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TristramEvans

TristramEvans

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We don't really have an action figure thread here on the Pub yet.

I don't much collect them anymore, I have a small group kept for Nostalgic value in a treasure chest, but I usualy talk myself out of new ones. That said, I still like to look at them, and admiire some of the ones coming out. The impetus to start this thread was this gorgeous Sleeping Beauty Malificent figure. The linework and pose is fantastic:


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I'm mod at TheFWOOSH... since around 2008. I could probably fill this thread with "cool toys" for about 50-pages... so I'll be gentle. How about a couple I just got recently including my RPG arrival today?

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That Soundwave figure hits me right in the Nostalgia. That's a really nice Optimus Prime as well.

The only Mego I have left from childhood is Spider-man. I have my original one that I got as a Christmas present when I was quite young...

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Unfortunately, the costume has seen much better days, even after repairs by my mom when I was still a kid, it's now only barely held to gether and full of holes.

However, I was lucky enough to grab one of the limited edition rereleases a few years back :smile:

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...which is awesome, because it also comes with two suits and a Romita-era inspired Peter Parker option. And that goes perfectly with my Mary Jane Watson Barbie...

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I was having this discussion yesterday - it's weird I was never into Transformers. But since I got into collecting figures... my parameters are tight - 1/12 scale, has to have appeared in the comics (so technically this extends to GI Joe) or related to my Supers campaigns. My collection is pretty massive. I'd do 1/6 scale but then that means I'd be buying Hot Toys and my wife would murder me.

Marvel Legends, Mafex, and Mezco are bad enough.
 
I was terrified when Star Wars Black landed. Because technically they're Marvel. I pass on them. But then I swore years ago if 1/12 GI Joe ever landed, my love for the comic is too strong... and lo-and behold the Great Evil happened and GI Joe 6" scale dropped (sculpted by a member of our forum no less!)... and now my wallet heaves in convulsions...
 
My usual method of talking myself out of buying action figures is that I can get them as Miniatures, which are easier to store, (sometimes) cheaper, and I get to paint them myself, thus making them my own. My last figure purchase was something no one will ever make a miniature of...

I have no idea why, but when Jem and The Holograms premeired in 1985, it immediately captured my attention. Despite ostensibly being aimed at girls, something in the visuals, the music, and the premise hooked me in right away, maybe party because it was right at the time I was discovering the music of Cyndi Lauper, Tiffany, The Bangles, and Belinda Carlisle, bubblegum pop that would define my childhood, or maybe it's because underneath the 80's pop band exterior, Jem actually was essentialy playing with all the tropes of the superhero genre. Whatever it was, I ended up just a big a fan of Jem as I was the other staples of my childhood - GI Joe, MOTU, Blackstar, Inhumanoids, Sectaurs, etc.

And like all the franchises I had a favourite character, that being Stormer. She was the good-bad girl, the one from the Evil punk group The Misfits who had a heart of gold, and ended up in what was, looking back now, a pretty heavily-implied for the time romatic relationship with the redheaded backup singer of Jem's band. I had a Stormer doll as a kid, but to be honest, it was pretty fugly, I mostly just played the cassette that came with it.

Anyways, cut to a few years ago and Integrity, a company I'd never previously heard of, as part of a small market I didn't previously know existed - that of luxury fashion dolls for adult collectors - got ahold of the Jem license and did some updated figures. And unlike the weirdly proportioned cheap cash-grabs of the 80's toy aisle, they were absolutely exquisite - amazingly detailed and perfectly proportioned. If I was a rich man I would have gotten the whole line, but at nearly $200 a pop (when they were for a very short time available for pre-order, secondary market prices frequently shoot to over a grand a piece), that wasn't a realistic option. But I at the very least was able to grab my best girl, Stormer...

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I'm glad I never really got into collectibles. My real vice is overpowered computer equipment, and the amount I've spent on that in the last 20 or so years would make your eyes water - and easily keep pace with if not exceed the spend of all but the most ardent fanboys.

