The G2 Stunticons - A Grail Like No Other

Upon coming back to this blog and looking through the last series of posts, I’m actually amazed I never took the time to sit down and chronicle what had to be one of my biggest successes as a collector in my history.

Finding and purchasing a set of carded G2 Stunticons.

One Year Later...

So despite the fact I have "officially" ended my Transformer blogging days, it doesn't mean my collection doesn't still continue to grow and evolve. I suppose my ultimate goal is to have my very last post reflect a completely finished collection room, and when I say finished I mean all the G1 figures and boxes complete and displayed, and all ID tags in place. Things like Masterpiece won't be done for a while so that section will always continue to grow.

A Curator's Dream: Realized (and Thanks for all the Fish)

It has been nearly a year since I began my journey to acquire two of every G1 figure and put them on display. A lot has changed in that time, some good, some bad and some unexpected. But if there is one thing we can count on in this life, it is change. So without further delay, I present what will probably be my final post

A Preview of Things to Come

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, which is how I am feeling about my newest collecting venture. After taking over twenty seven years to accumulate the entire run of Generation One toys, I am setting myself up to do it all over again.

Generation 2 Laser Cycle Soundwave

After recently coming to terms with my collecting habits and changing them drastically for the first time in over twenty years I am beginning to look for a different type of figure to collect. Something that isn't part of the mainstream, something unique and that would really stand out in my collection. How fitting that the first item in this category is none other than the unreleased Generation 2 Laser Cycle Soundwave.

So much cool new stuff....

And absolutely no time to talk about it. Unfortunately this time of year is always super busy for me. I really wish I could talk about each of these great figures in turn, but I just can't find the time to sit down and do it. At least I'll have a lot to cover after the beginning of the new year! C'est la vie...

A Random Find...Part 2

Wow, Fall of Cybertron has been taking up all of my blogging time lately! But I wanted to finish the story I started last week, however in order to do that, a little setup is necessary.

A Random Find

So I went back to my hometown this past weekend to visit family and decided to go on a little hunt. The wife and I perused the local yard sales without much luck but when we reached The Flea Market (and I say that because it is the only flea market in my entire town) we hit the motherload! I nabbed quite a few G2 figures that I will be highlighting later. But it didn't end there...

G2 Gobots and Drench Vindicated!

I was challenged. My resolve was tested. And yet I prevailed. That's right, I have added loose versions of G2 Gobots and Drench to my collection. Just recently I had obtained a sealed G2 Drench and I received a lot of peer pressure to just go ahead an open the sucker. Fortunately I didn't listen as just last week I was able to grab Drench and Gobots insanely cheap and thus spare the sealed versions from being subjected to the wrath of the 2012 atmosphere. It is 1993 inside those packages and that is how it is going to stay. I imagine if I ever did open them I would be able to momentarily hear the faint sounds of gangsta rap anyway. It's all dubstep out here now.

Movie Optimus Spychanger..."GASP!"

Yeah, that's right. I bought a movie figure. But it isn't really a movie figure. Technically it is a movie repaint of an existing Robots In Disguise figure. And it was a total impulse buy; I was just browsing eBay the other day and I happened to come upon it. I didn't really know a whole lot about it but I thought it would be something cool Flywheels would like, but upon checking his Shmax page I discovered he already owned it. Big surprise (he has, like, everything). But the seller had it for half off at what seemed to be a pretty reasonable price especially for a Japanese exclusive so I bit the bullet.

My Generation 2 Drench Dilemma

During the release of Generation 2 I was in my early teens so it was a very on/off period for me. What I mean by that is one week I would be very into buying Transformers and spend all of my money there while the next I was 'over' Transformers and wanted to focus on things like friends, girls and other useless crap like that. At any rate it was a very confusing time (as puberty tends to be) and thus I missed a lot of good stuff that came out at retail during those years. Somehow I managed to pick up most of the '93 stuff but completely missed all the color changers. So in my quest to obtain all of the Generation 2 figures I missed I happened upon Drench here, Em. Oh. Cee. (MOC or mint on card).

