MD-005 (KO) SS86 OPTIMUS PRIME > REVIEW

The MD-005 (KO) SS86 Optimus Prime is a figure that strikes an impressive balance between mirroring an already impressive release whilst bringing a multitude of useful accessories. From its modest packaging to its expressive accessories and sculpted details, this is a toy that pays homage to the 1984 classic while embracing contemporary engineering and also offering distinct improvements of the official release.

PANGU TOYS PT-01 COMMANDER > REVIEW

Preamble

Go big or go home! The 6000 SUX, because bigger is better! and so on… You get the point, sometimes things are just better when they are bigger. There is a history of up-scaling Transformers on the 4th party market, some of the Takara MP’s have had the treatment, the biggest of which I believe was/is the Lewin MP-10. To date it’s still the largest Optimus Prime by a 4th Party company.

2023: A YEAR IN COLLECTING RETROSPECTIVE

We are almost done with January, February is looming on the horizon, much like the sun of the lengthening days. I’m a little later than usual with my year end look-back. I could make a plethora of excuses, each more dramatic than the other. The truth is two fold and quite unremarkable. Firstly I’d not been so well over Christmas and the New Year, still not 100% even now but getting there. And secondly, I’d really enjoyed not doing the whole social media / collecting thing over the festive period. I’d come to really appreciate not feeling the need to come up with new content, new camera angles and how to do my next Photoshop gimmick. But, there are still things I want to do so it’s back to it and where better to start than the retrospective of my collecting during 2023.

TAKARA MP-45 BUMBLE > REVIEW

Preamble

Has it really been 4 years since this diminutive chap was released upon the Transformers collecting community? Oh how time flies! I had been of a mind to pick one up when he first came out but wasn’t over keen on the price point so I settled on two options: either wait for the price to come down if a second run was released, or pick up the inevitable knock off when that eventually surfaced. Now knowing myself and the luck (or lack there of) that surrounds me, it was obvious that the initial KO’s would sell out or there would be certain QC issues. Both of these scenarios would come to pass so I resigned myself to never having one or having to wait until Fans Toys eventually got around to doing their version, a possibility now made stronger after the release of Parkour. But, consider my ghast well and truly flabbered when Show.Z announced they were getting some stock of the MP-45 Bumble KO…… pre-order swiftly placed, it was now time to play the delivery waiting game.

TOP 10 TRANSFORMERS PURCHASES OF 2022

To close off the run through of my 2022 pick-ups I have been asked what my 'Top 10' of 2022 was.

So here they are, just the pictures and no text as to be honest, there's nothing more really to say that I've not addressed in the previous blog entry, which you can view here. I'll also be discussing them over a live stream, the link to which I'll add to the bottom of this blog when it's done.

A YEAR IN THE DAY - THE VAULTS OF IACON 2022 COLLECTION REVIEW

Well, that’s 2022 done with. But before I close it off an move on to 2023 I thought I’d take a look back at my year of collecting. There was a lot of stuff that came into The Vault over the year, the most since 2018 in fact. It was all mainly Masterpiece this year, aside from the few bits of Black Series, but we’re not here to discuss that today.

I’ll break this down by Month and then do an overview at the end, giving my best / worst figure of the year etc.

Right then, let’s crack on shall we?

TAKARA MP-47 HOUND (KO) > REVIEW

I kind of made the decision that I would be passing on MP-47 when it was released. However somewhere in the back of my mind lurked the intention to maybe try pick up the KO when it finally surfaced. Surface it did but still I felt no great urgency to acquire it, especially as it was retailing at a price higher than I personally felt that a KO should do. Time passed and I moved on and my attentions were elsewhere… then one came available at a sensible price. That lurking intention swiftly made itself known, and so here we are.