If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing (Part 3) - Henkei-s

Ok, this happened yesterday night. 

Like a caveman discovering fire, I discovered that this shop that was only 2 minutes away from where I lived, has a stash of Henkeis, case-fresh-Henkeis.

I walk past this place every other day when I come back from work. After a few trips into the shop in the past months, I decided that there was nothing in there that I am interested in. Walked in with E on the Sunday that just passed and 'lo and behold, there was a stash of Henkeis there - at least 5-6 different characters from the early Henkei days, all case fresh, MOSC, untouched (and obviously unloved since no one bought them).

The real kicker? The shop was giving a 20% discount for purchases over HKD$500 and 30% discount for purchases over HKD$1000. 

For the fun of it, I went back yesterday and bought out all-the-Henkeis-the-shop-had, all. And got the full 30% discount on each piece too.

If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.

Hong Kong Market Watch - Transformers United and Generations Wave 7

The state of the toy market here is just crazy. Crazy in terms of price but also crazy vibrant.

Example 1:

2 weeks ago, Transformers United Wave 3 was released - Perceptor, Kup, Blurr and Wreck Gar. There were at least 15 people waiting at the store before the stock arrived. When the stock arrived, they each stood there for the next 30 minutes trying to find that 'perfect' piece. It was selling for HKD$700 for the set, comes with 2 Jap exclusive Targetmasters (ie: HKD$175/pc).

At another shop not 5 minutes away, one set was selling for HKD$800, comes with 1 free Jap exclusive Targetmaster (ie: HKD$200/pc). 

A week later (meaning last week), each piece of this Wave was selling for HKD$230. Also Blurr and Wreck Gar could no longer be found even if one wanted to pay for it.

This week, the only pieces that I see from this Wave is Kup and its going for something close to HKD$250-280. United Jazz and Tracks, from the previous Wave are have already breached the HKD$300 mark. 

So in 2 weeks, the price has approximately jumped from HKD$175 to HKD$250, an almost 60% increase. And one cannot even find these if they wanted to. 

Crazy huh?

Example 2:

Thursday: Transformers Generations Wave 7 (Wheeljack, Thundercracker, Scourge and Kup) was released last Thursday (more or less). HobbyBase was selling each set for HKD$499, a pretty reasonable price, at approximately HKD$120 per piece.

Friday: On the very next day, the shops at Richmond Centre were selling a set for HKD$650. Want to just buy Thundercracker? Sure, that's HKD$168. Want to just buy Wheeljack? Sure, that's HKD$188. Otherwise, this Wave was more of less sold out in the YMT, Mong Kok and Wan Chai area.

Saturday: This was a slightly better day, managed to secure a few Wheeljacks and Thundercrackers from the Causeway Bay TRU at 'retail price', soon to be an anachronism in the Hong Kong of today.

Tuesday (today): Walked around the entire Wan Chai area (ie about 10 shops). Again, no Generations Wave 7 for retail price. Wheeljacks for HKD$300 and Thundercracker for HKD$199. 

So in less than a week, the price for Thundercracker has approximately jumped from HKD$120 to HKD$199 - a 65.8% increase, in 5 days! For Wheeljack, the price has gone from HKD$120 to HKD$300 - a 150% increase, in 5 days!!!

Like the guy in 300 said "This is madness!"

Generations Wheeljack is an exceptional toy

I got my Generations Wheeljack on the Friday that just past. Then on Saturday, I bought another 2 more because it is such an impressive toy.

I initially didn't expect it to be so impressive because: 

• this is a Hasbro release and in recent years, the Hasbro releases were usually inferior to the Takara releases;
• this is supposed to be white and Hasbro usually makes them in an unattractive shade of white (take Reveal the Shield Jazz for example); and
• Wheeljack is based on the Tracks mold, which I found okay, but not impressive, certainly not exceptional.

I opened Wheeljack on Saturday and was blown away literally.

