Japanese Dual Model Kit Optimus Prime, Human Alliance Soundwave, and Alternity Dai Atras.
I want to review each of these once I have a play with them (and build the Model Kit), but a few quick comments first.
Soundwave - noticeably smaller than previous Human Alliance figures, it's almost the size of what Deluxe figures were before the third movie this year.
Dai Atras - Meant to be a homage to the Gen1 Dai Atlas character, with the blue, white, black and orange, but not sure why the name is messed up. It makes it sound very "Engrish". The orange is very clashing. The original Gen1 toy was a better blend of colours.
Model Kit Optimus - this one is gonna take a while to do. When I was seeing the two kits (Optimus & Bumblebee) on ebay and online stores, I thought the Optimus was just costing 2-3 times the price of Bumblebee because it was in more demand... but now that I have it, it is at least twice the size of the Bumblebee kit (which makes sense, now knowing that they are both the same 1/32 scale).
The photo below shows the two different kit sizes.
The next trip to the post office two days ago I came home with the first wave of TFPrime Voyagers (Bukhead and Optimus), the DVD of the opening 5-part story of the new TFPrime cartoon, and the latest issue of the Club Magazine.
I ordered the first wave of Deluxe TFPrime toys with those Voyagers, so am a bit annoyed that they didn't arrive at the same time... but at least they should be at the post office within a day or two after the long weekend.
And last night, or should I say, really early in the morning, I bought the following items at Westfield Chermside while it was having the 36-hour pre-Christmas trading.
The Shockwave Action Set (finally, after so long looking for it), 3 Transformers Beach Towels from JayJays ($30 each), a "christmas" box of chocolates & puzzle (at the top right), and a shelving strip (in the middle) from one of those stores at Chermside. Previous ones I've found trashed or discarded, but this one I kinda removed it... (they had it on about 10 shelves, from the height of the DotM toyline, but the store only had TFs toys on 3 of those shelves - so I wanted to get one before they removed and disposed of them. I could have asked, but previous queries were just too much hassle. Besides, these aren't something they paid for, and will soon throw them out now that the Movie line is wrapping up).
The Christmas Chocolate box.
Chermside shopping....
The only shopping centre in Brisbane to have all night pre-christmas shopping, and this was my third or fourth year. Since I work until about midnight, it makes it easier to motivate myself to go (stopping at home on the way to change) so that I'm not caught up with the crowds (which are worst before midnight when most of the smaller shops close) and it makes it easier to park close to an entrance.
Last year was a big disappointment for me, not finding any Transformers toys, so I wasn't really wanting to go this year because of how behind stores are here... I wasn't too keen on driving 30-35 minutes there and back... but on the day (Friday) I figured that it would be something different. And I just don't get out enough anymore.
So I left home around half past midnight, which allowed me to get a park within 20 metres of one of the entrances (a little past 1am).
There were still a fair few people there, like the early opening hours of a regular day.
I checked out Kmart first, looking for a $14 Shockwave Action Set (recently released here, and one of the few figures I haven't imported), but found nothing.
Next stop, BigW (passing by the Toyworld, Myer, Target and DJs - leaving them until later)... and success. It cost $23 though, but that was okay by me... it's a new mould and one of only two Shockwave toys.
I then headed back towards Target, and saw that David Jones store was closing up. It was 2am, and they were the only major store closing for a few hours during the all-night pre-christmas shopping.
I was a bit disappointed by that, as I was going to see if they had the large Bumblebee remote-controlled car that the Carindale store has been sitting on for the last year, and maybe buy it.
I continued onto Target, which was almost stripped bare of Transformers. I did find a Transformers chocolate & jigsaw puzzle box for $5, and bought a few for me and for competitions on the messageboard.
Next up was JayJays, which had the new Transformers Beachtowels - another thing I was looking forward to buying. They had about a dozen, so I bought 3.
That was pretty much my christmas shopping done (for me), and since I didn't need to be buying anyone else gifts this year, this was the most enjoyable (stress-free) pre-christmas period, ever. It really spoils the mood of the season if you have to stress about getting people gifts that are good enough, or at least something they wouldn't be disappointed in getting... or just being compelled to buy people gifts, just in case they get you something.
I checked out Toyworld and Myer before grabbing some food from Coles, and heading out. It was past 4am by then, so it was close to 5am when I got home. I grabbed 4 hours sleep, sorted out a few things and packed up some stuff for my weekend away.
Next week I'll check the post office again, but don't expect too much more for 2011.
The current collection count is now at 3,462.
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