Deathsaurus - The Decepticon Emperor of Destruction

misb Deathsaurus, c-9

Release in 1989 as part of the Victory Series, the original Deathsaurus toy transformed into a nondescript dragon-lizard thing with wings (or giant mutant space chicken) that doesn't really look like anything except ugly. Unusually for post-Generation 1 toys, he has die-cast-metal feet in beast mode.

In robot mode, both of his Breast Animal components can be slotted inside his spring-loaded chest (or kaiju-mode back) to form his elaborate torso armor; Eaglebreast must go in first, then Tigerbreast added on top. Both Breast Animals can also become hand-held weapons. He is armed with a light blue laser rifle — which, despite what the boxart and cartoon would have you believe, does not have a removable flail— and a large shield constructed out of his tail that can mount on either bicep.

Because of its relatively large box size, it is hard to find Deathsaurus in the condition above. It took two months for the item to be finally delivered to my place, but it was definitely worth the wait.

Saving the economy...

Disney Mickey Mouse Optimus Prime, c-10

misb alternity series, c-10

Henkei Inferno, c-10

Henkei Ratchet, c-10

I did my part to save the economy yesterday with my largest haul this year. I have been selling most of my vintage collection since the beginning of this year to make way for room space and to concentrate on the newer releases. Anyway, most of my pre-ordered stuff arrived yesterday so I went over to Falcon with some of my friends to pick up the items, which include the latest toys from the alternity series, the Henkei Ratchet and Inferno, and the wildly popular Disney Mickey Mouse Optimus Prime, which is apparently sold out in the streets in Japan. A friend who sold me his collection once told me "The joy of collecting toys lies in once owning the collection itself. When you finally sell off your collection for other pursuits, you should not have any regrets." I am a collector, and still is, as I can lay claim to the fact that my vintages were mostly sold at prices below what I paid for them, except for a few which I managed to recoup the cost price. With that, I bade farewell to some of my gems acquired over the years; Black Zarak, Grand Maximus, Superion, Raiden, Black Sixshot, Liokaiser. More will leave my collection in the months to come, and I can only hope they find another owner who recognise the joy they bring.

Dinobots (KO version)

misb KO Grimlock, c-9.5

Grimlock's toy was originally part of Takara's Diaclone Dinosaur Robo series. When Hasbro imported the toy in 1985 for the Transformers line, its blue pelvis was changed to red and the Diaclone driver mini-figure was dropped.
The original Grimlock changes from a robot into a robotic T-Rex and comes with a red energo-sword, a black double-barreled rifle, and a rocket launcher with three silver rockets.

misb KO Sludge, c-9.5

Sludge was released as part of the second series of Transformers in 1985, transforming into a robotic "brontosaurus". He has a trio of silver rockets, a rocket launcher, a black gun, and a red sword. Like most Diaclone-era molds, Sludge also has a conspicuous driver compartment located in his chest.

misb KO Slag, c-9.5

Slag was released as part of the second series of Transformers in 1985. The toy transformed into a robotic Triceratops, and came with a missile launcher that could fit in the shoulder socket of both the robot and dinosaur, a red sword, a silver "electro blaster" and three silver rockets.

misb KO Snarl, c-9.5

Snarl transforms from a robotic stegosaurus dinosaur bristling with gold vacuum-metalized armor plates, to a heavily armed robot armed with a red energo-blade, a smaller laser rifle and a rocket launcher with three black missiles.

misb KO Swoop, c-9.5

Swoop's toy transforms into a robotic pteranodon. Swoop can stand on his dinosaur feet or lie on his stomach in this mode, but additionally has fold-out wheels located in his feet and chest (though one has to split his chest open to access the latter wheel). His beak and tail were rounded for safety reasons compared to the original Diaclone release. However, the remolding of the tail kept the tail sticker from fitting correctly. Interestingly, despite being a former Diaclone toy, Swoop is the only Dinobot not to have an obvious cockpit for a Diaclone driver figure.
Swoop's die-cast metal chest is painted red, which is his Transformers color, as opposed to his cartoon color scheme which was based on the Diaclone toy. Along with his sword, he also comes with two spring-loaded missile launchers, the only Dinobot to have two projectile-launchers.