Most of it, including all the servers and fibre channel disk arrays, are now in landfill. I'm just planning to give away a laptop i spent nearly £3500 on in 2012 to my next door neighbour for his older child. When I bought that laptop I installed software onto it that cost a little over £10,000 - I still have all of that software but it's out of date and would cost as much if not more to bring it back up to being current (which I don't need to do at the moment). The other two laptops of that vintage are likely to wind up with members of my wife's family if I can figure a way to get them to Indonesia without getting shaken down for a load of import duty. They have a resale value of about £300-400 between them, if that.

This is my new cool toy. It's still a work in progress but I'm hoping it will cost a lot less than £3,500.

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I'm sure I was going to say something witty about collectibles, but I forget what it was.
 
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TristramEvans said:
Anyways, cut to a few years ago and Integrity, a company I'd never previously heard of, as part of a small market I didn't previously know existed - that of luxury fashion dolls for adult collectors - got ahold of the Jem license and did some updated figures. And unlike the weirdly proportioned cheap cash-grabs of the 80's toy aisle, they were absolutely exquisite - amazingly detailed and perfectly proportioned. If I was a rich man I would have gotten the whole line, but at nearly $200 a pop (when they were for a very short time available for pre-order, secondary market prices frequently shoot to over a grand a piece), that wasn't a realistic option. But I at the very least was able to grab my best girl, Stormer...
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I would have picked up at least one Jem variant and Stormer, but I didn't learn of their existence until too late.
 
Gabriel said:
I would have picked up at least one Jem variant and Stormer, but I didn't learn of their existence until too late.
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Yeah, it's not a world I'm a part of at all - and a rabbithole I only briefly peered down, there's a whole world of adult luxury dolls that I was oblivious to. I'm only lucky in that I am Facebook friends with the voice actress for Jem, and she pointed out their existence.
 
Somewhere in a shed in New Zealand I have some Dinky toys including a Space:1999 eagle and a Thunderbird 2. I have no idea what condition they're in, though - I haven't seen them in pushing 30 years.
 
tenbones said:
I was terrified when Star Wars Black landed. Because technically they're Marvel. I pass on them. But then I swore years ago if 1/12 GI Joe ever landed, my love for the comic is too strong... and lo-and behold the Great Evil happened and GI Joe 6" scale dropped (sculpted by a member of our forum no less!)... and now my wallet heaves in convulsions...
Click to expand...

I just read that two days ago that Disney had cancelled production on Cara Dune figures for the Mandalorian SW Black line, so out of curiosity I checked the prices on Ebay, and wow, I was obviously well behind the sellers, lol.
 
TristramEvans said:
My usual method of talking myself out of buying action figures is that I can get them as Miniatures, which are easier to store, (sometimes) cheaper, and I get to paint them myself, thus making them my own. My last figure purchase was something no one will ever make a miniature of...
Click to expand...

Yeah, but sometimes the cool thing about it is that it is impractically large! (Also, my wife has a habit of making Fort Max make rude gestures and putting tiny (for a human people) hats on Metroplex) (also, I need to dust, woo)

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(Also the RPG Maker VX Ace box and the JP RPG Tsukuru Dante box are from my job stuff, I do marketing for the series in EN as my job, and the JP Super Famicom version back there was the first version I used when I was a teen).
 
Dang, now I'm all jealous my toys aren't currently able to be displayed for a picture. Got to put another bookshelf together.
 
EmperorNorton said:
A lot of my Transformer toys are actually in storage because I just don't have room for my whole collection.
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I need to introduce you to a friend if he's interested. He's needless to say got hundreds of transformer toys displayed, not counting in storage.
 
I don't have an original Perceptor (anymore) but I've got some re-release new ones, and third-party ones, along with Optimus Prime, Hound, Computron, Lioconvoy, Jetfire (Skyfire) variants, Soundblaster, and a few others.
 
It's neat to watch this thread even though I don't own or collect "toys". The urge was supplanted by miniature fever which I caught around age 10-11.
 
One of my favourite figures (and oldest that isn't actually from my childhood), American McGee's Alice.

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This "Goth" variant was a Tower Records exclusive when the original game came out (Does Tower Records still exist?)
 
I've also been getting Marvel toys lately, Moon Knight (three different ones), Ms. Marvel, Spider-man 2099, Spider-Man, and others. I've also been given a He-man and Battlecat--talk about love and nostalgia. It's wonderful.
 
