Remember I said that my usual shop is going to have a large lot of high quality and rare vintage G1 Transformers for sale, in this post?
They went on sale today ('on sale' as in the shop is selling them, not that they are being sold at a discount). Since I got a preview of them, I know that they're going to sell like hotcakes, so E and I went down about 20 minutes before the shop is due to open (after a good breakfast of course).
When we were at In's Point, we coincidentally bumped into the shop assistant who was on his way to open up. Walked up to the shop with him and there were already 2-3 people waiting there to grab stuff. Man, competition is fierce!
Here is the palate...
From memory, here's a non-exhaustive list (all are at least MIB):
- Goodbye Convoy giftset (very nice box, contents unknown)
- VSY giftset (unsed; my gosh, this is awesome and also awesomely expensive)
- VSY giftset (nice box, but missing lots of paperworks and cassette)
- VSY giftset (not so nice box, missing lots of stuff)
- C-15: Brawn MIB
- C-16: Huffer MIB
- C-27: Sludge (unused)
- C-111: Punch / Counterpunch (used)
- C-114: Fortress Maximus (unused)
- C-114: Fortress Maximus (stickers applied, missing sword)
- C-116: Twincast MISB
- C-201: Metalhawk (unused)
- C-131: Raiden (Shouki and Yukikaze yellowed, otherwise unused and complete)
- C-311: Grand Maximus (unused; box slightly faded)
- C-326: Galaxy Shuttle (unused)
- C-326: Galaxy Shuttle (stickers applied)
- C-328: Victory Saber giftset (unused)
- C-328: Victory Saber giftset (unused, box slightly poorer than above)
- C-353: Big Powered giftset (unused)
- C-371: Grandus (unused; slightly yellowed)
- D-93: Mega Zarak (unused)
- D-98: Sixshot (stickers applied)
- D-108: Slugfest MIB
- D-109: Overkill MIB
- D-307: Overlord (unused)
- D-308: Browning (unused)
- D-311: Black Zarak (unused)
- D-311: Black Zarak (unused, box a little poorer than the above)
- D-318: King Poseidon giftset (unused)
- Car Robots C-27: Brave Maximus (unused)
Here are some close ups.
Arkvender, if you are looking at this, you'll spot something we both want...
Unfortunately, the prices were really unrealistic. Even if I suspend my disbelief, I could not bring myself to get them. Sign. More searching.
At the end of the hour, many of these were gone - C-27: Sludge, C-116: Twincast, C-326: Galaxy Shuttle (both gone), 2 of the 3 VSY sets... etc.
I should also add that I met all my main competitors in G1-grabbiness today and among the three of us, I also found out what we did for a living - we're a doctor, lawyer, banker (trader). I'm obviously not going to say which one I am or who is who, but it's delightful to know and at the same time, all very strange.
Happy new year once more!
~ HD
It's funny. I went to Japan and G1s over there weren't this plentiful and yet all of these must have been sourced from Japan.
ReplyDeleteA real coup would be to find out where all of these come from. My suspicion is that they know some old Takara employee who must have absconded with left over stocks when the G1 era had winded down.
My guess is that you are a lawyer :)
Hey HD,
ReplyDeleteThose are some nice looking items, but it's a shame they were priced so high. Any particular reason why all these goodies were released on New Years Day? I wonder if they were all purchased recently from Japan or whether they saved them to be released on the New Year.
@ Roger - when did you go to Japan? From memory, there were lots of vintage G1s there on the few trips that I went. All these probably came from the usual G1 powerhouses in Japan like Mandarake and Hero Gangu. The shop-owner knows the owners/ managers well and so he gets his own private review when there, even before the stuff hits the shop shelves.
ReplyDelete@ VF1 - hey buddy! To be more accurate, they were not all priced expensive, only D-108 and D-109 were - fella was asking HKD$4280 for the set, which on any estimation is just too much to pay. I called the shop today and apparently, they were sold (indeed there are people willing to pay, I don't understand).
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, these were purchased by the shop over the entire December period, but only released for sale after the new year. Has to do with accounting and end of financial year hooha i suspect.
I went the week of November 5th last year and it's pretty pathetic. I went to all of the shops you'd mentioned in your toy shop map (thanks for that) and only the shops in Osaka were in any way approaching decent. Saw two Black Zaraks with very bad boxes. Saw a Fortress Maximus with a decent box in Mandaraka Akibahara with prices that made me laugh. Heck, the pickings were so slim, they had to price Human Alliance Jazz at 120 USD.
ReplyDelete@ Roger - It's true the pickings are slim. I have been told as much by the shop owner. The prices are also now laughably stupid. Also, anything that is not a local release (ie: USA release) is usually more expensive in Japan than elsewhere, strangely. No suprise that human alliance stuff costs more.
ReplyDeletemay i know where is this shop?
ReplyDelete