2013 - The Year In Review

Happy New Year everyone!  2013 was a great year for me and my hobbies.  Here's a brief summary of the year:

I obtained several Transformers that I previously thought would be unobtainable for me and my finances while in the same year made the tough decision to say good bye to one of my most prized TF possessions.  I help several fellow collectors and friends put on one of the best Transformers conventions ever, Charticon.  In the process I forged some great friendships with these guys along the way and that was way better than any of the TF loot I brought home from the dealer room.  I've also found several new blogs and forged "Facebook friendships" with many of these new bloggers.  That makes me want to keep on plugging away in 2014.

Even though I haven't yet fully revealed all of the Japanese G1 goodies I acquired in late 2013, I have shared a few items that I still can't believe sit on my shelves.  Rabbicrater has always been a piece that intrigued me, but due to his demand and high price I never really sought him out.  Even though the package contains a simple repainted Micromaster and a VHS cassette I'll never watch, I was psyched to not only find this piece in this condition, but even happier to add him to my collection.

Skygarry was an interesting purchase...more of a learning lesson.  Even season, veteran collectors like myself can easily get wrapped up in the excitement of finding a good deal.  I was so excited and pumped over this potentially great deal that I didn't do my due diligence and ended up with a toy that wasn't exactly as advertised.  While I don't consider myself a perfectionist, this was just one piece that I decided didn't live up to my collection specifications.  Little did I know the proceeds from the sale of his piece would end up funding a hard to find piece of video game hardware I would end up purchasing as a part of my other hobby.

Some of you guys know that I my collecting isn't just fixated on Transformers.  While there are times I kinda wish I could just pick one hobby and let that be it, I can't.  Call me weak or whatever, but my tastes are so varied.  Why just order off the menu when you can visit the buffet?  Video games have always been something that I've really enjoyed, but I never considered myself a collector.  While that line is still a little blurry for me, I'm slowly starting to realize the fun of collecting games much like collecting toys is fun.  That said you may see more video game related content coming in the new year.  Earlier in the year I had picked up a copy of a UK retro video game magazine and the cover story on the Sega Master System really taught me some new things and eventually led to my acquisition of a completed, boxed Sega Mark III.  I still only have a few games, but so far I've really enjoyed the system and look forward to picking up more titles in the future.

While I still haven't crafted a proper post yet, I can't let this post come and go without sending out a huge "Thank you" to heroic_decepticon for hooking me up with one of my so called holy grails of TFs...Lander C-200.  One of these days I'll finally get a review posted for the toy and tell the full story, but I needed to squeeze this in as I'll forever be in debt to him.

Probably the biggest highlight of the year for me was Charticon.  It's one thing to attend a show, but to be a part of the show and help nurture it from a simple idea to a full fledge convention is entirely another thing.  Charticon was a success in the fact that a lot of people converged upon the Queen City (Charlotte, NC) and had a good time.  I was able to put some faces with some names (or shall I say discussion board handles) with faces while picking up some great toys.  Of course what great TF convention doesn't have an exclusive?  Charticon unvield a Classics themed G1 Targetmaster Quake figure, Aftershock!

The best part of being on the Charticon committee was being able to interact with so many other fans that would later become people I call my friends.  Huge shout out to Eric Warren, Roy Altherr, Scott Silver, David Cunningham, Chris 'Topher" Williams, Ronnie, Jacob Waller, DJ Short and Matt Steninger.

Just a few months ago I re-evaluated where I stand on my collecting habits.  Part of this new vision is focusing on quality in my collection versus quantity.  What that means is I've come to the conclusion that it's time to thin things out a bit.  With today's technology (i.e. social media) it's easy to get caught up w/ competing with your fellow collector...or at least I feel like that was something I suffered from at times.  However there have been times where I've felt honored to be able to share my collection and my story with the masses.  In 2012 I had that opportunity via a local television station's show called Carolina Camera.  The opportunity came knocking again in 2013 when TFSource's blogger, Maz asked if I'd like to be a part of their Collector Interview series.  Of course I said yes and I was thrilled with how Maz put all the words together.  I thought he did a great job conveying what it was like to be a collector on a budget and with a family.  I know I'm not the only one out there that collectors toys or whatever that is married with small children, but I'm glad to have been able to offer some variety to the Collector Interview segment of the blog.