It is a great toy in itself, but the parts of the design that were tributes to G1 were unmistakable. While similar with the Tracks mold, it was not exactly alike - there are molding and engineering differences, for example for the lower legs.

What's so exceptional about Generations Wheeljack? 

• For once, Hasbro didn't screw up the colour scheme. The colours are pretty spot on with G1 Wheeljack and the white is actually a snowy type white instead of the dirty off white, of say, Reveal the Shield Jazz.
• Head-sculpt is spot on with G1 Wheeljack. One way that Takara may improve this for the United release is to give him blue eyes using blue plastic light-piping and extend the blue plastic to his head side fins (since these glow blue when Wheeljack talks). Don't really mind the greyish colour of the Hasbro release because it just appears like Wheeljack is not talking.
• While the mold is similar with Tracks, you can actually transform Wheeljack to look like his G1 counterpart - remolded wings to look like G1 Wheeljack, wheels on the arms can be turned sideways to more accurately mirror G1 (for Tracks, the wheels can be made to face front to mirror his G1 transformation, brilliant design here), bonnet of car is covering Wheeljack's lower legs in robot mode, just like his G1 Transformation. This design, just works and works so well for Tracks and Wheeljack).
• The car body kit, especially the body kit for the front of the car, is very reminiscent of G1 Wheeljack's Lancia Stratos Turbo vehicle mode.
• The missile launcher which is the 'gun' for Tracks can actually be mounted on Wheeljack's shoulder and its spot on with his "magnetic inducer" from G1 continuity (see the Desertion of the Dinobots espisode).
• Hasbro also outdid themselves with all the fine touches - for example, the part of Wheeljack's wings which are formed by the car doors is painted silver, like the wing extension, so they look like contiguous wings. This is unlike United Tracks which did not have paint applications on the inside part of the door and looks like he just has a very short white wings (being just the white wing extensions) instead of a long wings that connects all the way to his back.

Wheeljack in car mode - the paint apps are stunning, for a Hasbro release.

Wheeljack in robot mode

Wheeljack compared with his Hard Hero bust which I regard as one of the most G1 accurate sculpts of Wheeljack (actually, Hard Hero busts are very G1 accurate across all the characters they released).

Wheeljack joins the Autobots!

Wheeljack as part of the Autobot Medical and Science team, with Autobot leader Optimus Prime.

If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing (Part 2)

So I've gotten all my Sweeps. The Decepticon army from Season 3 (or the year 2010 as the case may be) should be complete right? Not exactly.

The thing is, I never gotten around to getting Henkei Galvatron. Back in the day in Sydney, I bought Classics 2.0 Galvatron (which the Henkei mold is based on) and was full of excitment. I went home and together with my buddy AR, opened and played with Galvatron. Man, was it a damn disappointing toy with poor sculpting, lousy transformation and very bad QC. The darn legs just kept popping off their joints. There and then, I decided that I really did not like this mold. I very quickly sold it off on eBay and didn't look back. Naturally, during my mad Henkei catch up/acquisition hunts last October and November, I didn't pick Henkei Galvatron up, even when I did see it. I even saw it during my recent Japan trip and decided against buying it.

Now, that I've gotten all my Sweeps, I had a problem - there is no Galvatron to lead them. I pondered over this today and was kicking myself a little for not getting the Henkei Galvatron which I saw in Japan, which in all honesty, I had a slight inkling to purchase. Perhaps I should start looking for Galvatron in HK now? Perhaps I could find it in Singapore when I'm there later this month? Damn, this is a problem.

Went for a good dinner with E tonight and after that walked around. We walked past this 4 storey toy shop near our place. A toy shop, which I said in the past 'has nothing of interest to me'. Tonight, we were full, we had energy and thought, why not, let's check it out.

To my lasting surprise, there were lots of Henkei in the shop (which was never before there)! Amongst the Henkeis, there were Galvatrons! How bizarre is this situation. It's like serendipity. To top it all off, there was a sale going on and if I bought more than HKD$500 worth of toys, all toys will be 20% off. Wow! This was great!

