My 30 years of Transformers - Conventions and Collectors Fairs

Tomorrow we get back to the Final Five Display Cases, but today, after detailing my main interest yesterday of collecting the toys, I want to detail the other major interest of mine with Transformers - Conventions.

Dedicated Transformers conventions have a number of elements that draw in Transformers fans, including the guests (including voice actors of our favourite characters), presentations/panels (sometimes with toy reveals), activities, a chance to cosplay, trading in a dealer room, and meeting up with friends and fellow fans.

In Australia we don't have regular dedicated Transformers Conventions, so for us fans to experience some or all of those elements, we either have to travel to another country that has a dedicated convention, or go to a generalised scifi/fantasy convention here that rarely has any Transformers elements (sometimes there is a Transformers voice actor and some people selling Transformers toys).

In the last 20 years there have been many localised fan meets organised through the Australian fan community, and with a number regular collector fairs in some cities, we've seen some of them become catalysts for some decent turnouts of fans to those meets.
My very first meet with other fans was in January 1997, in Sydney, which is in another state to where I lived. It was only about four or five of us, but it was great to finally be spending several hours with a group of Transformers fans, instead of with just one.

In about 2001 Australia had what I think was our first annual scifi/fantasy convention start up in Sydney (Supanova), which later expanded to six cities a year, and now has competition from another company (Comic Con) that also does five cities each year.
The Ozformers club had a booth at the 2003 Supanova convention, to show off the toyline to others, and see if there was enough interest to host our own Transformers convention.
(photo is not mine)


We did get a fair bit of interest, but it wasn't until 2004 that we saw a dedicated convention, which was done in Sydney.
(photo is not mine)


A second attempt was made in 2006 in Sydney, but administrative issues meant a very small turnout, making it little more than a presentation of a Transformers collection and a couple of toy dealers.
(photo is not mine)


Since then I've been pretty keen to travel around the country to attend meets, and go to collector fairs... as well as the occasional scifi convention if there was a significant voice actor to make it worth the admission fee and $50 autograph fee.
(Parramatta Collectors Fair 2010)


(Nexus Fair 2010)


(Supanova Brisbane 2014)

.


But like most fans back then (1990s & 2000s), BotCon would be the ultimate goal. Back then it was one of those things that almost every Transformers fan had on their wish-list if they could afford it, and for me, once I got a taste for it in 1999, I just kept wanting to go back, as often as possible (only missing 2006 BotCon and 2004 Official Con).

I had first heard about the annual BotCon Transformers convention in 1995 just before the second one, and from that time I was following them with keen interest for four years before I was finally able to go to one... and it was worth the wait.
That first one in 1999 was in St Paul, Minnesota (America), and from a combination of it being my first long-distance trip as well as it being a last minute decision to go after getting a full time job, I only booked flights and accommodation for three nights (in Friday, out Monday). Looking back, that was way too short, and I wished I had spent an extra day or two in St Paul, especially with Mall America nearby.
As it was, I arrived just as the registration check-in was starting on the Friday afternoon, so I lined up for that before checking into the hotel across the road. Meanwhile on the Monday, I had to leave for the airport by mid-morning for the flight home.
One of the things that made it such a memorable experience was the kindness of other fans... mostly from the novelty of meeting an Australian in person. I was only the third Australian to go to a BotCon, so it was still a novelty. (even at BotCon 2015, I saw an Australian attendee being a novelty to a number of people on one of the pre-Con tours)
One of the first people I met at BotCon 1999 was Tony Buchanan. At that time he was producing a printed monthly fan magazine called Auto-Update, and he had been sending me copies of his publication in exchange for copies of the monthly Ozformers Club newsletter. Tony introduced me to a lot of the significant people in the fandom, many of which I remained friends with for as long as they were still into Transformers or attending the conventions.



The next five Hasbro endorsed annual Transformers conventions (named BotCon or the Official Con) had other Australians attend, which brought a new dynamic to the experience. I had someone to relate to that I often knew already, and as time went on, I would take on a role of guide for other Australians.
That brought us to 2004, the year of two Transformers Conventions, and I chose the BotCon one, because at that time it looked like it was the last one, and the Official Convention would be around next year for me to attend (so we thought at the time).

(BotCon 2000 with part of the Hartmans collection display)

.


