31 July 2011

About Me

I write stuff about Transformers.

I have an unhealthy obsession about them 'Robots in Disguise' - The Transformers. I'm also fond of other '80s stuff- like Visionaries, He-Man, M.A.S.K., Thundercats, Ghostbusters, Starcom and more. I am not interested in Go-Bots. I think Power Rangers are not even funny.

I'm also an avid comics fan, novel fan and Anime fiend. I enjoy the writing of Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, Books of Magic, Marvel 1602, Stardust), Simon Furman (Transformers), Jim Starlin (Thanos Quest, Infinity Gauntlet), Bill Willingham (Fables, House of Mystery), Matthew Sturges (House of Mystery),  Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil, All-Star Batman and Robin), Grant Morrison (Batman, All-Star Superman), Jeph Loeb (Long Halloween, Superman/Batman), Brad Melzer (Identity Crisis) and Geoff Johns (Green Lantern Saga, Blackest Night).

I enjoy the artwork of Jim Lee (Classic X-Men, Punisher: War Journal, Uncanny X-Men, WildC.A.T.s, Batman: Hush, Superman: For Tomorrow), Todd McFarlane (Incredible Hulk, Amazing Spider-Man, Spawn), Geoff Senior (Transformers, Dragon's Claws), Tim Sale (Long Halloween), Ed Benes (Justice League of America), Jim Aparo (Batman), Neal Adams (Batman), Don Figuroa (Transformers), Dan Khanna (Transformers) and EJ Su (Transformers).

So, who am I actually?

I am from Singapore, one of the smallest countries in the world. It was the year 1984 and I was so much less than a decade old. I was fascinated with Transformers since seeing them on toy shelves. The first Transformer I set eyes on was Sunstreaker. Fascination blossomed into an obsession of sorts when the US G1 Cartoons hit the Singapore airwaves and the rest, as they say, is history, which I have chronologically documented in chapters here.

I think that Transformers are the best thing since sliced bread (ok, admittedly a lot of the Marvel comics from the late 80s and early 90s come very very close to Transformers).

After all my childhood Transformers were given away by my mum, I restarted collecting Transformers from scratch in 1999 at the Sunday Clarke Quay flea markets and from friends.

I have been in Australia since 2003. I have continued to collect Transformers from this base away from home. There is no equivalent of 'Clarke Quay' or 'China Square Central' in Australia. It is very tough to be a collector in Australia and oftentimes, it feels like an uphill struggle. Through eBay, I still managed to grow my collection and have made some good friends from the OZ Formers Boards. The quarterly collecting highlight here is the Parramatta Collectibles Fair (some photos here). The annual collectibles highlight is the Supanova Pop Culture Convention.

I endeavour to visit Hong Kong via Singapore at least one to two times a year for Transformers hunting expeditions. I went to Tokyo with E in January 2010 and found that it was fantastic where G1 Japanese Transformers were concerned. I plan to visit again soon.

In October 2011, I was posted to Hong Kong - a dream come true. Hong Kong is as much a collecting haven as Singapore and it's great from a collector's perspective. My favourite shop here is of course Wai Gu Kok (懷古角), which is consistently stocked with high-end, high-quality G1s. Since moving to HK, I have managed to bring my Japanese Transformers collection much close to completion - in fact, only 1 final piece is needed - Blue Bacchus from the 1989 Transformers: Victory line.

I speak fluent English, Chinese (Mandarin) and Cantonese and can weave around the above places like a seasoned Cybertronian Collecting Office- Heroic Decepticon!

Big question time. Where is my Transformer collecting at?

With these objectives in mind, I have completed the 1984 to 1990 USA released Transformers, except for Skyhopper, Anti-Aircraft Base, Tanker Transport, Missile Transport and Cannon Transport (5 pieces missing in total). I do not count the so-called 'Action Masters' as part of Series 7 (1990) as I have no interest or intention in acquiring them. I am also more than half way to completion in terms of the 1987 to 1989 Japanese exclusive Transformers (12 figures missing in total). My 2 latest Japanese exclusive acquisitions are (i) D-309: Black Shadow; (ii) TF-04: Guard City and TF-10: Battle Gaia; and (iii) all the 1987 "dino-cassettes"!

(updated 31 July 2011)

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