My Buying Habits: The Hunger

So I took last week off.  The week of Thanksgiving is always rough for me as I don't get a lot of free time.  As I've mentioned before, I work for a very large retail company and this is one of the busiest weeks of the year, if not the busiest.  Still, toiling away all those long hours ensuring that I'd maximize my sales and profits allowed me to spitball some article ideas in my head and I think I've found a few winners.  I'd like to spend some time discussing my buying habits in an open-ended series of articles.  For this first one, I'm going to discuss The Hunger.

Let me start things off with an admission: I have an addictive personality.  I believe I've touched upon this before, but it's worth repeating.  It's the reason why I have always had trouble when I quit smoking, why I don't go out drinking, why I've never done any kind of illegal substance (besides the fact that, you know, I'm not an idiot) and why I don't gamble.  Stalking on various Transformers message boards, and groups on Facebook, I don't think I'm the only one.  It's a curse, but I'm fairly certain that I have it under control.  You'll never see me on a street corner trying to sell a DVD player for five bucks so I can get my Transformers fix.

You sure?

Anyway, The Hunger is always there.  I may sate it for a time, but it invariably comes back to rear it's ugly head.  The pang in my gut, the butterflies in the stomach; they're omnipresent, especially if a new figure has been released at retail.  There's a new wave of Generations figures out there, somewhere, consisting of Skids and other guys I don't want.  Maybe Waspinator.  I haven't decided on him yet.  I'll tell you the depths of my drive to get him.

TFWiki.net

I could easily just order Skids from BigBadToyStore, but even though I have the hunger, I can't bring myself to pay 2.5 times the retail price for a new, on the shelf figure.  Know what I can do?  I can make sure that the store that I run gets him.  I've done this quite a few times.  I'll order a few cases of Deluxes, get them on the shelf and buy the figure or figures that I want when I'm on lunch or going home.  I always make sure others have first crack at them, but luckily the store I run isn't exactly a hotbed of collecting activity.

Within the past week, I noticed that one of the two cases of Deluxes that I ordered were on the truck for my store that was being delivered tonight.  Bonus.  I don't know if any of you have worked a retail job, but when a truck is delivered, it's horrendous.  Think about 2000 boxes thrown into a 53' trailer.  There really isn't a rhyme or reason, they're just thrown on a truck.  Just throw open the door, pull a conveyor belt in front of you, and unload.  Piece by piece.  One guy will unload onto the conveyor while another 4 or 5 people will take the items off the belt and place it on pallets by department.  It's tedious and back breaking.

Once I realized that somewhere in that mass of boxes on that trailer was my case of Deluxes with Skids (and possibly Waspinator), I knew what I had to do.  I literally jumped inside the truck and started throwing boxes onto the conveyor.  Finally, towards the middle of the truck, I located my quarry.  I finished helping the guys, because that's what I do, and then I grabbed the Deluxes and took them to the toy department.  Once there, I opened the case to find Hoist.  Then Trailbreaker, then Orion Pax.  Then Megatron.  In other words, the wrong wave!  My clothes were sullied, and I was sweaty.  For nothing.  So I ordered three more cases.  Which should be in my store in about a week.  Then we'll see.

I'm sick of seeing him on the pegs

The Hunger isn't just about new figures, either.  I can't count the sleepless nights thinking about a figure.  As I lay down for sleep, waiting for the sweet release that is sleep, a thought will enter my head: "Wonder what it would be like to own Apeface?"  That's all it takes to set it off.  I'll toss and turn while visions of Apeface float through my mind.  I'll wake up, go to work, and still think about Apeface.  Every waking moment.  Free time will be spent searching eBay, collating all available for sale until I'm driven to act.

Luckily, I'm in a place in my life where The Hunger doesn't affect me too much.  Financially at least.  If I had really gotten back into collecting TFs 10 years ago at the rate that I collect now, who knows?  Maybe I really would be on the street selling DVD players for toys.  Am I the only person who's afflicted like this?

Beachcomber

www.botchthecrab.com

Hippies.  I'm told that they smell like patchouli and are in need of a bath.  I wonder if that applies to Beachcomber as well?  Okay, bad hippie stereotyping over.  

Beachcomber is one of my favorite minibots; perhaps my favorite.  I'm not really sure why he's always been a favorite.  More than likely, it's the blue and grey combination of colors.  Or it could be his soothing voice from the cartoon where he sounded less like a hippie and more like Bing Crosby to me.  Which makes The Little Drummer Boy infinitely more interesting.

