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Confessions of a Toy Hoarder
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Zobovor
Dec 28, 2015, 10:25:00 PM12/28/15
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So, in the post-Christmas aftermath, I really wanted to set up another bookshelf to display some collectibles. By collectibles, of course, I mean toys. I have lots of toys. Probably too many. Well, definitely too many. So, the point is that I've gotten some new stuff that I didn't have any shelf space for. I remembered that I had a bookshelf in the closet under the stairwell, which I've been using for storage. Stuff was stacked dangerously close to the lightbulb in the ceiling of the closet, though. I'm very good about not leaving the light on, but my three-year-old daughter plays with light switches all the time. So, moving the bookshelf out of the closet would actually solve two problems.
I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what was in that closet. My GoBot Command Center box, which holds all my GoBots toys. A big box of loose Hot Wheels cars that weighs like ten pounds. An R2-D2 model kit that I've been planning to build and paint, eventually, like he's covered in Dagobah mud.
Then there was the stuff I'd forgotten about. I had this plastic R2-D2 cookie jar that had the Episode III logo on it, so I guess I probably mail-ordered it around the time Revenge of the Sith, but I literally had zero recollection of it. I think perhaps it ended up in the closet because it was too big for the shelf where I keep a lot of my R2-D2 and C-3PO collectibles (I have a tiny shrine devoted to them). Inside it were two Attacktix toys I'd also completely forgotten about. I literally could not even remember that they were called Attacktix until I looked it up online just now.
I had an action figure of N.R.G. from Ben 10 that I had gotten on clearance and had been toying with the idea of turning him into the eponymous character from the G1 cartoon episode "B.O.T." I had an action figure of Cobra Commander from that dreadful live-action movie series, part of the Action Battlers line. I had another Cobra Commander riding in a HISS Tank that's apparently part of a preschool assortment called Rapid Rollers. Again, I had absolutely no recollection of ever owning these. I'm quite certain I bought them on clearance and promptly stuffed them in the closet. I also had a Rakshasa figure from Secret Saturdays, which I had only bought so I could make fun of Raksha. Once again, no memory of it being in there.
In recent years I have, on rare occasions, accidentally stumbled onto a toy or two that I forgot I had. I was buying Disney/Pixar Cars toys and bringing them home only to find I already had them. That was the indication to me that I needed to stop buying those toys. Recently I was hunting down a GoBots toy on eBay called Scorp, but then I started second-guessing myself and questioned whether I'd reacquired it in recent years. I had to check the box, and, sure enough, I already have him. (Sometimes it happens in reverse. I went to open my Head Droppin' Turtles the other day only to discover that I'd never bought Donatello. How in the world did I manage to buy only three of them? And how did I manage to forget to buy the fourth one?)
So, the kids and I did what any sensible, evidently senile toy collector would do. We had a toy-opening party. Stormtroopers, Smurfs, Turtles, Cobra Commanders, and various other things that were taking up way too much room in their packaging. Some of it made its way into its proper collection boxes, while some of it will likely get filtered out the next time I dig through and organize the kids' toys (I'm looking at you, silly Rakshasa).
It felt good to set up the second bookshelf, and I like that my various Masterpiece toys actually have some elbow room. Oh, and I was finally able to set up my Star Wars cantina aliens display, which somehow ended up in a box a couple of years back. So nice to get those guys on display again. I love the cantina aliens (and I'm pretty sure I own every alien that has ever been officially produced by Hasbro).
It bothers me that I owned so much stuff that I didn't know about, or had forgotten about. I guess it's not practical to expect my mental catalog to be accurate and reliable when I've got 3700 toys. It still bugs me, though. It's one thing to own things without really truly loving them. I don't have any deep love for Djas Puhr or Dice Ibegon, but they're part of the diorama; they're parts of a whole. At least I can still name them! I no longer recall half the names of the Cars toys I own (though it doesn't help that many of the background characters have generic names like Bert and Jamie), which goes along with the problem of seeing toys in the store and having no idea whether I own them or not.
Zob (what the hell kind of a name is Hooman?!)
I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what was in that closet. My GoBot Command Center box, which holds all my GoBots toys. A big box of loose Hot Wheels cars that weighs like ten pounds. An R2-D2 model kit that I've been planning to build and paint, eventually, like he's covered in Dagobah mud.
