My son is 6 years old. He is absolutely hooked on anything transformers, and has been since he was 4. He especially loves the old cartoons and the old movie. One day he was rooting around in my old stuff and found the pieces of my G1 Optimus (broken head, broken legs, no parts, no trailer, broken arms... etc.) He asked if he could play with it, since it was pretty much spare parts I let him. Now all he talks about is how much he wishes it were fixed (it is not fixable). I've seen him put the pieces of it together on the floor and just look at it - it's pitiful. We stopped by a comic book store today and I bought him a trade paperback that recently came out that's a reprint of the original comic run (I'm not taking mine out of their sleeves). While we were there he saw an Optimus in the case, G1 - no parts, for $50. I just heard him ask my wife how he could earn $50. I don't know why he's obsessed with playing with a G1 Optimus. He has over 70 transformers in his own collection. So anyhow, my point is that I would very much like to get him a G1 Optimus to play with. I don't care if it's a reissue, commemorative, knock-off or whatever. So long as it transforms from truck to robot, has a trailer and doesn't cost a fortune. He's six... his standards aren't very high. He just wants a toy to play with. Any suggestions on where or what exactly I should be looking for?
The recent Encore reissue from TakaraTomy is going to be the cheapest solution. I'll point you to the sponsors (up top) and the Junkion exchange (couple forums down). Be prepared to pay around $60. It doesn't go much cheaper than that, unfortunately.
Sound like you dont need or want a 100% complete item? Ebay should get you a loose prime and trailer with some missing parts for 30-40 bones? If you do decide to get a Encore prime (which i own and is great) search for member edbomber on this site. He sells encores and is good to deal with
And for that dough you get a complete Optimus, with trailer and everything. Just be sure to point out the fists to your kid. He needs to be extra careful or he will loose them for sure.
Search the for sale threads here. Theres a good chance someone has a solid junker prime for sale cheap.
Hey Thanks Guys. I spent some time looking around at the G1 reissue Optimus and that's pretty awesome. I didn't know they had been reissued so recently. I might even pick up a Starscream for myself. It was my first Transformer purchase when I was a kid and there's very little of it left now.
Here- http://cgi.ebay.com/Transformers-En...oryZ4696QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I say buy it, if your son really wants one as much as you described.