Targetmaster Cyclonus MIB

I didn't think I was going to get this guy. As it stands, I already have one too many Cyclonus'. Why would I want another one? It's hard to say why or how it happened. After more than a year of self imposed hiatus in terms of Transformers collecting, I began with a bang and acquired the three 1987 Decepticon Targetmasters MIB - Misfire, Triggerhappy and Slugslinger, together with all the 1987 Autobot Headmasters & Targetmasters - Chromedome MIB, Hardhead MIB, Highbrow, Brainstorm, Crosshairs, Sureshot and Pointblank MIB.

I was looking for the junior Targetmasters on eBay when I chanced upon a MIB Targetmaster Cyclonus auction by a seller from the UK. Quite refreshingly, the price is not as outrageous as most of the US eBay auctions nowadays are. I watched it. I told myself I would bid if it were reasonable.

As is quite often the case, the box art appealed a lot to me and at the same time my fondness for Cyclonus took ahold of me. I am really fond of Cyclonus since 1986 because I thought (and still think) that he is the reformatted Skywarp, my favourite Decepticon Seeker. And I thought it'd be neat to also have a Targetmaster Cyclonus together with the Japanese Box Cyclonus (pictured below) and 2 US boxed Cyclonus' (pictured below and in storage) I have.

I went ahead and bid. I was delighted to win the auction at 46 pounds (equivalent to US$73.34; AU$100, inclusive of shipping). It was a steal I thought.

I'm very happy to now have plethora of Cyclonus' - two 1986 MIB Cyclonus', a Japanese box D-70 Cyclonus and also a 1987 Targetmaster Cyclonus, which is the feature of this post. Yah!


D-70 Cyclonus


Two USA boxed Cyclonus' on the top left hand corner of the storage container

Below are pictures of my happy acquisition - Targetmaster Cyclonus. It does not come with its instructions or bubble insert, but I'm more than happy with it given the price I paid.

I'd say the condition is as follows:
Box - C7.5 (but no flap crease!)
Toy - C9.0
Stickers - C7.5

Transformers Series 4: Headmaster Hardhead

Hardhead. Definitely one of the 'in' characters in recent Transformers mythos. He played a pivotal part in the IDW Transformers: Devastation arc and was later given his own Spotlight as part of the finale in Transformers: Revelation.

Understandably, the Hardhead in comics looks quite different from the G1 Hardhead, which was supposed to be a Cybertronian tank. Among the 1987 Headmasters, I like Hardhead the best. The Hardhead toy is the largest Autobot Headmaster from 1987 and is the only one among the 4 to feature chrome paint on it. The 'driver' compartment is also large enough for Duros to sit inside with his arms out stretched (something that can't be done for most other Headmasters). To top it all off, Hardhead transforms into a really nice tank!

G1 Hardhead

I never did get a Hardhead when I was younger. I instead strangely opted for Chromedome when given an opportunity to purchase a Headmaster. I still don't know why I didn't go for Hardhead back then.

As mentioned a few posts back, I recently acquired the three 1987 Decepticon Targetmasters: Misfire, Triggerhappy and Slugslinger from a US seller. At the same time, I also worked out a deal on the side to purchase Chromedome MIB, Highbrow, Brainstorm and the subject of this post, Hardhead MIB, from him.

Among the 5 MIB Transformers I bought from him, I must say that Hardhead is probably in the best condition, both in terms of the toy and the box and inserts.

Here are some pictures to support my assertion...


Headmaster Hardhead MIB


Very nice and smooth box with a slight flaw at the bottom middle of the box.






Beautiful box art - as with the 1987 Headmasters, Hardhead had very nice box art which is of a higher quality, in artistic terms, compared with the majority of the earlier year Transformers.


Back of box with a very slight flap crease.

Hardhead robot mode. This guy have very near perfect stickers.








Unlike other Hardheads I've seen previously, this Hardhead does not exhibit any chrome wear on his tank wheels and tank tracks- easily one of the hardest parts of the toy to keep mint and without wear.




Hardhead in Cybertronian tank mode


Like I said, a very nice tank!