I started getting into Marvel Legends, and then I almost immediately realized that it was pointless for me to continue. Hasbro's method of selling/marketing the figures makes it so impractical to try and assemble the collection I'd want that it's pointless.

I mean, at the most basic, I could settle for an X-Men collection with figures representing the versions in the Konami arcade game. But the Storm I needed was a two pack Target exclusive. The Cyclops I needed was a two pack Toys R Us exclusive right as they went out of business. Colossus and Juggernaut were at least a relatively available two pack. Magneto was in a THREE pack. Dazzler, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler were relatively easy to get. But then Pyro is a two pack with a Rouge that's in the running for the worst figure interpretation of her. The Yeti (or whatver it's name is) is a build a figure, requiring the purchas of a bunch of figures I wouldn't want. And then the White Queen I'd need was a convention exclusive that needed to be purchased along with the entire Hellfire Club. And that still leaves out any kind of Sentinel represtation, where the only option is the giant premium Haslab version. THAT is probably the absolute EASIEST X-Men set to assemble, and look at how ridiculous it is!

So screw that. Collecting Dollfie Dreams is cheaper and easier. Getting a launch pre-order for a Bandai DX Macross toy is easier than getting some of the Marvel Legends toys.

I've given up on trying to build a Marvel Legends collection, but if I see something I like (X-Men of 80s or early 90s style), then I'll buy them.
 
Gabriel said:
I started getting into Marvel Legends, and then I almost immediately realized that it was pointless for me to continue. Hasbro's method of selling/marketing the figures makes it so impractical to try and assemble the collection I'd want that it's pointless.

I mean, at the most basic, I could settle for an X-Men collection with figures representing the versions in the Konami arcade game. But the Storm I needed was a two pack Target exclusive. The Cyclops I needed was a two pack Toys R Us exclusive right as they went out of business. Colossus and Juggernaut were at least a relatively available two pack. Magneto was in a THREE pack. Dazzler, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler were relatively easy to get. But then Pyro is a two pack with a Rouge that's in the running for the worst figure interpretation of her. The Yeti (or whatver it's name is) is a build a figure, requiring the purchas of a bunch of figures I wouldn't want. And then the White Queen I'd need was a convention exclusive that needed to be purchased along with the entire Hellfire Club. And that still leaves out any kind of Sentinel represtation, where the only option is the giant premium Haslab version. THAT is probably the absolute EASIEST X-Men set to assemble, and look at how ridiculous it is!

So screw that. Collecting Dollfie Dreams is cheaper and easier. Getting a launch pre-order for a Bandai DX Macross toy is easier than getting some of the Marvel Legends toys.

I've given up on trying to build a Marvel Legends collection, but if I see something I like (X-Men of 80s or early 90s style), then I'll buy them.
Click to expand...

This is the realities of selling mass-market figures at very cheap prices. I remember when Legends were *$7* - now they're $20+ vs. comic accurate figures from other lines that are $90 a pop (Mafex, Mezco). Part of what keeps the line relatively cheap is by selling entire waves and planned obsolescence (the dirty secret where they make figures *not* quite perfect) to keep each wave "refreshable" with the same popular characters anchoring each wave. How many times do we get Wolverine? Every time!

Old school collectors like myself, have long demanded comic-accurate figures - and back when Toybiz did the line, they never really gave us what we wanted. Hasbro in the last couple of years has changed that considerably. Their 80th anniversary editions are damn solid. They've been taking the position lately that modern character and modern conceptions of characters (for reasons we're not allowed to talk about) are 1) not popular 2) threaten the existence of the line. So they're going hard on *classic* characters that we all wanted in the first place.

So for your Classic 80's/90's - you can definitely get that team assembled. TRU Jean Grey, Cyclops Wolverine three-pack is readily available on several sites (Amazone, BBTS, Dorkside Toys, Hasbro Pulse). Colossus/Juggs 2-pack JUST got re-issued (get them while you can!) Dazzler, Rogue - easily purchased still.