"Pa rum pum pum pum"  Also, I suck with Photoshop

Beachcomber is more or less famous for being a hippie and for the episode The Golden Lagoon.  The one where Beachcomber's hippie tendencies brought all sorts of ecological destruction to a little pond and the cute creatures that resided by it.

"Hi, little bird.  Would you mind if we destroyed your home?"  TFWiki.net

Other than that, Beachcomber has been a background guy.  In the comics and the rest of the animated series.  I thought that he had died during TF:TM, but it turns out I was wrong.  There I was, 9 years old, and I saw what appeared to be Beachcomber being dropped into a smelting pool.  It certainly looked like Beachcomber being melted.  Then he showed up in Five Faces of Darkness.  So...I guess that wasn't him?

For the past few weeks I've had minibots on the brain.  It's literally all I could think about. I'll take you back to when it all started.  A few weeks ago, I got two Detolf shelves so that meant I had to take down some shelves and do a bit of rearranging.  In the midst of moving my minibots, I started to notice that I was just short of finishing my minibot collection.  It was high time to finish them, I gathered.  I already own two Beachcombers, but they are in horrible, horrible shape.  Childhood toys tend to be in that kind of shape for me.  Off to find a new one!

There are two different versions of Beachcomber - one with a Hasbro copyright stamp and one without.  Here's a picture of the differences with a bonus shot of the G2 version stampings:

www.fredsworkshop.com

I didn't realize that there were variations on the stamping until I got my newest Beachcomber because I happened to notice that the stamping on the back of his head was for Takara only.  I looked over all three of my Beachcombers and noticed that all of them were the same!  I managed to get the full mesh version each and every time.  Nice.

Here's a shot of my first Beachcomber.  As you can see, the tires are cracked, one is missing, and the head doesn't want to stay up.  The tires that are actually still on him are actually from an old junker Cliffjumper or Bumblebee from when I was a kid.  They have "Dunlop" on them and the back tires are noticeably smaller than the front one.  There's also the matter of my name and first initial being engraved all over him.  No one could claim that he was theirs.

My second Beachcomber is in somewhat better shape.  His head stays up, and his joints are tighter.  He's missing his decal, but his tires are a wreck.  Apparently being stuck in a humid attic did some weird things to them.  I would've just replaced the tires, but they're melted and hardened on.  I cannot get them to budge at all.  His roll cage is also half off.

Beachcomber number 3, aka New Beachcomber, is in really good shape.  The rubsign is in really good shape.  His roll cage is still attached, so I'm excited about that.  I'm most excited about the tires since they're in great shape and there are no signs of cracking.  There is some very light rusting on the axles, but not anything to be too concerned about.

Finally, here's a shot of all three Beachcombers together.

Beachcomber - the hippie geologist.  Beachcomber - the latest addition to my collection.  Next up - a figure I've never even laid eyes upon until I received him in the mail.

GT-R Maximus

I've never been a huge fan of the Alternity line of Transformers from TakaraTomy.  When they were first released, I thought they were gorgeous.  Optimus Prime and Megatron looked spectacular judging by the pictures I saw of them online.  After a lot of back and forth, I finally opted to get Alternity Thundercracker.  Then I cursed Unicron for leading me into a nightmare of twisting parts.  Thundercracker still stands in robot mode due to my inability to get him back to his vehicle mode.  Guess that makes me a novice Transformer collector.

Haunting my nightmares since 2010

After that debacle, I've been content to just look at the pretty pictures online.  I was tempted to get Galvatron, Bludgeon, Stat Saber and Dai Atlas, but fear permeated every thought I had about them.  Every attempted click of a mouse at checkout would be followed with a glance at Thundercracker mocking me and my skills.

Mocking...

Then there came a day when I saw the promotional art for GT-R Maximus.  There was something about him.  Was it the head sculpt?  The fact that he came with a Master Sword (heavy emphasis on the "w" when pronouncing sword)?  I'm not really sure.  All I can say for certain is that I looked at Thundercracker, made an obscene gesture at him and ordered him.  Then trepidation set in.

I don't know if I can properly convey how I felt when I opened Maximus and prepared to transform him into robot mode.  I followed every direction, distressed that I didn't know how to read Japanese.  Each part folded brought panic as I was worried that I was going to break something.  Then it happened.  I managed to pull an arm out.  Luckily, it popped right back in, but I was frantic for a second.  Covered in sweat, holding back tears, I finally held a very heavy robot mode Maximus in my hands.  Rejoice!

Needless to say, Maximus' transformation scheme is a little over complicated.  Then again, all of the GT- R figures are since they're just the Alternity Optimus mold with different heads and decos.  Also, all of the Alternity figures are needlessly complicated.  I don't know how many times I stopped to curse while transforming him.  There are pegs on the back of his feet that The Masterpiece figures, which are the pinnacle of transforming technology, are nowhere near this hard.