No chrome wear on tank tracks and wheels.

$4,000 figure for $73.34!

Since don't know when, the prices on eBay started becoming extortionist. Where Transformers figures are concerned, every one and their pet lists skyhigh Buy-It-Now (BIN) prices for items that on open market auction would fetch but a fraction of their listed BIN price at best.

This has resulted in a second-hand Transformers market that is generally inflated. Additionally, its hateful that there are less than a handful of decent auctions out there anymore. The majority of auctions are BIN auctions at extortionist prices.

A simple search for "Transformers Weirdwolf" would return all of 3 auction results and around 25 BIN auctions in sellers' eBay stores - with extortionist prices from US$50 (incomplete) to US$150 (complete) and even US$400 (Mint in Box). [searches performed on 29 September 09, 0830hrs AEST, for G1 Weirdwolf]

A quick search of the completed auctions for "Transformers Weirdwolf" reveals that the figure costs closer to US$9 (incomplete) to US$60 (complete) and US$300 (Mint in Sealed Box). [searches performed on 29 September 09, 0830hrs AEST, for G1 Weirdwolf]

The marked difference in price is simply staggering, if not sometimes, beyond belief.

An example being my Targetmaster Cyclonus with box that I bought for US$73.34 (picture 1 below), compared with a loose complete one for US$94.99 BIN (picture 2 below), compared with yet another auction that is selling one without its box for US$150 BIN (picture 3 below), and another one that is MISB for US$4,000 (picture 4 below).

In any case, I rest my case.

Picture 1 - the Targetmaster Cyclonus I won at auction for US$73.34.

Picture 2 - a Targetmaster Cyclonus that is complete with Tech Specs and instructions at US$94.99 Buy-It-Now












Picture 3 - a loose complete Targetmaster Cyclonus at US$150 Buy-It-Now. It does not even have Tech Specs and instructions like the one above, yet its costs 50 whole dollars more.














Picture 4 - a US$4000 Targetmaster Cyclonus. Given that it is MISB and AFA graded (ie: in a plastic prison forever and ever), 4000 smackeroos is still too much to be shelling out for it I'd think.

Parts and Pieces - Leozack auction and and Transformer parts

Been watching this one for a couple of days now, just to out of curiosity to find out how much a MIB C329 Leozack costs.

I was curious because it is in quite a similar condition with my individual boxed Leozack, which was featured here. The only difference being that mine still has its sticker sheet with its stickers unapplied.

The auction ended at US$152.50. See below.

I think I paid more for my complete Liokaiser set in individual boxes (if the cost I paid for the set is divided by 6 that is). However, the downside of buying individual boxes piecemeal is that shipping does chalk up to quite an amount and also that it would take a lot of time (not to mention effort) of continually monitor eBay for the right auctions to turn up. And when the right auctions do turn up, to start praying that the price turns out right as well.

Personally, I'm more someone who buys figures that are complete. I simply am not able to afford to buy something incomplete (or not as a set) and then spend copious amounts time trying to hunt down parts for the figure/s.

With that said, I find myself sometimes guilty of 'buying' incomplete figures and then waiting a really long time before getting off my a$$ to buy the parts that complete them.

In 2004, I acquired very near C10 minty Protectorbots and Aerialbots as part of a huge lot of Transformers I bought here but never go around to completing them by buying some of their missing weapons. Missing are: Blades' small white gun, Air Raid gun, Skydive gun, Slingshot gun and Fireflight gun.

In September 2007, I acquired all five Combaticons, with cardbacks in bubbles and in box, but somewhat incomplete. I just wanted what is I think my third set of Combaticons in cardbacks. While this is a sweet lot, I was missing Swindle's small black gun (Swindle MOC pic) and all of Vortex's weapons (Vortex MOC pic).

In February 2008, I bought a Star Saber and Victory Leo set, and another Victory Leo MIB (seen from post here), but as can be seen here, these are missing parts as well. Star Saber was (surprise surprise) missing his blade; the loose Victory Leo was missing his large cannon and 2 shoulder cannons; the MIB Victory Leo was missing his 2 shoulder cannons.

