Vintage Star Wars v G1 Transformers

TrisCompany

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I grew up playing with both, originally with Star Wars and then got into the transformer cartoons.

Transformers are also really cool, if not better toys, as toys themselves, and there's seemingly hundreds of them with variations. Anybody collect them on here? Not sure they have the emotional connection that SW does because of the films but pretty cool.

Given the price rises in SW recently anybody tempted to start collecting Transformers as well / instead?
 

steve obi wan

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I did buy a couple of them a while back , Prime and Megatron but didn't have the same attraction and childhood memories so moved them on !!
 

MarkG

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I had a bit of near on everything back in the day... Star Wars was my main area, but also had Transformers, MASK & MOTU.... Kept the SW, but sold off those last 3 years ago.

I'm on the G1 FB group, and over the past year or so, has opened my eyes in a number of ways.. Firstly, the amount of Transformers actually produced !!, must be 40+ that I'd never seen or heard of back in the day..

Secondly, reproduction stuff is all over the place... boxes, inserts & stickers.. and everyone loves them. Also, with the amount of Chinese KOs on the market, it's getting harder to source genuine. Even the newer Masterpiece stuff isn't safe.
 

palitoyjunky

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Transformers was one of my fav cartoons in the 80s as was Go-Bots. I do have a couple of Transformers including an unused G1 Megatron and a few carded Go-Bots but no way near the same appeal and importance as SW :!:
 

Nita Nitro

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Transformers were the first toys I received at Christmas when Star Wars toys had all but disappeared from the catalogues, which was where I used to look at and decide what I wanted that year. Didn't ask for transformers, but asked for a surprise that year because I really wanted Star Wars but couldn't find much on offer.
Still have most of the subsequent ones I received, but the Megatron and Prime from that 'surprise' Christmas were so well played with that they broke years ago and were thrown out. I don't actively collect them, but keep a wee eye on certain ones from time to time :D
 

yoda

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I found my original Grimlock a few months back minus the weapons. I thought he was gone but he was stored away in a box under old bits and pieces.
I also had Prowl but I think hes gone but you never know.
 

ODB

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I am dabbling with G1 Transformers, I've always had a soft spot for them. It would appear that they are cheaper than Star Wars now despite having a reputation for being pricey, you have to do homework to spot the fakes and reissues though as not everyone is honest about them. My only criticism of them is that when together they are quite haphazard as scale and even style varies considerably throughout the line.
 

Robstyley

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I bought this G1 Optimus a few years ago because I had one as a kid and it was one of my favourites. Had to have one. Transformers are well cool, when they came along it was huge, everyone was mad for it. They were so different to anything else, genius bit of toy design. I think collecting them now could be a headache and although many are fairly cheap loose, some of the boxed or unused ones are mega pricey. I do like the packaging, it's proper retro looking. Prob could collect them if I had more time and money but you can't collect everything and Star Wars will always be no.1 for me.

image.jpg
 

rhyfelyser

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I had a bunch of gobots back in the day :oops: . Been dabblingish with transformers the past 2 or so years. I've got a boxed skywarp, loose Sludge which i had BITD and my lovely GF got me a nice boxed grapple last christmas. Got to agree with the packaging, very cool and eye catching and superbly engineered toys, those Japanese toy designers knew what they were doing. Looking at MASK listings on ebay recently but haven't pulled the trigger on them yet. Having said that none of them don't hold the emotion/memories and interest of SW for me but with increasing prices and the involvement of more and more dickheads on ebay and facebook i am looking more at other 80's toy lines.
 

tobedesu

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I still have my Transformers and some are still boxed.
I got the comics at the time as well but Transformers, like MOTU, never really had the longevity like Star Wars.
When I was a kid, I think my most played with toys were Matchbox and Corgi cars, Star Wars, and MUSCLE.

Transformers did have some great features and they are better built than some of modern versions.
I thought Megatron was great as a gun but poor as his tramsformed robot state.

Here's a photo of some for sale upon a recent visit to Tokyo.
 

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TrisCompany

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Yeah, the KO and reissue versions I think kill it a little bit. I got Starscream for Christmas when I was a boy, it was one of the harder ones to find and my mum had pretended she couldn't find one, I'd forgotten that moment of opening the present until I found a loose one on ebay, so I then found a separate box with insert just about hanging on so bought them for nostalgia. It's not SW though, even though in principle I think they're 'better' and, probably, more interesting and varied toys.
 

x-pack

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Am I right or wrong in saying that most of us vintage Star Wars collectors got into Transformers and other lines, such as He-Man, MASK, Thundercats etc, as Star Wars toy production was dieing out?