Anyway, I wanted to show off the robot mode first because I'm proud of myself for getting him back into car mode.  But we'll get that soon enough.  My first impression of Maximus' robot mode is that he's really compact.  Even though I have Alternity Thundercracker, I thought that Maximus would be Binaltech sized.  Wrong.  Here 'a Maximus with Zoom Zoom.

From tall to small

My second impression is that he doesn't feature the articulation that we've come to expect from Masterpiece or even Binaltech figures.  His fists, tiny as they are, are permanently closed.  The feet don't really form any decent angles for dynamic posing and Maxmimus' head does not look up or down .  That's...that's a bit if a bummer.

His deco is really sweet, however.  I really dig the white and bright green.  I've never been a fan of green, but it pops in this instance.  Maximus' head sculpt doesn't really scream Fortress Maximus, but I like it.  The visor on the forehead is a nice touch.

Maximus comes equipped with the Master Jack Sword.  The word "Jack" is thrown in there because the sword becomes a jack for the car mode.  I actually thought I broke the sword when the handle flipped down.  Man, I was on edge the entire time I handled him.  There are also cannons on the his forearms that can be folded back when not in use.

Shoot to kill

Slice and dice

Now, on to car mode.  For all of my griping, I really love the car mode.  And that isn't just pride in the fact that I was able to get him back into car mode speaking.  Maximus is loaded with sponsors.  I mean loaded.

"D'Station - proud sponsor of the 4 million old Cybertronian Civil War"

There isn't a spare centimeter on this guy that isn't emblazoned with some company's logo.  I wonder if TakaraTomy had to pay for all of those logos, if the companies just allowed their use for free, or if the companies paid a fee.  Whatever the answer, Maximus screams real car.

As I mentioned earlier, Maximus' sword becomes a handy jack.  There are even holes at the front and rear bottom for the jack to connect.  It doesn't really elevate the car, but it's a nice touch.

Then there's the matter of the race queen that comes packaged with Maximus.  She's a thing that I'm not sure about.  I understand that race queens are popular in racing, but I question their existence for this line.  Sure the line was created as a way of celebrating the GT race, but the women make me feel like I just started a Kiss Player collection.  And I don't want any part of Kiss Player.  That and mine kept falling apart when I look at her.  Here's a picture of her if anyone is interested.

And here she is with Maximus.

Jazz hands!

Alternity has been a line that has confounded me since I got Thundercracker.  The complicated-for-complication's-sake design has always annoyed me.  I guess if I had just started with the Optimus Prime model, I wouldn't have avoided the rest.  My wallet, and wife, are probably glad I skipped most if the line.  However, now that I have Maximus, I'm beginning to wonder.  Don't tell my wallet.

Choose Wisely

Just the other day, I scaled a mountain with nothing more than the clothes on my back and a stomach full of gumption.  The journey was long and hard.  I foraged for food and wrestled sustenance from the maw of a bear in hand to hand combat.  My nights were spent shivering under a hastily built lean-to.  Death was always just a mountain lion away.  Once I made it to the peak, an eagle perched on my outstretched arm.  As a show of respect, the eagle offered me the freshly caught trout in it's beak.  Truly, I was the master of this world.  While I ruminated on how I would rule my new domain, a thought entered my mind: I think my parents tried to use the Transformers to steer me on the path of righteousness.

While moving around my collection, my son and oldest daughter decided to watch.  Each figure touched or moved was a new question asked.  The most asked question was "When did you get that one?"  I had a story for each acquisition, of course.  It was during this question and answer session that I realized that just about every figure that I had from my childhood that was given to me as a gift from my parents was an Autobot.  There were a few exceptions such as Galvatron, Blitzwing, or Dirge, but those were figures that I had to specifically ask for.  If I told Santa or my parents that I wanted Transformers, I invariably received an Autobot.

Here I am during Christmas of 1986 holding Hotspot.  That year I received Hotspot, Sandstorm, Octane, Galvatron among other toys that year.  The Optimus Prime and Aeiralbots in the picture are what my brother received that year. If I hadn't asked for Galvatron and Octane, I never would have gotten them.  I mean, I had to point to them in the store to let people know that I wanted them.

After this, I wasn't allowed to buy my own clothes

Here I am getting the Technobots for my birthday a few months later.

The following birthday, I got Scorponok, because I demanded it!  When I ran across this picture, I was shocked by the Shockwave in the picture.  I have no idea where he came from or who he belonged to.  I want to say that I had borrowed him from the drunk teen down the street.  It's odd seeing him there.

