The Energon Pub

Sonic Assault Mini-con team

RhA wrote:Your quest for Botcon Ratchet just goes to show that treasures and trash are a matter of perspective.

I really am having a hard time figuring out what exactly is the grail of my collection. Among my collection is are boxed Masterforce figures... Gilmer, Blood, Dauros, Lander, Cab and a load of others. The whole of those figures to me are my grails. Maybe Lander is the number 1 in there, given it's status as a mail away toy in Japan at the time.

One man's trash is another's treasure... Pretenders!

i have a decent amount of g1 pretenders. lol

however, to answer the thread, Predaking and Omega Supreme. i know theyve been reissued, and ill take the reissues, just the price is out of reach. lol

I collect the combiners so the big piece of my collection is Raiden the G1 Japanese only Trainbot. I only lack three G1 combiners now, and those are my Grails. DinoKing, Guard City, and Battle Gaea.

I actually thought my collecting of new figures would be over until Hasbro unveiled the FOC Bruticus. He'll be my only new figure purchase this year.

Those pics of Dinoking rock!!! I want one!!! I just started on my quest of combiners, lol, he has been added to the list.

I got really excited over the FOC Brut too, but I wish Onslaught was a voyager…his body looks too weak to support limbs.

TraitorJ wrote:

WolfDawg wrote:My grail is the Botcon 2006 Dawn of Future's Past boxset. I had a few opportunities to buy the set for 600 bucks a few years ago, but had to pass due to financial reasons. Now it goes for a cool grand which is WAY more than I'm comfortable paying. However, I'm getting a pretty big settlement check by the end of this summer and I told my wife I was taking 1000 bucks to just splurge. I had my eye on some gym equipment, but there's a strong chance I'll try to snag that boxset...

Well, gym equipment isn't hard to come by, but that set is. I think you know what you must do.

As for my Grail... I don't really know. I've been thinking about this most of the week, and I don't really have a TF Grail.

The Grail of my collection of transforming toys was the Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad figures I got 4 years ago. Since then though, there hasn't been much that I've had that "I'll do anything to have that" feeling for.

Wiser words have never been spoken, my friend.

jordie5150 wrote:

RhA wrote:Your quest for Botcon Ratchet just goes to show that treasures and trash are a matter of perspective.

I really am having a hard time figuring out what exactly is the grail of my collection. Among my collection is are boxed Masterforce figures... Gilmer, Blood, Dauros, Lander, Cab and a load of others. The whole of those figures to me are my grails. Maybe Lander is the number 1 in there, given it's status as a mail away toy in Japan at the time.

One man's trash is another's treasure... Pretenders!

Funny you should mention Predaking. He was once one of my grails, but this was like 8 years ago before the current reissue. Predaking prices back then were insane, so I just kinda stopped caring about the guy. Even when the 2010 reissue was released, I had no desire to get the figure anymore and just let it slip away. Oddly enough, last week I won an eBay auction for a 2010 Predaking reissue set w/ Crazy Devy Kings Wings upgrade AND the reissue Seacons for 150 bucks! I was so excited that I went and ordered the Junkion Preadking power parts to add mine. I've been tracking the two packages and they should both be here by the end of the week! SOOOOOO freaking excited. I guess I obtained one of my old grails and then some!

Fistful of Energon wrote:not to be cliche but currently...Fort Max! I had the privilege to hold one at my local collectible toy shop and I fell in love! He is so BIG! and HEAVY! and I must one day own that beautiful behemoth!

The damned thing goes for some top $ and I have a tendency to be a bit of a deal hound when it comes to vintage figures so there goes alot of my choices. Someday...its a personal promise.

How tall is Fort Max?

WolfDawg wrote:

TraitorJ wrote:

WolfDawg wrote:My grail is the Botcon 2006 Dawn of Future's Past boxset. I had a few opportunities to buy the set for 600 bucks a few years ago, but had to pass due to financial reasons. Now it goes for a cool grand which is WAY more than I'm comfortable paying. However, I'm getting a pretty big settlement check by the end of this summer and I told my wife I was taking 1000 bucks to just splurge. I had my eye on some gym equipment, but there's a strong chance I'll try to snag that boxset...

