MacrossMania

I guess I don't see the issue with sourcing to outside dealers and sellers, even if they are one offs or individual buyers. The reality is that you are still getting an MISB and that's all that matters from a quality standpoint. Of course it does raise the question of why they have to do this in the first place, and all the speculation that has flown around - QC issues at the factory, market manipulation etc. I guess the reality is that we'll never know. It just adds to the misery and excitement of collecting.

This is the kind of bad ass gangster sh#$ I love.

Dude, this is a toy store.

Couldn't agree more with this.

Well what a disappointment. Canards falling off and everything. I had such high hopes for these pieces because they look so damn good. It's a shame they fall right in line with the tradition of crappy Robotech toys coming over stateside. Failing miserably at their one basic task, and giving us instead poor substitutes for Macross. Any theories on why this is always the case? Same old same old I guess: Japan taking their careful time with mini masterpieces, the craftsmanship, design, artwork, characterization, the list goes on and on, and the Americans churning out the same old crap, Ford, GMC, Robotech and all.

Somehow, some way, this thing will be mine mine mine! It blows the beagle out of the water and I was always disappointed I never picked one up at MSRP before prices skyrocketed. Now, I don't feel so bad. Fate has once again handed me another bite at the apple, and I plan on feasting on those sumptuous juices.

You got the joke! I was afraid people weren't going to get it. I guess that makes you an official Macrosshead.

Well... it is cannon, if you think about it.

Love these

I'll be honest. I'm a collector to the end. I'll never sell it. If it comes down to it, they can bury me with it.

Then you'll hate me...

An angry purchase! That's a new one. I like it.

I used to use credit cards for this hobby but after carrying the debt for several years realized that it wipes out any value in the item. Now I'm just careful to make sure that I have enough budgeted to make the purchases I want to make. With all the items that are coming out these days, that means I have to make sacrifices and count myself lucky to get only some of these items. I mean this year alone is crazy! Bandai's 1/48, all the HMR's (ostrich, Elintseeker, 1S etc.), Delta 31A, Sentinel's Mospeada bike armor, all the Fix Figuration and Metal Builds including the gundam wing this month, the latest SOC variants. The list goes on and on. And that's all the official lines that I collect (and some that I don't). Not to mention all the little goodies like HMR Dougrams that I don't collect but want to. The reality is that I could never afford all this so I have to pare down my collecting instincts and choose only those select lines that I really want, and go from there. And even then, I don't go that far because I could never keep up with all of Arcadia and Bandai's releases. That's just the reality of collecting these days. We're in a toy renaissance, but the downside is that it feeds really bad collecting habits and prevents completists from getting anywhere close to completing a line (unless you have 10's of thousands of dollars to spend). And not for nothing (not that's any of my business), but spending over 4 thousand dollars in a buying spree is really cause for concern. I don't take these threads too seriously when it comes to my collecting habits. I peruse these boards the same way that I browse ebay. It's window shopping. Toy porn and nothing more. I don't get caught up in all the glee when it comes to sharing etc. because I know where that rabbit hole goes.

This is you jumping into the game?!? I hate to see what your collection looks like in a year.

I just feel like we're getting off topic on this whole MISB thing. Although I loved it! So in the spirit of collecting for everyone's enjoyment, drool over the following (I'm in the middle of a move, so don't mind the mess!):

Action Figure Authority. It's the standard in the industry for getting a figure graded. 100 is perfect (there are only a handful of AFA 100's in the world), and 85 is considered "collector's grade" for fussy collectors like me. 80 is about standard, and everything below that from 70 on up is basically amateur or novice collecting. Below that is not even worth mentioning. AFA is not universally accepted though. Their grading is sometimes inconsistent and the very idea that a random entity could anoint itself as the final authority on what constitutes acceptable collecting is still in controversy to this day. Although it has been generally accepted as an industry standard at this point. Mainly because of their high standards.

what I love about the collecting game. It knows no boundaries, ethnicities, etc. It is truly blind to those superficialities that blind us all in superficial judgments about one another. It is truly magnanimous, equal, equanimous. Truly judged in the spirit of your character which cannot be helped. And so a man may love a thing in China that is just as much loved half a world over in a completely foreign continent, though the thing be held in the same high esteem because the values are the same. Collecting is the great equalizer. The great human justifier.

Shallow was never my forte. So yes, I'll go collect those Regults now.

If she's learning the force, then hell I must be a Jedi. Though to put it in Yoda terms, the dark arts was not that I would hope to master. I would only take comfort in the fact that Rembrandt went bankrupt collecting, serving as inspiration for his art. Perhaps in some small corner of the universe the dark art of my collection serves as a more solid foundation for other, higher arts I may sign my soul to.

Ok starry eyes, maybe you've convinced yourself that the one you keep in storage is only a spare tire, but you're close.

So I hate to say it, but you answered your own questions! So yea, the fact that you put one safely in storage so that it can never ever see the skein of sunlight that will slowly destroy it over time and mitigate that feeling of beauty when you first take it out of the box and gaze upon it with all of its furious glory - yea, that feeling. That's the feeling we MISB collectors all try to preserve. The feeling of perfection right up to the point of opening a toy and taking it out to play with. There's something about preserving that feeling that we're all chasing after, and well all do in our own way I guess. I just happen to do it (as a lot of others do) by keeping it pristine and untouched in the original box. And of course you have to understand we are talking about a 34 year old toy in basically pristine condition. A few condition issues on the corners, but for all intents and purposes perfect. Do you know how hard that is to find, and to be one of the lucky few in the world to get your hands on a piece like that? And you want to destroy that with your meddlesome, common hands that don't have the taste to understand what you're holding? It would be like Judas taking a drink out of the holy grail or taking communion. Or Macbeth throwing up his hands in vain to god, because he doesn't have it in himself to repent. What's the point? To put it plainly, I'm not just driven by avarice. I don't collect to make money, I collect to preserve and to marvel, to dream. But the thrill of the hunt is not only achieving the pinnacle of beauty by finding the perfect toy and the perfect display, but also in preserving it. And therein lies a collector's pride. His joy he takes in finding the piece nobody else could find. His pride he takes in doing what legions of collectors will do before and after him, long after he is dead and gone, preserving it for future generations to come. And to find one in this condition, with that amount of artwork, and to be able one day to pass the mantle to other collectors who will do the same, is to keep the daisy chain going.

LOL yes of course. You don't collect vintage toys and take them out for display. The whole point of a museum quality piece is ruined at that point. Everyone knows or least they should know that mint in box means it's never been disturbed, and mint in box is what preserves its value. So no, it's not leaving the box. This is less of an issue for the old vintage pieces because the box art is so amazing. Bandai's chunky monkey's are no exception. The artist is even quoted here bottom right corner. It's going to AFA to be graded.

The best comparison pics I've seen are AFA vintage transformers and their modern day counterparts - usually Fans Toys. I can still do a comparison pic. But the Super O will still be in her box. She'll never leave that old coffin of hers. It's great. I love it in there. Like a museum piece and I want to keep it that way. That's why I can't take it out and do a direct comparison tete-a-tete, figure to figure. This piece is for posterity and shouldn't be disturbed.

The Big O!