Beginning from 14 December, E and I were:
- snowboarding in Niseko for approx 5 days;
- visiting various places and also toy hunting in Sapporo for approx 4 days; and
- visiting various places and also toy hunting in Tokyo for approx 4 days.
I visited various places on my maps and also a few new ones in between. All in all, it was a great trip, highly enjoyable and a fun way to cap off the year.
This trips haul consists of....
- 08 - Streak MIB (missing lots of parts, but box is nice)
- 10 - Inferno MIB, complete (missing instructions)
- 18 - Frenzy MIB, complete, unused
- 97 - Dirge MIB, unused (eHobby 'reissue')
- Masterforce Aquastar MISB
- C-67: Rewind MOSC
- C-69: Ultra Magnus MIB (missing 4 missiles)
- C-104: Brainstorm MIB, complete, unused
- C-313: Hardspark MIB, unused
- C-314: Hotspark loose
- C-372: Star Convoy MIB, complete
- D-88: Triggerhappy MIB, complete
- D-304: Hydra loose complete (part of Darkwings)
- D-305: Buster loose complete (part of Darkwings)
- TF-03: Sixturbo MIB, complete
- Thunder Clash MIB, complete, unused toys and unused paperworks
- BT-08: Zoom Zoom MISB
- BT-15: Prowl (blue) MIB
- TV Artbook #27 - featuring Transformers 2010
- TV Artbook #33 - featuring Headmasters
- TF Artbook #43 - featuring Headmasters, beautiful Fort Max cover
- TF Artbook #55 - featuring Headmasters juniors and others from Masterforce
- TF Artbook #69 - featuring Masterforce
- TF Artbook #86 - featuring Transformers Victory
C-67: Rewind MOSC was spotted by E, on the floor, among some 'lesser', poorer condition more recent released TFs. It was just there, like nobody wanted it. E saw it, picked it up and said 'is this good?'. Yeah, of course! And of course I blame Roberts too!
The TV Artbooks are all for a friend, since I already own them. You know who you are, Christmas has come!
Some statistics...
- E's recommended buys - TF-03: Sixturbo MIB, C-69: Ultra Magnus and C-372: Star Convoy. All found and recommended for purchase by E.
- Most unexpected find - Euro exclusive Thunderclash MIB and unused, but with vintage Japanese packaging stickers on the box (meaning it was not really just a 'Euro' exclusive?; more on this later).
- Happy Christmas Day find - MIB complete Star Convoy in C9 condition, for a bargain price of US$70!
- Most bang for buck acquisition - MOSC Rewind on Japanese card for US$40 (these typically go for about US$100 online).
- Near Milestones - bagging the 2 BTs in the photos means I am 1 BT away from having a complete BT collection.
As per tradition, I welcome any enquiries re the above if you are interested, but also as per tradition, 80% of the above are either purchased for others already or I am keeping, heh.
Cheers,
~ HD
As usual incredible purchases, I'm intrigued by the TF artbooks, can you please give me some search queries so i can find more information on them online, also what other good artbooks have you got for show and tell :D?
ReplyDeletehi, thanks for dropping by.
DeleteThe TF Artbooks are very nice. They contain approx 28 pages of full coloured Japanese exclusive Transformers artwork and also often contain unobstructed G1 box art images. They come in heavy stock, high gloss paper as well.
I'm not sure how to search for them online, but I think these search terms might turn out something:
- "Transformers Artbook"
- "Transformers TV Artbook"
- "Transformers TV Art book"
- "Transformers NTV"
- "Transformers Japanese book"
There are other "artbooks" as well, but they are in smaller formats and are not full coloured. These are more like 'pocket books' and contain a mix of coloured and non-coloured art / images.
Nice. Can't believe I had some of those TFs before you! Nice find on that Hardspark. I've got a friend hooking me up with a MIB sample in a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteAs for Thunderclash, I know the Predator jets and Turbomaster cars were released in VS packaging at the end of the G1 line. I always wondered about some of those other releases and if they had smaller distribution in areas outside of Europe.
Congrats on getting a Hardspark soon, Colbey. The colour scheme is really very nice when you hold him in your hand.
DeleteWere the Turbomasters and Predator jets released in Europe in VS packaging? I am aware of the Operation Combination release in VS packaging, but not the Euro one (if it exists).
From what it appears, I think Japan did get the Euro exclusives back in the early 90s, or at least some of the Euro exclusives....
No, I don't believe so. The Turbomasters and Predators were sold individually in parts of Europe. Of course depending on the country of origin, a lot of those releases had different names. Gets kinda confusing to keep up w/ them!
DeleteNice little haul you managed to grab there HD. I can tell you that most of the figures you bought would be hard to find here in Toronto, other than maybe having to go to a Convention to get them….even then I doubt the prices would be close to what you paid for them. Most of the stores here are poor at best in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteJoe
hi Joe!
DeleteFrom me experience in Australia, I understand that its difficult to find vintage figures from a particular shop and just pick them up. The place is just too big, and in places where there are a concentration of shops, its often not viable for someone to open up a physical toy shop to sell toys, because the collectors in that area (as opposed to the relatively very large country), would be insufficient to make it profitable for the shop.
I suppose, this situation applies in some form or other to Canada and the US as well.
Constrast that with Asia and places like Hong Kong or Singapore (and to a small extent certain Prefectures in Japan), where one can circum-navigate the entire place in probably 2-3 hours if not less, then we can see that its a lot more viable in these places to have a concentration of shops catering to a particular hobby - because the bulk of the collector population would be able to access these relatively easily and frequently.
For example, it takes me 15 mins to get to the area in HK where there are 4-5 buildings with multiple levels all filled with toy shops. That's probably hundreds of shops accessible in 15 mins time. As opposed to driving perhaps 1.5 hours to reach 1 shop if I were in Australia.
Good lord, that's an impressive haul! Not only did you get to snowboard, but you found some great figures to boot! I have really got to get over that way one day. I understand that there are toy shops like that in the Philippines, so I may see if I can get a family member to check those out for me. I've actually been hanging by a string for the last two months waiting on what I'm hoping will be a good haul locally. There is supposedly a guy with MIB figures from 1984-1987 that he's wanting to sell. I walked into my comic shop and the owner told me that his friend had just discovered all of these figures in his attic and I'm the Transformer Guy, so I have first dibs. I have yet to see the figures, and the comic shop owner doesn't know what the guy has, so I can't just throw out a number for the lot. I don't think I'm going to get the great deal that I'm seeing as the seller is dragging his feet on bringing them to the shop. Still, I'd like to at least see what he has so I can try to pry a few from him.
ReplyDeletehey dude, an advanced happy new year to you! Japan is a place that every TF should be visiting, at least once in his/her life (just like BotCon, which every TF should also go to at least once, haha).
DeleteYes, I am aware there are toy shops like that in Phils too. Don't know where though. Never been there. About 10 years ago, the 7th floor of MBK shopping centre in Bangkok was packed with collector shops. Really odd, considering that the price of a collectible could (typically at that time) equate to the locals' entire months wages.
This haul that you are waiting on sounds very intriguing and exciting. 84 to 87 are some of the best years, if not THE best years, TF-wise, so I would be quite excited to see what this haul yeilds.
Do keep us posted!
Hey man,
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a nice haul!! Looks like you cleaned much of Japan out!!
I wish there were concentrated hobby and toy retailers where I live like they have in Japan and Bangkok. Oh well maybe my toy shop can be your collection room!! :P
I'm going to get in touch with you regarding one of those pieces very soon.
All the best, glad you are back in one piece!
Logik