Well, gym equipment isn't hard to come by, but that set is. I think you know what you must do.

As for my Grail... I don't really know. I've been thinking about this most of the week, and I don't really have a TF Grail.

The Grail of my collection of transforming toys was the Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad figures I got 4 years ago. Since then though, there hasn't been much that I've had that "I'll do anything to have that" feeling for.

Wiser words have never been spoken, my friend.

jordie5150 wrote:

RhA wrote:Your quest for Botcon Ratchet just goes to show that treasures and trash are a matter of perspective.

I really am having a hard time figuring out what exactly is the grail of my collection. Among my collection is are boxed Masterforce figures... Gilmer, Blood, Dauros, Lander, Cab and a load of others. The whole of those figures to me are my grails. Maybe Lander is the number 1 in there, given it's status as a mail away toy in Japan at the time.

One man's trash is another's treasure... Pretenders!

Funny you should mention Predaking. He was once one of my grails, but this was like 8 years ago before the current reissue. Predaking prices back then were insane, so I just kinda stopped caring about the guy. Even when the 2010 reissue was released, I had no desire to get the figure anymore and just let it slip away. Oddly enough, last week I won an eBay auction for a 2010 Predaking reissue set w/ Crazy Devy Kings Wings upgrade AND the reissue Seacons for 150 bucks! I was so excited that I went and ordered the Junkion Preadking power parts to add mine. I've been tracking the two packages and they should both be here by the end of the week! SOOOOOO freaking excited. I guess I obtained one of my old grails and then some!

nice. simply nice.

Blurrz wrote:Sonic Assault Mini-con team

Huh, I've never heard of that one I-... Pfftt. xD
That's hilarious, I didn't know they did a fembot mini-con team. It's a good set of mini-con molds too, good lucking finding 'em!

RAcast wrote:

Blurrz wrote:Sonic Assault Mini-con team

Huh, I've never heard of that one I-... Pfftt. xD
That's hilarious, I didn't know they did a fembot mini-con team. It's a good set of mini-con molds too, good lucking finding 'em!

I had to tfwiki them, lol

tentagil wrote:I collect the combiners so the big piece of my collection is Raiden the G1 Japanese only Trainbot. I only lack three G1 combiners now, and those are my Grails. DinoKing, Guard City, and Battle Gaea.

I actually thought my collecting of new figures would be over until Hasbro unveiled the FOC Bruticus. He'll be my only new figure purchase this year.

That DinoKing bad boy is expensive!

In the last week I've finally acquired two of my most serious grails: pieces I had been looking for a couple of years. First, I finally got my hands on a very nice and very complete Liokaiser! Arguably the best Transformers combiner ever: and I can finally testify that it is indeed very good (although it doesn't surpass G1 Devastator imho).

And secondly, I had been after a MISB Classic Heroes version G1 Wheeljack for a very long time. One was listed om eBay since somewhere last year, but at a BIN price that ensured I wouldn't buy it. In the meantime, last year one other appeared on eBay, I bid a pretty large sum on it but lost out at the last minute. Then, due to the buyer not coughing up, it got relisted(!) and again I bid a large sum on it and again lost out. Last week however, the one I had been watching for the too high BIN price was finally taken down by the seller, who changed ot to a real auction item. Once again I bid on it, and... I finally won it, for a much more comfortable price!

Funny thing is, when it was still on eBay as a BIN, I actually contacted the seller to ask if he'd sell it for a slightly lower price than he had it listed at. He refused, but now I will actually be paying him less than my offer was at the time!

alldarker wrote:Funny thing is, when it was still on eBay as a BIN, I actually contacted the seller to ask if he'd sell it for a slightly lower price than he had it listed at. He refused, but now I will actually be paying him less than my offer was at the time!

Nice. Very nice.

Back on track... For me, it's got to be Battle Convoy.

alldarker wrote:In the last week I've finally acquired two of my most serious grails: pieces I had been looking for a couple of years. First, I finally got my hands on a very nice and very complete Liokaiser! Arguably the best Transformers combiner ever: and I can finally testify that it is indeed very good (although it doesn't surpass G1 Devastator imho).

