January Japanese Transformers

The good thing about purchasing Japanese Transformers is that they have specified release dates, so you know when something is going to come out. The supplier I currently use in Japan is also very quick in getting a parcel out the door - early morning payment request and late afternoon/early evening ship. This results in a parcel arriving from Japan within days of the toy being released in Japan.

This months releases are part of the Legends line in Japan, continuing on with releasing more Generations toys with very slight changes to the decoration over the American release.

First up, the two pack of the Legends/Scout figures Swerve and Tailgate with their respective Targetmaster partners. The decoration on both figures has been darkened, while Tailgate has also lost the strange blue that was present on the American release and both of these improvements are welcome additions to the toys. The Targetmasters have also changed but as I am not a fan of the *master idea, these figures/weapons will be heading to the parts drawer.

The second and final release is the first Headmaster released in the on-going "CHUG" lineup of toys, Brainstorm. Sporting additional and much needed paint applications around the chest, this figure looks fantastic but is someone ruined by being a Headmaster (a concept I am not at all fond off - robots need their own heads) and a very simple Transformation - arms and legs both unfold, the hands and feet flip out, the nose cone ends up on the back of the robot and the head is attached. The previously mentioned Legends have harder transformations.

And yes, now that I am not keeping a sealed collection any more, these have been opened.

Older Hot Wheels - 2005 and 2006 Models

One of my good buddies on the New Zealand Hot Wheels group (via Facebook) had the opportunity to purchase a complete 2005 and 2006 collection, and over the last few months has been sorting out the spares from the collection - merging what he already had with the new arrivals.

Back in October 2014, I received the first parcel containing many 2006 models and today the second parcel arrived containing 2005 and 2006 cars (plus some 2015 E case items that he had managed to find for me in the hour between posting my wish list and checking out the local store).

My goal when going back in time to get cars from before I started collecting was to keep it simple, not to go crazy getting to many and try to stick to real cars as much as possible. In some ways I have failed, as I ended up getting many more cars than I expected to ever have but its nice to have some older castings in the collection that are no longer available in the mainline assortment.

Enjoy the images of what I received

A True RAOK from someone in New Zealand

Coming home from a hard day at the office to find a parcel is a great way to end the day. Thinking I knew what it was, I opened the New Zealand Post baggie to find a box and upon opening the box and looking at the contents I knew that this was not the parcel I was expecting to find.

Going back to the baggie, I checked it over for any kind of clue as to who sent the parcel but came up empty handed as the sender address label was blank and no additional tracking had been purchased to provide some clue as to the post office the parcel was sent from.

So whoever you are who sent this parcel, thank you very much.
Fingers crossed that someone from the YouTube community speaks up and lets me know if they sent the parcel (and maybe more importantly, how they got my address).

Matchbox from 2002 - 50th Anniversary

Various Hot Wheels

Mystery Models

Opened Mystery Models

Even older Matchbox - 2000 releases

Hot Wheels 2015 D and E Case Selection

Over the past week and a bit, reports have come in around New Zealand, that D and then E case cars were being found. In this hobby, I have had to accept that my location in New Zealand (at the South of the South Island) means that North Island sightings do not mean that any stores in my local area will actually be stocking the same things.

The week started with a call from the local Toyworld that they had received a new case of mainline Hot Wheels in, and excitement turned to disappointment when I finally got down there to see 2015 C case cars on the pegs. As the week dragged on, reports from the North Island indicated that "The Warehouse" had once again started filling dump bins with 2014 Hot Wheels cars, specifically more of the D, E and F case cars that had been parallel imported and known as cut cards because, well, the top right hand corner of the card has been cut.

Before heading into work today (Friday) I headed to the large branch of "The Warehouse" to see if anything new had been put out and too my horror saw that the dump bin was FULL of these parallel imported cut cards, as was the overstock. Disappointed that no D or E case cars were to be found, I went to work and posted a wish list on the Facebook group I belong to looking for some assistance with the 2015 D and E case cars I needed.

