Green toys, may cost a little more but the quality speaks perfectly to the old adage: "They sure don't make 'em like they used to...".

[5FDP]

Truth be told 5FDP, mate, those Reissue Turtles are nothing but overpriced knockoffs in my opinion; They suffer badly from Mold degradation, the colours are off, the paint applications appear badly airbrushed and really light, not to mention they're actually noticeably smaller - Not by a heap but very glaringly obvious to the naked eye as you'll see here, here & here.

I bought the Reissue Raph & Donnie, as I needed a replacement Sai for my OG Raph and a new belt for OG Donnie - I paid a premium just for those 2 but sold them on eBay and recouped a bit of their cost.

Raph's Sai is ever so slightly off-colour & Donnie's belt was noticeably tighter too, owing to the downsizing of the Reissue; I also had to use a Yellow Highlighter to get the rich hue back into his Belt-buckle's "D" initial which worked REALLY well if I say so myself.

So you probably dodged a bullet there man, I'd say if you really want a set of the original TMNT figures? - Definitely buy the OG Brothers Green toys, may cost a little more but the quality speaks perfectly to the old adage: "They sure don't make 'em like they used to...".

Thanks for the insight Hursti. Reading some of that information definitely makes me feel better on missing out on these. I was actually only going to buy Mikey, Leo, and Donny and pair them up with my original Raph. I now know that they would have looked very out-of-place. You're absolutely right in saying they don't make things like they used to.

[sideswipes brother]

Love me some Dinoriders!!!


Picked this up quite cheap. I think i liked MASK back in the day almost as much as TF. Just needs a clean up and will be awesome!

[spiderken17]

Both awesome!

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Love me some Dinoriders!!!


Picked this up quite cheap. I think i liked MASK back in the day almost as much as TF. Just needs a clean up and will be awesome!

Very nice. Always was a big fan of the Dino Riders and always wanted the Rhino. MASK was a great toy line!