When I purchased him off eBay I thought to myself: "Great, this Drench is cheaper than any of the loose versions out there and he is mint! I'll just open him up when I get him and add him to the shelf". However when I finally got him in the mail I couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe it is the residual AFA collector in me, or maybe it is just not wanting to ruin a beautiful piece of sealed artwork (and by this I mean the entire package with toy, not just the art printed on the card) but I was very conflicted about opening him. It also doesn't help that I have another sealed G2 color changer: Go-Bots. And of course they look great together.

So ultimately I decided that it was best to keep him sealed and I could always find a loose version without too much trouble and that way I can add this sealed one to my carded G2 collection which seems to be growing despite my best efforts. This also reminds me I need to still find a loose Go-Bots. And a loose Superion (yeah right!). And a loose Jolt. And a loose Beachcomber.

Hmmm. I'm seeing a trend here.

Yes, more European G1 Exclusives; they just keep on coming.

I believe I am starting to delve into some really obscure characters here but I guess that is the only real way to grow a vintage collection. Hell, I used to think of the Action Masters as obscure too but I could probably list 90% of them off the top of my head if it were really necessary (on a side note, I find this situation kind of funny. I mean when in life would it be really necessary for me to list off Action Masters? I've often thought of situations where my life could potentially depend on my Transformers knowledge though. I can see it now: a man has a gun to my head and tells me I'm dead if I can't name every G1 Transformer in order. These are the strange types of incentives I use to maintain my knowledge :). ANYWAY; I got these two obscure G1.5/G2 guys the other day, Talon and Staxx.

Talon is the jet and part of the Predators, who are commanded by Skyquake. Skyquake was repainted and released in the US as Starscream as part of the Machine Wars line. Unfortunately the US never received any of the other Predator molds other than Stalker. The smaller jets like Talon here have a neat feature that you can plug a tab on the underside of the jet into either Stalker's giant missile or Skyquake's fuselage and it changes the battle scene you can see through the scope. I attempted to obtain a photograph of this feature however I nearly dropped everything in the process and decided it really wasn't worth it. One other note about Talon is his weapon is completely made of Gold Plastic. I have decided not to even attempt to make Talon hold his weapon for fear of the weapon crumbling in my hands.

Man, he is looking evil!

Staxx looks like he could be made of Gold Plastic, but fortunately he is not. Staxx is a Power Master (not Powermaster, mind the difference) and is one of the very last G1/G1.5/G2 figures produced. As a result his robot mode leaves a lot to be desired. He is basically a Battlecharger that doesn't transform automatically in that he has a strong pull-back motor. I honestly don't have a lot to say about this figure, I really only got him because I am a crazy G1 completionist. As if to taunt me, the seller of the figure included the top of his card which shows the other three crappy Power Masters. Yes I will purchase them at some point in the future and no I probably won't enjoy it.

Reminds me of Rorschach for some reason

Dare I say Staxx is the best looking of the bunch?

However all these figures are filling up my European shelf quite nicely. Less than six months ago I only had five European figures and now I've at least doubled that. It is amazing what you can do when you finally focus on something!

And yes, I know Staxx is erroneously with the Autobots, to be rectified shortly.

Reprolabels makes G2 come alive!

If there is one thing G2 is not about it is subtlety. It seems like the entire line was devoted to garish colors, odd decorations and down right blatant pronouncements ("Megatron Rules!" comes to mind). However it is this 'extreme' take on Transformers (which was present in many early '90's properties) which makes me enjoy them even more. So when I found out about some G2 Reprolabels for Classics figures I knew there was no way I wasn't going to get them.

Currently Reprolabels carries two G2 upgrade sets for Autobots: Jazz and Volt. Jazz of course uses the recent Reveal the Shield mold of the same character. Volt uses the 2010 Revenge of the Fallen Hubcap figure as a base. Fortunately I already owned Hubcap due to his innate similarity with Volt but I had to purchase another RTS Jazz since I only owned one. Usually Reprolabels makes things pretty easy for their customers; you remove old stickers and apply new ones. Except in this case due to the nature of the difference in the designs I had to remove most of the paint off RTS Jazz with rubbing alcohol. This was my first experience removing paint from a Transformer and although daunting at the beginning I was pretty happy with how he came out.

