Congrats on being the owner of a genuine TF sacred artifact! They'll be talking about this auction for years. Take your time with the decision, there is no wrong one. Like you said, you paid good money for those Stunticons, you can do whatever you like. But once you open those bags, you can't unopen them... I think everyone will understand your choice either way. Most of us only dream of a facing a dilemma like this
Besides the general "congratulations," I'm sure I speak for many when I say that I hope that you'll consider posting pictures of these toys. As someone else has already said, G2 Motormaster in particular is still a mystery to most of us.
They belong in a museum---- had to take that from the Last Crusade. Congrats HighPrime, that last minute of that auction was nail biting. How did you handle that last minute???
Congratz! Take your time with that decision,its a HUGE one! And in the end there is no right or wrong decision, enjoy that super rare G2 goodness.
"Will I be the person indirectly responsible for KOs of this piece?" I've been thinking a lot about this for several years in relation to a wide variety of items. In short; that decision/blame would lie solely with the people creating the KOs, not you. Not to advocate but with all the incredibly well-engineered 3rd party items out there, why anyone would buy a crappy knock-off is beyond me. Oftentimes an authentic vintage piece can be had for the same price if not less than the KO. You just need to put in the effort! The opposing argument is that knock-offs give everyone a chance to own items that otherwise elude them for various reasons. A lovely sentiment on paper, but totally a false economy. Would you buy a house made of spittle or a car made of farts? No. You get what you pay for. Having said that, it would be a crying shame if these were bootlegged. Or even (personally speaking) re-released, I won't lie. I'm not at all in this for the money but like many others, I spend a lot of time sourcing the most exotic pieces from around the world and am extremely proud of my collecting accomplishments thus far and while replication of any items that I own would not change that, I can't deny that it would be irritating. In another discussion forum, many were slating those who choose not to share information and pictures. Personally, my sole reason is because those few who perpetuate knock-offs ruin it for the many who want to see pics of stuff. Most of the people I have known for close to 2 decades in this hobby feel the same way. I have, on many occasions, removed pictures online through fear of a coveted item being reproduced. I do all the hard work, and some idiot makes a buck. It's a shame to have to be mindful of what you can post. The very fact that we need a guide to differentiate a MISB G1 Weirdwolf from a like-wise KO should tell you that something is not right. I have my own preferences in terms of collecting, and while I try not to judge on other people's disparagingly; modern knock-offs of any deceptive nature are absolutely not one of them. The sad thing is that there's very little to be done about it. If anyone at all agrees with me, the simple thing would be not to support it. It's old hat and ultimately the cream will always rise to the top. Congratulations on your win! Ras
I agree with a whole lot of this. The KO's being passed off as originals was a big part of what got me out of the game and thinning my collection. (Concentrating on vintage Popy / Bandai and Microman...not a lot of fakes there and the ones that are are so bad it is painfully obvious ) At least a re-release is official and upfront about it, but I saw far too many bootleg dealers who plainly knew they were dealing in fakes, try and pass it off as originals to unsuspecting collectors at conventions. Heck we've even seen fake AFA cases nowadays.
Congrats Highprime. I'm a firm believer on paying for what really moves you. Hope that it makes you happy. I would love to see a video review. Also, do you trust the post office? Are you going to fly and pick it up? haha.
So many trolls were laughing it up over on 4chan about how they purposely racked up the price to insanely high levels without the intention of paying. I am glad to see somebody from here won the auction though, congrats. I just can't help but wonder had not any of that BS happened, how much money you would have saved, HighPrime.
I doubt any of that mattered since we have heard that there were 3 hardcore collectors going at it in those final seconds and the feedback ratings certainly show the finalists to all be pretty legit...only the second highest bidder matters in the long run.
Oh I agree wholeheartedly. As frustrating as I imagine some re-releases of items would be to various people (imagine a mass re-release of a lucky draw piece) it would at least be official. It wouldn't "devastate" me (Seaspray what I did there?) or anything to the degree of purchasing a high end item that turned out to be a fake. I'm not hypocritical when it comes to this topic though, I would be disappointed to see a mass-release of any highly obscure item irrespective of whether I owned it or not. KO, or legit; it surely negates the whole point of there being obscure items and limited runs in the first place. The very reason card sets have chase cards. The thrill is in the hunt, not the easy way out. Sadly that has been lost in recent years with the promise of a "quick fix". Just my $0.2 Ras
That's pretty cool. Those 3 should go out and have a beer. that kind of bidding deserves a movie made in their honor.
I say don't open them and not share more pics than we already got. Enjoy them the way you want though... Can't believe you got this during a stressful time like moving. I would have ripped most of my hair out.
Ultimately, and admittedly discounting for psychological factors, it only matters whether the person who had the NEXT highest bid was a "serious" buyer or not. The odds are, he almost certainly was, because the 4chan trolls almost certainly got scared that they'd end up "winning" and be stuck with that absurd bill. UPDATE: I see some folks already responded with even better data. So... ummm... re: knock offs. You shouldn't worry about the possibility that your purchase could end up making the KO folks make KO G2 Stunticons. The molds are (mostly) already available in KO form, and the colors were already widely known. Anyone who wanted to do a KO G2 Stunticon set could have done so long ago.
it's like those wannabe terrorist groups right? they like to claim credit for things that they never would actually do. Like having the cojones to put down a 20k+ bid on an item you don't intend to buy. I imagine they would only attempt it with throwaway accounts and I doubt SWP would have accepted a zero feedback bid at that dollar amount. Sour grapes that someone could afford to spend their annual income on a toy? Easy to hate, harder to substantiate. it's too easy to claim you "drove up" the price, but the bid history would indicate otherwise. If the second highest bid is legit, then it's a true auction price. and they shall call the movie "Money Bot", with Brad Pitt starring as HighPrime
Where.. didn't see that at all. I checked out /toy/ and all I saw was some guys saying it's not art and it's not worth that much.
I've learned to take most the crap said on that site as just that. most of those kids don't have a dime to their names, just cents-less trolls.