The Energon Pub

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Wed Aug 10, 2016 10:04 pm

Found some more interesting stuff on my hunt today at the local thrift shop:

Nobody liked this toy or cared and it was weird as hell with its deco, but its funny that this target exclusive optimus toy is found now while target no longer exists in canada

Its the second time i see WFC bumblebee in a thrift shop, leading me to believe that a lot of parents picked these up and a lot of kids didnt like em enough to not care if their parents get rid of it 4 years later.

There was also a limbless prime dreadwing which I picked up because mine has some breakage at the wing. The wings on this one was fine so yay.

And yeah, Titans Return legends wave 2 hit my local walmart

News Credits: 1642 · by **D-Maximal_Primal** » Wed Aug 10, 2016 10:09 pm

I wish I could find WFC Bee's hanging around like that at that cheap of price

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 8:20 am

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:I wish I could find WFC Bee's hanging around like that at that cheap of price

He was missing a leg though :lol:

News Credits: 1642 · by **D-Maximal_Primal** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 3:08 pm

william-james88 wrote:
D-Maximus_Primal wrote:I wish I could find WFC Bee's hanging around like that at that cheap of price

He was missing a leg though

Ok, fair enough :lol:

News Credits: 6 · by **EmirateXaaron** » Thu Aug 11, 2016 3:12 pm

I actually have a few of those weird Transformers statues that I got at a garage sale. The lady who was running the sale caught me checking them out, and told me I could have 'em. I'll have to get some pictures when I get home.

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 11:03 pm

Oh man, the Thrift shop was bursting with TF figures. Mostly movie, of course, but most in great condition (though I had several of them already).

Jazz and breakaway.

Got it for the Jazz, the paint looked great!

Voyager Optimus from the first movie

Didnt get it

Sentinel Prime voyager

Didnt get it (its a terrible toy)

Rescue Bot Brontosaur TF

Didnt buy it.

This was an amazing find though: G1 Vroom

Bought it.

News Credits: 1642 · by **D-Maximal_Primal** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 11:24 pm

Dude, I'm pretty sure that is a Smokescreen, not a Jazz:

Which is still an awesome find!

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 8:32 am

I am not as well versed in those toys compared to most other lines so I didnt know he was another character. So I just used Jazz to mean the mold I found. Its a really nie deco on him, I will keep this one this time

News Credits: 1642 · by **D-Maximal_Primal** » Tue Oct 04, 2016 9:31 am

william-james88 wrote:I am not as well versed in those toys compared to most other lines so I didnt know he was another character. So I just used Jazz to mean the mold I found. Its a really nie deco on him, I will keep this one this time

I'd hope you keep him. The paint job is really well done!

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 9:21 pm

The thrift shop was loaded with TFs today, many broken, but some nice ones including a really nice AOE Galvatron for cheap (but I already have him, so he will go to someone else).

I swear I see as many movie jazz toys as movie bb toys out there, they must have made a truckload of jazz.

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Thu Nov 17, 2016 11:19 pm

Found more AOE toys today, this time the Dinobots Slug and Grimlock. I am very surprised at the high turnover of these toys. Parents buy them and 2 years later, kids dont mind getting rid of them, wow.

Also mcdonalds armada starscream and Movie 1 voyager Optimus (with a missing arm)

News Credits: 1642 · by **D-Maximal_Primal** » Thu Nov 17, 2016 11:20 pm

Deployer Fracture thrown in there too

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Thu Nov 17, 2016 11:34 pm

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Deployer Fracture thrown in there too

Oh right yeah, I forgot. He didnt have his arms. If he did, I would have bought it for fun.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:09 am

Only thrift stores in my area are two Goodwills and the toys that show up there are fast food and dollar store junk. I think around here the families would rather give away their kids' toys or squirrel them away.

Emerje

News Credits: 11 · by **RAR** » Fri Nov 18, 2016 3:43 am

Well I did get an intact Weaponizer Prime for £2.50 in a Charity shop, so I suppose that is something.

I'm still trying to find a single RID Legion Ratchet where the paint matches on both the left & right legs.

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Tue Jan 17, 2017 10:02 pm

Found a ton of 80s stuff at the thrift shop today, along with other TF products

I took this pic for Emerje

Anyone know who this is?

More on what I found in my collection thread

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 2:39 am

william-james88 wrote:I took this pic for Emerje

I like how Murdock is just leering at him over his shoulder.

Anyone know who this is?

That would be Vash the Stampede from the anime Trigun from Japanese toy company Kaiyodo. They were readily available in North America through comic, movie, and game shops back in 2000. This was back during the anime market bubble so they aren't very rare and it's not a great figure to begin with. The legs broke easily, the head sculpt wasn't great (which was disappointing for this company), and McFarlane (yeah, that McFarlane) made a much better looking figure not long after.

