Toys

This is exactly where we left things last week on Part 1. The factory sealed vintage Transformers Generation 1 Aerialbot Fireflight had been photo-analysed, admired, had a potential grading result predicted by a number of experienced collectors and then promptly sent off to the Action Figure Authority (AFA) for grading as part of an experiment. Fireflight has since returned, cased and graded, and this week I’ll be taking you through the minutiae of the grading process and analysing the result to the best of my ability. Making The Grade (Part 2) | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ All the best Maz

These days, invariably, you will find good condition factory sealed vintage Generation 1 Transformers preserved, immortalised, imprisoned, desecrated (delete as appropriate) in an acrylic display case, with a grade attached. The AFA – or Action Figure Authority – grade toys like Transformers be they factory sealed, opened and unused or even loose. Everyone has an opinion on this, from not keeping toys sealed at all to downright hatred of the AFA and the culture behind grading Transformers, specifically the ‘authority’ part and the implication that the AFA are experts. The other side of the coin is that collectors use the grading process to confirm what they already knew a…

Mirage and controversy are never far apart. Whether it was sneaking off during battle to board the Decepticon ship while invisible, or pretending to be a Decepticon spy stealing energon cubes, he’s made people question his nature. DX9 – formerly/currently Unique Toys – have delivered us a Masterpiece-scaled figure that is heavily influenced by G1 Mirage called “Invisible”, and whether or not this thing can be considered a Masterpiece or not has been the subject of a great deal of discussion and disagreement, nothing new for Mirage. Individual, Indefinable, Invisible | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ All the best Maz

Part 1 - OTS02 Brawny Transformers are popular, minibots are popular, Masterpiece is popular. Takara Tomy have just put the elements of that formula together and created Masterpiece Bumblebee, but not before a bunch of 3rd party companies had a stab at it first. One of those companies was Cubex, their interpretation of Masterpiece Huffer, called “Old Timer Series 01 Huff”. I felt Huff was Masterpiece worthy in design but not execution, and honestly had it not flaked I would still have it because it hit all the right aesthetic notes. Cubex have re-branded themselves as BadCube and continued the Old Timer Series of MP-style minibots, starting with OTS-02 Brawny and OTS-…

Get me an interview, now. That’s what I said to my friend when he shared a picture of Michael Kingcaid’s Transformers collection with me a week before Michael himself shared photos with the Internet. I then received numerous emails and Facebook tags to get in touch with the owner of this amazing collection and collar him for an interview. Luckily, by that stage I had established contact with this highly creative, long-time enthusiast and he was thrilled to be able to share his passion and achievement through a Source Interview. Inspiration in words and visuals alike, by popular demand, we give you Michael Kingcaid! Collector Interview 31 – Michael Kingcaid | Source …

The giant elephant in the room that has been generating a lot of buzz lately is Megatron. With us revisiting the marvelous (subject to opinion but that's not the point) 12 day creation of MP-05 which would make Unicron proud, Pimp Daddy Megatron MP-05G coming out of left field in a Space Cadillac and 3rd Party MX-1 Apollyon which is looking very interesting from the chest and legs. Now we have MP-25 rumored to be Megatron? I stress rumored. On Tformers, the general talk is that TT has had this planned for a while. But if planned, why pump and dump a Gold Meg? Surely not to hype up Megatron to compliment MP-10. that would be the one hole in the MP line that doesn't ne…

Just very recently I read a great blog post by Dave Barry (Gangu Stars) on a new phenomenon called ‘digital collecting’, a practice whereby toy enthusiasts strictly collect images of toys they desire instead of physically owning them. Now while most of us want to be able to touch and transform the items in our collections, some amass photographs (of others’ toys) and call that their collection. Whether I understand it or not, I was reminded of just how much Transformers imagery we must all have on various storage devices, some of it ancient. Remind Me | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ All the best Maz

It’s been over three years now that we’ve been producing articles and collector interviews for the TFSource Blog, and just as with the previous two years, we thought it might be interesting for our readers to see what the top 5 most visited and read articles have been over the last 12 to 14 months. One thing the results have shown us are that our readership and reach have grown, and thanks for that must go not just to our staff but also to the collectors and enthusiasts whose contributions have helped make the blog something worthwhile to visit and keep up to date with. The majority of interest seems to come out of articles where collectors are given a voice to either…

If for whatever reason you lost all of your Transformers collection tomorrow, what figure would you buy back first? That excellent question was asked by Alex Kirk at a UK Transformers meet recently and created some fascinating discussion and introspective analysis. After the initial wave of “Nothing, I’d be free!” responses, everyone who was asked the question gave some very interesting answers. I’ve expanded Alex’s question to include the first three toys one would buy back, for whatever purpose that might be: rebuilding, three and done, nostalgia or a blank slate with the benefit of experience. If You Lost It All… (Part 1) | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ …

Not-Powered Convoy is a wholly accurate description of KFC’s D.A.I. Commander stack repaint of the earlier ”Citizen Stack”, KFC’s attempt at a Masterpiece Ultra Magnus. That’s not to say this isn’t a great figure that’s fit for a purpose, however the question is whether or not it actually fulfils any of the purposes it was designed for, that is, a Masterpiece Ultra Magnus or a Masterpiece Diaclone Powered Convoy. With my personal area of interest and specialism being Diaclone for over a decade, and having owned more than five Diaclone Powered Convoys, I can hopefully provide perspective on how this figure appeals to me and whether it’s successful on any level compared to …