Before...

...and After

My vintage G2 Jazz is looking pretty weary these days.

The new stickers do a great job invoking that G2 feel.

I'm not as satisfied with Volt, but overall he doesn't look bad.

I never realized how small the laser rods actually were.

I'm always on the lookout for new figures that could be converted to Neo-G2 figures, especially after the Botcon 2010 set. I only have one other right now which is Mindset, so I am hoping for an upgrade to make him look a little less movie-ish.

Trakkons Calcar and Fearswoop prove Europe Rules!

I had the good fortune to obtain these two guys waaaay before Christmas, however I just now found the time to showcase them. I am really enjoying these European G1.5/G2 figures as they provide a nice transition from the end of G1 in the US to what would become Generation 2 (and what subsequently lead me back into Transformers...again).

I imagine the main selling point on these guys was the play factor of their weapons. Children could look through the viewfinders to 'target' their enemies and Fearswoop's weapon even has firing action that uses light-piping to simulate lasers firing in the viewfinder when you turn the knob. If I were a kid, I would absolutely love this. Hell, as an adult I absolutely love this. I was hoping for something similar on Calcar's weapon, but alas only the turret turns when you turn the knob on his weapon.

The 'lasers' in action

Oh no, firing on a fellow officer!

The size and bulk of these weapons really inhibits the flexibility of these figures, but since they are technically G1 figures and therefore bricks by design that isn't really saying much. In fact I think it may actually help in Calcar's case as it gives his arms flexibility they may not have had otherwise. In either case, displaying these guys with their weapons deployed really blocks most of the figure and I love how each one has a kickstand in order to support the weight of the weapons.

It's like they're both photographers from 1885.

Fortunately there were only two Trakkons, so now I have them both, however I am still missing one of their Autobot counterparts (known as Lightformers): Ironfist; arguably the hardest one of the four to find.

I love Calcar's face sculpt.

A Little European Flair...

When I started to get close to finishing my American G1 collection I began to look across the shores to Japanese and European exclusives. I decided that I would concentrate on the Japanese G1 first and then move on to the European G1 (which also crosses into G2 territory). I did this because I already had a few Japanese exclusives anyway and I considered them more desirable (and thus more expensive) than the Europeans. Since G1 figures only get more expensive as time goes on, I like to try to buy the more expensive figures first so I don't end up spending a fortune in the future. Case in point: I remember back in 1999 when the Liokaiser giftset was going on eBay for about $300. In 2008 when I was finally able to purchase Liokaiser it was for over $700. And this year I've seen the giftset go for over $1000. So yeah, get the expensive stuff out of the way before it gets insane.

So needless to say I don't have that many European G1 figures in my collection. I've picked up a couple here and there, but it was never really a focus. However a deal came up a few weeks ago that I just couldn't pass up, the prices were too good. So as a result I added Rotorstorm and Thunderclash to my collection. I had owned these molds previously since they were both released under the Machine Wars banner in 1996, however I've always loved the gaudy colors of the early 1990's figures and so it was a thrill to finally get these guys. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Rotorstorm

Gah! The blades are pink!!!!

With his Machine Wars counterpart - Sandstorm.

When Machine Wars was released all of the gimmicks of the figures had been removed. So Sandstorm's missile launchers don't fire whereas Rotorstorm's do. It isn't so bad on this figure, but it becomes much more apparent on the other Machine Wars figures.

Identical except for the missiles.

Thunderclash

Thunderclash is notorious for suffering from GPS so I didn't want to risk transforming his trailer for the picture. In fact when I got him he was in truck mode and I only transformed him once (very, very carefully) to robot mode. Unfortunately he will probably never be transformed again because of the GPS but at least he is pretty.

