Filling in the Gaps – 3rd Party Rundown part 2

Collectors are completists. Whatever the items being collected, there is nothing more satisfying for a collector than completing a “set” of something. Transformers collectors are no different. We want everything; all the Autobots, all the Decpticons, the Dinobots, Insecticons, you name it we want it. And we want them done right. The demand can be so great that for many, Hasbro/Takara just can’t keep up. Enter 3rd party companies who have been producing characters that we’ve been clamoring for to fill in the gaps in our collections for the past 10 or so years. Here’s the second part to my 3rd party rundown.

Upgrade & Accessorize! – 3rd Party Rundown part 1

If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you must know that when I write about Transformers, I usually mention the term “3rd party companies” a lot. For those of you not familiar though, these are basically companies that produce unlicensed toys that are meant to be a part of the Transformers toyline.

Blundercats Ho!

If you were to arrange the cartoon/toyline properties of the 80’s directed towards boys into tiers based on their popularity I think almost everyone would agree that Transformers, He-Man & G.I.Joe would easily take the top tier. After that, things get a little trickier, but if you ask me, on the second tier you would find properties such as M.A.S.K., Gobots and those half man half animal heroes and villains from Thundera, the Thundercats.

The Last Laugh

When you are a member of American's daring, highly trained special mission force whose purpose is to defend human freedom against Cobra-a ruthless, terrorist organization determined to rule the world, it takes a lot to stand out above the rest. Unless your name is Duke, Scarlett or Snake Eyes, you’re most likely going to be forgotten once the next batch of Joes get introduced to sell new toys.

Badmotherslagger

Way back in 1985, during a trip to the US, I was with my mom at the grocery store in line at the check out counter. I decided to wander off a bit and something caught my eye at the end of the counter. There stacked neatly in a display were a bunch of new Transformers that I had never seen before….these weren’t the usual cars or planes that I knew…these were something different….these were…dinosaurs!

Beast in Show

When it comes to almost every major toy or cartoon story, there are a number of uniting traits similar to most of them. One of which is that for every evil super villain, there is always at least one prominent henchman behind him either following him with blind loyalty or endlessly scheming to take over the top spot. And in the world of the Masters of the Universe, there is no other character that defines the role more of a “henchman” then Beast Man.

Model Builder

Back in 2015, after being tempted and resisting for so long, I finally fell to the Black side. It took a few intermittent purchases here and there, and a successful Force Friday hunt to finally sway me, but in the end I finally accepted my destiny to become a full-fledged Star Wars collector. A year later, I have managed to get all the Black series figures I currently wanted, but with all the excitement of the 2016's Rogue One movie, I have found myself wanting more. Luckily, when it comes to 6” scaled Star Wars action figures, the Black series isn’t the only option out there for collectors.

The Best of 2016 part 3

If you read the previous part 1 & part 2 you will notice that a certain Transforming line has pretty much dominated my best of list. No surprises here but they continue their dominance in the last part as well. Between the successful Combiner Wars and Titans Return lines from Hasbro and so many amazing 3rd party releases, 2016 was simply a great year to be a Transformers collector. But, spoiler….none of the Transformers I got managed to snag the top spots…so what beat out those robots in disguise? Read on to find out…

The Best of 2016 part 2

New years resolutions rarely hold true past the first half of the year they are made. Case in point, despite the fact that I made a conscious effort to try and cut down on my toy purchases this year; I ended up going pretty crazy towards the later half. There was quite a lot of great stuff released last year. Definitely more than what I had originally set out to get at the start when I made my resolution. Oh well…. So with that let’s continue on with my list of the best of what I got in 2016.

The Best of 2016 part 1

Like the years before, 2016 was a pretty great year for toys. Despite the fact that was G.I.Joe pretty much dead and the He-Man Classics was basically finishing up as well. My collecting in 2016 focused more on my first loves of The Transformers & Star Wars, with a few Marvel Legends and other random stuff peppered in. Even when following my whole set up of increasing my top list by one to match the year (eg. Top 16 of 2016) it was still quite difficult to come up with a short and concise list, there were just so many great stuff released last year. So anyway without further ado, let’s get started with my “top 16”.

Brainstorming Session

Growing up there was always that one kid in your neighborhood or school who seemed to have everything. This was definitely the case for me. My older brother had a classmate who lived a few houses away from us and he had literally EVERY single Transformer in existence. When I was first invited to his house, I swear my head nearly exploded from seeing so many Transformers, all within my reach. I remember going crazy switching from robot to robot transforming every single one I could get my hands on. It was like a Transformers catalogue come to life!