How to get a G1 Rotorstorm For Free (Part 5 - Finale)

 

Here it is, the final chapter in my mission to get a G1 Rotorstorm complete and totally free of charge. What started out as just a desire to have a Transformers figure I'd never known about - or seen - because I fell in love with it at first sight in hand as cheap as possible, turned into a self-fuelling quest to prove that it was possible to be resourceful and imaginative, and score one in good condition and with all parts without paying a penny overall. It was a completely unreasonable expectation, you cannot collect G1 Transformers for free. I was doing quite well though to begin with, and the picture at the head of this article tells you all you need to know about how things worked out, but did it actually work out free? You'll know by the end of this.

How to still look sexy with three wheels

Mostly armless

At the end of Part 4 I was £2.21 down and my Rotorstorm had everything except the pink rotor blades, which anyone can tell you is the absolute hardest part to replace and find mint, more often than not necessitating the purchase of a whole new Rotorstorm for. On the plus side, I still had the above Diaclone Police Sunstreaker available for sale or trade because I'd managed to sell its box for what the whole package cost me originally. That's how I'd ended up with the Rotorstorm in that condition too, a French lot where I sold all the other junk or traded leftovers for most of Rotorstorm's parts.

I also ended Part 4 by saying I was packaging up the above one-armed Police Sunstreaker to trade with another UK dealer. So what did I get in return?

What would I have gotten for a 2-armed robot?!

Well, anyone who has been reading this blog recently will know I've fallen headlong down the Transformers Animated rabbit hole (again) and have been using any means possible to fill out and expand my collection. What you see there is a loose complete and mint leader class Bulkhead, one of my all time favourite leader class figures, and a 2011 BotCon exclusive Animated G2 Sideswipe, a repaint of the Animated Rodimus Minor toy. The Sideswipe was perfectly sealed, I just couldn't resist busting it out. 

Leader class Animated Bulkhead

BotCon exclusive Animated Sideswipe

Sideswipe alone is worth £50 GBP, and Bulkhead probably around £15 to £20 on a good day. So yes, I had gotten a rare and desirable BotCon exclusive and an everyday item not at all worth even a fifth of a Police Sunstreaker. Did I get a bum deal? For a start, it shouldn't matter because the guy I traded with has done me favour upon favour, is a close friend and the Sunstreaker had worked out free for me. How does any of this help with Rotorstorm? Oh what's that you say, you had noticed something in the background of the haul picture? Why Yes. Yes you did.

That's it. A G1 Rotorstorm, totally complete with all accessories. Both launchers, all missiles including a couple extra, and most importantly of all, a set of perfect rotors. Oh, there's an original box and insert as well, how about that for a trade? Mission accomplished, it would seem.

Not only did I have my own Rotorstorm complete minus rotors, but I also had another Rotorstorm in superb condition totally complete and in its original, Spanish version packaging. Sure, I had to pay some change to ship the tiny Police Sunstreaker to my friend just outside the city (approximately £7), and if I really wanted to even up the outgoings with the incomings, I could sell the Bulkhead for the sake of this article and for everything to have truly worked out "free", or I could just sell my extra lesser-condition Rotorstorm with its parts for even £9 and make back all I had ever spent on this project, ending up with a BotCon Animated Sideswipe and a boxed complete mint Rotorstorm. None of that seems right when I consider the spirit of adventure or fun in which this experiment was conducted.

Original auction picture for the now infamous French lot

Also, I never set out to have something beautifully mint that I keep in its packaging to glance at every now and then. I have done enough of that type of collecting. I fell in love with Rotorstorm by handling it, looking at it and realising it was classic Generation 1 that had completely passed me by. With that in mind, and how attached I had become to my project Rotorstorm that originated in that lot of super used toys from France, I put mint Rotorstorm back in his box, minus the blades. 

So here he is in all his glory, the original used stickers applied and worn Rotorstorm I got from France, with skis, missiles and launchers from Colin Pringle (aka Specimen 17) and rotor blades plus extra missiles and launchers from Paul Hitchens (aka The Spacebridge). Getting by with a little help from my friends would be a perfect anthem for this project, although I'm confident both of them got something they wanted from me out of the whole experience too. 

Why did I mention extra launchers and missiles?

I've been dying to do this. Having two Rotorstorms in the place now means I can put 2 launchers and 2 missiles in his hands as weapons, and then two more on his back as a rocket pack or thrusters, as well as 4 missiles stored on the fold-away landing skis on his legs. Not exactly as nature intended, but that's one of the beauties of Generation 1, oldskool G1. It's like taking a G1 Thrust and slapping two more launchers/missiles or Dirge bombs on his wings in robot mode to emulate the cartoon appearance. 

Here, then, is the final breakdown of how this whole experiment played out:

• French lot of junker and used G1 from eBay -£26.21 
• Flash, Snare, Springer, AM Shockwave, KO Technobots, Brawl, KO Onslaught, Killbison, Micromasters traded for Rotorstorm weapons and skis + postage (-£26.21 balance)
• Actionmaster Tracks sold for £30 shipped + postage (-£2.21 balance)
• Diaclone Police Sunstreaker toy + box bought from Japan for £165 shipped (-£167.21 balance)
• Diaclone Police Sunstreaker box and styro sold for £165 + postage (-£2.21 balance)
• Diaclone Police Sunstreaker toy traded for boxed Rotorstorm, MISP Animated Sideswipe + loose complete Animated Leader Bulkhead + postage (-£9.36 balance)

FINAL STATUS:  -£9.36

Plus: Loose Rotorstorm missing blades, BotCon exclusive MISP Animated Sideswipe, Animated Leader Bulkhead, boxed complete Rotorstorm.

So, that then, is how to get a G1 Rotorstorm for free.

  

All the best

Maz