The issue, as you pointed out, is that they don't sell all these teams in one go for a good reason - they want to keep selling more figures and they used to mix-and-match waves to keep everyone team-building. But if you look at the last couple of years... your wishes have slowly been coming true. Alpha Flight got a whole box-set minus the singles they released previously - Sasquatch and Vindicator. The rumor is Excalibur is getting their own boxset.

While I definitely understand your frustration - you *might* wanna give it another look.
 
I got two of these bad boys coming... I should have got three (Sentinels always travel in three's). For those that may wonder - that's a 6" scale Legends figure next to him. Yeah... so the Sentinel is in real scale.

Sentinel.jpg
 
tenbones said:
I got two of these bad boys coming... I should have got three (Sentinels always travel in three's). For those that may wonder - that's a 6" scale Legends figure next to him. Yeah... so the Sentinel is in real scale.
Click to expand...

I had thought about going in for Unicron, but despite my love of big toys, I realized the Unicron figure just didn't match what I want out of my Transformers. He would have been an awesome crown to my set, but it just wasn't for me.

Plus, there was a Dollfie Dream I wanted at the time. I can't recall which one it was. I spent the money on that rather than Unicron.

I'm not sure if I even knew the Sentinel campaign was a thing until it was too late. It would have been an absolute MUST for an 80s X-Men set.

Need a Blackbird too. I think that has been floated about a bit in the rumor mill as a potential Haslab project, but it will almost certainly be the 90s version and not the classic SR-71.
 
Gabriel said:
I started getting into Marvel Legends, and then I almost immediately realized that it was pointless for me to continue. Hasbro's method of selling/marketing the figures makes it so impractical to try and assemble the collection I'd want that it's pointless.

I mean, at the most basic, I could settle for an X-Men collection with figures representing the versions in the Konami arcade game. But the Storm I needed was a two pack Target exclusive. The Cyclops I needed was a two pack Toys R Us exclusive right as they went out of business. Colossus and Juggernaut were at least a relatively available two pack. Magneto was in a THREE pack. Dazzler, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler were relatively easy to get. But then Pyro is a two pack with a Rouge that's in the running for the worst figure interpretation of her. The Yeti (or whatver it's name is) is a build a figure, requiring the purchas of a bunch of figures I wouldn't want. And then the White Queen I'd need was a convention exclusive that needed to be purchased along with the entire Hellfire Club. And that still leaves out any kind of Sentinel represtation, where the only option is the giant premium Haslab version. THAT is probably the absolute EASIEST X-Men set to assemble, and look at how ridiculous it is!

So screw that. Collecting Dollfie Dreams is cheaper and easier. Getting a launch pre-order for a Bandai DX Macross toy is easier than getting some of the Marvel Legends toys.

I've given up on trying to build a Marvel Legends collection, but if I see something I like (X-Men of 80s or early 90s style), then I'll buy them.
Click to expand...

I think the adult toy collector market, and the way companies now specifically cater to them, has in many ways ruined the action figure market. Marvel Legends is an especially good example of that.
 
Speaking of Haslab, I had a hard time talking myself out of backing their Mandalorian Razorcrest. I don't collect Star Wars toys at all, but a combination of my love for The Mandalorian filling me with Star Wars Nostalgia of my youth, and that it's just such a cool representation really hit my dopamine sensors:

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I would have agreed completely with you on that... having been with Legends literally since before they were Legends... (they started as Spiderman Classics).

But I *really* feel like Hasbro has finally figured it out that middle-aged men with disposable income are the ones buying these things. I mean - never in a million years would I have ever thought that Hasbro would build some obscure character like the Fabulous Frogman a couple of years ago, much less a decade ago. Because they were under the mistaken belief kids were buying Legends.

Now? The demand for *classic* 80's characters, and even 70's versions - are on the table. We got a classic Storm and Thunderbird two-pack! Straight up from the 70's. And you bet your ass the demand for 80's specific editions of characters is red-hot.

Yes we're always going to get MCU versions, but they are listening to the collectors now. I want my Arthur Adams/Chris Claremont era X-Men alongside some X-Calibur and Alpha Flight for my display.

Of course it may take a bit of finagling to get the specific characters you want on the secondary market if you jump in now. It might be better going Mafex. or Mezco.
 
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