So, Armada Optimus Prime arrived today. It certainly took long enough.
Already owning the Powerlinx repaint of the mold, I pretty much knew what to expect, except that this original version (granted, it's fresh out of the box) holds together a bit better, with tighter joints. Also, Sparkplug/Bumblebee has some stray silver paint that spills over from his face to the side of his helmet, so I may have to do some careful paint removing. I did switch the chestplates of the this original version with the Powerlinx repaint - the blue paint on the Powerlinx version's Matrix crystal is more attractive than the boring silver of the first release.
Some other things that arrived today (or since we'd been out of town) - Robot Heroes Blitzwing/Hound and Galvatron/Sunstreaker, and the classics Dirt Digger minicon team. I'm going to be very careful with my new Dirt Rocket - apparently the arm-breaking thing is a very common problem. I think I'll give the other two minicons (who I already have) to some of the kids from church for Christmas.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
More eBay wins...
Won a bunch of Beast Wars/Machines stuff last night, all from the same seller:
BW Claw Jaw (red squid)
BW TM II Spittor (frog, I was hoping to win the organic version, but he got too expensive)
BW Air Hammer (shark/hawk - yes, I know)
BW Torca (orca/elephant)
RiD (really BM) Megatron Megabolt (version of BW Megatron that turns into a robotic head with rockets and insect legs.
We'll see what else I'll win...
BW Claw Jaw (red squid)
BW TM II Spittor (frog, I was hoping to win the organic version, but he got too expensive)
BW Air Hammer (shark/hawk - yes, I know)
BW Torca (orca/elephant)
RiD (really BM) Megatron Megabolt (version of BW Megatron that turns into a robotic head with rockets and insect legs.
We'll see what else I'll win...
Saturday, November 21, 2009
eBay updates...
Ok, so I've also managed to win Armada Thundercracker, Robot Heroes Hound/Blitzwing and Sunstreaker/Galvatron and Classics Dirt Digger Minicon team.
Of those, only Thundercracker has arrived so far (today, in fact - and he's also got 3 minicons that I already own packed on top of the box).
However, one of the guys on the Allspark sold Target Exclusive Animated Shockwave/Bumblebee to me for a decent price.
Target Animated Shockwave (the purple version) is funny because I finally caved on buying him to have the ability to display him in both bot modes at the same time. Obviously, the purple toy would be displayed as Shockwave rather than Longarm Prime, but what I didn't expect is how nice purple Longarm looks. Sure, he's unconvincing as an autobot, but still looks sharp. In fact, I'm impressed with how nice this repaint is in general. There was a little more thought than just "OOH PURPLE SHOCKWAVE" put into him; he's a quality redeco toy and should have seen mass release. Better overall than his exclusive wavemate, Sunstorm (even though I still like him quite a bit).
Armada Optimus STILL hasn't arrived, and I can't contact the seller again because ebay's broken right now (seriously - try searching for an item). So damn irritating. Never bidding again before looking at the feedback.
Of those, only Thundercracker has arrived so far (today, in fact - and he's also got 3 minicons that I already own packed on top of the box).
However, one of the guys on the Allspark sold Target Exclusive Animated Shockwave/Bumblebee to me for a decent price.
Target Animated Shockwave (the purple version) is funny because I finally caved on buying him to have the ability to display him in both bot modes at the same time. Obviously, the purple toy would be displayed as Shockwave rather than Longarm Prime, but what I didn't expect is how nice purple Longarm looks. Sure, he's unconvincing as an autobot, but still looks sharp. In fact, I'm impressed with how nice this repaint is in general. There was a little more thought than just "OOH PURPLE SHOCKWAVE" put into him; he's a quality redeco toy and should have seen mass release. Better overall than his exclusive wavemate, Sunstorm (even though I still like him quite a bit).
Armada Optimus STILL hasn't arrived, and I can't contact the seller again because ebay's broken right now (seriously - try searching for an item). So damn irritating. Never bidding again before looking at the feedback.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Ebay quests and a bit more display organization...
My wife basically gave the go ahead to pick out my own Christmas presents by buying a fair amount of TF stuff on ebay (this is after Tarantulus and Armada Optimus).
I haven't won any of these new auctions yet, but a few I'm currently winning and definitely intend to win include:
One auction with both MISB Universe Battle in a Box Ultra Magnus & Treadshot and Battle in a Box Smokescreen and Ransack
MISB Beast Wars Transmetal II Megatron
MISB Beast Machines Megatron
MISB Beast Machines Ultra Jetstorm
MISB Armada Thundercracker
MISB City Commander add-on kit
MISB Classics Dirt Digger Mini-con team
MISB Beast Machines Strika
First off, the double BIAB auction is really all about the Ultra Magnus in that set. One of the first modern "white Optimus" repaints, it's the deluxe "Supercon" Optimus Prime mold from Armada (along with a slightly repainted version of Over-Run, Supercon Prime's mini-con). I already have this mold twice over - the original Optimus Prime version and the Nemesis Prime repaint. However, these two sets were only released in certain stores (like Kohl's, I'm told), but I never saw them. I don't particularly care about the other three (really six, if you count the mini-cons) toys in the set - I'll probably at least sell the Smokescreen/Ransack set (Ransack in particular is a pretty half-baked repaint) and maybe give Treadshot/Nightbeat to my youngest cousin (of ROTF theater fame) for Christmas.