Emerje

News Credits: 60 · by **fenrir72** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 7:03 am

Emerje wrote:
william-james88 wrote:I took this pic for Emerje

I like how Murdock is just leering at him over his shoulder.

Anyone know who this is?

That would be Vash the Stampede from the anime Trigun from Japanese toy company Kaiyodo. They were readily available in North America through comic, movie, and game shops back in 2000. This was back during the anime market bubble so they aren't very rare and it's not a great figure to begin with. The legs broke easily, the head sculpt wasn't great (which was disappointing for this company), and McFarlane (yeah, that McFarlane) made a much better looking figure not long after.

Emerje

Design wise, an acquired taste. So whether an American sculptor can design a much better fig over a JP sculptor is a subjective opinion.

As for the quality, yup. Kaiyodo's QC/materials suck. Unlike a Snickers bar or M and M's, it does the opposite..............melts in the pack even before you even open them.

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:01 am

fenrir72 wrote:Design wise, an acquired taste. So whether an American sculptor can design a much better fig over a JP sculptor is a subjective opinion.

We're veering off topic, but the Kaiyodo Vash was pretty well panned at the time for not following the anime aesthetic, favoring the manga look instead. The slicked back hair and lack of glasses (unless you were lucky enough to find the variant) wasn't very popular. People really only started taking interest in it when the much better Wolfwood and Monev came out later. The McFarlane version was more popular for a little while thanks to being pretty close to the anime look, though it took hits for basically being a statue.

Though maybe things were different where you're from.

As for the quality, yup. Kaiyodo's QC/materials suck. Unlike a Snickers bar or M and M's, it does the opposite..............melts in the pack even before you even open them.

Their quality has improved over time, but yeah, their figures circa 2000 would break with ease. My Vash broke a leg, Monev has his stand peg stuck in his foot, my SDCC exclusive glow in the dark Eva lost an arm, and one of my Fist of the North Star guys lost a leg as well. Brittle stuff.

Emerje

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:30 am

This is very much a free for all thread, so veering off topic is not that bad. Its not like anyone is clicking this thread hoping to see some specific news and discussion. And we can find all sorts of stuff on our TF hunts, as I did.

Anyways, about McFarlane, am I the only one who calls BS on him actually sculpting every figure?

News Credits: 41 · by **Cobotron** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 7:46 pm

Does McFarlen ( sorry, spelling ?) claim to sculpt everything. I'd never heard that before. I know for a fact he doesn't as I'm friends with a sculptor who has freelanced for him for years.

News Credits: 4835 · by **william-james88** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:07 pm

Cobotron wrote:Does McFarlen ( sorry, spelling ?) claim to sculpt everything. I'd never heard that before. I know for a fact he doesn't as I'm friends with a sculptor who has freelanced for him for years.

I was basing it off the info i found on this page for this figure where he is credited as the sculptor.

http://myfigurecollection.net/item/2206

News Credits: 41 · by **Cobotron** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:54 pm

william-james88 wrote:
Cobotron wrote:Does McFarlen ( sorry, spelling ?) claim to sculpt everything. I'd never heard that before. I know for a fact he doesn't as I'm friends with a sculptor who has freelanced for him for years.

I was basing it off the info i found on this page for this figure where he is credited as the sculptor.

http://myfigurecollection.net/item/2206

I would think that he does do some of them. He's no shlub when it comes to art. I just know he doesn't do them all.
I wonder though if that web site just defaults to his name. Like any company, Hasbro, Mattel, Hallmark, Gental Giant, etc.they don't usually give credit to the specific artist if they are under contract.

What does that site show for other McFarlane toys?

MyFigureCollection.net collection · by **Emerje** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 10:52 pm

william-james88 wrote:
Cobotron wrote:Does McFarlen ( sorry, spelling ?) claim to sculpt everything. I'd never heard that before. I know for a fact he doesn't as I'm friends with a sculptor who has freelanced for him for years.

I was basing it off the info i found on this page for this figure where he is credited as the sculptor.

http://myfigurecollection.net/item/2206

Nah, the site is user edited so someone was clearly misinformed. I don't think he really had a hand in the sculpting of anything from McFarlane Toys, but I do think at that point he was still head designer and a lot of the figures were made based on his layouts.

Emerje

News Credits: 12 · by **Evil Eye** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:29 am

Kaiyodo nowadays make some absolutely fantastic toys, namely Revoltech (one of my favourite toys ever is by them- a ludicrously poseable figure of a skeleton from Jason and the Argonauts) but there's no doubt their early stuff sucked. Great sculpts, gorgeous paint...appalling articulation and craptacular materials. High end Japanese stuff should be handled with care anyway but the level of fragility on pre-Revoltech Kaiyodo stuff is just silly.

Anyway, some really interesting stuff in this thread. I've never seen any TFs in my local charity shops, but I'll have to take another look in 'em just in case.