And secondly, I had been after a MISB Classic Heroes version G1 Wheeljack for a very long time. One was listed om eBay since somewhere last year, but at a BIN price that ensured I wouldn't buy it. In the meantime, last year one other appeared on eBay, I bid a pretty large sum on it but lost out at the last minute. Then, due to the buyer not coughing up, it got relisted(!) and again I bid a large sum on it and again lost out. Last week however, the one I had been watching for the too high BIN price was finally taken down by the seller, who changed ot to a real auction item. Once again I bid on it, and... I finally won it, for a much more comfortable price!

Funny thing is, when it was still on eBay as a BIN, I actually contacted the seller to ask if he'd sell it for a slightly lower price than he had it listed at. He refused, but now I will actually be paying him less than my offer was at the time!

Congratulations on owning a Liokaiser. Awesomesauce.

alldarker wrote:In the last week I've finally acquired two of my most serious grails: pieces I had been looking for a couple of years. First, I finally got my hands on a very nice and very complete Liokaiser! Arguably the best Transformers combiner ever: and I can finally testify that it is indeed very good (although it doesn't surpass G1 Devastator imho).

And secondly, I had been after a MISB Classic Heroes version G1 Wheeljack for a very long time. One was listed om eBay since somewhere last year, but at a BIN price that ensured I wouldn't buy it. In the meantime, last year one other appeared on eBay, I bid a pretty large sum on it but lost out at the last minute. Then, due to the buyer not coughing up, it got relisted(!) and again I bid a large sum on it and again lost out. Last week however, the one I had been watching for the too high BIN price was finally taken down by the seller, who changed ot to a real auction item. Once again I bid on it, and... I finally won it, for a much more comfortable price!

Funny thing is, when it was still on eBay as a BIN, I actually contacted the seller to ask if he'd sell it for a slightly lower price than he had it listed at. He refused, but now I will actually be paying him less than my offer was at the time!

Congrats on both!

SkyWarpt wrote:

tentagil wrote:I collect the combiners so the big piece of my collection is Raiden the G1 Japanese only Trainbot. I only lack three G1 combiners now, and those are my Grails. DinoKing, Guard City, and Battle Gaea.

I actually thought my collecting of new figures would be over until Hasbro unveiled the FOC Bruticus. He'll be my only new figure purchase this year.

That DinoKing bad boy is expensive!

Yes he is. In fact all three tend to run over a grand when I've spotted them. Unfortunately well beyond my price range at the moment. Kinda hoping we might see at least Dinoking as an Encore release at some point.

I'd really love a Monstructor rerelease minus the GPS issues as well. Poor guy is crazy fragile.

That Malaysian ebay seller came through with flying colors !

I am now the proud owner of a Japanese Botcon exclusive Double Punch !!!

I will DEFINITELY be doing business with this seller again.

xyl360 wrote:That Malaysian ebay seller came through with flying colors !

I am now the proud owner of a Japanese Botcon exclusive Double Punch !!!

I will DEFINITELY be doing business with this seller again.

Awesome!!!…you may want to pass his name on as advertising for him. Word of Mouth is the best form

Well, back when I was hurling money around with little regard, it was Grandus. Slipped past me at Bot-Con 2001. Never found one after and the prices on line kept going up to second mortgage rates.

My current and more realistic grail would be Striker Prime. He's so awesome, yet still a steep 200+. Allowing myself to spend that much at once on a toy is a tough battle nowdays where it wouldn't have even been a question before.

Yay wisdom...

…I say timing is everything. Personally, I wouldn't spend on a "grail" unless I know if necessary, I would be able to recoup the funds spent…even years later…I'm selective.

SkyWarpt wrote:…I say timing is everything. Personally, I wouldn't spend on a "grail" unless I know if necessary, I would be able to recoup the funds spent…even years later…I'm selective.

Yep, understandable, but not a concern for me.

I open all of my figures and display them and even customize/paint/mod them when I see fit to do so (yes, even the EXPENSIVE ones).

I will never sell my toys for money. I have a job for that, I don't use pawn shops.

If ever I decided to get rid of my toys for any reason (which I really doubt), I'd likely just give them away to kids.

OK, here's the info on the seller I was referring to earlier. His username is babeconvoy and he's a seller on ebay.com.my (the Malaysian ebay).

His store can be found here.

