Ever since I was a kid I've always loved things with multiple functionalities. Whether that stems from my love of Transformers or vice versa, I don't know. I was born a bit too late to enjoy the boom, but I still had a bunch of toys and loved the animated movie. I still remember being 5 years old, wanting Powermaster Optimus Prime more than anything in the world, and finally getting it on Christmas morning.
Eventually those toys got broken and lost or buried away in boxes with the rest of my childhood toys. My Ninja Turtles were given away, but luckily not the Transformers. They just sat, hidden away, forgotten.
Beast Wars came, but that wasn't Transformers to me. Sure they were robots that changed, but into furry/scaly animals? Munky? Optimus Prime was a trukk, everyone knows that.
Several years later, when the internet (or rather my access to it) was still fairly new to me , I searched Transformers, and discovered the Robots in Disguise line. Transformers had finally returned to what I had loved! But alas, the resurgence of interest was not to be satisfied. I was a young high school student from a poorer family with no job of my own. All I could do was print pictures of the toys I wished I could buy, and dig out my old battered G1s from their hiding.
More years passed (luckily passing by Armada), and I eventually moved out on my own. Once again the internet proved a useful tool, and I discovered 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime, and the beginning of the Alternators line. I was blown away. 20th Prime was the epitome of a perfect Optimus Prime, everything any kid had ever wanted. I didn't think I'd ever find it, or be able to afford my own. I began making trips to my local Toys R Us and collecting the Alternators and G1 Reissues, which were in full swing. I had missed the first couple waves of the latter, but it was still enough, and I was hooked. My collection went from a few broken old G1s to several more brand new Alts & Reissues within months.
Then finally one day I was visiting the TRU to see if there was anything new, and there he was... 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime in all his glory. Mine for the taking. I had rent to pay, and this figure was a lot of money. I knew I shouldn't, but I had to. I couldn't pass this one up. That same 5 year old kid who wanted his PM Prime so badly just couldn't let me walk away. And so there he was, the newest addition, still the jewel of my collection to this day, despite many more rare, impressive or sentimentally-valued figures.
Soon the Reissue line dwindled, and my attention turned to Energon. The rest is history. 120+ figures and counting!
To this day, every new purchase is full of anticipation and excitement, whether it be waiting for that package in the mail or getting home fast to open and start transforming. That 5 year old kid is still alive and well inside me, and I suspect he always will be.
).Well I think I've bored you all enough,so that's it. Call it what you will, an attempt to be a kid again,the smell of a fresh, minty fig, the enginering, it's all of that and more.So thats why I collect...why do you?
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