Heading out at lunch, I again headed to Kmart (no relation to Kmart USA) to see if they had restocked and "joy". In the aisle was a worker, holding a 2015 E case and filling the pegs one car at a time. As I got closer and confirmed the E case, I took a look at the pegs, quickly grabbed one car and then stood back to let the worker complete her task. 10 minutes later I headed to the checkout, paid and went back to work. Along the way I let a few people know what I found and then at work cancelled my earlier wish list post on Facebook since I had found the majority of the wish list. "YAY!"

My Finds

Eagle eyed spotters will notice a car with a small "TH" on the rear fender, this was the car I first saw when I was closer to the pegs and the first car I grabbed. Very happy to find this Super Treasure Hunt as it was one I was really wanting to find and have over the last few months passed up opportunities to purchase one at a premium price. 

The Ferrari 599XX is a stealer casting and with the end of the Mattel/Hot Wheels partnership, will surely be hoarded by many and is part of the reason I got two. Part of me wishes I had the skills to customise the rear of the car to add in the missed rear details so I could add an opener to the collection.

In real live, my car is a 1996 Honda Civic and I just can't pass up the opportunity to purchase a "1/64" scale model of a Honda Civic (even if this casting is of an earlier generation). The 2014 new models came in two great colours but I think this one can't be beaten with the perfect combination of black paint and red racing tampographs. 

The regular Treasure Hunt is ... well, odd. Nice to get another real car as a Treasure Hunt, but is not one that really appeals to me. Some folks may ask why I got two then if I don't really like it and its because both of these are heading to others - one to the Facebook group and one in a Treasure Hunt parcel to a fellow YouTube Collector.

Cheap RLC Cars

As mentioned in the post about the Blown Delivery, the HWC website had a pre Christmas sale offering 50% off Series 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 items left in the store (and free USA postage if the order was over $25). My wish list was large, but being the most expensive time of the year I took my time ordering and unfortunately, two of my most wanted cars sold out almost instantly.

Eventually I made an order for 7 cars, and they arrived this week from the USA forwarding address. Nothing special or spectacular in the mix, but just cars to fill in gaps in what I want from the RLC cars.

Sadly, even at half price I just cannot bring myself to purchase doubles and open these cars and start a loose RLC car collection. Fingers crossed one day I'll be able to find a large lot of already loose cars on the open market and indulge.

Lego Mini Figures - Series 13

Ah Lego, you know us collectors so well and here we are at the start of 2015 and yet another release of Lego Mini Figures have just hit New Zealand Retail.

For each mix, I look at the characters and tell myself "just one or two", which of course turns into quite a few more. For a few mixes, I was able to resist the urge to purchase these (around the same time that being able to identify the figures either using the barcodes or bump codes disappeared from the packets), but with my new found contacts at the local Toyworld who are experts at feeling the packets and actually labelling for customers, the resolve to leave them alone has disappeared and I find myself eagerly awaiting the new mix.

So far, 9 packets have been purchased and only one double has been found.
Enjoy

Superion!

Can we get another OH YEAH!

After what feels like months of waiting, and checking the tracking status every day, my small Amazon order containing the first wave of Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Deluxes has finally arrived and now I can form SUPERION!

Well, sorta

For reasons only known to Hasbro, they decided a) not to include Slingshot as a member of the team (replacing him with a new character Alpha Bravo) and b) not to sell all the Aerialbots in the first wave, pushing Air Raid to the second wave and leaving collectors with a Decepticon to form the arm or leg.

A few hours later - after carefully removing bubbles to preserve that lovely card artwork and extracting the figures from the packaging and then taking the time to admire the individual robot and alt modes - Superion was finally in hand and OH YEAH!
Words cannot describe how awesome it is to have this combiner in the collection.

Now, the never ending battle of trying to reorganise the display collection to somehow fit this guy in!