TFSource Masterpiece Unboxing

This rather big box of 4 figures came the other week for me.  That's it for me.  I have nothing else on pre-order and I'm not looking at anything on eBay either.  This is rather a unique situation for me to be in, but I have to admit, I'm kind of enjoying having a clean slate

to work with in terms of deciding what to go for next.  Anyway, enjoy the unboxing of these four figures.

Joustra Diaclone Pick Up (Gears) & Condor (MOSC)

Each of us have our own personal reasons for buying what we buy to enrich our collections.  Maybe it might come down to the playability of the figure, or maybe price, or maybe it's a childhood memory that stirs up an emotion that says "I need to have that in my collection!"  Whatever it may be for you, I know that for myself, when it comes down to this particular line, it all comes down to one word...artwork!

It is certainly debatable (though I would personally find it hard to disagree) that this line contains not only some of the more rarer

My TRU Shelves

Popped out today to finish some last minute shopping (per usual) and couldn't resist popping into one of my Toys R Us stores.

I was hoping to maybe see some of the new Generation figures out there but instead this was all I got.......

Transformers & Beer Podcast #2 - "Year End Special"

Thanks for coming back again and listening to our "Year End Special".  We figured everyone is going to be busy over the next two weeks so we made this chalked full of extra material.

Stay tuned to the end where we discuss our best purchases this year and our biggest Transformers regret!

SHOW TOPICS (OPEN FULL ARTICLE TO SEE PICS OF OUR DISCUSSED TOPICS): 

- What’s happened in our last week since talking

- “M” explains why he finally decides to get new bookshelves

- Joe accidentally ships latest TFSource items to his old address

- “M” has a shipping delay

- “M” has more items coming in and has an “eBay offer” accepted at the start of the show

-  New G1 Insecticons boxset and their comparison to previous 2 reissue releases, estimated cost point and their new name changes

- New coneheads 3-pack teaser and possible future implications

- JAFCON seekers

- G1 Fort Max reissue vs Generations Metroplex

- Our initial thoughts on “Year of the Goat MP Soundwave”; do we need it; why couldn’t it be crystal instead; Linkin Park Gold Soundwave & MP Year of the Horse Prime

- Laser Optimus Prime mold and why we disagree on it

- Shout out to Brr-icy Shattered Glass pics

- What was the best purchase this year that both of us did?

- What was our biggest Transformers regret this year?

OPEN THIS POST UP FULLY TO SEE PICTURES OF ALL THE TOPICS WE DISCUSSED.

Unboxing of D-61 Ratbat

Here are the pictures of the live unboxing we did during our "Transformers & Beer - Episode 1" podcast last week.

What's Currently on My Shelves

I haven't been in my new house for very long.....one month and 11 days as of this writing.....and it has taken me that long to get my one personal room looking even somewhat respectable.  I've limited myself to just having two shelves to display my Transformers because as awesome as I've seen and drooled at people's postings of their full collections on display, I feel that for me personally, less is more.

LESS IS MORE

TRANSFORMERS & BEER PODCAST #1

SHOW DESCRIPTION : 

- What do we collect and why
- Revenge of the Fallen Bruticus
- Eliminating figures from our collections
- Masterpiece and 3rd Party figures and do they retain their value
- What are the next new Masterpiece releases
- 3rd Party companies
- MP Bumblebee and future minibots
- TFSource and their "bullet-proof" packaging
- Masterpiece figure pricing
- Horrible Hasbro packaging
- What's a Diaclone Starscream worth?
- Is Uncle Megatron worth any price?
- Clumpo
- Some "KO" manufacturing is better than the original
- Beating Takara to the punch in terms of giving fans the figures they want
- TFC Toys Prometheus
- New 3rd Party Megatron
- Surprise unboxing of D-61 Ratbat

Keep on collecting!

G2 Grimlock (MOSC) (Blue Version)

If anyone were to ask me, "List some of your top Transformer characters", I would certainly have to say that the Dinobots are (if I were able to group the five of them together to count as one personality…….and any fan of the Dinobots certainly would say they are most definitely characters, either as a group or individually) in my top ten, if not top five.

So then, if I like them so much, why do I not own any…..until now?

Simple answer to that rather good question..........

New Book Arrival

This rather big book just came from Amazon today.

Remember the thrill of tearing open a gift on Christmas morning, discovering a brand-new Transformer in a shiny new box? While the toys were amazing in their own right, what made the packages stand head-and-shoulders above the myriad competing action figures

New Arrival Teaser

Another new arrival came as I was on my way into work tonight.....certainly a great way to start off the night!

