Rediscovering The Joy of Collecting

A few months ago, I did something I hadn't done in a while.

I picked up a G1 figure. E-Bay, or Facebook, or forums, I can't remember how I did it, I can't even remember which figure it was, but it stirred something inside of me. The excitement for collecting.

"Didn't you already have that though?"

I thought I did, but without realising, while I had been collecting modern figures, I was simply going through the motions.

There was no thrill of the hunt, because it has simply become easier for me to order them online, more often than not, the Takara Tomy versions, which means waiting for HobbyLinkJapan pre-orders to go up. So with a few clicks of the mouse, the order is placed and I have to wait.

And then the figures would arrive, I'd open them up, transform them a couple of times, and then there'd go on display. The only figure I truly got excited over was Titans Return Triggerhappy, because lets face it, that figure is just awesome.

"But Burn, we've gotten a lot of fantastic figures in recent years!"

This is true, I will not argue this fact. I feel the designers of late have really innovated, and I've enjoyed the engineering aspect of new figures. New figures are great, but, they lack nostalgia. Yes, nostalgia.

"Oh no, he's going to go Geewunner on us. I'm out!"

Hear me out here. I got back into collecting Transformers 15 or so years ago, because of some problems I was having mentally. They reminded me of a time in my life when things were simpler, and I was happier, and collecting Transformers helped me get through a very rough patch in my life.

It was also a time when Beast Wars/Machines had just recently finished their runs and one of aspect of collecting back then was discovering all these new figures and characters, and thanks to ball joints, putting them back together! Many lots were discovered on E-Bay and much fun was had working out what parts belonged to who.

But that was then, this is now.

And not much has changed. When I got that G1 figure all those months ago I was reminded of that aspect of collecting that was a lot of fun. Restoring the figures, bringing them back to life.

And it's this that has helped reinvigorate my collecting. Finding older figures (preferably with all their accessories) and restoring them. That may involve simply replacing their stickers (Toyhax.com is the place for them if you're curious!) or completely disassembling them and cleaning them before putting them back together.

Or in some cases, repairs may be necessary.

Did you know that Titans Return Trypticon was in fact not the first Transformer to have a problem caused by springs? While I can't say for certain he was the first, but I did discover that G1 Pointblank had spring issues.

I picked up a G1 Pointblank in a G1 lot last year, he had a busted door, but other than that he seemed to be in good condition, and he had his little Targetmaster buddy. In July I came across a seller on Facebook who had a few figures I wanted, including a G1 Pointblank. He emphasised that Pointblank had a problem with his left leg.



See those knee joints? They have springs in them. There's two ratchets with teeth on them, one is molded into the outer leg, while the other moves back and forth as you transform the figure. Those springs allow that ratchet to move back and forth.

The problem is, the spring is constantly pushing the ratchet out, throw in years of age and transforming, and the screw that holds it in place eventually comes free.

But hey, that's fine, the G1 Pointblank I was getting had an unbroken door and that's all I needed to fix up mine!

Imagine my shock when I inspected mine and found the exact same problem with the leg.

To be honest, it probably didn't need to be fixed, he transformed fine, but I wanted to fix it anyway. So I set out to fix the problem, which to put simply, was the screw hole had become threaded.

Solution? Drill a larger hole and fill it.



My first attempt failed, but I persisted. Eventually I resorted to removing the spring completely (it's actually NOT really necessary if you intend to display him in robot mode) and using a touch of super glue to hold the screw in place.

G1 Pointblank wasn't the only figure I've worked on recently. I also picked up Sparkabot Guzzle. Great little figure and his sparking figure worked as well. I already had Sizzle, though he wasn't in great condition either, which is where I lucked out and found a seller that had Fizzle AND Sizzle as well. So I could replace my Sizzle and complete my Sparkabots collection!

When they arrived they were a little on the dirty side, so I started with Fizzle. Took him apart, cleaned him in nice warm soapy water, inside and out and reassembled him. Not only was he clean, but his sparking feature worked better than it did when he first arrived.

I then moved onto Sizzle ... and that's where I ran into problems. The heads of the two screws in his legs snapped off, which meant I had to drill them out. Or, I could simply use the legs off my other Sizzle!

Those screws snapped as well, so back to drilling them out. Eventually I got him disassembled, cleaned up and put back together. A set of stickers from Toyhax later and Fizzle, Sizzle and Fo'Shizzle Guzzle and they were ready to rejoin the collection!



Simple restorations really, but I took so much pleasure in taking old battered figures and giving them a new lease in life.

"You could do that with any era, clearly your Geewunner bias is showing"

It's not bias actually. When I returned to collecting, I collected what was current at the time, meaning I have all the figures I want from Beast Wars through to Titans Return.

That being said, and I say this with a disclaimer that I have only really searched locally (Australia), from my searching on E-Bay, and even what I see on Facebook and forums, there's not much out there from later lines like Armada.

And I feel that is because we are live in times where things are more disposable. It's easier to go out and buy something new rather than to fix it. Kids toys missing an arm? Just throw it, we can duck down the shops and get another one.

And to me, that's disappointing, because the generation that grew up on Beast Wars and A/E/C now have disposable incomes and will be looking to get figures they missed out on as kids.

But where are they? Where are the complete figures? The junkers?

Believe me, if I came across some of those figures I'd snap some up for customising purposes, but they just don't seem to be out there.

Of course I do have some G1 bias, it's what I grew up with, it's what helped me through a dark patch in my life, it reminds me of a simpler time, and I have to admit, I'm pretty damn proud of what I've achieved of my G1 collection and would like to get to a point where I can say "I may not have every G1 figure, but I feel my collection is complete to me".

It's that goal, plus the joy of restoring figures, that has helped me rediscover the joy of collecting, and I know I'm not the only one. Take a look at our Transformers Toy Haul thread. Others are collecting G1 figures. We have an entire thread dedicated to the clunky Pretenders!

I've seen interest from the younger generation who are discovering Marvel UK, and all the characterisations some of the lesser known toys received, or even characters that never received a figure until recently. Like the little wheel that could, Scrounge!

And I have to admit, I do enjoy talking to some of the younger collectors who are discovering G1 and suggesting figures to them and helping them find them. Who doesn't enjoy the thrill of hunting down a figure?

So for once, in what has been a long time, I feel the excitement and joy of collecting.

How about you though? Are you an old fart like me enjoying the hunt for old figures, or maybe you enjoy hunting modern figures, or maybe you're a young whipper snapper delving into the history of Transformers and looking to collect across the eras. Let us know on the forums!

"Oh thank **** he's finally finished waffling on!"