(BotCon 2001 with the Wreckers display)

.


(BotCon 2004 with the big collection of toys on display in the Dealer Room)

.

.


The sudden end to the Official Convention license-holder in 2004 meant that that wasn't going to happen, and until Hasbro announced a few months later that a new company had the convention license (Fun Publications), I was resigned to not going to any more.
Finding out about the new business and it being instructed by Hasbro to take on an advisory council (that had some people on it that were my friends or I knew of well), I went to the 2005 BotCon and it was still pretty good. Different, but good.

(BotCon 2005)


I missed the 2006 BotCon due to funding an Australian Convention, but the next five years saw a growth in the numbers and fan support of the current BotCon convention organiser. 2011 looks to be its peak of popularity before the decline of sales and attendance (according to statistics of pre-registration and at-show toy quantities and sales, with 2011 being the last year they sold out of everything and 2012 being the last time they sold out the boxsets during pre-registration, prompting a reduction of toy numbers since 2013).
The quality and features of the convention itself is still as good as it ever was, with guests, panels, Hasbro presentations, and special activities spread over five days for me to want to keep going back, but a number of issues that occurred outside of the Convention (that I won't go into here) has unfortunately meant that the support for the Convention has become a casualty. BotCon as a brand is still iconic, but at the moment it is not the "must do" event for Transformers fans like it was during its first 15 years.
I love going, but it isn't as much fun having less and less old friends or Australians going each year.

(BotCon 2011)


Each BotCon I rate with a score across 10 categories, and from that my three best BotCons were 2004, 2009, 2011... while my three least favourite BotCons (and Official Cons) were 2003, 2012, 2015.

It's now been 10 years since we last tried to have an Australian Transformers convention, so maybe this year would be a good time for another attempt, especially with the 20th anniversary of the Ozformers club this year. Something I'll have to look at soon if I want to do something about it before the end of the year.

I could literally go on for weeks about my BotCon adventures, so for extensive coverage of the last ten BotCons (except 2006), with more photos and written details than any other website, including the BotCon website, check out my BotCon fan archive here - http://www.toycollectors.com.au/botcon.html

For names and numbers of the various BotCon exclusives, check out this resource website - http://gbblackrock.capturedprey.com/

Tomorrow... it's Masterpiece time.


(Newsletter banner from issue 47 in September 2000, submitted by Paulbot.)

My 30 years of Transformers - My History of Collecting

Today on this 30 year Transformers collection adventure of mine, we take a short break before getting back to the final five Display Cases. Instead of photos and details of an individual Display Case today, I want to give you a quick look at the history of my collecting over those 30 years.... including some of my earliest collection photos, from 15 years ago.

For the first 13 years I never thought to document my collection with a camera. I didn't even keep written documentation for the first 8 years, because even though my first Transformers toy was in 1985, I didn't actively collect or hunt for Transformers toys until 1992, prompting me to keep lists of the toys some time in 1993.

These are the earliest collection photos that I can find.
From April 1998 - a single display case, that would be changed periodically to feature current or favourite toys. On this occasion I had the Beast Wars toys on display, with an Optimal Optimus toy that was donated by Hasbro Australia for me to give away in a competition for the Ozformers Club... which was an amazing gesture from them (and a tease for me, as I didn't get one from the store until a little later).


From July 2000 - Another single display Case that would only feature current and/or favourite toys.


March 2001 - the first ever photo of my entire collection which would have been close to 500 at that time.
If you look at the first image like a Clock, the 1984 toys are at 12.00 and you go around clockwise for each following year. So 1987 Headmasters are at about 3.00, the Pretenders are at 6.00, G2 at 9.00, with the rest of the "clock" being Beast Wars, and in the centre is Beast Machines and BotCon toys.

.


November 2004 - Moved into a new house with plenty of display room, the first thing I did when I unpacked was put all the toys out in one spot to see how it all looked. There were just under 1000 toys at this time.


December 2005 - I now had Display Cases for the collection, and at this time I had just eight of them.
(this is Room 1 of the current collection, which has the big Optimus Truck in the middle of the Room)


September 2006 - A third wall of Display Cases were now needed, with 11 Display Cases at this time.


September 2008 - The start of the fourth wall of Display Cases in the first room with 14 Display Cases. Each year from here I would average 2-3 new Display Cases, filling out the first room by the end of 2010, while looking like the second room will be full in 2016.