Local TRU Visit

I had to return a baby item at my TRU the other day, so out of curosity I decided to see what was new on their TF shelves.  I wasn't terribly surprised at what I saw...though I did see a couple of new things.

Even a couple of KREO figures can't save a bad movie.

I shouldn't really say the movie was that horrible.....I had just hoped that it could have been so much

A New Arrival

Amidst a two week move and home renovation project, this piece arrived and can officially take claim as being the first new addition to my collection at my new house.

Here's a tease…..

G2 Ramjet (MOSC)

Here's the second piece that arrived from a seller holding two separate auctions which I won a little while ago.  They were a battle to get, and cost me more than I wanted to pay (then again most things do), but in the end it's two more items that I can cross off of my rather small G2 list of Transformers that I need.

The State of Today's TRU Shelves

I had some time to kill so I thought I would take a walk into my local TRU just to see what was going on since it had also been quite some time since my last visit.  My reaction as I looked on the shelves fits this blogs name appropriately.

3 Sunstorms on the shelves

MC-07 M1910 Gun Robo Browning

THE REASON WHY TOY GUN LAWS WERE CHANGED

I have to think that if I were to only put these pictures up and not write anything, then that would be more than enough.  These two "different" pieces are just plain awesome. (see how I didn't even need to put an exclamation mark at the end of that last sentence....I even said it in a level, calm voice because these pics don't need anything extra).  Nevertheless, I will still add some material so enjoy the content.

G2 Starscream (MOSC)

Here's one of two pieces that I had to "bully bid" to win in two separate eBay auctions. I hate to say it but I think the days of getting good deals on eBay have come and gone. I didn't have much choice though......in fours years of looking on (though not consistently) I personally have not come across two nicer figures of these guys, especially in the condition that I buy my figures, so it came down to really just being able to cross these guys off of my search list and be done with it.

And with that being said, here we have G2 Starscream MOSC.

Where Have I Been......

I'm sorry everyone.........though I'm sure that anyone who has ever attempted to keep a blog going has had this happen to them more than a few times.....it's a little something called life.

Here's whats been happening for me; aside from the usual nonsense of having to go to work, my 2 1/2 yr old and my 5 month old have been, as one could expect, demanding a lot of time either when I come home from work or on days off.

I try not to do my Transformer stuff while my wife, who is at home on maternity leave, is around since it takes away from out time together and I could easily disappear for hours just trying to write up a decent posting.

On top of all this, we just bought a new home and sold ours within a three day period.  So now, throw the job of finding the right people and products to do some reno upgrades in as well.

I've put a hold on new purchases for the time being but that doesn't take away that I have a backlog of figures that I need to get out of "draft" mode and out for you guys to read.

Thanks to all of you that continually check in to see what is happening on ymfr ont, and I sincerly appologize for the few weeks off.

Stuff is in the works and will be up soon.

Cheers!

Latest Unboxing

I really had not been searching consistently for these two figures.  In fact, only one of them had really been on the forefront of figures I wanted to get first in this specific line.  Luckily enough, they both were coming from the same seller but in two separate auctions.

Digital Doom on the Highway to Destruction

This is another one of the small catalogs that I picked up in a lot.  Again, I would spend hours as a kid staring at these booklets deciding on which character I would buy next.

 

A Picture Flashback - 1986 Transformers G1 Catalog

I've been on a catalog/mail away order form kick of sorts lately.  Mostly triggered by my friend "M"'s interest of collecting any kind of paperwork that he can as well, though he mostly goes for instructions.  While I can give him 60% of the credit, 40% as of late has been due to memories of my childhood sitting and staring at store catalog books (Consumers Distributing, Sears, etc) along with these booklets from the figures I purchased myself.

Well worn / loved

 Through the life of the G1 toyline, catalogs were standard in all boxed toys.  G1 catalogs

G1 Greek Dark Orange Huffer Error Card (MOSC)

So another TFCon show has come and gone.  After having a few days to think back on it, I am going to admit that this show was better than last years.  Even though I only came away with one item, there were certainly plenty of opportunities whereby I could have dropped some coin and picked up items that would have filled holes in my collection.....but that's just it.  They certainly weren't pieces that are hard to find, or at the top of my serch index.

Right figure/wrong card....or is it the other way around?

This was the one item that I bought from one of my dealer friends.  To be honest I'm not the biggest fan of Huffer, but this card just caught my eye for a few reasons.