Then there was the stuff I'd forgotten about. I had this plastic R2-D2 cookie jar that had the Episode III logo on it, so I guess I probably mail-ordered it around the time Revenge of the Sith, but I literally had zero recollection of it. I think perhaps it ended up in the closet because it was too big for the shelf where I keep a lot of my R2-D2 and C-3PO collectibles (I have a tiny shrine devoted to them). Inside it were two Attacktix toys I'd also completely forgotten about. I literally could not even remember that they were called Attacktix until I looked it up online just now.
I had an action figure of N.R.G. from Ben 10 that I had gotten on clearance and had been toying with the idea of turning him into the eponymous character from the G1 cartoon episode "B.O.T." I had an action figure of Cobra Commander from that dreadful live-action movie series, part of the Action Battlers line. I had another Cobra Commander riding in a HISS Tank that's apparently part of a preschool assortment called Rapid Rollers. Again, I had absolutely no recollection of ever owning these. I'm quite certain I bought them on clearance and promptly stuffed them in the closet. I also had a Rakshasa figure from Secret Saturdays, which I had only bought so I could make fun of Raksha. Once again, no memory of it being in there.
In recent years I have, on rare occasions, accidentally stumbled onto a toy or two that I forgot I had. I was buying Disney/Pixar Cars toys and bringing them home only to find I already had them. That was the indication to me that I needed to stop buying those toys. Recently I was hunting down a GoBots toy on eBay called Scorp, but then I started second-guessing myself and questioned whether I'd reacquired it in recent years. I had to check the box, and, sure enough, I already have him. (Sometimes it happens in reverse. I went to open my Head Droppin' Turtles the other day only to discover that I'd never bought Donatello. How in the world did I manage to buy only three of them? And how did I manage to forget to buy the fourth one?)
So, the kids and I did what any sensible, evidently senile toy collector would do. We had a toy-opening party. Stormtroopers, Smurfs, Turtles, Cobra Commanders, and various other things that were taking up way too much room in their packaging. Some of it made its way into its proper collection boxes, while some of it will likely get filtered out the next time I dig through and organize the kids' toys (I'm looking at you, silly Rakshasa).
It felt good to set up the second bookshelf, and I like that my various Masterpiece toys actually have some elbow room. Oh, and I was finally able to set up my Star Wars cantina aliens display, which somehow ended up in a box a couple of years back. So nice to get those guys on display again. I love the cantina aliens (and I'm pretty sure I own every alien that has ever been officially produced by Hasbro).
It bothers me that I owned so much stuff that I didn't know about, or had forgotten about. I guess it's not practical to expect my mental catalog to be accurate and reliable when I've got 3700 toys. It still bugs me, though. It's one thing to own things without really truly loving them. I don't have any deep love for Djas Puhr or Dice Ibegon, but they're part of the diorama; they're parts of a whole. At least I can still name them! I no longer recall half the names of the Cars toys I own (though it doesn't help that many of the background characters have generic names like Bert and Jamie), which goes along with the problem of seeing toys in the store and having no idea whether I own them or not.
Zob (what the hell kind of a name is Hooman?!)
banzait...@gmail.com
Dec 29, 2015, 11:41:43 AM12/29/15
to
My solution to this problem is to be a pure-play Transformers collector. I collect nothing but. I have been tempted to dabble in legos and such, but I am usually pretty good about resisting. With that said, I too have way too many transformers, and definitely don't know the names of them all. I also from time to time find one that I completely forgot I had. I don't think I have ever accidentally bought two of the same though.
I do have a question though... Why in the world would you collect "Cars" figures? Just curious, cuz those were kinda targeted for really little kids. Wondering why they caught your eye.
-Banzaitron
I do have a question though... Why in the world would you collect "Cars" figures? Just curious, cuz those were kinda targeted for really little kids. Wondering why they caught your eye.
-Banzaitron
Zobovor
Dec 29, 2015, 5:00:23 PM12/29/15
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On Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 9:41:43 AM UTC-7, banzait...@gmail.com wrote:
> My solution to this problem is to be a pure-play Transformers collector. I
> collect nothing but. I have been tempted to dabble in legos and such, but I
> am usually pretty good about resisting.
I don't know that I could limit myself to just Transformers, since I love Ninja Turtles and Star Wars equally. My son is heavily into LEGO right now, so I usually get my fix vicariously through him. :)
> My solution to this problem is to be a pure-play Transformers collector. I
> collect nothing but. I have been tempted to dabble in legos and such, but I
> am usually pretty good about resisting.