.



Collecting during the 1980s.
My first love of action figures was in about 1984-1985, and it was for Masters of the Universe. But I never got a MOTU toy as a present or owned one as a kid, so my collecting attention was instead focused on something else that I got first - Transformers.
As noted previously, my first Transformers toy was Beachcomber in November 1985 for my 10th birthday.
I think that this was the first time that I had ever seen a Transformers toy because I was just so attached to this awesome toy, that I told my parents that it was now all I wanted for any future gifts. (not that I got many more, but most birthdays and Christmases in the next three years included a Transformers toy)
To me, Beachcomber was the best Mini-Bot I could have received, as it had four moving limbs, rubber wheels, and most importantly, fairly accurate humanoid proportions (something that most Mini-Bots didn't have).
A month later for Christmas I received Seaspray and Blitzwing... giving me months of play, by having two small Autobots and one powerful Decepticon for them to overcome in many battles.
During the seven years of the Original Series (later called Generation One by fans, and then officially), I didn't end up with very many Transformers toys (only 32 in 7 years), so I had to rely on a dozen or so comics, several episodes on a single video cassette (taped from Saturday Mornings), and those magnificent yearly toy catalogues that came with most of the boxed toys. I think I studied those catalogues more than my school work, as I could name and describe all of the toys... but wasn't doing much better than average with my school report cards.
I was lucky to come across another Transformers collector/fan at the end of 1986 while at a Motel, who had a huge collection of toys, comics and cartoons on tape. Every few weeks we'd be at one or the other's place, playing out massive battles in the backyard... setting up bases, taking turns to pick toys for our teams, and playing out their techspec abilities and special weapons.
It was also that friend who told me about the 1986 Transformers Movie screening, which we went to see during the Christmas holidays. Unfortunately he moved away around 1990, and I lost track of him.


Collecting during the 1990s.
The original series had ended by 1992, and here in Australia we started seeing European Transformers (which we didn't know at the time were anything different to the previous "American" Transformers). The appearance of the gold box Classics and regular visits to a large flea market, had me suddenly collecting a lot of the Original Series toys that I had been dreaming about from the toy catalogues from a few years ago.
In that first year of Flea Market finds and in-store Classics (1992) I had more than doubled the amount of toys collected in the first seven years.
A steady amount followed for the next three years, getting to almost 200 toys and finding another Transformers Collector/Fan along the way, but then in 1995 my whole Transformers World just exploded. At my University I found out about the internet... and even though it was still in its infancy when it came to Transformers information, there was already a decent community of collectors from many Countries, and a growing archive of collector information.
Most of the action was through a newsgroup called alt.toys.transformers (which later spawned 5 or 6 sub-newsgroups), and a small number of websites that hosted what was currently known about Transformers toys, cartoon and comics.
From that new world of fan interaction I found about a dozen Australians, and many of us felt like we were the only fan out there before we came across the internet and the online fandom. One of the first Australian fans I came across online (goes by the name of dirge) is still a close friend today, 20 years later.
In late 1996, after a year of interacting with Australian fans, I proposed starting up a news mailing list to the other Australians, and everyone I asked were keen... which led to the creation of a monthly newsletter that had its first issue in October, and the creation of an Australian Transformers Club that was given written authorisation by Hasbro Australia to call ourselves a Club. (I later dropped the "Club" from our name when an Official Club was started in 2003... to prevent confusion by fans, and avoid any demands to not call ourselves a Transformers Club by the Official Club.)
We started out as the Austrans Club, but it was changed shortly after to Ozformers, so that we wouldn't get into any trouble from the Austrans transport company for using their trademarked name.
It's amazing to realise that 2016 is our 20th Anniversary, making us one of the longest running Transformers fan communities/Clubs... possibly second only to Transmasters, which started in the early 1990s (if it still exists now).
But the big thing that got me most excited in the mid-90s when I first got onto the Internet was hearing about the annual BotCon Transformers Convention in America. When I first got onto the Internet around the middle of 1995 the second BotCon was about to start, and each year it would get more and more exciting, hearing about what happens at the event... wishing that I could go one year.
1999 was the year I was finally able to afford to go, and it was better than I had expected or imagined. It was a very quick two and a half days for me, but nothing at the Convention itself had me disappointed or regretting going.
By the end of the decade I was at just over 400 toys, thanks mostly to a renaissance of sorts with Beast Wars that saw many like me get back into collecting current-release toys again.