I bought Henkei Galvatron and 2 other characters. Woohoo!

Now, whose bargaining posture is highly dubious?

If something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing...

So today, a Saturday, and for the 3rd week in a row E has to go back to work.

Went for breakfast (alone) and then went to the TRU at Causeway Bay which is 5 mins from my place...

... I basically picked up all the Wheeljacks and Thundercrackers on the pegs...

... because if something is worth doing, it's worth overdoing...

Wheeljacks!

I like this release of Wheeljack. For once a Hasbro release of a white toy actually is white. The colours are quite brilliant and I am quite impressed with it. In any case, one of them will be free from their plastic prison soon... 

Thundercrackers!

Generations Wave 7 and D-98 Sixshot

I initially didn't intend to, but on Thursday night (ie: yesterday) I went with Ultra Magnus from the OZ Formers forums to YMT and Mong Kok to grab the just-released-that-day Generations Wave 7 (consisting of Thundercracker, Wheeljack, Kup and Scourge).

The shop we went to was only selling the Wave as a set, for HKD$499. I looked the Wave over and was ambivalent. Should I get it? I already have 3 Scourges (at that point), Kup and a Henkei Thundercracker. The only one I don't have (yet) is Wheeljack, which I have pre-ordered for United. In the end, I though, 'nah'.

Ultra Magnus bought a set and sold me his Scourge - #4 in my rising Sweep army. He had to leave pretty soon after that, so I went alone to Richmond Centre thinking of grabbing a "Henkei" Sunstorm, which I previously saw, to complete my seekers. I was a little undecided because the asking price I saw was HKD$168, which I thought was too much to pay for a KO. To my delight, they've actually dropped the price to HKD$120. Okay, got me convinced. I'll get it.

I then went to the second floor of Richmond Centre. To this shop I frequent, occasionally (okay, oxymoron). They tend to have the occasional vintage G1 MIB figure. Today, I saw..... D-98: Sixshot MIB. Wow. In times where even the reissue is rare, seeing a vintage Sixshot, MIB, in good condition was like seeing the mythical 'golden goose' (okay, I don't know why I saw that other than because I have been re-reading Bill Willingham's Fables recently and the golden goose is what Bigby uses to fund his espionage operations). 

I opened it up to check and boy was it minty. Looked like it had never been transformed. All paperworks were there and the stickers were unapplied. Actually, its bio card was missing. But guess what, I happen to have a Sixshot bio card in this large paperworks lot I acquired last year! Hurrah to good planning, ya?

Friday:

For some reason, I woke up this morning convinced that I should get Wave 7 of Generations. Why? I don't know. I just wanted to get Wheeljack. Hrumph. What silliness is this.

Went to the shops again. Got Wave 7 and on the way, picked up another 3 Scourges (no one wants them this time round).

Yesterday and today's acquisitions in one photo

Transformers Generations Wave 7 and lots of Scourges (my Sweeps)

The very sweet, D-98: Sixshot MIB...

... pure vintage goodness, not reissue

My Sweep army (all Scourges released from packaging)

The "real" Scourge is the one holding the Japanese exclusive Fracas. Can you spot him?

Focus on C-350: Rabbicrater

About 2 weeks ago, I managed to acquire 2 Rabbicraters on the very day I came back to HK from Japan. It was pretty sweet. Truth be told, I have been wanting to get this set for some time but it just really really does not pop up often, if at all.

Both pieces are in also identically good condition, so I'm very happy.

This is Rabbicrater #1

Rabbicrater #2

This is a very special set, where the main focus is not 100% on the toy. It includes:

• the Rabbicrater toy (still sealed in its plastic sleeve)
• a VHS tape containing the first and only episode of Transformers: Zone
• a vinyl mat/playscape featuring the Zone characters and story

The insides...

Rabbicrater himself... still sealed...

Vinyl map.