Xbox One S

Another month, and another games console!
After purchasing a Nintendo 3DS in August, September sees a Xbox One S added to the console line-up.

With the release of the Xbox One in 2014, I was tempted to upgrade from the Xbox 360, however knew that just like the 360 there would be a mid cycle upgrade and eventually that came true in the form of an Xbox One S. After checking out the local deals, I eventually purchased bundle containing a 500GB console, Halo 5, Halo Master Chief Collection and Doom (and because it is practically required, a play and charge battery kit)

A day later I purchased a copy of Forza Horizon 2, and then a few days later, copies of Transformers Devastation and Need for Speed Rivals for cheap.

And a few days later came the purchase of an additional 2TB hard drive that worked out to be a lot cheaper than purchasing a 2TB version of the console.

Not to be outdone, the 3DS also got some love in the early part of the month with the purchase of four games that were on sale at a local online store.

Transformers for August (and early September)

As with past months, the end of August saw quite a few new Transformers releases in Japan - the continuation of Unite Warriors giftsets, Transformers Adventures, Transformers Legends and Masterpiece items.

Under the Unite Warriors line, comes another fantastic giftset featuring Computron. As has been the norm for all of these releases, the Japanese version comes with some significant re-tooling of existing Unite Warriors figures to give a very close to G1 accurate update as possible.

Transformers Adventure continues to release the odd new character and this month sees the release of another much needed Decepticon deluxe, Scorponok.

Transformers Legends continues with the Japanese releases of "Titan Masters"; Blurr and Scourge who have already had releases in previous "CHUG" lineups, but this time they have had alt modes that closely resemble the G1 versions and of course now feature headmasters. The scout sized Shockwave that Hasbro released under Combiner Wars also gets a Japanese release in his signature lighter purple, and comes with a bonus headmaster for use with compatible Transformers.

With the arrival of new Hasbro Transformers items in local stores, I decided to add some items to the collection that I do not think Takara Tomy will release in Japan due to their strange nature. If I am wrong, then I can always sell them again...

Matchbox Land Rover Series

Walking around Toyworld at lunch time I was surprised to see a new Matchbox series on the pegs that I had seen via other blog sites, but did not expect to arrive in New Zealand - the 6 car Land Rover series.

A great set from an iconic car company!

RAOK from DCTV

During one of the videos from DCTV (aka, the team of three), they mentioned that their local stores had seen a restock of Matchbox including the new 2016 H case which included a new model I was after for the collection. After checking out local stores and seeing that the restock did not include the new cases, I reached out to the team to see if they could help me acquire the new item.
Several days later I had an email advising me that they had secured the item, the parcel was on the way and that not only did I not owe them any money for the purchase or postage, but they had included some travelling companions.

Several days later a parcel arrived from the team and sure enough they had included the Matchbox VW Transporter Cab (the item I wanted), along with a variation of the VW Transporter Cab and several companions including two carded items and a loose car.

The variation between the Matchbox VW Transporter Cab is quite neat, either a plain bed or one lined with tools.

Included in the parcel were a couple of free and unexpected items - carded Boulevard and Cool Classics releases, and a loose Scion FR-S. Since the Scion does not include the required front and rear tampo's to be included in the loose collection, I have decided that I may try my customisation skills (or lack of) on it ...

Many thanks to the team of three for going out and finding and sending these items to me - much appreciated and I hope to be able to return the favour one of these days.

Nintendo 3DS

At the start of July I download Pokemon Go like millions of others around the world and got hooked into the concept of finding Pokemon in the real world. 6 weeks on, the grind is well and truly on, but the interest is still strong and I look forward to the weekend when I can get out and explore more of the city in the hope that something new is found. The renewed interest also had me looking at some of the Nintendo handheld games - something that I had only spent about 5 minutes playing back in the day via emulators - and after looking around online and in local stores, I decided to purchase a "New" Nintendo 3DS XL, with a copy of Pokemon Omega Ruby.

Local stores selling the consoles were very limited, with most stores that sold consoles sticking to Xbox and Playstation, but I eventually found a store that had a pretty decent bundle - a 3DS XL (the redesigned "New" version), along with a copy of either Pokemon Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire, an Amiibo character (I had to choose Charizard) and the separate AC adapter required to actually recharge the console.

Only time will tell if it was a wise decision to purchase the console, or a waste of money..

Hot Wheels 2016 N and P Case

After a good month of nothing new on the store shelves, Hot Wheels mainline N and P cases arrived at the same time across the country and I was able to get most of what I needed - of course there were no Super Treasure Hunts to be found, but that is to be expected.

Sticking with my 2016 purchase restrictions, the majority of purchases from the N case where "New Models", though due to the timing of the case, most are repaints of already existing new models. The two exceptions are the 2017 Ford GT40 which makes its debut in the N case and a McLaren P1 which is a repaint I decided to open (and not add to the sealed collection).

Only two cars from the P case, both new models that make their debut to the Hot Wheels line up.

I did also purchase this 96 Nissan 180SX Type X as the HW Speed Graphics segment has been the one main departure from my 2016 purchase restrictions. Based on information I could both in store and later on, I am positive that this car was not a N or P case release, but cannot place what case it came from.

Only one more case to go for 2016, and then 2017 begins .. along with maybe even further restrictions on what is added to the collection.

Hot Wheels Super Treasure Hunts and other misc purchases

Readers of the blog as well as watches of the YouTube channel will have noticed a significant decrease in the number of videos and blog posts since July - this was mostly down to nothing significant arriving in the stores locally, along with almost nothing available to import from overseas. That being said, the odd purchase has come in during the quiet time but has often just been a single item which never translates well into an exciting video or blog post.

Back in June I organised the purchase of a Super Treasure Hunt from HWCNZ but sadly even though tracking advised it was delivered, I arrived home from work to find no evidence of any new parcels. thankfully HWCNZ assisted in starting the lost parcel process from New Zealand Post, and after a few weeks of back and forth, HWCNZ advised he had received a refund and then passed that back to me. As a result of not having a Super Treasure Hunt I wanted, I asked around the Facebook group if anyone had one they wished to part with. My good friend from the capital city got in touch, and a few days later I had a new Super Treasure Hunt to add to the collection.

A few weeks after the above arrival, my good friend from the capital city posted a Super Treasure Hunt sale list on the Facebook group, and I expressed my interest in a few of them. Eventually I was advised that I was successful in getting what I wanted and then asked if I could add in another item and a few days later I had another parcel at work.

Another good contact advised via the Facebook group that he was over in Australia and was able to get the Ghostbusters 2 car sets; I advised that I was interested in the 2016 Ecto-1 and Ecto-2 set and then waited to see what would happen. Several weeks later I was advised by a parcel containing the set arriving in the mail and so made contact with the sender to see what I owed.

Thanks mainly to restocks, I was able to add a few more L/M and Matchbox cars to the collection over several weeks.