Rated X wrote:Sabrblade wrote:Rated X wrote:$1500 ??? I could put a down payment on a real 2007 Camaro get the **** outta here lol. Why would anyone even buy this when the new MP movie bee costs under $100? (and it transforms) Is there like some small country in Asia where people love transformers but hate transforming them? Who buys these these damn statues?
Adult collectors who see statues as real display pieces worthy of purchase and toys as dumb children's playthings, who don't want to waste their time "playing" with childish things.
This sad mindset has been around for far longer than Transformers has existed.
I get what youre saying. But in my opinion that mindset doesnt seem to match the whole point of being a "Transformers" fan. I would totally agree with the "anti-toys" mindset if we were talking movie characters such as star wars, predator, super heroes, mortal kombat, gi-joe, etc. Those characters all make great statues without defeating the purpose of the franchise. But the whole lure behind the transformers franchise is that they can transform which pretty much keeps them stuck in the toy category. But thats a connection that runs deep in the fandom. I find it hard to believe a Transformers fan would hate toys since it kind of goes with the territory. If I was a Terminator fan, I would definitely want an Arnold statue over some dumb action figure. But with Transformers that logic just makes no sense. At least not to me. To me the fact that its a robot, automatically makes it a "toy" whether it transforms or not. It doesnt get away from being less "geeky" just because it doesnt transform. Its a freaking robot and anyone who is ashamed of collecting toys isnt going to have an easier time justifying their robot statue collection to other toy haters lol.
That's just it, though. This mindset applies to those hardcore adult collectors who regularly collect statues and display pieces, not Transformers fans who regularly collect Transformers toys.
Such people are those who collect these things for their being highly-detailed physical representations of pop culture. These aren't the kinds of people who want these primarily because they have an emotional attachment to the characters, but because they have a more superficial attachment to the movies and their mainstream-ness.
Transformers fans tend to have some inner-child emotional connection that compels them get invested in what is primarily a children's toy brand. The tangibility of changing a robot into another thing entirely is enticing to us Transformers fans as adults in the same way it was enticing to us as kids. But those who grew out of that feeling don't share the same tangible endearment of transforming a toy. They don't want to waste their time figuring out how to get a million-step MP from one mode to the other, they just want a pretty display piece to show off in their living room or wherever they put these things. They don't care as much about the mechanics and engineering and the feeling achievement that comes with mastering a complex transformation, they just want something solid and fancy to decorate their room(s) with.
The main demographic buying these aren't diehard Transformers fandom members who buy and play with toys, they're enthusiasts of pop culture statues who exist outside of the core Transformers fandom.
