Movie Mania

A new Transformers movie is coming, don't you know? Age Of Extinction, TF movie number 4, is a few weeks away for us in the UK and I will of course be going to see it. I enjoyed the first movie so much I went to the cinema 7 times including the premiere in the UK where Michael Bay and half the cast introduced the screening in person, and also the US premiere at BotCon 2007 where the other half of the cast were there! Revenge of the Fallen I saw once, didn't like that, and Dark Of The Moon got seen repeatedly as well. None of the sequels captured my imagination as much as the first, and my toy/merchandise buying at that time reflects this.

Movie Bumblebees

I distinctly remember being in the US when the toys hit, buying virtually everything and shipping it back to the UK because it still would have worked out cheaper than UK retail. This was about the time where Bumblebee-mania began, so there was no shame in buying every version of the deluxe, McDonald's toys, giveaways, Legends...anything.

Movie Barricade toys

More Movie Barricade Toys

As much as I loved Bumblebee from the first movie, Barricade was even cooler, and I went to town with my buying. Deluxe, Legends, McDonalds, RC toys you name it. In fact I am amazed I didn't buy the Fast Action Battler too. I even bought Rides magazine where the Saleen Mustang GT was featured.

Radio Shack exclusive I/R Micros

And the back of its store display

Radio Shack had some exclusive Prime, Bumblebee and Barricade micro I/RC (Infrared Remote Control) toys, these were irresistible when seen at the time under Movie fever, so they got bought. I also managed to convince them to let me have the store display box which I always imagined I would display proudly. Fat chance, it got sold last year.

The store displays didn't end there. Hauling 6 to 7 foot character stands and hanging Transformers Movie displays along the high street to my parents' place was a regular sight where I lived. I've seen examples of those used tastefully in people's collections but those collectors always had space to spare. In the last 7 years since the first movie debuted, I've never lived anywhere with the kind of space that would allow me to show off some of the amazing store display material I've picked up from the movie.

There's pretty much no chance of any of this mania hitting me again, because it was a result of the fever surrounding the first big screen Transformers movie, my experience of BotCon in the US and it all coinciding with the meeting of my now-wife in NYC on premiere weekend in the USA, so it was a very special period. Even if AoE turns out to be as good as the first movie, and Lockdown as popular as Barricade, I still think - barring a miraculous return to the glory days of Human Alliance toys - my Lockdown collection will look like this:

All the best

Maz