This was certainly the case for me. The one I was probably most heavily invested in (after Star Wars) was He-man, but I did have some larger items from other toy lines. So, it was as though my serious toy playing days were behind me when Transformers came along. Does anyone agree?
 

Clarkspie&chips

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Yep that's the case for me Barry but I wasn't into he man and not allowed transformers for some reason so got into lego and Robotix. The building and design aspects of these toys certainly had an effect on me cos that's what I do for a living now!
 

Dr_Ball_MD

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TrisCompany said:
I grew up playing with both, originally with Star Wars and then got into the transformer cartoons.

Same here. My girlfriend bought me an original Soundwave and Laserbeak a couple of Christmases ago, so I had to add the rest of his little friends :D

21112602830_4097abde39_c.jpg
 

olisuds

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TrisCompany said:
I grew up playing with both, originally with Star Wars and then got into the transformer cartoons.

Transformers are also really cool, if not better toys, as toys themselves, and there's seemingly hundreds of them with variations. Anybody collect them on here? Not sure they have the emotional connection that SW does because of the films but pretty cool.

Given the price rises in SW recently anybody tempted to start collecting Transformers as well / instead?

Have been thinking exactly the same myself recently. i also loved Transformers as a kid in the 80s. Particularly the combiners and mini vehicles. Since Star Wars prices have rocketed my interest has cooled off and i've been looking at picking up some transformers. Nothing to rare - just some of the old toys i use to have from my chilhood. The things that really put me off though are that collecting Transformers seems a lot more complicated and Re-issues and knock offs are a real nightmare. Also I enjoyed the cartoons but was never really into the films and a lot of the conversation on forums and facebook groups is really over my head.
 

x-pack

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I would absolutely love a complete TF sticker album. Thinking about this yesterday - of all the toys I had or any book or sticker or game, TF stickers are the thing I remember getting a buzz out of collecting as a kid. That is saying something cos I was a spoiled little **** :lol:
 

SOJ

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Vintage Star Wars has always been core of my collecting habit.

However I do have what I like to call my "best of collection". It's made of of the main toys from the other lines I played with as child. There's a G1 Optimus Prime, Rhino from mask, He-Man, Battle Cat, Trap-Jaw and Skeletor, Lion-o, Stuff Puft Mashmellow Man, Ace McCloud from Centurions, some Go-bots, Battle beasts, MUSCLE men, the first 2 sets of Garbage Pail Kids etc. Loads of other bits and pieces.

At some point I'm going to set up a shelf in one of my cabinets to dedicate to this stuff.

What I do find interesting about the G1 Transformers is the apparent acceptance of repro by the majority.

Regarding the line id love to get the stunticons and Fortress Maximus, loved those 2 toys growing up.
 

x-pack

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SOJ said:
Vintage Star Wars has always been core of my collecting habit.

However I do have what I like to call my "best of collection". It's made of of the main toys from the other lines I played with as child. There's a G1 Optimus Prime, Rhino from mask, He-Man, Battle Cat, Trap-Jaw and Skeletor, Lion-o, Stuff Puft Mashmellow Man, Ace McCloud from Centurions, some Go-bots, Battle beasts, MUSCLE men, the first 2 sets of Garbage Pail Kids etc. Loads of other bits and pieces.

At some point I'm going to set up a shelf in one of my cabinets to dedicate to this stuff.

What I do find interesting about the G1 Transformers is the apparent acceptance of repro by the majority.

Regarding the line id love to get the stunticons and Fortress Maximus, loved those 2 toys growing up.

That's a good idea. Might ask the guys on the forum what they would have on their A list.

Repro with transformers is a weird phenomena. Scalextric is similar. I actually follow a guy on fb who puts out repro tyres, glass, body parts etc. I can only explain this with my own view on Scalextric repro parts - I'm not precious about these things. If I need a new tyre I'm not arsed if it came from the Scalextric factory. If it looks right that'll do. As far as I know Scalextric aren't worth a great deal and people using them expect to find aftermarket parts. For this reason I'm not going out looking for old shop stock or collections just to replace a few parts on my cars.

It's not exactly the same thing I know ...or is it :eek:
 
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