The Vintage Transformer Liberation Thread.

[KELPIE]

Tears of joy. Nothing more fun than crackin' open a toy to play with.

Yeah, except I bet on an individual toy basis, most of your figures sit on a shelf in display more than they are played with. Also, you already have plenty to play with.

I am not strictly a MISB collector about 20% sealed / 80% opened but the G2 Breakdown thumb shot definitely made me cringe

Yeah, I have no issues with opening up current modern figures, but anything vintage or rare... ugh

[Tha_Phantom]

Yeah, I have no issues with opening up current modern figures, but anything vintage or rare... ugh

Generally, I'd agree with you that vintage stuff should be left as is. If you want a loose Bumblebee for instance then go buy a loose Bumblebee, there are plenty around. Going to the effort of finding and then paying the kidney that a sealed Bumblebee goes for and then opening it I think is silly (but of course people can do what they want with their own money).

Now in the case of G2 Breakdown there just aren't that many loose ones around. As I said earlier I've seen more sealed ones for sale and I did make an attempt to trade for a loose one. I refuse to go along with the notion that sealed collecting takes priority over loose where there aren't that many loose options to begin with. If there ARE plenty of loose options, then yeah, kinda unnecessary to free up more (but I respect their right to do it).

[KELPIE]

Generally, I'd agree with you that vintage stuff should be left as is. If you want a loose Bumblebee for instance then go buy a loose Bumblebee, there are plenty around. Going to the effort of finding and then paying the kidney that a sealed Bumblebee goes for and then opening it I think is silly (but of course people can do what they want with their own money).

Now in the case of G2 Breakdown there just aren't that many loose ones around. As I said earlier I've seen more sealed ones for sale and I did make an attempt to trade for a loose one. I refuse to go along with the notion that sealed collecting takes priority over loose where there aren't that many loose options to begin with. If there ARE plenty of loose options, then yeah, kinda unnecessary to free up more (but I respect their right to do it).

Very good and well reasoned post.

In the case of Breakdown though... he's just a repaint, so for the sake of "playing" with him, doesn't any old Breakdown scratch that itch?

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, except I bet on an individual toy basis, most of your figures sit on a shelf in display more than they are played with.

I play with - as a bare minimum - at least one different Transformer toy a day (I have my Animated Activator Soundwave sitting on my desk right now). If I have more time then I'll play with more, especially if I'm doing a proper toy play campaign.

In the case of Breakdown though... he's just a repaint, so for the sake of "playing" with him, doesn't any old Breakdown scratch that itch?

It depends. Does playing with a G1 Sideswipe sate your desire to play with a G2 Sideswipe? I mean, for me G2 toys represent an entirely different period in Transformers canon, so if I want to play with them from the G2 period (e.g. War World, the Swarm etc.) then I'd like to have G2.

[KELPIE]

I play with - as a bare minimum - at least one different Transformer toy a day (I have my Animated Activator Soundwave sitting on my desk right now). If I have more time then I'll play with more, especially if I'm doing a proper toy play campaign.

You have more than 2500 figures in your collection, so on average, assuming you ensure a fair rotation, each figure gets played with on average of once every 6 years. So yes, your figures sit on a shelf, in display, more than they are played with.

It depends. Does playing with a G1 Sideswipe sate your desire to play with a G2 Sideswipe? I mean, for me G2 toys represent an entirely different period in Transformers canon, so if I want to play with them from the G2 period (e.g. War World, the Swarm etc.) then I'd like to have G2.

Yes, playing with either G1 or G2 Sideswipe would negate the need for me to play with the other.

Also, using your scenario, there is no in-continuity reason for the colour difference of Sideswipe between G1 and G2, so apart from trying to sell old toys to a new generation, a red Sideswipe fits perfectly well in the G2 world (as seen in the G2 cartoon ). It's not a Bumblebee/Goldbug scenario or golden lagoon/hate plague scenario.

[GoktimusPrime]

You have more than 2500 figures in your collection, so on average, assuming you ensure a fair rotation, each figure gets played with on average of once every 6 years. So yes, your figures sit on a shelf, in display, more than they are played with.

2313 actually (I know, Cybertron Collectors and other magazines quoted me as having 2500... not sure where they got that number from), but yeah, fair point in that it would take me a while to cycle through all of my toys. I've currently got about a dozen figures sprawled all over my toy room from a recent play. And there are a handful of figures that have been "retired" as display pieces - these would be toys that have become too frail to withstand play (typically GPS figures). One thing that I love about G1 reissues is that I can "retire" my G1s and play with the reissues.

G2 Breakdown is still in pretty good condition (actually much better condition than my G1 Breakdown), so I'm still fine to keep on playing with it.

[spiderken17]

Lets also not forget how fun it is to open a new toy from its packaging. Sometimes that makes it all worth it.

[Tha_Phantom]

In the case of Breakdown though... he's just a repaint, so for the sake of "playing" with him, doesn't any old Breakdown scratch that itch?

For some it might. I used to have a strict "no repaints" rule when I didn't have as much money to collect, but now I enjoy collecting variants.
For me personally, loose collecting takes priority over sealed, I just enjoy them more out of the packaging. I always will try to buy loose instead of opening up a vintage figure though. G2 Breakdown was the exception to the rule, for reasons I stated earlier.