> I do have a question though... Why in the world would you collect "Cars"
> figures? Just curious, cuz those were kinda targeted for really little
> kids. Wondering why they caught your eye.
With that said, I think the appeal to me was that they are living machines. So, kind of like robots, or at least as close as, say, K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider. Also, the first movie was really, really good. I really didn't know that when I bought the first 12 cars in 2006 that they would continue to produce them endlessly for the next ten years, though. My collection just kept getting bigger. At only three bucks a pop, they were far easier on my wallet than anything else I've ever collected.
A lot of collectors love their Hot Wheels, but to me they have zero personality. I have never been able to figure out why people get so obsessed over this paint scheme or this axle type or that packaging style. It's just a toy car. The Cars toys represented actual characters, though. There's a reason why there's a Lightning McQueen in Dinoco blue, a version with a shovel mounted to the front, a version with his tongue hanging out, etc. Those are scene-specific variants that I could get behind and understand. Also, there were 36 different race cars who actually competed in the Dinoco 500 and I had a lot of fun collecting them all. Each one was adorned with a clever automotive-themed sponsor, like "Faux Wheel Drive" or "Gasprin."
The second movie was absolutely horrible, though, and the way Mattel is constantly rotating older toys back into the mix makes it so hard for me to keep track of what I've got and what I don't. I was at the point where I was putting stickers on the bottoms of the cars with their names written on them, just so I could keep track of who was who (and they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel with background characters who only appear in a single scene). You could argue that it makes sense to own a physical representation of Tow Mater if you like the movie, but did I really need Polly Puddlejumper or Matthew "True Blue" McCrew or any of the other dozens of race spectators and crowdfillers? At the end of the day, I realized I just didn't care whether I owned them all anymore. (Also, I refused to get sucked into buying any of the Planes toys.) I actually packed away all the Cars just last night, and I'm going to repurpose the shelves for my World's Smallest Transformers collection and to expand my ever-growing collection of custom action figures.
Zob (do an eBay search for "Race Damaged Mood Springs" if you want some serious sticker shock)
Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats
Jan 2, 2016, 6:05:31 AM1/2/16
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On Monday, December 28, 2015 at 7:25:00 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:
> Then there was the stuff I'd forgotten about.
I've got way too much shit in my home, so I guess it's time to clean the litter boxes. Also, lots of toys I forgot about. A closet of legos, a closet of transformers, a closet of just stuff.
> Then there was the stuff I'd forgotten about.
Most of it, though, if I remember that it exists somewhere in the world, I remember that I have it.
Not sure if I have TF:Universe Smokescreen though, as I didn't like the TF:Universe Prowl or Bluestreak, and would like to think I learned my lesson before buying him.
> In recent years I have, on rare occasions, accidentally stumbled onto a toy or two that I forgot I had. I was buying Disney/Pixar Cars toys and bringing them home only to find I already had them. That was the indication to me that I needed to stop buying those toys.
> Zob (what the hell kind of a name is Hooman?!)
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Jan 2, 2016, 9:36:01 AM1/2/16
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Zobovor
Jan 2, 2016, 6:29:45 PM1/2/16
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On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 7:36:01 AM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
> You guys should have a "Garage sale" and by "Garage sale" I mean post here
> some of the stuff you don't want and I might find some of the stuff I've been
> looking for.
What's on your want list? I probably wouldn't be opposed to unloading some unwanted toys.
> You guys should have a "Garage sale" and by "Garage sale" I mean post here
> some of the stuff you don't want and I might find some of the stuff I've been
> looking for.
Zob (it's only a few days after Christmas, so clearly it's time to raise some money to buy some new stuff)
Zobovor
Jan 2, 2016, 6:51:49 PM1/2/16
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On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 4:05:31 AM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> I've got lots of toys I forgot about. A closet of legos, a closet of
> Most of it, though, if I remember that it exists somewhere in the world, I
> remember that I have it.
I think perhaps part of the problem is that I am not consistently committing new toys to long-term memory. This includes their names, how to transform them, and, apparently, whether or not I own them. I can dig through a box of G1 toys and identify any missile or gun immediately, but show me a box of modern-era toys and I would be hard pressed to identify a single accessory. I have to keep missiles loaded inside their launchers or else I am completely helpless. Unless it's a really distinctive missile with, like, a fish head on the front of it or something. I think it's because they're so damn homogenous. Every missile, now, the same length, the same diameter.