Swoop is notable for being one of the most fragile Generation 1 toys, and as such commands a respectable amount of money on the secondary market due to the difficulty in finding one intact.

Victory Saber

mib unused Victory Saber giftset, c-9

Released in 1989, the Victory Saber giftset is a two-pack of Star Saber and Victory Leo. In Victory Saber vehicle mode, Victory Leo transforms into a compacted version of his fighter mode and connects into the rear between Star Saber's engines/legs, forming a huge-ass space ship.
For Victory Saber robot mode, Victory Leo basically splits up into multiple parts, with most of Leo's body becoming platform shoes for Star Saber and the rest of him forming a giant backpack/weapons system. As Victory Saber, the Star Saber robot is armed with his sword, the backpack's weapons and Victory Leo's huge cannon, which can fire projectiles.

This Victory Saber giftset was purchased from an online seller based in Japan with the help from a friend. It came in a very good box with its content in even better condition.

Jetfire - Air Guardian

mib Jetfire, c-8

Released in 1985, a Takatoku Macross VF-1S Super Valkyrie box set was repainted, repackaged, and released as Jetfire. Jetfire features three modes: robot, jet, and an "alternate transformation" that deploys his arms and legs in jet mode. Additionally, Jetfire comes with several red pieces of armor and rocket booster backpack that can snap onto his arms, legs, and back in any mode. Due to his Macross origins, Jetfire has considerably more articulation than the other Transformers in the line at the time.

However, Jetfire was never released in Japan, since the toy was released by one of Takara's rival toy companies, Bandai, which owned Takatoku's Valkyrie Fighter license and had told Hasbro that they could only sell the Jetfire character in the U.S. but not in Japan. Thus, there was never a Takara-issued Jetfire.

Jetfire is one of the TFs I coveted because of his amazing accessories and armor, as well as a gorgeous jet mode. It was thanks to Grimlock bro that I managed to secure this piece from an online ebay seller and at a pretty decent price too. Though it came in a box which has obviously seen much better days, the toy itself is in excellent condition with all the 11 pieces of battle armor complete.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here's wishing everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Have a smooth sailing year in 2009. :)

Toy Collection Charity Drive on 14th Dec at CSC

This year, TF.SG will be organising a toy donation drive, with the beneficiary being Touch Young Arrows (TYA), under its parent organisation Touch Community Services. Some background information on TYA is as follows.

TYA believes that children can be nurtured and sharpened like arrows to make a positive impact in society, and to be future leaders in the community. TYA aims to realise the potential of children from single-parent or low-income families through a series of activities such as tuition, mentoring and sharing, art and craft lessons, indoor and outdoor games, outings and camps. TYA runs these activities on Saturdays at 10 centres in Bedok, Bendemeer, Clementi, Hougang, Marine Parade, Mountbatten, Queenstown, Serangoon, Tampines and Yishun. Some of the children who were in the pioneer programme some 15 years ago have returned to the club as volunteers to mentor the younger ones.

This coming sunday, 14th Dec, TF.SG will be having a toy collection drive to collect toys for these needy children, estimated to be around 250-300 children and from the age range of 7 - 12 years old. Admin team members from TF.SG, including myself, will gather at Spinelli's Coffee at China Square Central, from 3pm to 4pm to collect all donated toys, so anyone who has playable toys in good used and unused condition that you no longer want, please be generous in coming forward to donate them. We will consolidate all the collected toys and pass them to the person-in-charge on the following saturday, 20th Dec. I would like to make an appeal to everyone to come forward to make this a special christmas for these needy kids. Thanks once again. :)