Collecting during the 2000s.
The start of the new decade saw a couple of hits to my collecting and hobby. The first was Beast Machines, giving us many unusual or uninspiring toys. The second was the end of my time on the alt.toys.transformers Newsgroup after 6 or 7 years.
After a steady growth of online Transformers fans that the Newsgroup could no longer cater for, we saw very early in the decade the rise of website based messageboards. They not only competed with each other, but with the long running alt.toys.transformers Newsgroup, because it couldn't really evolve to compete with the fancier messageboards that had better features and frills.
On the plus side, we also ended up having a few Australian based messageboards before we got halfway through the decade, and I was managing to get to BotCon each year since that first one in 1999... allowing me to catch up on a lot of toys not released in Australia, by getting to American retail stores, and the convention Dealer Room.
We also had a couple of Australian Conventions, in 2004 and 2006... although the 2004 one was the much better one. I sacrificed going to BotCon in 2006 to fund a Transformers convention, but failed to deliver something respectable due to the logistics of a long-distance event (always start out with something in your own city first, to get the feel of it before trying something long-distance).
At the 20 year point of my hobby (2005) I had managed to rocket past 1000 toys, with over 12 hundred by the end of that year. We were getting a lot of toy product coming out each year now (like Armada and Energon), and I was able to afford to hunt down all of the Original Series Transformers toys from Hasbro (America) that weren't variants. The "holy grail" to many fans at that time was one of the last Original Series Transformers toys I ended up acquiring - Fortress Maximus, in 2006. All that was left after that was a couple of Minispys, one of the My First Transformers, and the Time Warrior watch... all of which were bought by 2007.
2007... the year that it all changed for Transformers and its existing fans, thanks to a big budget movie. The Brand was now mainstream, bringing us a massive amount of toy product, and a large number of new people who were now fans or had a passing interest in Transformers to find out with some surprise, a little more about the pre-existing 23 years. (I had someone yesterday trying to tell me that Transformers was only about 10 years old, not knowing anything before the 2007 Movie)
At the end of the decade (2010), thanks to a good job with lots of over-time work, I had 2800 Transformers toys in the Collection at the 25 year mark, which was over double the amount from the 20 year mark.


Collecting during the 2010s.
The last five years have seen so many toys being released that my annual collecting amounts have been record breaking, resulting in passing milestones very rapidly...
2010 - 378 toys (passed 2500 toys)
2011 - 469 toys (passed 3000 toys)
2012 - 422 toys (passed 3500 toys)
2013 - 560 toys (passed 4000 toys)
2014 - 606 toys (passed 4500 toys)
2015 - 384 toys (passed 5000 toys)
Despite the drop in toy numbers this year (2015), it was this year that saw the toyline that I've had the most enjoyment with since Animated and Classics in 2010 - Combiner Wars. The Deluxes were a bit simpler, but that's what made them more fun for me, as it meant that I could play with them more without needing to spend ages Transforming each toy. With each new team (including the awesome Devastator), I was transforming them multiple times between each of the modes, and their combined mode.
Since Robots In Disguise was a bit of a letdown (limited Decepticons and most were gimmick toys), the Generations Combiner Wars were the highlight for the year, and I can't wait for more in 2016.

I could go on for days about the highs and lows of my 30 years of collecting Transformers toys, but I think that will be all for now... before I bore people too much with too much endless text.

To see the order of toys that I acquired over the years, and photos of most of them from the last 10 years, go to this page and follow the links for each following year/page.

Tomorrow I should be detailing the history of my biggest/favourite element of my Transformers hobby, besides collecting toys - Conventions.
Then it is back to the final five Transformers Display Cases... and maybe a bonus item after that.

My 30 years of Transformers - Display Case 34

Today is Display Case 34 (of 37), spanning 11 years of Alternators, Binaltech, Alternity, Binaltech Asterisk, Kissplay, and GTR... plus an
assortment of plush Transformers and the Optimus Speaker Tower.



Top of case - Lunchboxes and empty boxes.