> Not sure if I have TF:Universe Smokescreen though, as I didn't like the
> TF:Universe Prowl or Bluestreak, and would like to think I learned my lesson
> before buying him.
He really was one of the worst Universe toys. Not just because of the problems endemic to that design, but his color mapping was all wrong. Like, no part of that toy was actually the same color as G1 Smokescreen. The Henkei toy looks so much more preferable. It's really the only Henkei toy on my want list (I wanted Cyclonus for a while, but then Hasbro came to my rescue).
> That's one that never made sense to me. Sure, it was kind of cute, but there
> wasn't much else to it. The toys didn't seem interesting, so once you get the
> beloved characters, you should be done.
I really don't have any favorite characters from Cars. I just kind of like the universe that they exist within. All these machines running around (well, rolling around) but always dancing around the issue of who built them or why. So, it's like Transformers before the big Quintesson reveal.
Like I said to Banzaitron, I was enjoying the collecting aspect of it. Tracking down new cars was fun and exciting, and they were coming out at a fast enough pace that there weren't these long, dry spells like we get with Transformers sometimes. Kmart would have a Cars collector event every year, so my son (who was about three or four at the time) and I would make the drive and get some exclusive toys. Some of them had rubberized tires.
There were about six years between the release of Cars and Cars 2, and the second movie just really soured me on the toy line. It seemed specifically and callously orchestrated to be merchandise-driven and yet I couldn't be bothered to care about the characters the second time around. For the first movie, obscure characters like Vinyl Toupee or Transberry Juice were a joy to find and own in toy form. The second time around, it's like they crammed as many background characters or alternate versions of characters in there as possible just to keep Mattel busy for a few years (witness the long string of potential toy versions of Mater... Mater as a vampire, Mater as a funny car, etc.)
To this day I really don't get why people collect Hot Wheels, but I totally got sucked into the car-collecting aspect thanks to Cars.
>> Zob (what the hell kind of a name is Hooman?!)
>
> Persian. It means "benevolent".
To me, it just sounds like a Ferengi mispronouncing the word "human." And it makes zero sense to give one of the Cars characters the name Human. (Bert, Jamie, or Andrea, sure, but...)
Zob (when I was packing up my Cars toys, I found a Mater in the package upside-down that I forgot I'd bought)
> I've got lots of toys I forgot about. A closet of legos, a closet of
> transformers, a closet of just stuff.
I never knew you were into LEGO. I don't recall ever hearing you even mention it.
> Most of it, though, if I remember that it exists somewhere in the world, I
> remember that I have it.
> Not sure if I have TF:Universe Smokescreen though, as I didn't like the
> TF:Universe Prowl or Bluestreak, and would like to think I learned my lesson
> before buying him.
> That's one that never made sense to me. Sure, it was kind of cute, but there
> wasn't much else to it. The toys didn't seem interesting, so once you get the
> beloved characters, you should be done.
Like I said to Banzaitron, I was enjoying the collecting aspect of it. Tracking down new cars was fun and exciting, and they were coming out at a fast enough pace that there weren't these long, dry spells like we get with Transformers sometimes. Kmart would have a Cars collector event every year, so my son (who was about three or four at the time) and I would make the drive and get some exclusive toys. Some of them had rubberized tires.
There were about six years between the release of Cars and Cars 2, and the second movie just really soured me on the toy line. It seemed specifically and callously orchestrated to be merchandise-driven and yet I couldn't be bothered to care about the characters the second time around. For the first movie, obscure characters like Vinyl Toupee or Transberry Juice were a joy to find and own in toy form. The second time around, it's like they crammed as many background characters or alternate versions of characters in there as possible just to keep Mattel busy for a few years (witness the long string of potential toy versions of Mater... Mater as a vampire, Mater as a funny car, etc.)
To this day I really don't get why people collect Hot Wheels, but I totally got sucked into the car-collecting aspect thanks to Cars.
>> Zob (what the hell kind of a name is Hooman?!)
>
> Persian. It means "benevolent".
