Tiby on ABC's Collectors - 3rd April, 8pm.

[Tiby]

Thanks everyone!
To answer some questions (thanks Gok for covering some of them):
1. the fingerprint lock was something I had before Masterpiece Megatron, but it satisfies the "deadlock" requirement for keeping him.

2. Some of the edits involved the mythology of TFs, the reason they chose vehicles to disguise themselves, good vs evil, and I got Niccole to say "alt mode". The 25th Anniversary bit was missed too, as they foucssed on the new movie.

3. Collectors is more about the collector, not the collection. They are interested is why and how people collect, and the items themselves are incidental. It needs to go to the general public, rather than just to fans, so in that respect I think they did well. Fans know who and what the figures are anyway, and the general public would get confused by it all. Having said that, Andy is a massive fan.

4. The G1 Optimus Prime sequence was from the first segment some years ago. They did not have a chance to do it at my place.

5. The camera crew were great in my room - very respectful. They even got a crane in there to do some of the sweeping / high shots. I was very impressed and not at all concerned.

6. Dusting: I have no carpet and access to the room is limited, so dust is not too much of an issue.

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE FOR THE KIND WORDS!!!!

[shokwave2]

Just watched it at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/collectors/...s/s2534549.htm. Very nice collection Tiby. It's hard to believe i live somewhere near it all. hehe.

Might have been answered before but do you collect variations? e.g. Binaltech AND Alternators? Or just the one? Also, do you do tours?

[Tiby]

Just watched it at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/collectors/...s/s2534549.htm. Very nice collection Tiby. It's hard to believe i live somewhere near it all. hehe.

Might have been answered before but do you collect variations? e.g. Binaltech AND Alternators? Or just the one? Also, do you do tours?

Thanks shokwave2! I have some variants, but with this size I had to limit going for every variant due to cost, space, etc.

As for "tours", I think it may be high time for a Wollongong meet!

[Deonasis]

Great piece Tiby, we were well represented! Your collection is impressive and your display room/setup is awesome. Congrats to those that helped him out too, that was some good TV! Though they loved the fingerprint scanner a little to much, if someone had a collection of fingerprint scanners the panel would go apesh!t!!

[autobreadticon]

great work Tiby, your interview was insightful and you articulated yourself really well. It didn't come off nerdy which normally comes with toy collecting, and i enjoyed how you talked about the personal element of collecting, cause i guess we all can relate to it in some way or another. much love for showing Soundwave and Tasmainian Kid

[GoktimusPrime]

Tiby, did you HAVE to get that thumb scanner and bars on window just because of Megatron?? Man, thats dedication

Just to expand on what Tiby's said - it's a legal requirement for those of us in NSW to have secured storage for Megatron. I personally use a humble mortice lock that I picked up from Bunnings for $20. Much cheaper and it fulfills the legal requirement (though obviously not as secure as a fingerprint scan lock).

for what ive been told is a not up to par toy.

I think that Masterpiece Megatron is an excellent toy. Guns are a sleek alt mode like jets, and like many sleek alt modes they're very challenging to engineer as Transformers because it's a lot trickier to conceal all the robot parts in alt mode. This is compounded when you want the robot mode to be bulky which is what Masterpiece Megatron aims to do.

If you look at the original G1 Megatron toy he transforms into a very _lanky_ robot. Marvel/Sunbow drew him to be bulkier in the comics and cartoon to obviously make him look more imposing and menacing, especially when going toe to toe with Optimus Prime. But of course, artists and animators can ignore the laws of physics, whereas toy engineers cannot. So I think Masterpiece Megatron is really well made considering that it's going from a fairly sleek realistic Walther P-38 transforming into a fairly bulky looking robot.

Click here to view a side-by-side comparison between Masterpiece and G1 Megatron in robot mode. You can see that MP Megatron's robot mode is far 'beefier' whereas G1 Megatron looks like he's bulemic - yet they both transform into the same alt mode (aside from size difference and absence of silencer and stock on MP).

Optimus Prime isn't the same challenge because he's transforming from a bulky truck into a bulky robot. The Decepticon Jets are similarly challenging because they transform from very sleek F-15s into relatively bulky robots. Compared to the MP jets I think that MP Megatron is a better achievement. My main criticism of the MP Megatron toy are the tabs which are fragile and can break easily. Otherwise I think it's a very impressively designed toy.

Click here to read dirge's MP Megatron review.

[kurdt_the_goat]

I agree with your post completely Gok, but at the same time, could see how someone expecting a highly 'playable' (and sometimes poseable) toy could be disappointed with MP Megatron. Of course, playability is not something not we've been led to expect of the Mastepiece line - though Grimlock seems to have the most of all so far.

[GoktimusPrime]

I agree with your post completely Gok, but at the same time, could see how someone expecting a highly 'playable' (and sometimes poseable) toy could be disappointed with MP Megatron.

MP Megatron does have the least amount of articulation compared to MPs, this is true - but it's by no means a brick... it's still a very poseable figure, as you can see here But again, it's because of the ambitious nature of what they were doing. The jets are more articulated, but they're less solid as action figures. To me the thing that brings this toy down in terms of playability isn't the articulation but more with the transformation... too complex for action toy play IMO.

though Grimlock seems to have the most of all so far.

But like Convoy you're looking at a bulky alt mode and bulky robot mode. It's a tough call - people want "show accurate" toys where in artists flagrantly ignored reality!

[G1Optimal]

Great piece Tiby, we were well represented! Your collection is impressive and your display room/setup is awesome. Congrats to those that helped him out too, that was some good TV! Though they loved the fingerprint scanner a little to much, if someone had a collection of fingerprint scanners the panel would go apesh!t!!

I can imagine the possible Irony with a collection of fingerprint scanners...
And that is the collector doesn't securely store them.

[jaydisc]

I've never really liked the idea of fingerprint or retina scanners for security. If you get a motivated enough bad guy and you might loose a finger, hand or eye.