Shelf 1 -JP Binaltech (2003 - 2004) = 14

Smokescreen #7 (Binaltech 01), Binaltech Smokescreen #8 (Binaltech 01), Sideswipe (Binaltech 02), Streak (Binaltech 03), Hound (Binaltech 04), Dead End (Binaltech 05), Tracks (yellow) (Binaltech 06), Smokescreen #2 (Binaltech 07), Smokescreen #1 (Binaltech 07), Meister (white) (Binaltech 08), Meister/Zoom-Zoom (red) (Binaltech 08), Tracks (blue) (Binaltech 06), Swindle (Binaltech 09), Grimlock (Binaltech 10),

Shelf 2 - JP Binaltech, Binaltech Asterisk, US Alternator (2005 - 2006) = 13

Binaltech/Alternator - Ravage (Binaltech 11), Overdrive (Binaltech 12), Laserwave (Binaltech 13), Wheeljack (Binaltech 14), Prowl (police) (Binaltech 15), Prowl (blue) (Binaltech 15), Decepticharge (Alternator 14), Swerve (Alternator 15), Skids (Binaltech 16), Ricochet (Alternator 19).

Binaltech Asterisk - Alert w/ AI (RiD TAI) (BTA-01), Sunstreaker w/ Junko (RiD Kelly) (BTA-02), Broadblast w/ (Victory) Lumina (BTA-03),

Shelf 3 - JP Binaltech, Kissplay, US Alternators (early 2005 to 2007) = 19

Binaltech/Alternator - Rollbar (Alternator 20), Optimus Prime (Alternator 21), Mirage (Alternator 22), Nemesis Prime (Alternator 24), Rumble (Alternator 25), Ravage (Alternator 26), Rodimus (Alternator 27).

Kissplay - Convoy w/ Melissa, Hot Rodimus w/ Syaosyao, Autorooper w/ Atari,
Worlds Smallest Transformers - Autorooper w/ Atari
Cassettes - Sundor, Rosanna, Glit.
Sparkbots - Angela (lion), Star Dust (robot), Zangetsu (bird).
(missing - Atariscream)

Shelf 4 - JP Binaltech (2007-2008), JP GT (2013) = 9

Binaltech - Clear Mirage (Binaltech 18), Bluestreak (Binaltech 19), Argent Meister (Binaltech 20), Arcee (Binaltech 21), Convoy (Binaltech 22).

GT - Prime (GT-01 w/ Misaki), Saber (GT-02 w/ Anna), Megatron (GT-03 w/ Noa), Maximus (GT-04 w/ Hiiro).
(missing - Safety Prime)

Shelf 5 -JP Alternity (2009-2011 ), JP FJ Cruiser (2013) = 17

Alternity -
Convoy (Silver), Convoy (Red), Convoy (white), Convoy (black), Dai Atlas,
Megatron (black), Megatron (grey), Megatron (blue), Galvatron,
Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Goldbug,
Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Banzaitron.

FJ Cruiser -
Optimus (yellow)

Shelf 6 - (empty) = 0

Side of Case - Speaker Tower, Plush, Cushions = 2

Speaker Tower - Optimus Prime

Transforming plush figures - Softimus Prime, Slumblebee.
Animated mini plush - Optimus Prime.
Universal Studios Plush figures - Bumblebee, Optimus Prime
Large Movie Plush Figures - TF2 Optimus Prime, TF4 Optimus Prime.
TF3 Movie plush/pillow - Optimus Prime (truck mode). (from Display Case 30)
TF4 Mini-plush - Optimus Prime, Grimlock, Bumblebee.
TF4 plush electronic swords - Optimus sword, Drift sword.

Assorted cushions.


TOTAL TOYS FOR THIS DISPLAY CASE - 74

My 30 years of Transformers - Display Case 33

Today is another Display Case (33) that's a mixed bag of several lines from the last five years. It has Legends/EZ, BAPE, 2014 Generations, Hero Mashers Kabaya Models, Mr Potato Head, Battle Masters, 2014 Kreo, Kinder Surprise figurines, and the fourth of four Metroplex toys (from HK-Con).



Top of case - Kinder Surprise figurines (2014) = 0

Decepticons - Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream.
Autobots - Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Arcee.

