Thought I could not do this today. However, it turns out that E had to go back to the office for emergency conference calls, at 12pm and 4pm. I suddenly had time to wander around and decided to take up OZ Former member Ultra Magnus' offer to hit the stores at Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok.
Before I met him, I tried my hand at searching the Sham Sui Po area for toys and toy shops, but that was an epic fail because I decided, for this time, I shall go without any addresses and just 'try my luck'. Can't make it too easy on myself huh. Didn't find a single toy shop (other than those silly flea market type shops selling all KOs). Like I said, epic fail.
Before I met Ultra Magnus, I managed to pick with 2 MOSC Zone Micromaster sets and an official Takara faction symbol sticker sheet from 2002.
C-334 and C-335 MOSC (cards is about C7.5 to C8)
Takara faction symbol sticker sheet. I don't know where this comes from, but it will come in useful for stickering up my City Commander, Protector, Valkyrie, etc.
Takara stamp. Dated 2002.
Met Ultra Magnus at around 5.45pm and we just went around the shops, talking as we went, browsing madly, etc. We managed to spot a good few things and even a rare Henkei Red Alert MOSC. I recommended that Ultra Magnus get a few pieces of toys - Henkei Red Alert and Music Label Blaster. At the prices they were going for, those were good buys, which he did buy. I do hope he likes it. While we went on a rampage of stores, Ultra Magnus went on a rampage buying spree. He bought a lot (a lot more than me at least).
At around 8pm, we went back to our favourite shop 221 at Yau Ma Tei, where we waited to pluck Wave 3 of United off the hands of the shop owner right out of the packing cartons, fresh off the delivery truck. There were close to 15 people there before us, all packed into the tiny shop like sardines, all vying for a set of United Wave 3. It was mad! We waited for close to 20 minutes before we got a shop (but it felt like we waited an hour). This was a great Wave. I got a set (Perceptor, Blurr, Kup and Wreck Gar) and a spare Wreck Gar.
We also got 2 exclusive Targetmasters complimentary when we bought a set - Fracas and Haywire. This shop owner is really generous. Other shops only gave one of Fracas or Haywire for a set; some shops gave none. Way I see it, that is approximately US$100 in value that we got free (since BBTS is selling the 3 exclusive Targetmasters for US$149.90).
Here is the haul...
... Fracas (left), Haywire (right).
While we were queuing up, we noticed that most people either did not buy Kup or did not buy Wreck Gar. Very strange, because if I were to make a choice, I would not buy Blurr, since it is so similarly coloured like its Generations counterpart. We were curious, so asked them why - the common answer was 'the Generations version of Kup/Wreck Gar' looks better'. 'Really?' Rare is the case when a US release looked better than the Takara one. 'Kup, is too shiny in United to be a veteran Autobot', another guy added.
Now, I am faced with a dilemma - do I open Generations Kup or United Kup to welcome into my Classic-verse?
Re: Kup
ReplyDeleteNeither! Hold out for e-Hobby in April!
Pics: http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/transformers-united-ehobby-autobot-and-decepticon-3pack-colors-revealed/20384/
Nice haul HD! jealous of the target masters. Very generous of the shop-owner since RK are selling them for $50 each.
ReplyDeleteI have gone with united for both kup and wreck-gar but after reading your post I feel I have to also get the generations versions.
As for Wreck-gar I don't think any version is better than the other- but I went for United initially- prefer the fixed symbol instead of rubsign. Guess I will have to get both versions.
Will you be getting the e-hobby united sets?
@ Jay - I have the eHobby sets on pre-order already, so will also be getting that Kup. From the pics, he looks more shiny than the Generations version (the battle damage also looks a bit half-hearted)... =)
ReplyDelete@ gdmetro - Hmm... yeah, good point about the Autobot symbol. I wouldn't be very happy with a rub-sign in its place. As mentioned above, I have pre-ordered both eHobby sets. What about you? Getting them?
I preordered both eHobby sets too. HD, for comparison purposes, how much are those in HK? I paid 100 SGD per set here. It's better than the 100 plus USD in the US (before shipping, ouch) but I bet HK has even better prices.
ReplyDeleteI pre-ordered through a friend in SG too, same price. Didn't order from HK, but heard from a friend here that its HK$800 for a set. For some reason, Generations/Henkei sells like hotcakes here. Sold out almost entire on the very day of release, its mad.
ReplyDelete