Zob (when I was packing up my Cars toys, I found a Mater in the package upside-down that I forgot I'd bought)
Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats
Jan 2, 2016, 9:29:56 PM1/2/16
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On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 3:51:49 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:
> On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 4:05:31 AM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
>
> > I've got lots of toys I forgot about. A closet of legos, a closet of
> > transformers, a closet of just stuff.
>
> I never knew you were into LEGO. I don't recall ever hearing you even mention it.
I love the Lego Star Wars toys -- the vehicles and minifigures, but not the dioramas, although I do wonder if I should have gotten Jabba's palace and the rankorr pit.
> On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 4:05:31 AM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
>
> > I've got lots of toys I forgot about. A closet of legos, a closet of
> > transformers, a closet of just stuff.
>
> I never knew you were into LEGO. I don't recall ever hearing you even mention it.
Also, some of the other toys are excellent. Galaxy Squad. The monster line. The Scooby-Doo stuff looks awesome, and I have the Mystery Machine to build.
And, I have a closet of things I haven't gotten around to building yet.
I don't feel a completist urge for them, because there's a huge amount of work involved in building them, and they clearly show the difference between owning something from enjoying something. Transformers blurs that, because there is so little effort.
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Jan 4, 2016, 1:35:34 AM1/4/16
to
I missed most of the crossover Star Wars Transformers and the few I have are not great, but I still want to see how they are.
I mostly skipped them because they were the first $16 deluxes, and were never in stock and on sale at the same time.
Also trying to fill in some of the Real Gear robots
I generally pick up cheap Stormtroopers, clone troopers, and astromech droids who are not R2-D2 cheap at the toy shows I go to.
Zobovor
Jan 4, 2016, 2:05:42 AM1/4/16
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On Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 11:35:34 PM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
> I missed most of the crossover Star Wars Transformers and the few I have are
> not great, but I still want to see how they are.
Well, as I mentioned semi-recently, my X-Wing Fighter and Millennium Falcon both spontaneously broke. The only other ones I've got are the Slave I, the AT-AT, and TIE Fighter.
> I missed most of the crossover Star Wars Transformers and the few I have are
> not great, but I still want to see how they are.
> Also trying to fill in some of the Real Gear robots
> I generally pick up cheap Stormtroopers, clone troopers, and astromech droids
> who are not R2-D2 cheap at the toy shows I go to.
Zob (haven't done it yet, of course)
Zobovor
Jan 4, 2016, 2:11:32 AM1/4/16
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On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 7:29:56 PM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> I love the Lego Star Wars toys -- the vehicles and minifigures, but not the
> dioramas, although I do wonder if I should have gotten Jabba's palace and the
> rankorr pit.
I liked it when the Star Wars LEGO stuff first came out. Then they spontaneously switched from yellow skin to flesh tones, rendering most of my yellow-skinned LEGO figures obsolete. Now, they're doing crazy things with paint applications (like painting C-3PO's eyes) that they didn't used to. It bothers me so much. Basically, I hate LEGO for continuing to innovate. They should remain stagnant forever!
> I love the Lego Star Wars toys -- the vehicles and minifigures, but not the
> dioramas, although I do wonder if I should have gotten Jabba's palace and the
> rankorr pit.
> Also, some of the other toys are excellent. Galaxy Squad. The monster line.
> The Scooby-Doo stuff looks awesome, and I have the Mystery Machine to build.
Also, despite not owning the video game that it goes to, I really find the mini-Mystery Machine from the LEGO Dimensions set to be extremely appealing. It's the same price as the actual ful-blown LEGO set, though, so that's kind of a turn-off.
Zob (actually liked Scrappy-Doo)
Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats
Jan 4, 2016, 3:21:57 AM1/4/16
to
On Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 11:11:32 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:
> On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 7:29:56 PM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
>
> > I love the Lego Star Wars toys -- the vehicles and minifigures, but not the
> > dioramas, although I do wonder if I should have gotten Jabba's palace and the
> > rankorr pit.
>
> I liked it when the Star Wars LEGO stuff first came out.
One of the things that disappointed me about the recent movie was the complete lack of interesting new vehicles. I have a bunch of Prequel sets, and a bunch of Clone Wars TV Show sets, but I don't see any need for a slightly modified X-Wing in black, or a slightly modified Tie Fighter in black. I mean, really, wtf? So lazy.