TFCon Toronto 2014 Pics

Another year, and another TFcon has come and gone for me.  IT ended up being a bit of a busy weekend for me with other things going on for me ( one being a surprise birthday party for me planned by my wife on the same day).   My friend "M" and myself were only able to spend Saturday morning

Table full of Combiners anyone?

at the show, but there have been talks of a possible 1st time BOTCON trip for next year if we can.  Maybe it's time to see if the grass is greener on the other side of the border.  Anyway, I only brought my point and shoot this year so the pics aren't crystal clear but I think you'll still get a good idea of what was going on there.

U.S. , European & Canadian G1 Optimus Prime

I had received a call from a friend of mine regarding some questions about a Prime that he had picked up recently.  He had wanted to compare it to my '84 G1 version.  In going

U.S. , European & Canadian G1 Optimus Prime

 through mine, we had decided to put together this quick little photoshoot of three "different" boxed Optimus'.

TFCon Approaches

So until last week, it had actually been a few months since I had done any kind of major purchase on eBay.

Toronto, Canada

To be honest, I've become fairly disenchanted with buying anything from eBay.  Not so much from having any sort of bad experience but its rather the change in shipping with the addition of the Global Shipping Program and having to constantly ask first to see if the seller

Super Change Robo Mechabot 1 (Omega Supreme)

I've always been on the fence when it came to grabbing an Omega Supreme.  The only time that I have actually ever physically played with one happened when he was originally released and even then, I don't recall whether I was as overly impressed with him compared to a lot of the other G1 figures I played with. You would have thought that anyone would have been

We three Kings

considering his size, motorized mechanics and three different modes of playability.  I just don't know what else to tell you, but to each their own I guess.

Lately though, my interest has been revitalized……..

G1 Reflector Mail Away

So look what came in the mail.......okay, so maybe it wasn't that recently.  Hell, it didn't even happen in the last two decades, but come in the mail it did nonetheless.

Inside...a Transformer Not Sold in Any Store!

Micro Change Series MC-12 Walther P38 Gun Robo

It seems like I haven't been the only one around here judging by some of the other blogs I've been reading where people have been re-evaluating their collections. Throw me into that pot as well.  I've been selling a number of figures, nothing vintage, thus my reason for selling as these particular pieces as I would never have displayed them , nor did they fit into the direction I want to go now.

Micro Change Series MC-12 Walther P38 Gun Robo 

Anyway, I'm back after a few weeks from posting, though it certainly felt like longer.  In my

MP-8 Grimlock (Asia Exclusive), MP-17 Prowl, 1987-90 Transmanual

It's 6am and here I am, taking these pictures because our baby just finished her morning bottle and has decided that it's time to not go back to sleep.  So it's her off to her baby swing and me taking the only time I'll probably have today to squeeze these pictures in.

In my previous post (click HERE), I had shown everything wrapped up still, so these are the items that just arrived from TFSource.com

Click (HERE) if you would like to see what this set is selling it for at TF Source.

First off, you probably could have guess from the big box in my previous post that this was probably one of the figures that had arrived.

New Movie Transformer Figures at TRU

So on a whim, I decided to stop into one of my local TRU's on my way into work tonight and was pleasantly surprised at all the new figures I saw.  I'm not saying that I'm really interested in buying any of them at the moment, but the fact that there is some new blood to be seen is refreshing .

Anyway, not much to really be said about all these guys yet, so just check out the pics and hopefully you'll come across these guys soon, if not yet already.

New Package Arrival

It's been so long since my last post, I wish that I could say that it was out of laziness.  See, at least if it was out of being lazy then that could at least mean that I had still been receiving new packages all this time.  Sadly, that has not been the case. No new packages.  Just been busy with my family and the house….not that this is something to complain about.  I just wish I had more time to do everything.

Well, for now my dry spell has temporarily stopped.  This came this morning.

TRU Pics

So with the wife out for some doctor appointments I was left at home to watch my daughter by myself…..pretty boring since the conversation at this point seems to be all one way…she is only 8 weeks old after all.  Perfect opportunity to get out and see what's doing at one of my local TRU's.

This was the biggest display of non-Botshot / KREO Transformers that I have seen

Disco Devy (MOSC)

So a couple of posts ago, (CLICK HERE) I had mentioned how I had gone to the 80's Toy Show in Toronto.  There were a few possible items that I could have walked away with from the show and I'm

 Disco Devy (MOSC)

probably going to get razzed about not grabbing them. One was a G1 Whirl; looked to be in near mint condition, complete but loose, for $90.  The other one was the 1st Takara

My Local TRU (Whitby) - 05/08/14

Ive been going back and forth since I first saw the posting about the soon to be released version of Generations Leader Class Jetfire, but after humming and hawing about whether or not it fits into the direction that I'm taking my collection in, I think that from what I have

They have consolidated what was once a split up TF display back into one section.
That's my little guy checking things out in front….he's not for sale.

seen overall in the pictures makes it worthwhile for me to get.  So off to check out my TRU to see what's doin'.

