To Whom It May Concern,
My name is ______ and I am a soon to be 38 year old, long time vintage toy and pop culture collector, who is wondering what would be required of me to own a collectable of high cultural significance, which you may have concerns about.
One of the core toy lines I collect is the Transformers toy line. As you are no doubt aware, Transformers is a worldwide, pop culture phenomenon which has enjoyed ever growing popularity and success; 2019 will mark its 35th anniversary. Two of the most iconic characters in that series are the leaders of the Heroic Autobots and Evil Decepticons - Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively; also commonly known as "the guy that turns into a truck" and "the guy who turns into a gun" respectively. To a toy collector, particularly a Transformers collector, representations of these figures are of an incredibly high cultural value and are significantly important parts of the collections of any Transformers Collector.
The reason I am bringing this up is due to the imminent release of the latest Transformers Masterpiece figure - MP-36, Masterpiece Megatron. As the following link notes, the figure is an accurate depiction of the cartoon representation of the original Megatron, who converts into the animated likeness of a Walther P-38 Desert Eagle. A link to the figure can be found here:
http://hlj.com/product/TKT87511
You will note from the copious amounts of accessories that like All Masterpiece figures, this figure is intended to be the ultimate representation of one of the two most recognisable characters in the entire Transformers mythos.
As I realise the figure may present some concerns to you, I will now do my best to allay them
The attached photo "MP-36 Masterpiece Megatron instructions.jpg" is a scan of the instructions for the figure posted by someone overseas. You will note that its inner complexity is so great that it would be all but impossible to convert into a working firearm and simply not worth the effort to do so.
Regarding the appearance of the figure, I would like to draw your attention to an email I just received
I will also not the following email I received on Wed, Mar 29, 2017 at 2:10 PM:
"Hello-
This is Mark Kutsugi at HobbyLink Japan. Thank you very much for your order with us for Takara-Tomy's Transformers Masterpiece MP-36 Megatron. We anticipate starting to fill orders for this item on or about April 3 Japan time.
This toy will be packaged in robot mode. However, it can be transformed into a realistic-looking likeness of a gun, which we understand is also pictured on this item's packaging. As a result, for customers in the United States and Australia, HobbyLink Japan will be placing a plastic orange plug into the end of the barrel in order to keep this toy in compliance with Title 15, Chapter 76 of the United States Code.
Installing this plug on the item will require our staff to open the packaging, which will require cutting the tape holding the box flap closed. This will be performed with the utmost care, but of course it will prevent us from delivering this product to U.S. and Australian customers in "unopened" condition. Note that without this modification, your purchase could be confiscated by your country's customs service, and U.S. customers could be charged with a crime under the above U.S. Federal law.
HobbyLink Japan understands and appreciates the desires of toy collectors in the U.S. and Australia related to merchandise of this nature, and we feel this is the best solution to meet those needs under the circumstances. In order to maintain your item's compliance with your country's laws, we recommend that you do not remove the plastic plug after you have received the item.
We appreciate your understanding, and your business with us.
Best Regards,
Mark Kutsugi
HobbyLink Japan"
In other words the figure will have the same orange cap which can be found on any toy gun found in a $2 shop. Furthermore, given the designers of the figure have strived for animation accuracy while toy gun manufacturers have strived for more realistic looks, by using things such as chrome, it could be argued that this figure is even less realistic than a toy gun found in a $2 shop which can be freely bought by anyone without any concerns by any firearms regulatory body in the country.
In other words, modifying this figure to pass it off as a real firearm, would would require more effort than doing the same with a toy pistol from a $2 shop, while costing almost 100 times the price of said children's toy gun.
As for myself, I am a collector who has never had his collection valued because the thought of how much it might be worth scares him, but I suspect that an estimate in the vicinity of up to $200,000 wouldn't be out of place. My collection contains a vast array of figures from different eras, going back as far as the 1960s with some of the more eclectic pieces of have.
My main collection consists of:
- several Super Sentai (Japanese Power Rangers) and Kamen Rider collectibles and figures;
- a complete unopened Visionaries toy collection;
- unopened Masters of the Universe figures;
- a close to complete collection of unopened Silverhawks figures;
- an impressive M.A.S.K. collection, containing over 2 dozen unopened figures and vehicles, as well as prototype figures;
- a modest GIJOE collection containing the massive USS Flagg playset;
- roughly half a dozen high end pop culture 1/6 scale figures and vehicles from Hot Toys and Go Hero, including a 1/6 scale 1989 Batmobile;
- an almost complete unopened Captain Power Collection;
- an close to complete unopened Defenders of the Earth Collection;
- an almost complete unopened Centurions collection, and;
- an almost complete unopened Sky Commanders collection.
You will note that I have yet to mention my Transformers collection.
My Transformers collection is respectable, though hardly the largest in the country. I would estimate that I would have maybe 300-400 figures.
Within that collection would be:
- over two dozen unopened vintage Transformers toys going as far back as 1985;
- over half a dozen "pre-transformers" figures (figures from earlier toy lines which were reused in the original Transformers toyline) in their boxes;
- foreign release Transformers figures from the mid 1980s,
- original animation cels from the 1990s;
- a prototype figure of a mid 1990s figure - the prototype intended for QA testing;
- rare reference material, including a 1990 toy wholesale catalog produced by Hasbro for retailers;
- bagged and boarded vintage Transformers comics in pristine condition from the 1980's and;
- an original paste-up board of the letters page for the 1990 comic where I criticised the then current writer for selling out - it was a gift to me from Marvel Comics.
Especially pertinent to acquiring this figure is the fact that since the line rebooted as of the release of MP-09, I have every figure to date in the Transformers Masterpiece toyline with the exception of a few obscure variant figures.
As you could understand that while you may be concerned with someone stealing a figure which could be made into the likeness of a gun for the purposes of committing a crime, I am simply concerned with any part of such a collection being robbed full-stop. While my home does not have bars on it, it is equipped with a back to base alarm system. The only external access to the room containing my collection is a window in an internal courtyard, which can only be accessed by jumping a high brick fence in my next door neighbour's backyard. The room is also set to a zero second delay when the alarm system has been activated. About the only thing I haven't dozen which I could potentially do as my wife and I are renting, is for me to buy lockable cabinets.
Given that I have outlined both the high cultural value of this figure, the high value of my collection (demonstrating that I am a serious toy collector) and how incredibly well protected my collection is, what steps would be required of me to legally obtain this figure?
Regards,
Originally Posted by Tiby
I've emailed HLJ asking if they have specifically checked out AU laws. I reckon they might have.
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