> On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 7:29:56 PM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
>
> > I love the Lego Star Wars toys -- the vehicles and minifigures, but not the
> > dioramas, although I do wonder if I should have gotten Jabba's palace and the
> > rankorr pit.
>
> I liked it when the Star Wars LEGO stuff first came out.
And Kylo Ren's ship is ugly, at least compared to the Imperial Shuttle that is on store shelves eyeing me every time I pass it.
I hear 2016 will give us a Clone Wars Turbo Tank, so that sounds awesome.
> Then they spontaneously switched from yellow skin to flesh tones, rendering most of my yellow-skinned LEGO figures obsolete. Now, they're doing crazy things with paint applications (like painting C-3PO's eyes) that they didn't used to. It bothers me so much. Basically, I hate LEGO for continuing to innovate. They should remain stagnant forever!
I still await a C-3PO with a silver shin, though.
Oddly, I don't have the same love for Kreons. I think it is the extra jointing and the weird bits added that makes them somewhat too complicated to be adorable. It's like how cats are adorable, but if you were to double their points of articulation and add wings, it would be terrifying.
> > Also, some of the other toys are excellent. Galaxy Squad. The monster line.
> > The Scooby-Doo stuff looks awesome, and I have the Mystery Machine to build.
>
> Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? was my all-time favorite cartoon when I was about six or seven years old. What's funny is that I think my favorite character may be the Mystery Machine. I don't know why. I'm just really fond of it. I collect die-cast versions of it when practical.
> I have been eyeing the LEGO version, but I'm afraid that if I bought the one that came with Freddy and Shaggy and Scooby, I would have to hunt down another set that included Daphne and Velma just so I could have the whole gang.
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Jan 4, 2016, 11:12:37 AM1/4/16
to
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Jan 4, 2016, 11:20:02 AM1/4/16
to
On Monday, January 4, 2016 at 1:05:42 AM UTC-6, Zobovor wrote:
> On Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 11:35:34 PM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
>
> > I missed most of the crossover Star Wars Transformers and the few I have are
> > not great, but I still want to see how they are.
>
> Well, as I mentioned semi-recently, my X-Wing Fighter and Millennium Falcon both spontaneously broke. The only other ones I've got are the Slave I, the AT-AT, and TIE Fighter.
>
I dont think I have any of those.
> On Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 11:35:34 PM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
>
> > I missed most of the crossover Star Wars Transformers and the few I have are
> > not great, but I still want to see how they are.
>
> Well, as I mentioned semi-recently, my X-Wing Fighter and Millennium Falcon both spontaneously broke. The only other ones I've got are the Slave I, the AT-AT, and TIE Fighter.
>
> > Also trying to fill in some of the Real Gear robots
>
> Didn't buy a single one of those!
>
> > I generally pick up cheap Stormtroopers, clone troopers, and astromech droids
> > who are not R2-D2 cheap at the toy shows I go to.
>
> I tend to gobble up stormtroopers myself, because I have grand and glorious plans to one day put an entire garrison of them on display.
>
>
> Zob (haven't done it yet, of course)
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Jan 4, 2016, 11:28:36 AM1/4/16
to
On Monday, January 4, 2016 at 2:21:57 AM UTC-6, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> On Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 11:11:32 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:
> > On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 7:29:56 PM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> >
> > > I love the Lego Star Wars toys -- the vehicles and minifigures, but not the
> > > dioramas, although I do wonder if I should have gotten Jabba's palace and the
> > > rankorr pit.
> >
> > I liked it when the Star Wars LEGO stuff first came out.
>
> One of the things that disappointed me about the recent movie was the complete lack of interesting new vehicles. I have a bunch of Prequel sets, and a bunch of Clone Wars TV Show sets, but I don't see any need for a slightly modified X-Wing in black, or a slightly modified Tie Fighter in black. I mean, really, wtf? So lazy.
>
> And Kylo Ren's ship is ugly, at least compared to the Imperial Shuttle that is on store shelves eyeing me every time I pass it.
>
http://lego.brickinstructions.com/07000/7659/076.jpg
> On Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 11:11:32 PM UTC-8, Zobovor wrote:
> > On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 7:29:56 PM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> >
> > > I love the Lego Star Wars toys -- the vehicles and minifigures, but not the
> > > dioramas, although I do wonder if I should have gotten Jabba's palace and the
> > > rankorr pit.
> >
> > I liked it when the Star Wars LEGO stuff first came out.
