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Collectors of vintage Transformers and pre-Transformers regularly deal with items that are nearly 30 years old, most of which are pre-owned, loved and abused, so they can be trusted to employ the required care and attention in order to preserve these collector’s items of value and beauty. That is, until very recently, when stories of broken vintage pre-TFs and rare G1 in the hands of long-time experienced collectors started to increase.

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All the worst,
Maz

Great article, what a horror show

Each one of those makes my wallet shiver in terror! At this point, if I ever get something that old and valueable, I'll just encase the whole thing in lucite and call it a day.

Man, as i scrolled down my heart sank lower and lower. I've snapped a few TF's in my time, but to see those figures all busted up...

Hey Maz, if you're reading this, is that Amsterdam store called "A Space Oddity" by any chance? If it is, small world.

And this article is one of the reasons I'm really iffy about collecting vintage pieces. I'm too friggin' scared to break one as I don't know my own strength at times. And I have pretty strong hands to begin with

And the Browning... I'm shivering in horror. I literally feel your pain.

First it's Gold Plastic, now a certain type of blue plastic is starting to show problems. Creepy, but definitely worth investigating.

Space Oddity indeed!

Well, to be fair, blue plastic (especially sparkly) has always been problematic, that's why I included the picture of the Powered Convoy, those are just horrific for snapped parts and always have been. Pre-TF Megatron blue plastic and Browning has also been known for a while to be sensitive. My own Browning episode was down to stupidity and not remembering the correct transformation sequence which is especially important for that mould. The broken Diaclone Thundercracker surprised me though.

All the best
Maz

Out of curiosity, would that affect Transformer line figures as well? Or does that depend on the location of origin like Macau?

I'm not too sure, but the blue plastic used on Thundercracker was less sparkly than that used on the Diaclone Acrobat F15, so they may have combated the brittleness that way. I haven;t seen too many Masterforce Brownings with the same issue as the Micro Change ones. Also the Walther P38, Browning and F15 moulds were never manufactured in Macau as far as I know, just Japan for pre-Transformers and then Japan and China for TFs, not counting local variations.

Certainly in the case of Diatrain and Cosmocar, the Macau manufactured versions that made it into Grandstand, GiG and Joustra packaging are of lower quality than the Japanese manufactured ones.

I've always maintained that the quality of Transformers figures in my experience was higher than that of Diaclone.

All the best
Maz

I've had the Devastator one happen to me. It's a thin piece of plastic there.