Mould Completion (New Arrivals - Late August 2014)

A superb weekend of deliveries, both postal and in person, from friends and strangers. The theme is most definitely mould completion and variants from Transformers Animated to Prime, FOC and Generation 1. Variety is what it's all about when it comes to keeping the hobby fresh, but the fact is I already own every mould featured in this post. A leopard cannot change its spots, eh?

MMC Tigris Pictorial

Having shown all those Feral Rex combined images yesterday, here now are the individual Tigris pictures in larger size than seen in tonight's TFSource article on Tigris. A brilliant figure, Masterpiece worthy in its own right, and every bit the superstar as his four previous chart-toppers. Enjoy!

MMC Feral Rex Pictorial

There's not much to say. Tigris is here. Feral Rex is complete. Tomorrow night the words will come in the Source Article (was holding out until I got my upgrade kit for Tigris and could post photos), but for tonight, just enjoy.

Transformers in Iceland 2014

Another summer in Reykjavik, Iceland, and another tour of the local Transformers haunts that have become my sole link to the hobby when I spend time with the in-laws on this bizarre island in the North Atlantic. In the past I've seen American import movie figures, Animated and other such modern goodies that stores here in the UK could only dream of. The main source of good TFs in Iceland is the collector's store Nexus, and I interviewed Svenni who runs the place for TFSource a couple of years ago here. The main supermarket chain Hagkaup occasionally has items of interest (Premium series 2007 Movie) but for a few years their selection has been poor, and Toys 'R' Us Reykjavik even moreso, and that's to say nothing of the astronomical prices. Here's my summary of what I found in July/August 2014 in Iceland.

Transformers Animated Exclusives - Pictorial

Here we have just a very short post with some photographs I took tonight of some of the more exclusive Transformers Animated figures in my collection, some older some brand new. The image above focuses on the tougher Activators class figures, Family Mart exclusive Ramjet, Skywarp and the unreleased Electromagnetic Soundwave. You'll also see the Tokyo Toy Show exclusive Elite Guard Prowl, the Million Publishing mailaway Elite Guard Optimus Prime voyager, the Activators seen above, Hyper Hobby exclusive Black Rodimus, Sons of Cybertron 2-set crystal Rodimus and Earth mode deluxe Optimus Prime, Black voyager Optimus prime and finally the mass release Japanese Activators Soundblaster.

All Stars

A very very short post dedicated to some of the most outstanding Transformers and 3rd Party toys I've had the pleasure of experiencing in the last 12 months, and posing them together as a rather spiffing group of marvels. If you could just imagine buying a collection, or receiving a package or lot containing all these figures, could it ever be topped?

New Arrivals - Mid August 2014 (Part 3)

A purely Transformers Animated updated this time. The Unicron.com Transformers Animated accessory set I received recently includes the Allspark, Ratchet magnet upgrades, an Allspark key and 2 sets of stasis cuffs. The Allspark can open and the stasis cuffs are rubber, as are the Ratchet magnet add-ons to make him show accurate. They come with stickersheets too but as you can see on mine, there's some peeling. It's a really really nice thing to have, especially as mine came as a complimentary extra with 2 BotCon exclusives I bought from a Swedish collector.

New Arrivals - Mid August 2014 (Part 2)

When I started this blog I did not expect to be posting "Oh look what I just bought" segments every bloody day, and I still don't expect it to continue in that vein. For now though, it's what is dominating my hobby time, especially as I am constantly looking at moulds and toy lines I had ignored up to 2 months ago. Almost every direction my collection is going in right now is a result of toys people have placed in my hand and said "I dare you to hate that". This is the result. 

New Arrivals - Mid August 2014 (Part 1)

Another chapter in the conveyor belt of new arrivals in August. I'm really not wasting any time blasting through Transformers Animated, and I've started on Transformers prime and Beast Hunters - although very select moulds. There is a mix of BotCon and online purchases in this installment. Chronological order has gone out the window as I cannot recall what arrived when, or with what. I just know what I haven't pictured yet! Yeah, real healthy way to go about my collecting. Beats waiting 14 years for a Joustra Diaclone Sunstreaker though, eh?

New Arrivals - Early August 2014

It's been so long since my last post (end of holiday in Iceland, crisis of collecting faith, Auto Assembly) that I'm no longer sure what toys arrived when, but I've got some pictures so it's easy enough to cobble together an update! I've got a post coming where I will show what was available in Iceland in terms of Transformers at retail, then something on Auto Assembly 2014, so between these posts hopefully nothing will fall through the cracks, neither on the blog nor in my actual collection.

Mexican G1 "Grey Face" Windcharger Quickie

The Plasticos Iga Mexican release of G1 Windcharger is known for one standout feature, its robot face is not painted shiny silver like the Hasbro Takara version which is the most common, in fact it has no paint application on its mouthplate at all. Hence "grey face", or in reality "unpainted face". This toy would have been released in Mexico on a Spanish G1 Plasticos Iga cardback in 1985, and also exported into many European countries.

Diaclone "Change Attacar" Oneboxcar Vanette (Van)

Diaclone Change Attackers, or "Change Attacars", have become pretty well known in the last few years, much moreso than before in my opinion. Originally released for the Japanese Diaclone line as pull-back flip-changers with a vehicle mode and attack mode only, they were then licensed to Ceji Joustra in Europe in 1984 for the "Diaclone" line there, and when Ceji Joustra sold up their rights to Takara moulds to Hasbro Bradley in 1985, those toys were taken off them by GiG in Italy for the "Trasformer" line where they were re-branded "Destroy Car". There were even Arabic carded versions of these toys released in the Middle East. We take a look at probably the most common mould, the Oneboxcar Vanette or Van, the same vehicle that was used as the base for Diaclone/TF Ironhide.