>
> One of the things that disappointed me about the recent movie was the complete lack of interesting new vehicles. I have a bunch of Prequel sets, and a bunch of Clone Wars TV Show sets, but I don't see any need for a slightly modified X-Wing in black, or a slightly modified Tie Fighter in black. I mean, really, wtf? So lazy.
>
> And Kylo Ren's ship is ugly, at least compared to the Imperial Shuttle that is on store shelves eyeing me every time I pass it.
>
My current favorite set for reasons I don't fully understand
> I hear 2016 will give us a Clone Wars Turbo Tank, so that sounds awesome.
>
Is it going to be better than the previous one?
>
> > Then they spontaneously switched from yellow skin to flesh tones, rendering most of my yellow-skinned LEGO figures obsolete. Now, they're doing crazy things with paint applications (like painting C-3PO's eyes) that they didn't used to. It bothers me so much. Basically, I hate LEGO for continuing to innovate. They should remain stagnant forever!
>
> I think I love the Star Wars Minifigures the same way you love the Transformers Robot Heroes. They are adorable versions of characters we all know and love, and they have done wonderful things representing this characters with so few changes to the basic molds.
>
> I still await a C-3PO with a silver shin, though.
>
> Oddly, I don't have the same love for Kreons. I think it is the extra jointing and the weird bits added that makes them somewhat too complicated to be adorable. It's like how cats are adorable, but if you were to double their points of articulation and add wings, it would be terrifying.
>
Zobovor
Jan 4, 2016, 9:10:59 PM1/4/16
to
On Monday, January 4, 2016 at 9:28:36 AM UTC-7, Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People. wrote:
> It's like regular figures, I probably have 9 or 10 Boba Fett figures that are
> just a little more detailed each generation, even though I don't really like
> the character (or lack thereof)
Well, if Hasbro cranks out a Star Wars action figure that's clearly superior to an earlier release, I am usually okay about spending the ten bucks to get it. When LEGO does the same thing, you have to buy the entire $30 set to get it (or $60, or $80, or $120...)
> It's like regular figures, I probably have 9 or 10 Boba Fett figures that are
> just a little more detailed each generation, even though I don't really like
> the character (or lack thereof)
>> I still await a C-3PO with a silver shin, though.
>
> I have a C3PO with silver shin. I want to say it came in the escape pod set,
> but I really can't remember which set he is from.
Zob (went looking on eBay and just impulse-purchased a LEGO C-3PO with a red arm)
Zobovor
Jan 5, 2016, 12:29:06 AM1/5/16
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On Monday, January 4, 2016 at 1:21:57 AM UTC-7, Gustavo Wombat, of the Seattle Wombats wrote:
> I still await a C-3PO with a silver shin, though.
Here's one on eBay:
> I still await a C-3PO with a silver shin, though.
http://tinyurl.com/c3po-lego
(Silver knee, actually. But still, it's close. Seems like I've seen LEGO parts recently that are actually molded out of two different colors of plastic, not just one color of plastic that's been partially painted. I'll be dipped if I can remember where I saw it, though.)
Zob
Zobovor
Jan 8, 2016, 6:45:46 PM1/8/16
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On Monday, January 4, 2016 at 7:10:59 PM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:
> Zob (went looking on eBay and just impulse-purchased a LEGO C-3PO with a red
> arm)
Oh, my goodness. This thing is beautiful. I'm accustomed to the tampograph printing on the front and back of the body, and more recently I've started to see tiny tampo-printing on the fronts of the legs, but they're also printing details on the SIDES of the legs! The sides of the arms, too!
> Zob (went looking on eBay and just impulse-purchased a LEGO C-3PO with a red
> arm)
They've really raised the bar. I expect to see this sort of thing on all LEGO Minifigs going forward.
Zob (is amazed)
Shin Hibiki
Jan 10, 2016, 5:50:41 PM1/10/16
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Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
>They've really raised the bar. I expect to see this sort of thing on all LEGO Minifigs going forward.
Since you run the toy department, I presume you've seen the
>They've really raised the bar. I expect to see this sort of thing on all LEGO Minifigs going forward.
new Megabloks OG TMNT figs...? I don't even collect mini-figs--at
all--and I still bought them all on sight.
