Transformer Collecting For The Declutterer

While failing to get caught up on my YouTube backlog I came upon a video by toy and media reviewer TJ Omega that got me thinking about collecting Transformers when space is an issue, given the current overflow of new Transformers toys. My current collection is probably only eclipsed by my comic and home video library…and I’m not even sure about the home videos. Being unemployed means I really haven’t had the chance to get more in years, and given the current space (or lack thereof) that may be for the best.

If you go to the store or a site like Amazon (there aren’t a lot of toy store options in the US and the toy section in regular department and clearance stores are disappearing faster than the department store) you’ll find not only mainline Transformers figures from Hasbro, already made up of multiple lines targeting kids and/or adult collectors, but licensed merchandise, home video releases of the show, collections of the comics, various types of prose books, and it seems the variations just keep on coming. Watch the video for yourself and see how far you get in all the different lines both transforming and statue that are coming out. Then return to reading as I have what I think is some good advice about how to balance collecting with de-cluttering while bringing up a few things not in the video.

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Book Report: The Unofficial Guide To Transformers (1980s-1990s)

In this time of the internet I can easily go to a website like TFU.info and look up pictures of Transformers figures, with a list of all accessories, remolds, repaints, redecos, all official alternate modes, and name reuses. Back in 1999 this was not the case. The internet was just getting started in the public sector, storage and bandwidth were smaller, and the web site design software was still rather privative compared to today.

So Transformers fan J.E. Alvarez got together with some fellow collectors to create The Unofficial Guide to Transformers: 1980s Through 1990s, a collection of photos and trivia published by Schiffer Publishing. Alvarez had previously worked with them on a similar book on action figures. The book goes through the history of this toyline that managed to stick with adults as well as find a home with the new children that took their place. During the previous project I stumbled upon it and thought this might be a good book to review.

Comic Organizing week 6

 

Found time between conventions to finally complete this stage of the comic organizing project. A series of piles, each pile sorted alphabetically. Now I have to sort them into new piles, all alphabetical. I also took out all the stories set in the DC & Marvel universes, which I’ll organize later. The work continues.

 

Toy Report: The Swan That Judges My Action Figures

As an adult with too big a toy collection, my criteria has changed from the days of my youth. When it comes to action figures, I collect to make a nice display or to even help me with my artistic skills. (I want to be a comic creator but knowing no artists and being tied to “my vision” I’m learning to draw on my own.) This results in having certain requirements when it comes to my action figures and even my Transformers, which I’ll be going through soon enough.

Before I begin burrowing through the rest of my “cubby hole” action figures, I thought you might want to see the standard by which I judge my action figures. Probably the coolest action figure in my collection, and anime fans will recognize the unintentional pun when I show you…

Cygnus Hyoga (the Swan)