Transmetal II Megatron is there mostly because A) this is the lowest I've ever seen it MISB and B) Megatron collecting. I only have a few BW Megatron toys - the new-mold BWX version, the TRU exclusive remolded BWX version, and...I think that's it. Well, green Megabolt, if he counts. No Gatortron, no Transmetal Megatron (I'll probably wait to get the more structurally sound Japanese version), no TM II Megatron. It's apparently a great figure, and this version is more affordable than the blue Cryotek release. I'm also bidding on the much smaller and inferior Beast Machines version, although I have a very low max bid for that one. The cape mode is compelling, what can I say? Oh, and I was bidding on the RiD Megatron Megabolt too, but it's too expensive for me now. Damn.
Ultra Jetstorm because the jet mode looks badass and he looks much more like TV Jetstorm that either BM deluxe versions. I have the deluxe mold twice already anyhow, as Universe Skywarp and RiD Stormjet (i.e. BM Jetfire). MISB because all loose versions have terrible chrome flaking problems, as this one eventually will.
Armada Thundercracker because I have Armada Starscream and Skywarp. This is one of thsoe that I should have picked up in the store in 2003, but didn't have the interest at the time. And for some reason, "Zapmaster" as a name was a real non-starter for me.
I will very likely not win the City Commander set. Right now the auction's price is about 1/8th of what it selld for normally. I don't expect that to last. But I'd like to get it.
Dirt Digger team because Dirt Rocket (the motorcycle) broke a few months back. His arm came off and there's no fixing it. I guess I can try to sell off the other two.
BM Strika because we're not getting an Animated version. Plus, she looks better than Nemesis Strika and the more expensive BWR Strika.
I was also bidding on the old Wal-mart exclusive RiD "Yellow" Landfill set, but I'm not willing to spend over a certain amount for it. Why do I want this third, monochromatic version of these four toys? Because yellow Wedge looks even more like Bumblebee than regular ol' orange Wedge does. See, I decided a while back that, just as how Armada Sparkplug may as well be UT Bumblebee, RiD Wedge has enough design and personality traits in common with G1 BB to be his multiversal analogue. Which leads me to our next part...
This summer, I posted pics of my collection, showing of my Prime, Megatron, and Starscream collections. Well, now I also have smaller Bumblebee, Jetfire, and Soundwave collection displays.
In the Bumblebee corner, we have ROTF Human Alliance BB (with Sam, of course), RiD Wedge (maybe to be replaced with the yellow verison someday, as noted above), Classics BB (with Wave Crusher on), Animated Activators BB, Animated Legends BB (Target exclusive version), Universe Legends G1 BB, Keychain Reissue G1 BB, Allspark Battles Legends BB, ROTF Legends BB, Corona Sparkplug, Robot Hereos G1 BB, and Robot Heroes ROTF BB (the action pose one). (Movie Concept Camaro Deluxe BB, 70s Camaro BB, and RH BBs (normal and raising the Allspark versions) are still with the main ROTF/Movie display).
For Jetfire, we have: Armada Jetfire, Classics Jetfire, RiD Storm Jet (BM Jetfire to me), Titanium Series War Within Jetfire, Animated Jetfire, Energon Skyblast (Skyfire, an alternate cartoon name for G1 Jetfire), and Robot Masters R-Blade (G2 Jetfire repaint in G1 colors). ROTF Leader Jetfire is still hanging with most of the ROTF Decepticons (he looks like the Fallen's bouncer right now...) and the two legends ROTF Letfires are in the Movie/ROTF Legends display.
Soundwave: TRU Exclusive Classics/Commemmorative Series G1 Soundwave (w/Ravage & Laserbeak both in his chest, Laserbeak is the visible one), Universe Soundwave, Cybertron Soundwave w/Laserbeak, Cybertron Legends Soundwave, Animated Soundwave w/Laserbeak, Animated Activators Soundwave, and Robot Heroes G1 Soundwave. ROTF Soundwave is, like ROTF Jetfire, hanging with The Fallen and Co.
I hope to add ROTF Battlefied Bumblebee and Infiltration Soundwave to the display soon, not to mention Animated Electrostatic Soundwave w/Ratbat (as keytar!) and ROTf Legends Soundwave.