- Shin Hibiki, hey, get a grip
----
The race ain't over yet, baby
It's only just begun
They thought they had it won, baby
But soon we'll have 'em on the run
Zobovor
Jan 10, 2016, 9:53:44 PM1/10/16
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On Sunday, January 10, 2016 at 3:50:41 PM UTC-7, Shin Hibiki wrote:
> Since you run the toy department, I presume you've seen the
> new Megabloks OG TMNT figs...? I don't even collect mini-figs--at
> all--and I still bought them all on sight.
Oh, heck yeah. I had no idea these were even coming out. I don't remember hearing anything about them at Toy Fair, so it was a delightful surprise. I gobbled up the four Turtles, Rocksteady, and Bebop. I just barely got the Krang android set in at the store today. Didn't have the cash for it. I was so sad.
> Since you run the toy department, I presume you've seen the
> new Megabloks OG TMNT figs...? I don't even collect mini-figs--at
> all--and I still bought them all on sight.
Zob (it will be mine... just you wait)
Irrellius Spamticon of the Potato People.
Jan 11, 2016, 12:08:52 AM1/11/16
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On Sunday, January 10, 2016 at 8:53:44 PM UTC-6, Zobovor wrote:
>
> Zob (it will be mine... just you wait)
This is the perfect thread for that statement
>
> Zob (it will be mine... just you wait)
Went to a toy show before work this morning, found CW Breakdown for $5 with no gun, and a PCC core bulldozer for $1, I waited around to get a price on a really nice condition G1 Bluestreak, but the owner never showed up before I had to go to work.
A guy had a bucket full of astromech droids 3 for 10, but another guy got most of the ones I wanted minutes before I got there, but I snagged a Mcquarrie concept R2, a r2 with mini deploying rockets that I think I already have, Black series R5D4, some jetpack clone troopers, and some Mandalorian secret police officers, as well as a transparent stormtrooper I have yet to identify.
Shin Hibiki
Jan 12, 2016, 1:02:04 AM1/12/16
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Zobovor <zm...@aol.com> wrote:
>I just barely got the Krang android set in at the store today. Didn't have the cash for it. I was so sad.
Hmm... the store here doesn't have that, and there was no
>I just barely got the Krang android set in at the store today. Didn't have the cash for it. I was so sad.
shelf tag for it. Do you have the UPC handy? Not sure if it will do
me any good, but...
- Shin Hibiki
Zobovor
Jan 12, 2016, 5:42:23 PM1/12/16
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On Monday, January 11, 2016 at 11:02:04 PM UTC-7, Shin Hibiki wrote:
> Hmm... the store here doesn't have that, and there was no
> shelf tag for it. Do you have the UPC handy? Not sure if it will do
> me any good, but...
Not sure about other retailers, but I imagine most Walmarts are doing a big reset in the toy department around the end of January or the beginning of February. It's a "new mod" item which means that while some department managers might put the new stuff out, others might take the lazy route and put all the new stuff on pallets until the new layouts drop in the computer system.
> Hmm... the store here doesn't have that, and there was no
> shelf tag for it. Do you have the UPC handy? Not sure if it will do
> me any good, but...
UPC is 88796128918, and the Walmart item number for it is 554633269. Your local store can look up either in their computer. It will pop up as TMNT KRANG V TURTLES in the system. Retails for $34.76. Good luck!
Zob (got one today, finally)
Zobovor
Jan 12, 2016, 6:19:16 PM1/12/16
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On Monday, January 4, 2016 at 10:29:06 PM UTC-7, Zobovor wrote:
> Seems like I've seen LEGO parts recently that are actually molded out of two
> different colors of plastic, not just one color of plastic that's been
> partially painted. I'll be dipped if I can remember where I saw it, though.
Ah, they are doing it with the Minifigures. Take Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, for instance. He wears a green T-shirt, so his forearms are flesh-colored but his shoulders are green. Pop the hands off, and the arms are flesh-colored inside the wrist sockets. Pop the arms off, and the arms are green at the shoulder joint. There's no paint involved here. I do think it's two pieces of plastic, though. They must be machining these parts separately and fusing them together (maybe glue, maybe sonic welding). In any event, it's a brilliant innovation.
> Seems like I've seen LEGO parts recently that are actually molded out of two
> different colors of plastic, not just one color of plastic that's been
> partially painted. I'll be dipped if I can remember where I saw it, though.
Zob (running on two hours of sleep)
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