by Flashbax » Sat Jan 13, 2018 11:14 am
- Weapon: Electro- Laser
So after many years, close to 10 to be precise, I am slowly getting back into collecting Transformers. I used to run a small but fun website called TransformersontheShelf and had one of the larger collections out there with some 50,000 pieces in it. I think I had a little over 1/2 of every Transformer made in every country. Other accolades included being a shadow editor on Mark Bellomo's Transformer guide (1st edition, not the recent edition), and was even approached for several reality/gimick tv shows back in the day. Never made it onto them, but it was fun to do all the emails and phone calls. I was laos known as the guy that helped crack the case of why the Unicron prototype's arm was not transformed correctly in many photos, helped pinpoint where the term "seeker" first started showing up (several of us old school guys worked on a lot of sources) and a bunch of other smaller, misc stuff that is all "common" knowledge now, I'm sure.
I'm thinking about starting up a small website again, as well as obviously collecting. The recent trilogy of toys brought me back in, I was always a sucker for combiners. My collection is pretty small (at least for me) at 200-250 bots atm, I'd like to up that down the road. I ran a small toy/game/hobby shop from 2010 until this December when we were forced to close it down (a fatality of the internet and a small community). I'm now semi-retired and working on writing and other hobbies until the next big venture some 3-5 years down the road.
I was one of those guys who'd have a Transformer for every transformation it could have. If I bought an old toy in box, it'd stay in box, but if it was new, I'd open it and save the box and card. Now my focus is just collecting loose figures, the boxes and the value aren't what make the collection fun for me. I've also started to have a better appreciation for the fan made stuff out there. I only have the Fansproject Sauurus Ryo-Oh team, but love it.
to end this intro I was the kind of collector who would get ANYTHING with a TF logo on it. I had some $5,000 I was offering for any direct leads to the Neo Unicron prototype (many scources said don't bother as they were sure it was gifted to some exec somewhere); and was even looking for bagged versions of the kids clothing from the 1980s; I went as far to call various countries and hunting down workers from the factories, all in vain.
With my newly found free time, I thought it was high time I come back into the fold and talk Transformers with my fellow fans.