In the previous part, I talked about how I went to Osaka (in search of the dinocassettes) and ended up buying a Marlboor Wheeljack MIB back (amongst other things).
When I got back from Osaka, Marlboor was not the thing I was most excited about. Other than seeing E after a few days away, my excitement priority was as follows:
- 1985 LP with unobstructed Bluestreak box art
- The motherload of vintage "VSL" LaserDiscs with fantastic box art on them
- Helping Sebastian find the final pieces to complete his Japanese G1 and G2 collection (man, what a milestone buddy!)
- Finally getting getting an MISB sample of the Generations Deluxe lucky draw God Primus figure, which I had been gunning for since 2008
- Acquiring D-101: Soundblaster MIB for E
- Acquiring Marlboor Wheeljack
It's no insult to Marlboor WJ that he is not the highest rung on the ladder. To be honest, I knew very little about him before chancing upon him, doing some research and then buying him.
Shortly after I returned from Osaka, I showed some of my Osaka loot on Oz Formers (OTCA.com.au) and TFW 2005 and also on this site, as was usual.
Then followed the many responses, PMs and private emails regarding the items, as was usual.
What was not usual though, was the intense interest in Marlboor. I found it odd that so many people (relatively) were asking about this piece. Not only were they asking, they were trying to convince me to sell it to them.
That's kind of odd to me because no TF piece I have acquired, no matter how rare I thought it was has sparked more than a passing interest and 1 to 2 people asking me to sell it. For example, I got about a handful of requests for Black Zarak MIB and Minerva unused. However, none of these other solicitations were persistent.
The requests for Marlboor WJ were persistent. There were emails from 5-6 different people per day, which I thought was intense.
It was an unusual situation, and I hadn't even mentioned that I would sell it. I was intrigued. So intrigued that I went to find out more and was provided with 'rarity validation and information' from pre-Transformer expert Maz, of TF-1 fame.
The opening offers (unsolicited by me) from many potential buyers were equally impressive - many amounted to thousands of dollars, as an opening position.
(out of respect for the offerors and to prevent driving the prices of future Marlboor sales up, I will not disclose the quantum of offers made).
I was quite content to sit it through, consider offers and listen to reasons, but I thought I might keep this piece for awhile before letting it go. However, at no point did I play offerors off against each other - ie: 'someone is offering $XXXX, are you going to offer more?'. I hate that sort of pseudo-bidding.
One potential buyer, whether by fluke or whether by thorough research of my site, offered something that elevated him to the top rung of the ladder of consideration - he said, "how about a (substantial amount in) cash AND a "blue" Bluestreak MIB in exchange for your Marlboor Wheeljack?"
Given my childhood fascination with the blue Bluestreak, this was definitely an offer I stood up to and listened with ears peeled.
Negotiations, if I could call it that, were pretty intense across a Friday, Saturday and Sunday (where quite coincidentally, E was overseas for a conference, meaning I had time on my hands).
By Sunday, the potential buyer and myself have dotted all the "i"s and crossed all the "t"s and sufficiently nutted out the details. The transaction was going ahead.
He paid me. I sent out Marlboor Wheeljack on 30 May 2011. Buyer received it around 2 June 2011 and he sent out the blue Bluestreak on 3 June 2011.
On 8 June 2011, I received my blue Bluestreak! *I'm in tears of joy*
As with all my collectibles, I let E have a first go at it...
This photo by E...
This photo by me, with the 1985 LP I bought from Osaka as a background
These are photos from the "seller", which I understand are being used in a book somewhere. Very beautifully taken photos.
MIB (a pity that there is a scrap across the box art)
Shot of the styro insert
Contents on display
Blue Bluestreak robot mode - man, this thing is beautiful!
Wow, breath-taking huh? I will have to take some photos of my own soon...
... but wait, it's not over yet, there is a Part 3 - did I ever tell you about my other 6 exquisite acquisitions?
***
The "full story" chapters:
- The full story (Part 1) - Diaclone CarRobots No.18: Lancia Stratos Turbo, Marlboor (Marlboro) Wheeljack
- The full story (Part 2) - Diaclone CarRobots No.7: Fairlady Z "Bluestreak" blue
- The full story (Part 3) - so rare they ought to be extinct (aka the dino-cassettes)
- The full story (Part 4) - the Autobot Communicators
- The full story (Part 5) - Guard City (TF-04) and Battle Gaia (TF-10) giftsets
- The full story - Epilogue
Envy!
ReplyDeleteThis is 'the' grail for me. I will have no more holy grail to seek for going forward. The throne is empty, long live the king!
ReplyDeleteA great write-up dude to follow-up on a great acquisition. :)
ReplyDeleteBlue-Bluestreak really does look nice I have to admit as I like how all the colours are broken up by the stickers but be it Bot or Alt mode, he's a very cool piece of history indeed and I look forward to more photos of your own dude. ;)
Very much looking forward to the other 6 also! :D
Very appealing to the eyes, I especially like the photo with the LP in the background.
ReplyDelete@ Hursti: Thanks for the kind words. Blue Bluestreak is definitely a piece of history since he is on the actual Bluestreak box, but also because the box art is in almost every instruction sheet from 1984 to 1988 (or even later!).
ReplyDeleteI have now unveiled #3 of 6 on the Boards.
@ Chris: Thanks man. The LP is all sorts of cool, huh?
What is the exact hue of blue one would need for restoration?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the exact hue of blue one needs for restoring Blue bluestreak?
ReplyDelete