Welcome to another episode of 2 Broke Bots. You thought it was over, right? That I'd settle for costing myself £2.21 and a rotor-less Rotorstorm? Well I certainly did, before another opportunity presented itself. An opportunity involving a 3-wheeled, one-armed Japanese Diaclone Police Sunstreaker in a worn box being sold on the other side of the world. If things didn't work out I would end up over £150 in the red with no complete Rotorstorm to show for it. Here's what happened...
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| Rotorstorm so far |
This is as far as I had gotten, a decent condition Rotorstorm body missing some stickers, and the ones that remained were a bit worn, along with spots of paint wear and some rust on screws. A lot of worn late G1 bots traded in for 2 launchers, 4 missiles and both landing skis meant Rotorstorm went from a project to a very good display piece missing only his rotor blades. You can catch up on the story HERE, HERE and finally HERE. The total cost after that trade and the sale of the Actionmaster Tracks that came with this Rotorstorm in the original lot, shipping included, was £2.20.
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| 3-wheeled Diaclone Police Sunstreaker |
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| Diaclone Police Sunstreaker box... |
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| ...with styro insert |
Now, I spotted a boxed but broken and incomplete Japanese Diaclone Police Sunstreaker on auction in Japan whose box, styro and vehicle were in noticeably worse condition than my own. The car itself had significant chrome wear, missing its left arm and shoulder with discoloured stickers. However, it had all 3 missiles on sprue and an unbroken shoulder rocket, the exact things I needed to round my own specimen off perfectly. The auction finished at 20,000 yen ($205), Celga's proxy fees ($20), sales tax and internal shipping in Japan ($28) meant a total of $256, then EMS shipping to the UK was $21. All told, $277 translates to £165 GBP. Oops.
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| Almost unused Police Sunstreaker |
So here's what mine looks like now, decent box and displayable - but well damaged - styro, stickers applied toy with some chrome wear, 2 unbroken fists and unbroken shoulder rockets - so close to perfect because of the unused stickersheet, manual/catalogue and now a set of three unused missiles on sprue with white plastic base, so I know it's the right set. None of this helps with Rotorstorm, and none of this goes any way to making back the £167.21 deficit I was now staring at. So much for "free".
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| The key |
Ahhhh but I still had a one-armed, 3-wheeled Police Sunstreaker with some parts - including my previously loose missiles and a broken shoulder rocket - as well as the worn box and styro from the Japanese one to sell. Thanks to clear photography and widespread advertising, I sold the Diaclone Police Sunstreaker box and styro virtually immediately for the full £165 GBP that I paid all told to import the thing in the first place from Japan, and the buyer paid exact shipping on top to his location. Don't look so surprised, it may have just been a box and styro with considerable wear and some damage, but there are a lot of collectors out there who won't pay craploads for MIB Diaclones, but instead have loose specimens. Just look what the box you are turning your nose up at right now does for a loose Police Sunstreaker...
For £165, to be able to display a previously loose Police Sunstreaker like that, it's a good price and that's why I had such interest so quickly. So that's all the money from the Japanese adventure recouped, meaning:
CURRENT STATUS: - £2.21
Just as it was at the end of Part 3 of this quest, with one small detail that was going to make all the difference. I still had the loose Police Sunstreaker. I say "had", because I shipped him off today...
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| Secret weapon |
All the best
Maz
Maz
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