80's Toy Show - 05/04/14

I was at the 80's Toy Show this past Sunday and I actually took my point and shoot camera this time because I always find it interesting when other sites post pics of conventions that they go to and I thought I would return the favour for those not from the Toronto area.

There is no specific order to the display of these pictures, but since this is not strictly

Latest Acquisitions

I'm at a time in my collecting when I'm in a reorganizing shift by getting rid of a number of my newer figures, but for some reason I couldn't help but pick these guys up at my local Walmart.

Optimus Prime & Autobot Roller

 The only reason I picked Prime up was because "Autobot Roller" was included and

Transformers - Robots In Disguise #27

I finally managed to get down to reading the latest issue of Transformers - Robots In Disguise #27. For those following the series,  this is a continuation of where Transformers - More Than Meets the Eye #27 Chapter 10 left off.

Again, this is just a little tease for those of you yet to read this issue…or for some reason

Gee….I wonder if an Autobot dies

 have yet to even read this comic run......seriously though, get your asses in gear.

Are eBay Shipping Costs A Transformer Killer?

No, I don't mean literally.  I just needed a catchy title.

The problem that I am actually referring to seems to be the ever growing costs of shipping Transformers bought off of eBay.

How much in shipping is this worth to you?

I came up with writing about this quite accidentally, though the the general idea crosses my mind anytime I surf eBay for TF's. 

Lately, I've been trying to catalogue all of my figures on a spreadsheet, and I am

Big Bad Toy Store & Warbotron - A Seller's Story

I was surfing one of our Canadian TF fan boards the other day and came across this rather interesting post that seems to have affected a number of retailers.  I thought that I would share it with those of you that follow my blog and maybe see what your thoughts were.

Here it is quoted word for word (again by another individual).  The actual link posting can be seen HERE if you wanted to get into all the different replies to it.

"Folks at Cybertron.ca

Please let me enlighten everyone as to what has happened with the first Warbotron figure. No one in North America has it – except for Big Bad Toy Store. For whatever

e-Hobby Megaplex (Exclusive) MISB

Here is the latest addition to my collection .  I picked this beautiful piece up from eBay, even though when I saw it I wasn't really looking to purchase anything at the moment due to all the money Maz (joking) has me tied up with in my Masterpiece figures either purchased or pre-ordered from TF Source.

e-Hobby Exclusive Megaplex (MISB) 

It was hard to pass up on this guy after what my friend "M" recently did, along

Powermaster Ultra Magnus

Introducing the super rare Powermaster Ultra Magnus.  This is one of those extremely hard finds that

should you come across in your searches, don't hesitate it and grab it immediately .    I can see you asking yourself, "What?  I didn't even know about this particular figure!  Where can I

New Package Arrival

A new bundle of joy arrived today…..and by that I mean a sweet package from eBay.  Stay tuned for a unveiling sometime this week.

JustiToys WST Bliztwing (Ground Air Commander)

Just a quick picture post for a new figure that recently came out.  Here we have another excellent creation from JustiToys……Ground Air Commander, or for those of you that don't 

care about copyright infringement and all that crap, WST Bliztwing.  Believe me, they have done it once again.  "M" sent me these pictures because I have not yet pulled

iPhone Photo of the Week : Megaplex

Just a quick iPhoto of a recent acquisition from "M". 

 Top : G1 Canadian Megatron
Bottom : e-Hobby Megaplex, e-Hobby Megatron Black Version

Megaplex was the recent purchase.

More to follow on this in a little bit. Stay tuned.

G1 Canadian Scourge

One of these guys first appeared a few posts ago when I talked about the "C-309 Godbomber" that my buddy "M" had bought.  Also included was a G1 Canadian Scourge.

Definitely a classic G1 piece, though not one of my favourites.  I think that goes back to how traumatizing the movie was to me in the way that they killed off so many

iPhone Photo of the Day

"M" sent me a pic of his top shelf before he rotates these guys away with some fresh stock.

G1 Bruticus, ROTF Bruticus w/ FansProject additions, G2 Bruticus
Side Note : When I was getting back into collecting in 2009/10, "M" had told me about the Revenge of the Fallen Bruticus that he had been given by his wife.  He came across another one at Zellers and told me to pick it up since it was so cheap for $24.99…….well, I didn't because of how bad it looked. (sigh)  I didn't know about the FansProject additions that were just coming out as well.
This figure is my "White Whale".