Tuesday, 8 May 2012

Collectors Club: Transformers

Now this collector is an addict and because it was his birthday yesterday I thought he more then deserved the last slot in this collecting series. I call him an addict frequently but it's allowed because I'm married to him. So I admit Joe isn't a blogger, but I felt my guys collection was worthy of being included because I share my life with it. Plus it lets us have an insight into a man's collection!

Close up of Cheetor from the Beast Wars line

In 1996 an 11 year old boy got hooked into a new cartoon called Transformers: Beast Wars which was based on robots which transform into animals on an Earth far into the future. Divided into two factions - the maximals [goodies] and the predicons [badies] they are the descendants of the Transformers we see in the films, from which countless toy lines were manufactured. At one point his mum threw out a garbage bag, little did she know she was throwing out his entire Transformers collection. 15 years later that boy is recollecting and still obsessed with the show.

When I first started dating Joe I knew of his love for Transformers but I was amazed at how many he actually owned. Currently the total stands at 109 [I think, excluding the ones awaiting being put on eBay] and predominately they are from the Beast Wars, Beast Machines [both old cartons from the 1990s] and the Transformers Prime [film and the contemporary cartoon] lines. Yet it involves more then collecting toys, it involves cartoons, films, searching eBay, membership to the official club, getting member only toys and trips around countless stores to try and grab them. Even I could name your Optimus from your Cheetor to Soundwave to your Snapper. Date a guy with a collection like this and you get interested too. 

Comic within the official Transformers members magazine and Optimus Prime from the film line.

Joe's was always one step ahead of me when it came to collecting, he can part with, and sell them on eBay if he's buying in a lot and there's some he doesn't want or he already has. We don't make lots of money but we hope they go to a decent home. It always come down to condition just like compacts. Paint and chrome-ware all come into account, missing parts and missiles all affect the price. We never keep them in their original boxes [unless selling them], they are toys and they are meant to be played with so that's what we do. But it's why we need an extra bedroom, just so I can contain them into one room. It always surprises me how many grown men are buying Transformers in stores and bid on them on eBay, there's many more Transformers widows out there. The things you do for love!

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This looks to be the final post in the bloggers who collect series - although i'll gladly accept any more posts if you want to fling them my way. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that took the time out to make this little series happen. I hope you all enjoyed it just as much as I did putting it together!