Shelf 1 - Kabaya Model kits (2009-2015) = 0

Wave 1 - Gen1 Optimus/Convoy, Henkei Convoy, Star Saber.
Wave 2 - Ultra Magnus, Prowl, Henkei Jetfire/Skyfire.
Wave 3 - Starscream, God Ginrai, God Bomber.
Wave 4 - Hot Rod/Rodimus Convoy, Victory Leo, Henkei Inferno, Gaia Cross (6 figures)
Wave 5 - WFC Optimus, Deathsaurus, HotSpot, Protectobots (6 figures)
Wave 1DX - Fortress Maximus, Cerebros, Windcharger, Powerglide.
Wave 6 - Dai Atlas, Sonic Bomber, Road Fire.
Wave 7 - Motormaster, Onslaught, Silverbolt, Aerialbots (4 figures), Stunticons (4 figures), Combaticons (4 figures)
Wave 2DX - Overlord, Blacker, Laster, Braver.
Wave 8 - Star Convoy, Buster, Hydra.
Wave 9 - Kenzan, Jinbu, Ganoh
(missing Wave 10 - Seacons)

Shelf 2 - US Legends & JP EZ (2010-2015) = 26

US Reveal the Shield - Optimus, Prowl, Trailcutter, (Gold) Bumblebee, Megatron, Starscream,

JP EZ Chronicle Series 1 - Bumblebee, Jazz, Trailbreaker, Gen1 Megatron, Gen1 Optimus, Thundercracker,

JP EZ Chronicle Series 2 - Hound, Streak, Prowl, Rodimus, Skywarp, Starscream, Gen2 Optimus, Gen2 Megatron (purple).

JP EZ GO! - Megatron (grey tank)

2014-2015 Legends - Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron, Starscream, Grimlock, Strafe, Ultra Magnus, Cliffjumper, Skywarp

2014 EZ Optimus Prime (red/black)

(Dispensor not applicable to count - this is the duplicate that is my travelling companion toy)

Shelf 3 - Kreo Microchange & Combiners (2014) = 28

Microchange -
Wave 1 -
Jetwash (Gen1 Jetfire), Fangwolf (JP Galaxy Force Fangwolf/Cybertron Snarl), Trypticon (Gen1... with a robot mode), Jarugar (JP Gen1 - Liokaiser), Torosaur (??? a fuzor?), Mindswipe (Gen1 Mindwipe), Nightbeat (Gen1), Wingspan Hawk (Gen1), Silversnout (??? a fuzor?), Skarpnel (red Gen1 Shrapnel?), Highbrow (Gen1), Misfire (Gen1)
(missing wave 2)

Combiner -
Wave 1 -
Grimstone (Mollox, Ironeye, Crackback, Iquanox)
Lazerbolt (Freezeout, Bullhorn, Roadhound, Floodgate)
Obsidian (Freefall, Hemocron, Bullwark, Stronghorn)
Volcanicon (Farside, Power Surge, Liftoff, Lugmutt)

Shelf 4 - BAPE Convoy (2011-2013) = 3

BAPE exclusive -
2011 - Convoy (green)
2012 - Convoy (grey)
2013 - Convoy (red)

Shelf 5 - 2014 Generations = 30

Leader -
Jetfire

Voyager -
Rhinox, Whirl, Doubledealer, Roadbuster, Skybyte, Brainstorm.

Deluxe -
Scoop, Starscream, Minicon Assault Team (Windsheer, Heavytread, Runway), Rattrap, Tankor, Goldfire, Waspinator, Skids, Dreadwing, Nightbeat, Jhiaxus, Crosscut, Windblade, Chromia, Arcee.

Legends -
Cosmos & Payload, Swerve & Flanker, Skrapnel & Reflector, Tailgate & Groundpounder, Nemesis Prime & Spinister, Cliffjumper & Suppressor, Gears & Eclipse, Acidstorm & Venin

Shelf 6 - Hero Mashers (2014) = 16

Basic -
Starscream, Bumblebee, Springer, Drift, Jetfire, Rodimus, Heatwave,

Upgrade -
Optimus w/ Ultra Magnus, Megatron w/ Skywarp, Bulkhead w/ Cliffjumper, Soundwave w/ Sideswipe, Slug w/ Snarl