Battlefield Bumblebee is a real Frankenstein's monster of a toy - the battle-helmet head of 2008 Stealth/Premium Bumblebee, the legs of 2007 Concept Camaro Bumblebee, and the torso adn arms of ROTF Cannon Bumblebee, only very slightly repainted. The one thing I don't like about him is that the chest/grille doesn't "deform", but it will help differentiate him from my other two Movie deluxe BBs.
Both Infiltration and Electrostatic Soundwaves are Soundblaster homages. Which is nice, becaue we've never gotten a US-release Soundblaster, much less Soundblaster homage (Cyb. Soundblaster was Japan-only, and Titanium Soundblaster w/Ravage was cancelled) before. And, you know, keytar Ratbat. ROTF Legends Soundwave is a bit beefier than normal, but he looks to have a neat transformation and decent satellite mode, so I'll be getting him.
Update: Ok, so far, I've only won TM II Megatron and Armada Thundercracker. I lost out on BM Megatron, the BIAB sets, Jetstorm, the City Commander kit, and Strika. Luckily, I found asecond auction for BIAB Magnus & Treadshot, and it (so far) costs much less than the other would have (and it's from the same seller as TM II Megatron, so he can ship them together if I win the new auction.
However, I also hedged my bets on Thundercracker - I've got another auciton going for him, but it' s low in price and my max bid isn't high either; I'll let myself lose that one.
I haven't won any of these new auctions yet, but a few I'm currently winning and definitely intend to win include:
One auction with both MISB Universe Battle in a Box Ultra Magnus & Treadshot and Battle in a Box Smokescreen and Ransack
MISB Beast Wars Transmetal II Megatron
MISB Beast Machines Megatron
MISB Beast Machines Ultra Jetstorm
MISB Armada Thundercracker
MISB City Commander add-on kit
MISB Classics Dirt Digger Mini-con team
MISB Beast Machines Strika
First off, the double BIAB auction is really all about the Ultra Magnus in that set. One of the first modern "white Optimus" repaints, it's the deluxe "Supercon" Optimus Prime mold from Armada (along with a slightly repainted version of Over-Run, Supercon Prime's mini-con). I already have this mold twice over - the original Optimus Prime version and the Nemesis Prime repaint. However, these two sets were only released in certain stores (like Kohl's, I'm told), but I never saw them. I don't particularly care about the other three (really six, if you count the mini-cons) toys in the set - I'll probably at least sell the Smokescreen/Ransack set (Ransack in particular is a pretty half-baked repaint) and maybe give Treadshot/Nightbeat to my youngest cousin (of ROTF theater fame) for Christmas.
Transmetal II Megatron is there mostly because A) this is the lowest I've ever seen it MISB and B) Megatron collecting. I only have a few BW Megatron toys - the new-mold BWX version, the TRU exclusive remolded BWX version, and...I think that's it. Well, green Megabolt, if he counts. No Gatortron, no Transmetal Megatron (I'll probably wait to get the more structurally sound Japanese version), no TM II Megatron. It's apparently a great figure, and this version is more affordable than the blue Cryotek release. I'm also bidding on the much smaller and inferior Beast Machines version, although I have a very low max bid for that one. The cape mode is compelling, what can I say? Oh, and I was bidding on the RiD Megatron Megabolt too, but it's too expensive for me now. Damn.
Ultra Jetstorm because the jet mode looks badass and he looks much more like TV Jetstorm that either BM deluxe versions. I have the deluxe mold twice already anyhow, as Universe Skywarp and RiD Stormjet (i.e. BM Jetfire). MISB because all loose versions have terrible chrome flaking problems, as this one eventually will.
Armada Thundercracker because I have Armada Starscream and Skywarp. This is one of thsoe that I should have picked up in the store in 2003, but didn't have the interest at the time. And for some reason, "Zapmaster" as a name was a real non-starter for me.
I will very likely not win the City Commander set. Right now the auction's price is about 1/8th of what it selld for normally. I don't expect that to last. But I'd like to get it.
Dirt Digger team because Dirt Rocket (the motorcycle) broke a few months back. His arm came off and there's no fixing it. I guess I can try to sell off the other two.
BM Strika because we're not getting an Animated version. Plus, she looks better than Nemesis Strika and the more expensive BWR Strika.
I was also bidding on the old Wal-mart exclusive RiD "Yellow" Landfill set, but I'm not willing to spend over a certain amount for it. Why do I want this third, monochromatic version of these four toys? Because yellow Wedge looks even more like Bumblebee than regular ol' orange Wedge does. See, I decided a while back that, just as how Armada Sparkplug may as well be UT Bumblebee, RiD Wedge has enough design and personality traits in common with G1 BB to be his multiversal analogue. Which leads me to our next part...