The same seller has a US account, username mosquitobite and his store (for US auctions) can be found here.

He's got tons more stuff for sale under his Malaysian account, and that's where I purchased Double Punch from.

I'm also now getting a Japanese Toys R' Us exclusive Black Big Convoy and Henkei Skyfire/Jetfire from him.

He was kind enough (both for Double Punch which I've already received, and now for these two new figures) to set up a *private* Buy It Now auction for me so that I may use PayPal (since PayPal from the US to Malaysia is a bit tricky due to conversion rates etc., so by default, he does not accept PayPal for items in his Malaysian store).

His communication is excellent, and every step of the way when I had a question or concern, he responded immediately to keep me informed.

I'm buying some pricey stuff from him, very rare stuff that never seems to pop up on ebay any more and I could not be happier. I highly recommend him.

I've obtained many of my grails over the years, but my biggest remaining one is Victory Saber. I doubt I will ever own them, but man, would I ever like to.

kirbenvost wrote:I've obtained many of my grails over the years, but my biggest remaining one is Victory Saber. I doubt I will ever own them, but man, would I ever like to.

Wow, I hope you're able to find and afford one someday. That's a very hard to find grail (and I use the term universally to apply to that figure in particular because that's a 'grail' for a LOT of people).

Not really my taste so you won't need to worry about me snapping it up should I come across one, but I sure hope you can procure one at some point.

xyl360 wrote:

SkyWarpt wrote:…I say timing is everything. Personally, I wouldn't spend on a "grail" unless I know if necessary, I would be able to recoup the funds spent…even years later…I'm selective.

Yep, understandable, but not a concern for me.

I open all of my figures and display them and even customize/paint/mod them when I see fit to do so (yes, even the EXPENSIVE ones).

I will never sell my toys for money. I have a job for that, I don't use pawn shops.

If ever I decided to get rid of my toys for any reason (which I really doubt), I'd likely just give them away to kids.

I guess I am kinda a mix of all the above. I have a job too…actually, I own the job and give others jobs; but the past couple of years makes it easy to see that all that could change. All of my figures are opened and displayed….and played with (by myself, wife, and 5yr old daughter)…and I have no intention of selling. The only figs my daughter doesn't play with are the Masterpieces. I figure the G1's survived my childhood, I'm pretty sure they will survive hers…it would kinda defeat the purpose of collecting if I didn't share my collection with my kids. There have been times when I have "cleaned up" my collection of TF's that were meh. Some I give to kids, and some were sold to adult collectors…not because I needed the money…I needed the space. Looking at things from an investment perspective is habit for me…I'm a business owner.

SkyWarpt wrote:

xyl360 wrote:

SkyWarpt wrote:…I say timing is everything. Personally, I wouldn't spend on a "grail" unless I know if necessary, I would be able to recoup the funds spent…even years later…I'm selective.

Yep, understandable, but not a concern for me.

I open all of my figures and display them and even customize/paint/mod them when I see fit to do so (yes, even the EXPENSIVE ones).

I will never sell my toys for money. I have a job for that, I don't use pawn shops.

If ever I decided to get rid of my toys for any reason (which I really doubt), I'd likely just give them away to kids.

I guess I am kinda a mix of all the above. I have a job too…actually, I own the job and give others jobs; but the past couple of years makes it easy to see that all that could change. All of my figures are opened and displayed….and played with (by myself, wife, and 5yr old daughter)…and I have no intention of selling. The only figs my daughter doesn't play with are the Masterpieces. I figure the G1's survived my childhood, I'm pretty sure they will survive hers…it would kinda defeat the purpose of collecting if I didn't share my collection with my kids. There have been times when I have "cleaned up" my collection of TF's that were meh. Some I give to kids, and some were sold to adult collectors…not because I needed the money…I needed the space. Looking at things from an investment perspective is habit for me…I'm a business owner.

Yep, makes perfect sense to me, and if not for collectors like yourself who are willing to part with some or all of their collections by selling them to other collectors (like myself), I'd likely not have many of the figures in my collection (especially the older/more rare ones) .

In fact, that's what that ebay seller I refer to above is. He is a collector and according to his blog (which shows photos of his collection), he collects mostly rare G1 Japanese figures, though he does sell some of them (likely for space like yourself).