Okay, I need an opinion here. I have a sort of moral dilemma, in regards to restoring an old figure. I warn you, this may sound exceptionally silly.

So...G1 soundwave was my first transformer.... I still have his guns and missiles, though almost all of my cassette tape bots have been lost or stolen over the years. I used to carry him everywhere with me as a kid, and one day another kid at daycare broke his cassette door; just ripped it right off. My dad was never quite able to fix it, and I was inconsolable. He has remained broken to this day.

A few months ago I had the idea to buy a Soundwave in poor shape with a working door, and swap out the door mechanism on mine, making him whole again. And so I bought a cheap Soundwave junker someone was selling, and that was that. The donor Soundwave sat on my shelf for the last few months while I waited to get my original from storage.

Last week I was able to fetch mine from storage, but when I started looking at him ....even compared to the donor soundwave, mine is in WRETCHED, WRETCHED shape. I mean.... it's REALLY bad. His stickers are all but gone, his chrome is worn, chipped, and in one case looks like it might have been melted somehow. There's a place where the edge of his leg chipped off, and ...well, the list goes on.

Naturally, I started entertaining the idea of using parts from the donor G1 soundwave, which was in slightly better condition than my own, to restore him somewhat...but it would require many of the parts to be swapped out, leaving almost nothing of the original figure. This got me to thinking; wouldn't that destroy the soul of the toy?

After replacing so many parts, it would no longer be the toy I had as a kid, with every scratch, dent, and chip on the toy being a sign of how much I loved it. It would be a frankensteined mishmash of parts from someone else's toy, made to look and function better than before, but missing the integrity of the figure I owned when I was 6 years old.

And I don't know why, but for whatever sentimental reason that bothers me.

I'm almost settled on leaving him the way he is at this point; maybe putting him away in a box and displaying the slightly nicer one instead...but I don't know. Perhaps I could exercise restraint and ONLY repair the cassette door? In any case, it's just difficult to bring myself to actually go through with harming this figure.

Have you, as a customizer, ever encountered this feeling before? What did you do about it, and about the figure itself?

 

I no longer own any of my original Transformers, but if I still had my Bluestreak that I kept snapping the roof off of, I would keep him in the gluey mess that I had him when I was a kid. There are too many pristine ones available to ruin memories. imho.

 

I feel your pain, man. I literally thought for months about this very issue and in the end, I decided to stick with the custom and use my ol' G1 for parts (I did a Classics Galvatron from an Energon Megatron and G1 Galvatron parts). My mother and father bought it for me as a kid for Christmas after it came out and it really bugged me about hacking it up for parts, especially for a custom. My father passed away 5 years ago and as crazy as it sounds, I hang onto every little thing he gave me or did for me. Anyway, I thought about it for months, but in the end decided that since the custom was for myself and my collection, I could do it and I'd still have parts of the figure to help make a new "Classics" version of what I was originally given as a gift. I couldn't be happier with the decision because the custom turned out great and it still makes me smile knowing that something he and my mother gave me was put to good use (and they always knew I was an artist--so this is just the fruits of their labor).

I know it's hard, but I'd say restore it. You can fix the toy, but you'll always have the memories. Nothing can take that away, man. I could also argue the other side of it though and tell you to pick up an Encore Soundwave or a TRU Soundwave and keep your original as-is. It's up to you, bro.

 

I think you'll find great fulfillment out of at least making some restoration attempts to him. Working on toys continues sentimental value for me often times. I recently restored my G1 Prowl, Sideswipe, and Swoop. Each of those were favorites of mine, and that's why I restored them. None of the sentimental value has been lost for me, and now they're all in great shape.  

I hope that helps, dude! Keep us posted on everything you do with this bot  

 

I totally understand how you feel. For the sake of the toy restore it! Give it a new lease on life and let it continue to bring the happy memories back. How often do you hear about someone keeping a car in a condition like that? interesting I thought I was the only one who thought like that. When I did my Marlboro Wheeljack my starting toy was in great shape but it had a kick here and there. I left them it made the toy feel more original to me more authentic. It would make people stress more to tell if it was real or not. I mean it is a 25 year old toy. Just me 2 cents.

 

It really just depends on how sentimental you are I believe. I have a toy that I carried around with me all the time when I was a kid, and every worn piece, nick, missing eye, and bite mark has a story behind it. I understand where you're coming from with the fact that if you completely retore it, there won't hardly be any of the original left. For me, I would case that one, and let it be the centerpiece of all the rest of your collection. Your original if you will. He was the harbinger of your love for these collections.
That's just my humble opinion though.