Dark of the Moon Space Case

Ever since the Generation 2 Redux Botcon 2010 set was announced last year I have been on alert for any figures that might fit into the updated G2 category. Obviously Space Case fits since he is a direct homage of the original G2 Cyberjet Space Case. Unfortunately he seems to be the only G2 inspired figure in the entire DOTM line. Also from this point forward I will no longer refer to him as a DOTM figure, but a G2 Redux figure instead since that is what I believe Hasbro had in mind for this guy.

Space Case is a repaint of the Hunt for the Decepticons figure Terradive with a new head mold that evokes the original Cyberjet feeling a little. It is basically just an updated head that makes a little more sense than the original triangular visor that the first figure had. Oddly enough this is the second Cyberjet homage we have gotten in the past few years; Skyjack was the first who himself was a repaint of Generations Silverbolt. If we could just get a good Hooligan it would be enough for a Cyberjet party!

This is a really fun figure overall; one of the best aspects is that he transforms in a way that leaves very little kibble anywhere on the body. I wish all transformations could be this clean. He also has some very interesting engineering in the nosecone which makes for a few cool surprises during the transformation. Lastly, his arms transform in a way that calls back to G2 Smokescreen as well as Energon Starscream.

The Cyberjets were always really fun little toys and I am glad Hasbro hasn't forgotten them even after all these years. I would call this toy absolutely perfect if it weren't for one small detail: THE TATOOS!!! Ah well, maybe I can repaint him.

Cyberjets are back, baby!

With his G2 Counterpart.

The vehicle modes match up almost perfectly.

GPS: the silent killer. Why you should hate this as much as I do.

Perhaps first a little definition, the TFWiki defines Gold Plastic Syndrome (GPS) as:

fandom terminology used to describe the phenomenon of a toy's plastic decomposing and becoming brittle to the point of shattering or crumbling under minimal-stress conditions.

 which usually means that if a particular toy is plagued with this issue the game is over. This seemingly small problem destroys toys of some of the neatest and most unique Transformer characters out there. Not only can you never transform them again, most likely you can never even touch them again. Most toys that deal with this issue were made between 1988 and 1995 with a few stragglers years later. If you are a fan of Transformers of this era then I feel sorry for you. Some of these toys have only small parts that are cast in the gold plastic, others have their entire bodies cast this way. Most Transformers that suffer from this problem have become very expensive on the secondary market due to not many examples surviving this long.

Here is a good example: the European exclusive Pyro:

This is the only toy I have lost to GPS thus far and it was only because he fell from a shelf which, frankly, would cause this to happen to pretty much any toy. But  you will notice that the only pieces that actually broke were the gold cast ones.

Just look at that shear.

Snap!

Crack!

Infuriating!

Boy, let me tell you, this was a hard thing to find one morning. Pyro is actually a really fun toy so I was sad to see him destroyed. Unfortunately this type of breakage can happen from just moving a figure with this problem and many fun figures are afflicted. First and foremost in my mind are Pretender monsters Slog and Bristleback. They form the chest and arm of Monstructor which I have to leave combined now for fear of disintegration upon contact.

I haven't transformed him in years and probably never will again.

 Also suffering from this problem are many Generation 2 toys, including Electro and Slingshot both of which are made almost entirely out of Gold Plastic. I have just come to accept that I will not ever be able to play with these toys and it is just best to leave them as they are...

Forget about even removing him, much less combining him.

 ...forever protected from the outside world in their packaging. In fact, I am going to go a step further and get them encased in AFA's protective cases for another layer of protection.

The solution to GPS: AFA grading and homage figures.

The unfortunate thing is these will never be removed from their packaging and used as they were meant to be: as toys. All anyone will ever be able to do is look at them and see how much fun they could have had. If any toys need a reissue by Hasbro, it is every transformer that has this problem. Unfortunately most of the these characters are not popular enough to warrant a reissue so I don't really ever see it happening. So I say good luck to you that own these figures and here is to coming up with creative ways around this problem.