Monday, July 8, 2013

Operation: Skyhammer Operation!

You know where the scan is from
Recently, euphoric over my recent completion of Bomb-Burst and acquisitions of Submaurauder and Octopunch, I decided to complete my other Pretenders who were missing parts.  First on the list: Skullgrin.  Wait, isn't this supposed to be about Skyhammer?  I'm getting to that.

What I needed for Skullgrin was the male laser and the sword, which would be about $30.  In my search, I ran across a complete Skullgrin on eBay for $32.  And the seller was local!  Bonus.  During a Q&A back and forth with the guy, it sold. Bummer.  But I checked out his other auctions and he had a Skyhammer for $39!  Fortune smiled upon me.  Skyhammer!

This particular Skyhammer had massive damage to the undercarriage of the flying fortress due to Gold Plastic Syndrome, but the inner robot and humanoid shell were perfectly intact.  He also had the one missile that I needed.  What luck!  He wanted $39 or a best offer, so I offered $25.  The seller quickly agreed and I met him the next day to claim my prize.

Why spend $25 on a massively destroyed figure that was incomplete, you ask?  Well, let me show you my Skyhammer:

Hmm...let's get a closer look...
Dear Primus!
My left foot...
As you can see, the flying fortress is intact, but a foot has broken off the humanoid shell and the back has disintegrated off of the inner robot.  See the lone missile there?  Thanks to GPS, it's stuck there.  The other missile broke off last year and the peg is still stuck in the wing.  Nice.

Buying the parts I needed to repair my Skyhammer for $25 is a steal to me.  I've seen just the inner robot going for $60 or more on eBay.  There's no way I would ever feel comfortable spending that kind of money in something that is just going to crumble to dust no matter what I do.  But $25 for everything?  Sold.



Since the only thing wrong with the new humanoid shell was the missing decals, I decided to just forego surgery and keep it as it was.  For the record, it's never getting transformed.  Ever.

The flying fortress is a different matter.  I was going to be brave and replace the busted bottom with my intact bottom, but I'm afraid of instant disintegration.  Instead, I opted to just replace the wing on my old one so I could place the missile.  Easy enough.  

Here's a look at my completed Skyhammer!  Whole at last!



I'm also keeping the busted inner robot in vehicle mode so I don't have to worry about aggravating anything.  Not like I'm ever gonna touch him again.  Or blink hard in his direction.  I still need to get four more missile - two for each humanoid shell since I'm keeping one in each mode.  If only I could find that good a deal for a Roadblock inner robot...

Sad news, everyone.  After I finished this post, I just happened to look at the flying fortress and noticed numerous cracks on the bottom.  It's still intact, but only time will tell as to how quickly it falls apart.  GPS is a horrible, horrible phenomenon.  NASA should get on a cure for this.  It's imperative. 

7 comments:

  1. I have this guy too. My shell is ok but the inner bot little gold feet snapped off when I took it out of storage, so he too is forever in car mode while the shell is also forever in bot mode. Gps is a b****.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I almost feel like Hasbro owes refunds on these figures. Then again, it's not like they knew it was gonna happen. Just thinking about all of those swirly gold plastic guys crumbling to dust is just sad.

      Delete
  2. Call me simple, but does gps only happen to vintage T.f.s? Or should othe vintage figs suffer too? I was looking at my old Prof. X from the ninties and the plastic chair he is in got me to thinking....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe that it affected a number of toys from the 90's. If my understanding is correct, if your figure had a swirly metallic plastic, it's going to crumble.

      Delete
  3. Thank for the in put man. You have said before that you don't like to talk with other collectors, or somthing to that affect. I want you to know that your blog and posts have been very helpful. I don't post on any T.F. forums but you and few other blogs have given me greater insight and re kindled my love for TRANSFORMERS. Yeah, I know that sound sappy, but seriously, thanks to you and a few other Transfans, thanks .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I do like talking with other collectors, it's just that I feel like I don't really have anything to contribute. I love Transformers for what they are: awesome in plastic form. I always welcome the chance to talk to other collectors but due to the relatively small size of my collection, I don't feel like I should part of any real conversation about collecting. One day, I hope to be!

      Delete
  4. Blah! It doesn't matter how large or small one's collection is. We share the same passion for TFs and we should converse more!

    ReplyDelete