oh yeah that's what im talkin about jeff. I had no idea what to guess. woohoo im ready for season 2 stuff.
I love the smell of new toy, too! what happened to the rollerskates!? I kid I really enjoyed the March pics btw.
Oh, yes, the smell of new toys. I remember as a young kid, I could walk into the Kmart nearby where I would get most of my toys and just stepping inside the store, I could "smell" that there was a new He-man figure there that I didn't have and would want to get. I remember being pretty accurate about that, but I bet it was just chance/luck and a kid's imagination. Thanks for enjoying those pics! Now, April... the first week of April includes my birthday. So last year was when I first cracked open MP Sideswipe. Sideswipe, Trailbreaker, Hound and Smokescreen were my favorite "Autobot Car" characters in the cartoon though I never got Sideswipe or Hound as a kid. At least not until G2 Sideswipe. So this year for my birthday I finally opened one of the MP Datsuns: Smokescreen! He's still "new" to me, but so far I think I prefer the MP Lambo mold to the MP Datsun mold. I'm just not to crazy about this sideways/at-an-angle double joints used in the foot transformation. They seem quite stiff and difficult to move. Though overall, of course he's a beauty! So to start the month of "Season 2 Characters": #14 Masterpiece Smokescreen: And this makes me want some kind of a "G2" Smokescreen in crazier, wackier colors:
Haha... well... maybe here's a photo that gives a different perspective on the size. Ya... Hoist isn't meant to tow MP cars, but actually his size is might be nice for being around G1 base-bots! #16 Encore Omega Supreme:
Thanks! Last figure for the "Season 2 Characters" theme month is.... #17 Encore Scrapper: Scrapper's trying to be a Sniper I sold my vintage Devastator awhile ago, I'm a guy that prefers reissues in my collection. Having them in "mint" condition and with the great boxes(especially giftset boxes!) to me outweighs the "original run"/"vintage" aspect. However I do still hold onto a couple vintage G1s(in addition to their reissues) for sentimental reasons... Huffer, for being my first TF, and Optimus Prime for taking so long for me to finally get him as a kid. Devastator I very slowly pieced together. Scrapper and Scavenger were the last 2 I got. I actually first got their G2 versions and only finished my full "G1" Devastator once I found the internet and the TF secondary market in 1996. So now, I'll free the Constructicons from their cardboard and plastic prison in the reverse order that I originally got them in. Perhaps this makes the theme for May(with 5 weeks) rather obvious....
May's theme... The Constructicons #18 Encore Scavenger: Opening in reverse order of how I got my original Constructicons... G1 Scrapper & Scavenger I only got once I found the internet/secondary market in 1996. Though when G2 came along in 1993, they were the first 2 G2 TFs I got to finally 'complete' my Devastator even though that meant he had 1 yellow arm & leg, at least that was better than a Devastator with only 1 arm & leg. Now it's vice versa with Scrapper and Scavenger trying to do their best while waiting for the other guys to join them.
Thanks! #19 Encore Long Haul: Long Haul was the last Constructicon I got in the days of G1. A 1985 release, I actually bought him in the Spring of 1990. 1990... the last year of G1 in the US when most Transformers in stores were Micromasters or Actionmasters, but I found 1 of the 3 Constructicons I had been lacking, and an integral member to boot since getting Long Haul meant I could finally connect Mixmaster to Hook/Bonecrusher. The store actually had some Mixmasters and Hooks as well. I was a little disappointed they had multiple Constructicons but only 1 that I needed. However getting even one "new" Constructicon was a treat. It was thanks to a specific store that was very important and special to my childhood Transformer collection... the "Hardware Hank" store in Alexandria, MN. I lived in a small, rural, MN town about and hour and a half long drive away from that store so I didn't get there too often. But when I did get there in the prime of G1 1985-1986, the store was a wonderland of Transformer toys. Other Hardware Hanks were not like this so I assume the owner of the franchise was somehow much more enthusiastic about Transformers than the average Hardware Store owner. The toy aisle of the hardware store would be packed with Transformers instead a smattering of toys from various lines. There would be even more Transformers sitting behind the clerk at the checkout counter and even Transformers as a prominent window display! And I'm not talking about at Christmas time since my visits to Alexandria were only in the summer-time lake season of Minnesota. The Alexandria trips during the high times of G1 provided me with some of my favorite G1 purchases: Grimlock, Smokescreen, Silverbolt ... and lastly Long Haul.
Hahaha! It's all illustrating the pleasure of savoring each new transformer and anticipating the next
#20 Encore Mixmaster: Devvy's starting to take shape now Mixmaster was the third Constructicon I got, and I recall getting him at my local Ben Franklin "five and dime" store. Growing up in a rural area away from Wal-marts, Targets, Toys R Us-s, Children's Palaces, etc. and an hour drive even from the nearest K-mart, I believe prices were a bit higher for me sometimes, notably on Mixmaster costing me $7 at Ben Franklin. I sadly was out of allowance spending money awhile before when the local Pamida had an incredible "2 for $5" sale on Constructicons. Wow...once upon a time I had a chance to buy a complete carded G1 Devastator set for $15, but alas no cash. Another sad point on my Mixmaster purchase was that I had been hoping to score an Aerialbot or two. I loved aircraft as a kid(oh, heck, I still do have an affinity for such alt modes), as well as liking combiners, and the whole Key to Vector Sigma story with creating a team of jets for the Autobots made the Aerialbots some of my most wanted Transformers in childhood. I think many of my friends at the time felt similarly, the Aerialbots were a hot topic on the playground. One day word came that the Ben Franklin store had gotten in a bunch of Aerialbots. So I got my parents to take me there, but the store had been cleaned out of Aerialbots. There were members of the other scramble-city style teams, but the Aerialbots had been cherry-picked from the cases already. So I ended up picking up my third Constructicon instead.
#21 Encore Hook: Hook was the second Constructicon I got as a kid. Though I did get him in 1986, not 1985 his year of release. In 1985 I only had one solitary Constructicon, Bonecrusher, but then I bought Hook largely because he'd connect to Bonecrusher. Now I just need to find where my Bonecrusher was! I had seemed to have lost him. Perhaps I just misplaced him while I had been in a phase of playing with my GI Joe or He-man toys and not as much with the Transformers. It seemed like I had been missing him, but then I finally found him and remembered why he was where he was. I had purposefully hidden Bonecrusher in an expanding table. Why had I done that? Because I really wanted to get the Devastator giftset for Christmas 1985 and I thought if my parents realized I had 1 out of those 6 already they wouldn't get it for me. Pffft... I hindsight I realize my parents probably weren't taking such careful inventory of my toys. Anyway, I finally found Bonecrusher after I had gotten Hook and then finally, finally(!) connected 2 Transformers together for the first time. Now I'll soon get to the last of the Encore Constructicons, completing Devastator once again. And this time with that wonderful giftset box!