Electronic -
Optimus Prime, Grimlock

2-pack -
Bumblebee & Strafe

Shelf 7 - Mr Potato Head & Battle Masters, HK-Con Metroplex (2014) = 8

Mr Potato Head (2014) -
Mini - Optimus, Bumblebee, Grimlock
2-pack - Optimus & Grimlock
2-mode - Starscream, Optimus

Battle Masters (2014) -
2-pack - Optimus Prime, Megatron
Single - Starscream, Bumblebee, Prowl, Barricade
Single without controller - Soundwave, Grimlock
Target excl - Silver Knight Optimus, Grimlock
2-pack (second) - Optimus Prime (new), Megatron (new)

HK-Con Metroplex (2014) w/ Scamper & 12 figurines (2 Optimus, 2 Bumblebee, 2 Hoist, 2 Trailbreaker, 2 Megatron, 2 Starscream)

TOTAL TOYS FOR THIS DISPLAY CASE - 111 (plus 58 model kits, 12 figurines & 12 Battle Masters)

My 30 years of Transformers - Display Case 32

Today it's back to some of the fan favourite lines from the last five years, as Display Case 32 has Generations (2010-2013), plus its very short-lived predecessor that bridged Universe & Classics to Generations, called Reveal the Shield.



Top of case - Empty box.
Shelf 1 - Reveal the Shield (2010-2011) & Generations (2010-2011) = 31

Reveal the Shield -

Autobots -
Voyager - Solar Storm Grappel, Strafe, Deep Dive.
Deluxe - Mindset, Fallback, Special Ops Jazz, Turbo Tracks, Perceptor, Wreck-Gar, Bumblebee, (Gen2) Optimus Prime, Rodimus (2-pack Battle in Space).
Scouts - Windcharger.

Decepticons -
Voyager - Lugnut
Deluxe - Cyclonus w/ Nightstick (2-pack Battle in Space)
Scout - Chopsaw

Generations -
Deluxe Autobots - Drift, Red Alert, Blurr, Sergeant Kup, Wheeljack, Warpath
Deluxe Decepticons - Thrust, Darkmount, Dirge, Thunderwing, Skullgrin, Scourge, Thundercracker

Shelf 2 - Generations War For Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron Decepticons (2010-2014) = 35

2010 Generations -
Deluxe - Megatron, Soundwave,
Legends - Starscream (UK excl)

2012-2013 Generations -
Voyager - Soundwave w/ Laserbeak, Soundblaster w/ Buzzsaw
Deluxe - Shockwave, Kickback, Starscream,
Legends - Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, Ratbat

Regular Combaticons/Bruticus - Blast Off, Decepticon Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, Vortex
SDCC Combaticons/Bruticus - Blast Off, Decepticon Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, Vortex
Gen2 Combaticons/Bruticus - Blast Off, Decepticon Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, Vortex

Exclusives -
Megatron (Rage over Cybertron - TRU excl)

JP Generations -
Skywarp, Thundercracker, Infiltrator Starscream (Generations excl)

Shelf 3 - Generations War For Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron Autobots (2010-2014) = 23

2010 Generations -
Deluxe - Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Cliffjumper,

2012-2013 Generations -
Voyager - Blaster w/ Steeljaw, Grimlock
Deluxe - Jazz, Optimus Prime, Air Raid, Sideswipe, Ultra Magnus,
Legends - Eject, Ramhorn, Rewind, Sunder

Wreckers/Ruination - Impactor, Twintwist, Topspin, Roadbuster, Whirl

Exclusives -
Optimus Prime, Bumblebee (Rage over Cybertron - TRU excl)

JP Generations -
Fireblast Grimlock

Shelf 4 - Other Generations (2013) = 21

Autobots -
Legends - Optimus Prime w/ Roller, Bumblebee w/ Blazemaster,
Deluxe - Bumblebee, Orion Pax, Trailcutter, Hoist,
Voyager - Springer, Sandstorm,

Decepticons -
Legends - Megatron w/ Chopshop, Starscream w/ Waspinator
Deluxe - Megatron,
Voyager - Blitzwing,

Exclusives -
Calvin Johnson Megatron
HK Henkei Skyfire

Japanese Generations -
Ratbat, Magnificus

Shelf 5 - Generations Titans (2013) = 2

US Generations - Metroplex w/ Scamper
JP Generations - Metroplex w/ Scamper

TOTAL TOYS FOR THIS DISPLAY CASE - 110