TheCasualOblivion

I'm mostly looking at things I've missed since I've been away. Upcoming things I'll deal with as it comes. BBTS has a preorder for more MP Megatrons arriving in October, so that will take care of that. MP Starscream I bought before the crisis. Alternators and Titaniums are the one thing I have kept up with, considering how much of a pain they've been to find in stores. I even have SDCC Rodimus. TRU Soundwave I picked up, which makes 4(G1, Takara reissue, Soundblaster, and TRU) I already had the reissues from encore. I am currently lacking: This years Botcon Exclusives. All of them, and I realize this will be painful. Thankfully I have the disposable income to make this happen. MP Megatron The Kiss Play stuff, including the end of the Binaltech line. I don't have any of those. E-Hobby Black Hybrid Style G1 Prime The shoes and the music label stuff. I have less than half of the movie toys, but I'm not terribly concerned with those. Its easy to find a list and I can buy those in stores. I don't know if more WST Dinobots came out. I have Grimlock, Slag and Snarl already. More good knock offs like Frenzy/Ratbat and G1 Swoop might have come out when I wasn't paying attention. Any weird stuff I may have missed? I collect a lot.

A few months ago a was a victim of identity theft. My life and finances have been in chaos ever since, so I haven't been able to keep up with my Transformers collection. I missed Botcon and the exclusives, and haven't really been able to buy an any of the imports I collect in large quantities. The situation has recently been resolved and I have a fat income tax rebate check and some cash I have been stockpiling and am in a positition to catch up here and now. Since I haven't been able to really buy anything, I haven't kept up with what is out there. The favor I am asking for is a list of all the Transformers releases(particularly stuff I can't get in stores like Wal-Mart) in the past couple of months. I'm not really sure what I need to buy at this point, and if you guys could help me out you'd be saving me a lot of searching.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy the entire line right now. BBTS has vouched for the quality, and I saw two of these up close and personal at Botcon. These two things have made me 90% sure I want all of these, but this is a large investment. The only thing I'm curious about is how are they quality wise holding them in your hand. I was wondering if anyone had these yet, and what the quality is in your hands. Any help on this would be appreciated.

I'd rather it both be a life sized gun and be around the same size as MP Convoy. To get those two things, Megatron wouldn't be a Walther P-38. But a Desert Eagle .50...

It then begs the question of whether Megatron will be a Walther P-38 or something else. I'd rather them be innovative and make Megatron a different gun. Something like a Desert Eagle .50 could probably get close to the size of MP Optimus Prime. C'MON, Megatron as a Desert Eagle .50!

I display my Transformers by the line they came from. I make a few exceptions, like putting Unciron with my World's Smallest Transformers instead of Armada, and putting what little Universe I have with whatever is most appropriate(Nemesis Prime w/ Beast Wars, Micromaster Combiners displayed w/ Starconvoy...). I have to say I would have no problems whatsoever proudly displaying classics with my G1 collection, probably in its own section with my G1 display. I already have Takara Transformers Collection reissues, other reissues, E-Hobby Exclusives, and G1 originals in their own places. I would probably put classics somewhere among those.

Just picked up a good deal on a somewhat broken but otherwise nice G1 Shockwave with working electronics. I'm looking for a broken Shockwave with the head intact and I'm likely going to need the front chest piece as well. The electronics are not a concern, and neither or the arms and legs. The Shockwave I have isn't discolored, so I'm looking for a broken one that also isn't very discolored so it matches. If anyone can help, please let me know.

Time to go to sleep soon. Leaving for Botcon early in the morning. Hard to tell if sleep is actually going to be accomplished...

I went to Cybercon last year and I'd say it would be worth it. Its a real sight to see everything there, even with no money. I must admit I had around $250 to 300 to blow on figures at Cybercon. As for Botcon, it could only be bigger and better. I feel your pain about not having the money. I've been saving for a while and have a huge pile to blow there, but I'm still looking forward to just knocking around and checking things out.

