Year in review - The Best of 2009 Tally

In a few hours, I'm flying to Japan - the land that created the toys that would in 1984 become the Transformers.

Before that, I'd like to review this year in Transformer terms, the best of, the worst of, and all that in between.

So here it is, my 2009 Transformers Collecting 'best of' tally.

***

Most satisfying moment:

Opening the package for and discovering that the C324 Star Saber box and foam and the D336 Deszaras box and foam that I bought on eBay were as near C10 as they could have been for boxes that were open. There were absolutely no tears, rips, creases or scratches on either boxes. The Deszaras box has no flap crease. The sheen of the boxes were perfect. They were in better condition than I'd dared imagine when I got them on auction. For boxes of these sizes, I was well and truely impressed, and, deeply satisfied.

Second most satisfying moment:

Able to purchase all 12 of the 1988 'standard format' Pretenders in 2 distinct lots, complete, with pristine stickers and all in C9 or above conditions. I consider this one moment because I purchased these from the same seller, but at different points in time. I have inspected them army style!

Hardest decision to make:

Whether to return the MIB Targetmaster Scourge I bought from eBay. It was objectively expensive, but relatively okay priced for a TM Scourge, but it was not exactly as described and I believed that the toy had been tampered with (a-la, a 'frankenstein' mis-mash of parts). The seller, who appeared to be an honest guy, assured me that there was no tampering and after more than a week of to-and-fro communication, I decided to keep it and accept a partial refund from the seller.

Unexpected find:

Good condition Sureshot and Crosshairs figures, each about C8, for $3 and $2 respectively at the 23 August 09 Parramatta Collectibles Fair. A close second is finding a UK auction for Pinpointer and Nightstick with a low bid count that I won for AU$50 all up. This means my complete Sureshot (with Pinpointer Targetmaster) only cost AU$28!

Second unexpected find:

Targetmaster Pointblank, MIB, C9 box with inserts, C9.5 toy, sealed paperworks. Found this on eBay. Seller was asking for US$150 exclusive of shipping. I put in a 'best offer' of US$112 and seller accepted!

Favourite individual buy:

Hands down this has to be Targetmaster Pointblank MIB (also the winner of my "Longest Awaited Buy" category). I have been interested in Pointblank since I saw this advertisement back in 1987. Pointblank was #10 on my 'Transformers I really wanted as a kid but was denied' list. I have quite literally waited 22 years for this, but managed to acquire it this year!

Favourite lot bought:

The lot I bought from KM consisting of Triggerhappy MIB, Slugslinger MIB, Misfire MIB, Hardhead MIB, Chromedome MIB, Brainstorm complete and Highbrow complete. All the MIB figures were immaculate and came with all inserts and complete paperworks. Coming in close 2nd and 3rd has to be the 1988 Decepticon Pretenders and 1988 Autobot Pretenders lots.

Most unexpected buy:
Chancing upon an MIB Squeezplay complete on eBay AU, just 16 minutes before it was due to end; decided to bid on it; bid on it and won it for approximately AU$100. A pretty good price seeing that I acquired Fangry MIB and Horri-Bull MIB for AU$135 each.

Worst buy:

Targetmaster Scoop. To be fair, I only paid $16.17 for this figure as part of a lot that includes Banzai-Tron MOSC, Krok MOSC, Doublecross MIB, Spinister and Landfill. Relatively speaking, it is the worst buy because its condition is just deplorable - loose joints all round, scratches, badly worn stickers.

Worst lot bought:

NA

Longest Awaited Buy:

Hands down this has to be Targetmaster Pointblank MIB (also the winner of my "Favourite Buy" category). I have been interested in Pointblank since I saw this advertisement back in 1987. Pointblank was #10 on my 'Transformers I really wanted as a kid but was denied' list. I have quite literally waited 22 years for this, but managed to acquire it this year!

Largest single lot of the year:
10 MIB Transformers, 5 Transformer boxes and 1 loose Transformer from OZ Former member jgon. This lot consists of MIB (Fangry, Horri-Bull, Siren, Autobot Clones, Decepticon Clones, Quickswitch, Weirdwolf, Skullcruncher, Repugnus, Slapdash); boxes (Motormaster, Scattershot, Weirdwolf, Doubledealer, Crosshairs), Quake loose.

Best Bargain:

Powerglide cardback, my only missing mini-bot G1 cardback, for $1.35.

If I could only buy one Transformer product this year, it would be:

D336- Deszaras box and foam (which one of these babies is going into). This must be one of the most beautiful and best kept TF boxes I've come across, add to that the size and majesty of the box and the extremely well illustrated box art and it is a winner in this category.