I'm quite happy to say that after more than 5 years for some and 1.5 years for others, I've in September 2009, acquired the missing parts for all of the above.


Guns for Swindle, Vortex, Air Raid, Skydive, Fireflight, Slingshot and the elusive Blades gun show above. I bought these for about $10 each from an Australian eBay seller with very good service and lightning fast shipping. This is the seller "ezystyles" eBay feedback page with links to his eBay Store and also his auctions in case anyone is looking for parts and good service to get them to you fast.


2 shoulder cannons and large cannon for Victory Leo and the ever elusive Star Saber blade shown above. I bought the Victory Leo and Star Saber parts from an eBay seller from Japan and for quite bizarre reasons, he ended shipping them to my Singapore address. Since I was no longer staying there, we had to wait for the package to be returned to Japan and then he had to ship them out to me in Australia again. All in all, it took almost 5 weeks since I paid to receive the items... and they were also pricey, although not unexpectedly.

I'm happy that my MIB Victory Leo is now complete and so is my loose Victory Saber set!

Now that I have all the weapons for the Combaticons, I'm toying with the idea of resealing all of them back into their cardbacks... a thought and a post for another day perhaps?

Preview of remaining MIB Transformers to be featured

A little preview of the MIB Transformers I acquired over the last month still to be featured. There is still Hardhead and Slugslinger to go for the Headmasters/Targetmasters series.

MIB individual boxed Brestforce Liokaiser members have been half featured with Hellbat, Gaihawk and Drillhorn remaining.

Previously featured MIB Transformers can be seen from the links below:
- Targetmaster Pointblank;
- Targetmaster Misfire;
- Targetmaster Triggerhappy;
- Headmaster Chromedome;
- D329: Leozack;
- D332: Jarguar; and
- D333: Killbison.

1987 Headmaster Chromedome MIB

Chromedome was the only Headmaster I had when I was young. It was a because of a combination of my waning interest in Transformers and the fact that Transformers itself was dying out in Season 4.

I'm not even sure why I asked my mum to buy him because thinking back, I think I was much more interested in Brainstorm in terms of Headmasters, if for nothing more, for the superior articulation that Brainstorm has. Articulation was and is another something that I'm sore about in relation to Chromedome - he has next to none other than his arms! Shocking, but not at all abnormal in the G1 era.

I was, and still is, curious as to why he is called 'Chromedome'. I didn't, and still don't, think that it bears any correlation to his character design, alternate mode, tech specs or his profile. The name seems pretty out of the blue, almost as much as the name 'Highbrow' is out of the blue for Highbrow.

I recently acquired a Chromedome MIB. It's box is not in very great shape, the bubble is yellowed and the toy feels different from what I remember mine to be. This one is somehow less solid and feels a lot more plastic-ky. The face paintjob also seems to be a lot more reddish than the one I used to have. It's a little strange and perhaps is a '90s China reissue (assuming there's any truth to those rumours, mostly related to Nightbeat).

Here's my MIB Chromedome...


Chromedome MIB; the box is about a C6.5 to a C7 I reckon.


The toy was so expertly removed it almost looks like it is still sealed on the bubble. A slight pity through, that the bubble is slightly yellowed.


Still looks sealed on bubble.




Box art portion is still glossy and quite free from creases and scratches. I gotta say that while the toy was (and still is) a little disappointing to me, the box art for Chromedome is very very nice indeed!




Flap crease is apparent.


Like I mentioned above, the face-paint for this Chromedome I have is quite markedly different from the one I used to have when young - this version has face-paint that is a lot more reddish, while my childhood Chromedome definitely has face-paint that was deep orange at the very most.


The other point of difference between my childhood Chromedome and this one is the weight and sturdiness of the guns. I know it has been 20+ years and I could be mistaken, but I do remember Chromedome's guns to be a deeper red and also heavier and more sturdy because I remember being disappointed with his lack of articulation but told myself he made up for it by being such a solid toy (mass-wise), and that includes his guns.