I'm always searching for new blogs that interest me, whether they be Transformer related or not.  One of the better blogs I've found and one that is consistently updated with new content is Optimal Omega's blog. While I already knew about the blog it seemed as if he really stepped up his game in 2013.  When I made a Facebook page for my blog is when I really started to connect with the guy behind the blog (Alex Mendoza).  Throughout the year it's been fun reading what is going on in his collecting world and keeping tabs with him.  There have been a few other blogs and guys I discovered via Facebook as well and I hope 2014 proves to be just as entertaining as 2013 has been.

2013 was also great to my humble blog.  While I rarely look at the Statistics tab on my Blogger dashboard, I couldn't help but to be floored by what I saw.  For the year I exceeded 100,000 hits!  105,318 to be exact.  128 total posts - ranging from Transformers (of course) to LEGO to Marvel to Rock Lords and more.  I'm always honored when people not only take the time to read what I have to say, but also take the time to leave a comment.  I love toys.  Through this blog I have found new ways to appreciate those toys.  I thank everyone that has stopped by my corner of the web and I hope I can keep up the same level of quality in 2014, if not improve.  That said I did receive a nice light box/tent and a new digital camera for Christmas, so once I play with the settings and light configurations more I hope to have much better quality pictures in future reviews.  However I still have a huge backlog of things I've already photographed that I just need to edit and write up so hang in there.  While we wait for those new posts, I can finally open this ginormous stack of new toys I have sitting in the corner of my room.  Maybe I should take a poll to see what toy I should open / review first?  Hmmm...

The Year in Review

For my first post of 2013 I decided to take a few moments and look back at 2012.  2012 was a crazy year for me and my family.  The year started off as usual, but around the spring time things got a little rocky for my family and I (happily) sold off large chunks of my Transformers collection.  I say happily because I would never put my hobby in front of my family's well being.  Gone were most of my Botcon box sets, my TF Animated collection (minus a few select figures) and other 'bots that I knew would bring in decent money.

All was not lost however as things started to take a turn for the better towards the end of the year.  If you've been following my blog for awhile then you probably saw a big increase in the amount of volume towards the end of the year.  After the baseball season ended there wasn't as much going on in the trading card world so I decided to take my focus and shift it over to here.  After all my room & closet still looks like a Toys R Us store with stacks and stacks of unopened toys - just waiting to be opened and photographed for the blog.

2012 was a great year for toys.  For starters I was featured on a local news program here in the Charlotte, NC region thanks to my growing TF collection.  Sadly however the links to the video are no longer working and I don't have the capabilities of ripping the video from the disc they supplied to me.

My first review of the year was actually a rare video review for me.  I prefer the typed review over the video review, but I did show off my first Transformers 3rd party purchase - iGear Mini Warriors Spray and Rager.

In addition to toys I'm also a big video gamer and collector.  I don't do many video game reviews, but I did try my hand at reviewing one of my favorite NES games earlier in the year - Power Blade.

The first time we visited the KO Korner in 2012 featured one of the awesome Transformers KO Metamorphs.  I know a lot of collectors dismiss KOs as collectible, but in a strange way I still find them appealing and highly collectible at times.

Even though at times the blog may be Transformers heavy, I try to feature other toys that I have an interest in and this review of VOR-Tech Battle Tracker surprised even me with more than 400 hits.  Nice to see others appreciate this small, but awesome line of toys.

Perhaps the biggest splash any post made in 2012 was actually a KO Korner post of the Scramble City Basebot "Menasor".  Closing in on 1,000 hits this post exceeded every expectation even I had.  I've always wanted that toy and I figured not many people out there were familiar with it so I wanted to share it with everyone.  Even as I look at Blogger's stats I'm still amazed at the success this post and the blog as a whole have performed in 2012.