Most of our beefs against MP Starscream(aside from size) come from a single decision they made on the figure. They made sacrifices on the robot to make the jet perfect. This is different from what they did with MP Convoy, as with Convoy they made some small sacrifices on the Truck to make the robot perfect. I don't know why they did this, as I've always considered the robot more important. I think the color change falls under this as well, as the original Starscream wasn't really a realistic color for a jet, while the color scheme on MP Starscream is a lot more believable.

I have a simple system of determining what I do with boxes: 1. I keep the boxes of imports(with the exception of Robotmasters) and exclusives. 2. I throw the rest away.

Takara merged with Tomy a while back, and they've been really quiet since then. We haven't had any new reissues since Blaster, they haven't announced a New Year's Reissue yet, and aside from some Binaltech repaints and the new Masterpiece figures, we've had nothing from them. New Alternator molds seem to be coming from Hasbro as opposed to Takara, and unlike in the past with RiD, Armada, Energon and Cybertron, its our side of the Pacific that's leading the way with the next Transformers line, Classics. Before, they were Takara/Japanese lines first, and then we got them, but I haven't even seen anything announced for Japan with those. I'm a reissue collector above all else, and I'm curious how its going with Takara right now.

We had one for Cybertron, so here's one for all of the TF lines just so we can all get angry at each other. Here's mine. G1-10 You can argue details either way until you turn blue. G1 is the legend. If any of the other lines started Transformers, I don't think we'd all be here today. G2-5 Half hearted rehash for the most part Beast Wars-7 I know it has its fans, but: 1-Vehicles are generally more interesting than animals. 2-There was a lot of generic crap in this series, and people forget that and focus on the good figures only. 3-I don't worship articulation. That being said this line has a number of classic figures, and the Transmetals generally tended to be really good. Machine Wars-2 ...moving along. Beast Machines-4 Most of these are fugly. A few interesting ones save this line from oblivion. RiD-6 A lot of people will hate me for that one, but I think it fits. Optimus and Magnus were not perfect figures, I think the Car Brothers are very overrated, and most of the figures in this line are forgettable repaints from previous lines. More than half of this line are repaints, and there is a lot of crap. That being said, this line has its share of classics. Armada-6 I don't really have that big of a beef with Armada. Most consistent TF line to this point, easily beating Beast Wars, RiD, and even G1(those last 2 years are painful) in this regard. Generally good toys for kids, if not to the taste of collectors, including me. It gave us Unicron, that alone gets Armada a six. Universe-5 A line that is completely repaints isn't going to rate that high. This could have been a 7 or 8 if they would have focused on the figures everyone liked. They repainted a lot of not-so-great figures though. Energon-8 Better across the board than any other line so far. Doesn't have anywhere near the crap of Beast Wars(generic and forgetable bug/lizard bots, silly shell-bots, and some scary fuzors) or RiD(too many G2/MW/bad Beast Wars repaints). Mostly leaves behind the preschoolness of Armada behind as well. The only real sour spot is the worst figure ever named Optimus Prime. Alternators-10 A collectors wet dream. Tell me you didn't drool when you saw the first online pictures of Smokescreen. You really can't give this anything other than a 10. Cybertron-9 These figures on the whole look better than any non-Alternators line they've ever done. Aside from Dirt Boss and Thundercracker, every original figure in this line is at least good.

