2025 Hauls!

[Shockwave]

Didn't see a current thread aside from the 2024 so I figured I'd start one for this year. And boy, has it been a year so far:

So, I was very disappointed with SS86 Swoop, to the point that it threw me off wanting any of the Dinobots. At one point, I was going to have the Diaclone repaints of the G1 characters instead of the regular '84 bots. Then I wound up with almost all of the 84 characters anyway, so decided to get rid of the Diaclone versions. I basically started cleaning out and exchanging stuff I don't want for stuff I do want. In the process, I managed to secure an original G1 Shockwave in it's box. I replaced the hose with one that has no cracks or degradation and now it's in perfect condition. Truly the centerpiece of my collection. Also got the missing link Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, those are pretty cool, hope to get more from that line at some point. Finally got Legacy Cosmos. It was sealed, but Hasbro forgot to include his accessories. I'm not going to bother replacing them as most of the time I forget that he's even supposed to have them. Also had some Amazon gift cards and got Kingdom Warpath and Pipes, Siege Apeface, SS86 Ironhide (the regular, non obliterated version). Also went to some toy shows and was able to trade for some pretty cool stuff. In addition to Shockwave, I got both versions Transmetal Tarantulus, Quickstrike (which I've never had before), Transmetal II Dinobot, Transmetal Rattrap, Transmetal II Megatron, RID Cryotek, Unicron companion Galvatron (the reformat version), RID super powered Sideburn, Prowl and X-Brawn. Got rid of Legacy Side burn, that thing is ass. I actually think I gave it away, I hate that thing so much. Legacy WFC Bumblebee, Transformers ONE Bumblebee, Gamer Edition Bumblebee... Legacy Ramjet and Earthrise Thrust, Earthrise Megatron and a Siege head to put on him.

Also, Commemorative edition Silverstreak, an original parts bot Bluestreak, and Commemorative edition Prowl. Also won an auction for an authentic Diaclone Bluestreak parts bot that I'm going to restore. And I'm also going to customize a G1 Barricade.

Also got Hybrid Prime, Crasher with a 3rd party head and Toyhax labels, and G2 Ramjet. Also painted the wings on Legacy Buzzsaw. There was something about him that was bugging and I couldn't put my finger on it until I realized there's too much red on the wings. Makes him look too much like Laserbeak.

[Ursus mellifera]

So, I was very disappointed with SS86 Swoop, to the point that it threw me off wanting any of the Dinobots.

I just opened my SS86 Swoop. My God he is disappointing. I like the other four enough. What happened here? It's a good thing he was the last one they released. I would not have gotten them all if he came out earlier.

[andersonh1]

Today's my birthday, and at my age I usually end up just buying my own presents. But my mom did send me some Toasted Marshmallow and some Cream Soda jelly bellies, my two favorite flavors of those jelly beans. I bought myself a Lone Ranger novel by Fran Striker, the primary creator of the character, and DC Finest Superman Family: The Giant Turtle Man, some Silver Age Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane crazy comics. Should be fun!

[andersonh1]

We don't really have a book review thread, but since I mentioned in my last post getting a couple of the old Fran Striker Lone Ranger books, I thought I'd mention some interesting early oddities about the character that went away over time.

- in the original book, published in 1936, which was only three years after the radio show began, the Lone Ranger is a "laughing in the face of danger" type of character rather than the more serious, earnest character he would later become. He actually sneaks up behind Tonto at one point when returning to camp and pretends to be a crook holding a gun on him (it's dark so he can't be seen) before laughing and admitting who he is.
- Tonto is only half-Indian.
- the Lone Ranger is riding a grey horse at the beginning of the first book, and the poor horse is shot and killed by outlaws, leading to the Lone Ranger capturing and taming Silver, who gets a chapter describing how he leads the herd of wild horses prior to being caught.

It's an interesting time capsule from an early era in the character's history, and that's what I was hoping for.

[Ursus mellifera]

It's an interesting time capsule from an early era in the character's history, and that's what I was hoping for.

That stuff is always interesting to see.

[andersonh1]

It's an interesting time capsule from an early era in the character's history, and that's what I was hoping for.

That stuff is always interesting to see.

I agree, and given that they didn't record the Lone Ranger radio episodes until five years into the run of the series, there's no way to listen to those early episodes and see how the character was portrayed and how he developed. Some of the books adapt a few of those early episodes, so I'm definitely going to get more of them. Reading the character as written by his main creator will hopefully yield some interesting tidbits.

[andersonh1]

Picked up a 40th anniversary reissue of G1 Optimus Prime at my local comic shop today. I've been wanting a minty new Optimus for a long time, and finally pulled the trigger. I see differences between this and my original, which I still have. I may have to pull this one out of the box and compare. No chrome for one thing, but the smokestacks are full length, and it looks like there's still some die-cast. It's "cartoon deco".

TFW2005 has a good thread on this figure with comparision pictures: https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/ ... o.1268545/

[andersonh1]

Two Transformers purchases in two days, and both G1! Wandering through Ollies today and found the Transformers the Movie deco Kickback for $10. That was a no brainer, and grabbed one of the two they had there. These were Wal-Mart exclusives at one point I think, but I never saw one in-store, not that I spend a lot of time in regular Wal-Mart these days since we have a smaller grocery store Wal Mart Marketplace 3 miles from where we live. I'll pick up just about any G1 reissue for the right price.

[Sparky Prime]

Generations Rattrap - I'd wanted this figure when it came out back in 2014. I think I saw it in stores once, but didn't get it at that time for whatever reason and never had the chance after that. So I found one complete second hand. While I think Kingdom Rattrap is a decent enough representation of the character, I've decided it's just too small next to the rest of the figures, and I really wanted Generations Rattrap for a better fit.

1993 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers morpher - I still have the morpher I had as a kid, so this is my second. I got a set of metal power coins from an online store a few years ago my 93 morpher, including a show accurate Green and White Ranger coins. Always baffled me that Bandai created new inaccurate designs for those two. So now, I've decided I want a gold morpher to go with them and figured it'd just be easiest to get one second hand and paint it myself.