It's not often that I acquire a so called "holy grail", but in late April I saw the addition of a vintage Japanese TF added to my collection - Skyhyper w/ Deadwheeler C-346.  A generous TFW2005 board member hooked me up with this gem and I couldn't be happier.  The piece came nearly 100% complete - only missing the blue radar dish and two yellow Micromaster ramps.  Surprisingly I found the ramps from another TFW2005 member and made the trade, but I knew the chances of finding the radar dish was slim to none.  So I just grabbed an extra Skyhopper dish off of eBay and painted it blue - wha-la!  Easy place holder until I can find the real deal.

Skyhyper wasn't the only vintage TF I was able to pick up.  Thanks to a low bid + some luck on Yahoo! Japan auctions I was able to pick up an incomplete Headmaster Jr. figure - GoShooter.  I'm not a customizer and I have very little luck when it comes to restoring toys, but I think I did a great job bringing back the vintage glory of GoShooter.  I'm still in search of a box to put him in, but for less than $100 I'm happy with the final outcome.

Not able to attend Botcon (again), I was happy to spend my time and money at the big local comic book convention that is held annually in my own backyard of Charlotte, NC - HeroesCon.  For the first time in several years I was able to attend all 3 days.  I did my best to document each day I attended - 1st, 2nd and 3rd days.  Even though I had dropped most of my comic purchasing earlier in the year it still was a blast.  Looking ahead to 2013 I'll probably be skipping HeroesCon in lieu of Charticon in August.  This will be a labor of love for many here in my area and I can't wait to throw my support behind what is shaping up to be an awesome show.

I'm always looking for new toys and thanks to a thread I saw over at TFW2005 in the ToyArk I discovered the awesome (and afforadable) line of transformable vehicles called DiaRobo.  I still have LOTS of these guys to share here so if you liked what you saw in my first post then keep reading as I've bought just about the entire line thus far!

Just when I thought I couldn't run across any good deals online I was given the opportunity of adding my very first Diaclone to my Transformers collection.  Not just any Diaclone though.  The Diaclone of my favorite G1 figure/character - Sunstreaker!  I kinda wish the deal would've been for the red version, but I'll take this one any day of the week.  I still can't believe this little gem now resides in my man cave.

One more deal was to be had before the year drew to a close - this time on the video game front.  The Castlevania series of games have always been one of my favorites.  So much that I bought a Japanese PC Engine game console a few years ago just so I could play the one lone entry on the PC Engine platform - Dracula X.  Needless to say I was elated not only when I landed the game, but also paid a fraction of what it usually sells for online.

Back on the Transformers front 2012 brought forth one of the best TF series since Beast Wars.  Not only was Transformers Prime shaping up to be an excellent toy line, but once I was able to watch the television show thanks to Netflix I began to realize just how awesome Prime was.  I secured season 2 on Bluray for Christmas so I'm just now slowly working my way through the 2nd season and man oh man what a roller coaster ride it's been.  Not to be outdone, Takara Tomy unleashed the Prime toys in Japan with a twist - Microns!  Several toys would be released in the east that Hasbro wouldn't touch for some reason.  I found myself importing most of these non-U.S. releases and one of the most anticipated toys was Gaia Unicron.  It may not be the definite release of the chaos bringer, but it's a great toy non the less.

Perhaps my favorite toy of 2012 may come as a surprise to many.  With all of the great toys that were released in the year I gotta say my favorite even surprised me.  Toy World's first entry into the crowded Transformers 3rd party world was a great modern take on the G1 Throttlebot Rollbar - Grind Rod was worth every penny and I simply cannot wait for the next release.

2013 is already shaping up to be a great year.  There are so many toys coming in the first 2 quarters that I'm thinking I may need to pick up a 2nd job just to keep up with everything!  I can't promise you'll see all the hot toys featured here (heck, I still haven't opened my Masterpiece Lambor, FansProject Steelcore and several Arms Micron releases from this year!), but I'll continue to do my best bringing attention to lots and lots of great toys in the year to come. 

Thanks to all of you that have read and commented on my posts throughout the year.  I don't have sponsors and I may not have the followers that some YouTube reviewers have.  I do this because I enjoy toys and I enjoy writing and blogging about them.  Here's to a great 2013!