I'll weigh in here, first off, some ratings from previous lines, for comparison 10--Landmine(E), Unicron(A), Scourge(RiD), TM2 Megatron(BW), Soundwave(G1) 9--Starscream(E), Supercon Optimus Prime(A), Megatron(RiD), TM Tarantulas(BW), Tracks(G1) 8--Shockblast(E), Wheeljack(A), Rail Racer(RiD), Optimal Optimus(BW), Sideswipe(G1) 7--Bulkhead(E), Megatron(A), Optimus Prime(RiD), TM Rattrap(BW), Wheeljack(G1) 6--Hot Shot(E), Red Alert(A), Prowl 2(RiD), TM Rhinox(BW), Skids(G1) 5--Demolisher(E), Starscream(A), Side Burn(RiD), Megatron(BW), Blitzwing(G1) 4 and below--Optimus Prime(E), Sideswipe(A), Bruticus(RiD), Optimus Prime(BM), Kup(G1) First off, these ratings are all based on figures I own... Lets start off with the basics(Scout). Before I start rating stuff, I must say that Cybertron has the best lineup of basic sized figure any line has ever had. Nothing comes even close. 9 Ramble(Japanese, forget the American name)---I have blue and yellow and I love them both 9 Recon Minicon team---Top two minicons ever. EVER. 9 Armorhide---I actually like the squat look. It looks tough. Love this little guy. 9 Scattorshot---good looking figure loaded with guns. 8 Backstop---Don't ask why, but I like this, Its cute. 8 Breakdown---No Comment. 8 Wreckloose---Generic beast mode, but nice looking robot. Bizarre weapon. 8 Overhaul---It has grown on me. 7 Brushguard---Prefer the original. 7 Ransack---best motorcycle transformer ever, at least until Lugnutz... 7 Clocker---Nice transformation, but kind of plain. 6 Hardtop---Decent but not special. 6 Undermine---Gets a six for originality. * Street Speed Minicon Team---Haven't seen this yet. Deluxes---I just wish there were more. I always feel there should be as many deluxes as there are figures in the entire rest of the line. 10 Red Alert---Great looking figure with great gimmicks. 9 Sideways---Fantastic looking figure, though a few odd proportions and looseness knock off a point. 9 Hot Shot---Best car Transformer(Non-Alternators) since G1 Hot Rod. Could use a better color scheme...hello repaint! 8 Snarl---I'm kind of mixed on this guy. I have mixed feelings about the robot, but the gun/sword gives it an 8 all by itself. 8 Longrack---I liked the original, and this has a great new head. 8 Override---Great figure, but flimsy and has a dumb gun. 7 Blurr---I like the head. 7 Landmine---Generic with no flaws. 6 Buzzsaw---Doesn't add much to the Armada original. 4 Dirt Boss---Looks dumb, but the gimmick with the wheels is fun to mess with. 3 Thundercracker---At least it looks decent as a jet, and a Russian one at that. 2 Runamuck---This figure has sucked every time they've dumped it on us. Voyager(dumb name) class 10 Starscream---I have both the TRU and Japanese version. G1/WW triangle jet thingy and looks great as a robot. 9 Vector Prime---Japanese version, which I have, gets a 10. Even with the limp sword and lesser detail, still a classic. Also carries 3rd best Minicon ever. 8 Evac---Looks like a 10, but flaws such as iffy Helicopter detail, looseness, and a 3 inch grappling hook line bring this to an 8. 8 Leobreaker---Waiting for the Decepticon version and the upcoming Optimus vs. Megatron Lion-Arm Wrestling Match. 7 Mudflap---Can stab Unicron in the face. 6 Crumplezone---Just OK, though I don't mind the gorilla proportions. Ultra 10 Scourge---I don't care about any flaws anyone cares to point out. Scourge is cool enough for it not to matter. 9 CD Red Alert---Most articulated brick ever. Great figure. 7 Dark Scorponok---Better than regular type. 6 Jetfire---Not really a fan. Never a fan of figures that fall over and have a big hole in the middle. Bomber mode rules though. Leader 9 Optimus Prime---Best non-G1 Optimus Prime ever. 8 Megatron---Batmobile!!! Galvatron WILL be a 9. Supreme 7 Starscream---Notice I gave Mega Starscream a 10. At this size, the thing is just silly, especially in jet mode. All in all, I rate this line pretty high. Best non-G1 line ever, without breaking a sweat.