Yeah, those are 49ers jammies.  Jealous?

A few months later, my parents hit me with the mother lode.  For Christmas, I got Fortress Maximus, Powermaster Prime, Waverider, Quickswitch and Sky Lynx for Christmas.  Sweet Christmas.  Notice how they're all Autobots?

It's a general trend that I seem to just now see.  I owned many other Transformers during those years, and a good bit of those were Decepticons.  Save for the aforementioned Decepticons above, I had to purchase them for myself.  That meant saving allowances, birthday money from relatives, looking on the ground for nickels or drumming on a bucket on the street corner.  I remember going to the stores with my parents and on the off chance that they did get me a toy when it wasn't my birthday, Christmas, or the day a report card was received, it was almost always an Autobot.  If I grabbed say, Sinnertwin, my mom would suggest Sizzle.

It's not like I was some sort of Machiavellian schemer as a lad.  Far from it.  I would dare say that I was the epitome of decency.  Did my parents worry that I would get a Megatron and want to destroy all those in my path?  The weird thing is that it only extended to the Transformers.  Masters of the Universe?  They got me Snake Mountain.  Star Wars?  I owned more Imperials than Rebels.  Maybe my dad was an influence on this decision.  He's a car guy and maybe he thought I'd be more into the cars?  I don't know.  Trying to ask your parents why they bought you a certain toy over 25 years ago isn't going to yield a reliable answer.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that reading all of those tech specs about the upstanding Autobots probably, maybe, helped to shape my world-view a little.  Then again, I am collecting a lot more Decepticons now and I am harboring desires to bring Cyberton into Earth's orbit.

As I pet the Eagle, still perched upon my arm, I continue my gaze upon the world below me.  Again, I ponder how I will rule this place - will I be the benevolent Prime, or the tyrannical Megatron?  A mighty ram comes charging towards me, slowing when he realizes his mistake.  In this instance, I know - I will be benevolent, just as my parents wanted.

Generations Metroplex

Well, I finally broke down and bought Hasbro's Generations Metroplex.  I've been waffling on him since he was announced.  I've been finding excuses, really.  The chin was huge and looked funny, I'd say.  The hands looked weird.  97 stickers to apply?  No thank you.  I finally got over my middling excuses and ordered him.  I'm not going to go too in depth here, I'm so late to the party that I'm sure there are much better reviews of Metroplex out there.  I will offer a few thoughts before getting straight to the pictures.

One of the things that always bothered me as a kid was Metroplex's scale.  Watching the animated series, it seemed as though Metroplex was fairly large.  Almost as though he was a city that transformed into a robot.  Wonder were I got that from?

TFwiki.net

 The actual figure, while big, certainly wasn't what I was expecting as far as size went.  Devastator isn't that much smaller than Metroplex.  How could I enact scenes like this?

TFWiki.net

Granted, I had no idea that this picture by Studio Ox existed, but it's a scene that I know others had imagined.  Imagine my surprise when Fortress Maximus was released as the tallest Transformer at over 2 feet tall.  That's what Metroplex should've been.  Thank goodness that 27 years later, Hasbro and Takara finally rectified the situation.

As you can see, Generations Metroplex is frakking huge.  

Metroplex gives you two options for eyes.  Toy, and animated series based visor.  I prefer the eyes.

Out of the 97 stickers that come with Metroplex, I managed to lose the sticker for the crest on his head.  I had it in the tweezers, and in the process of applying it, the sticker fell into a crevice or something in the figure's body.  I can't find it.

The poseablity is a very welcome addition.  It's nice to have a giant that can strike a pose.

The arm cannon is a nice touch.

I'm not super crazy about the electronics.  They're a thing, and I don't plan on using them again.

Hey, ever transform the original Metroplex?  Congratulations, you can transform Generations Metroplex!  The battle station mode is pretty nifty.

I like that the head can become a turret.

City mode is spectacular, even with the odd ramp placement.

I realized when taking these pictures that the stickers depicting Prime, et al, bring Scamper's actual size into question.  Since they're depicted so small, does this make Scamper gestalt size?  I'm over thinking it, I know.

Finally, a nice shot of Metroplex surrounded by Fort Max and the Encore Fort Max.

All By Myself

Looking around the Internet, I'm apparently the only Transformer collector that isn't partaking in 3rd party offerings.  If there's one thing that I constantly think about, it's my inability to purchase anything remotely connected to a 3rd party.  I take long walks along the beach, thinking as the waves wash upon me, as to why this is.  I think I've managed to break it down to four areas of concern.  Please, indulge me as I go over them.