This summer, I posted pics of my collection, showing of my Prime, Megatron, and Starscream collections. Well, now I also have smaller Bumblebee, Jetfire, and Soundwave collection displays.
In the Bumblebee corner, we have ROTF Human Alliance BB (with Sam, of course), RiD Wedge (maybe to be replaced with the yellow verison someday, as noted above), Classics BB (with Wave Crusher on), Animated Activators BB, Animated Legends BB (Target exclusive version), Universe Legends G1 BB, Keychain Reissue G1 BB, Allspark Battles Legends BB, ROTF Legends BB, Corona Sparkplug, Robot Hereos G1 BB, and Robot Heroes ROTF BB (the action pose one). (Movie Concept Camaro Deluxe BB, 70s Camaro BB, and RH BBs (normal and raising the Allspark versions) are still with the main ROTF/Movie display).
For Jetfire, we have: Armada Jetfire, Classics Jetfire, RiD Storm Jet (BM Jetfire to me), Titanium Series War Within Jetfire, Animated Jetfire, Energon Skyblast (Skyfire, an alternate cartoon name for G1 Jetfire), and Robot Masters R-Blade (G2 Jetfire repaint in G1 colors). ROTF Leader Jetfire is still hanging with most of the ROTF Decepticons (he looks like the Fallen's bouncer right now...) and the two legends ROTF Letfires are in the Movie/ROTF Legends display.
Soundwave: TRU Exclusive Classics/Commemmorative Series G1 Soundwave (w/Ravage & Laserbeak both in his chest, Laserbeak is the visible one), Universe Soundwave, Cybertron Soundwave w/Laserbeak, Cybertron Legends Soundwave, Animated Soundwave w/Laserbeak, Animated Activators Soundwave, and Robot Heroes G1 Soundwave. ROTF Soundwave is, like ROTF Jetfire, hanging with The Fallen and Co.
I hope to add ROTF Battlefied Bumblebee and Infiltration Soundwave to the display soon, not to mention Animated Electrostatic Soundwave w/Ratbat (as keytar!) and ROTf Legends Soundwave.
Battlefield Bumblebee is a real Frankenstein's monster of a toy - the battle-helmet head of 2008 Stealth/Premium Bumblebee, the legs of 2007 Concept Camaro Bumblebee, and the torso adn arms of ROTF Cannon Bumblebee, only very slightly repainted. The one thing I don't like about him is that the chest/grille doesn't "deform", but it will help differentiate him from my other two Movie deluxe BBs.
Both Infiltration and Electrostatic Soundwaves are Soundblaster homages. Which is nice, becaue we've never gotten a US-release Soundblaster, much less Soundblaster homage (Cyb. Soundblaster was Japan-only, and Titanium Soundblaster w/Ravage was cancelled) before. And, you know, keytar Ratbat. ROTF Legends Soundwave is a bit beefier than normal, but he looks to have a neat transformation and decent satellite mode, so I'll be getting him.
Update: Ok, so far, I've only won TM II Megatron and Armada Thundercracker. I lost out on BM Megatron, the BIAB sets, Jetstorm, the City Commander kit, and Strika. Luckily, I found asecond auction for BIAB Magnus & Treadshot, and it (so far) costs much less than the other would have (and it's from the same seller as TM II Megatron, so he can ship them together if I win the new auction.
However, I also hedged my bets on Thundercracker - I've got another auciton going for him, but it' s low in price and my max bid isn't high either; I'll let myself lose that one.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Steel Tech Tarantulus...is mine!
Steel Tech Tarantulus arrived in the mail Monday.
Damn, is he nice looking. A truly beautiful toy. So glad I never settled for the vomit-of-color original version.
And even though I got him loose and used (sounds terrible, I know), he looks brand spanking new. Absolutely no metal flaking, as so often happens to the transmetal BW toys.
Just a great toy.
Armada "Super" (Leader) class Optimus Prime is the next one on the way. He's the first release, in normal Optimus colors. I have the "Final Battle"/Powerlinx repaint, but he doesn't really fit in with the other UT Prime toys I have. Plus, he comes with the regular, even more Bumblebee-like first version of Sparkplug, so he can join my nascent Bumblebee collection.
Damn, is he nice looking. A truly beautiful toy. So glad I never settled for the vomit-of-color original version.
And even though I got him loose and used (sounds terrible, I know), he looks brand spanking new. Absolutely no metal flaking, as so often happens to the transmetal BW toys.
Just a great toy.
Armada "Super" (Leader) class Optimus Prime is the next one on the way. He's the first release, in normal Optimus colors. I have the "Final Battle"/Powerlinx repaint, but he doesn't really fit in with the other UT Prime toys I have. Plus, he comes with the regular, even more Bumblebee-like first version of Sparkplug, so he can join my nascent Bumblebee collection.
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