They're Unofficial

Well, that one is a no-brainer.  By not producing official, actual Transformers, they just seem generic.  It's like going to the grocery store and instead of buying Frosted Flakes, you buy Iced Flakes or something.  Sure, Hench may look like a great looking Brawn, but he's not Brawn.

www.Tformers.com

The naming process also annoys me.  Sometimes they're kind of ingenious.  Take the iGear version of Gears.  They named him Cogz, which hearkens back to the character that they're paying "homage" to.  Then there's SXS's Continuously Variable figure.  I understand where they were going with the name, kind of, but it still doesn't make any sense.

I've brought this argument up before, but no one seems to think it's feasible: why doesn't some enterprising 3rd party company simply strike a deal with Hasbro for a high-end collectible deal?  It's not that far a stretch.  Hasbro owns G.I. Joe, and they've given a license to Sideshow Toys for high-end G.I. Joe figures.  Behold:

That's a $200 or more Destro figure right there.  Sure, he's a 12" figure, but Hasbro also puts out 12" figures.  So it's not that far fetched an idea.

They're Expensive

This is a big deal to me.  I'm all for paying a bit of a premium for a great condition vintage figure.  Within reason.  Heck, I'll even shell out a premium for newer figures like the Masterpiece figures.  I cannot bring myself to pull the trigger on a purchase of a 3rd party figure when I look at the prices.

Igears' Hench?  He's $45 for a Legends class figure.  A Hasbro Legends figure?  $10.  Is Hench's quality such that it deserves to cost more than 4.5 times the price of a Hasbro figure?  I don't believe so.  Then again, to each his own.

The real draw to 3rd party figures seems to be the giant combiners.  I'll be the first to admit that they almost always look great, well, with the exception of the various Not-Devastators out there.  Let's take a look at those.

TFC Hercules

BigBadToyStore currently has TFC's Hercules, generally lauded as a great combiner, listed at $499.  That's $100 off the list price, supposedly.  That's a lot of dough for something that I could never claim as Devastator.  That's a lot of dough for six figures who are roughly the size of a Hasbro Deluxe figure.  The combiners comprised of just five members?

Fansproject Casualty

I'll admit, Casualty looks spectacular.  His price?  Not so much.  With each limb costing $60 and the torso costing $150, that's $400 for one combiner.  Again, that's a ridiculous price.

I brought up the Masterpiece figures earlier.  I paid $250 for MP-10 when he was first released and I'd gladly pay it again.  Why?  Well, for starters, he's official.  He also contains die-cast metal and he has a trailer.  Would I pay $400 for an MP-10 style figure that was even more cartoon accurate made by a 3rd part company?  No.

There's Too Many of Them

Hey, want a 3rd party Predaking?  Cool, which one?  Do you want Mastermind Creations Feral Rex?  How about Unique Toys War Lord?  Or do you prefer TFC's Ares?  Luckily, there are three options out there for the discerning collector.  Unfortunately, there are three options out there.  Say you opt for War Lord, seeing as most of his components are currently out now and the last one is being released this month.

War Lord www.twf2005.com

So you plop down your hard earned $400 or so.  Then you start to see pictures of the other two Not-Predakings.

Feral Rex www.tfw2005.com

Ares www.tfw2005.com

Well, that's a bummer.  I'm sure that there are super collectors out there who can and will easily swoop up two or all three, but for the average collector, this presents a hard choice.  Do you get the first one available only to see a better looking one later and then be stuck because you sank all of your funds into the first?  Or do you wait until all three are released and decide?  Once all three are released and you decided to go for the first release, be prepared to pay slightly more for it.  I've seen Uranos figures already going for $20 or more above their original release price.  Choose wisely.

My Collection Isn't Complete

I don't believe that anyone's collection is ever truly complete.  I can say that my G1 US figures are nowhere near complete.  I still have a lot of figures to get.  The foremost thought in my head when I look at a $60 3rd party combiner limb, or $150 on Perfect Effect's Warden is: Can this money be spent on say Reflector, or Brainstorm?  And that's what it all boils down to.

I don't want anyone to think that I'm anti-third party all the way.  I actually think that third party companies have done a lot of good.  Do I think that Hasbro would've even thought about making Bruticus if there hadn't already have been movement on that front from third party companies?  I doubt it.  Takara has also stepped up their game with the Masterpiece line in response to these so-called interlopers.  We, as fans and collectors have greatly benefited from third party companies pushing Hasbro and Takara out of their comfort zones.  We're getting a Swerve, for Primus' sake!

And who knows, if one of these third party companies were to break down and focus on an original creation, and the price was right, I may break down and grab it.  I am a collector after all, so you never know...