Update -- since my last update, I have changed directions a little bit regarding the Pretenders. Instead of getting all 6 of the Decepticon Pretenders, I have decided to go the Masterforce route, and get the three Autobot counterparts to the three Decepticons: Landmine, Waverider, and Cloudburst (known as Lander, Diver, and Phoenix in Japan). Much like the Decepticons, these three are Land, Sea, and Air based, with their altmodes being an armored exploration vehicle, a submersible sea skimmer, and a jet, respectively. Unlike the monstrous outer shells of the Decepticons, the Autobots have shells of humans wearing high tech armor. They similarly are equiped with both a ranged and melee weapon, as well as sporting helmets.
I picked up Waverider and Cloudburst complete a few weeks back, and this weekend scored a complete Landmine (albeit with no stickers) as well. So once Landmine arrives, the next step is to hit Reprolabels and get sticker kits for all of the figures they have available. Some of them have good stickers, but the Pretenders (and several other TFs from the same era) have a problem where the stickers were designed for opaque backgrounds, but were printed with transparent ones -- so they tend to disappear a bit when applied. The Reprolabels sets are opaque, so they really pop, similar to the stickers on earlier TF releases which you may remember from your youth. Once the sticker work is complete, it would seem that my nerd goal for the Pretenders is complete! There are many other Pretenders, but that is a deep rabbit hole I do not want to get into right now. Among these include the other 6 "regular" 1988 Pretender -- Groundbreaker, Splashdown, and Sky High for the Autobots, and Iguanus, Finback, and Bugly for the Decepticons. Then you have the Pretender Beasts (whose shells are quadrupedal animals), Pretender Vehicles (shells are vehicles which the robot can pilot), Mega Pretenders (both shell and robots can transform, and the two vehicle modes can combine into one bigger vehicle), Ultra Pretenders (large vehicular outer shell, humanoid inner shell which can transform into a vehicle, and a small robot who can also transform and pilot either shell vehicle), the 1989 "small" Regular Pretenders (3 for each faction, with a different transformation design than the 1988 Regulars), and Pretender Classics (small Regular Pretender style figures of Jazz, Bumblebee, Grimlock, and Starscream). Some of these are harder to find than others; for example, the Ultra Pretenders are very tough to find in good shape because of the use of in famous gold swirly plastic, which is highly prone to crumbling to dust due to Gold Plastic Syndrome. There are also a few Japanese exclusive items like Metalhawk, the leader of the Autobot Pretenders in Masterforce and the only Pretender with any die-cast parts, or Brave Maximus, the Masterforce repaint of Fortress Maximus, with a new Pretender shell for Fortress (the large Headmaster module -- I am pretty sure his name is Fortress but do not quote me on that). In addition, two of the Mega Pretenders (Crossblades and Thunderwing) had their shells heavily remolded into new bounty hunter characters in Masterforce, Blue Bacchus and Black Shadow, who were neither Autobot nor Decepticon. As is to be expected these items go for big bucks. On Thursday, February 12, 2015 at 11:09:41 AM UTC-5, Luke Jaconetti wrote: > > Update! > > Bomb-Burst has joined Skullgrin and Submarauder, rounding out the original > 3 Decepticon Pretenders! He's complete and in beautiful shape, including > his stickers. > > I am trying to decide if I want to continue on with Iguanus, Bugly, and > Finback. First off, for whatever reason those three tend to run higher in > price on the current market than the other three. Beyond that, only > Iguanus really turns my proverbial skirt up. Bugly really does nothing for > me other than his character bio, and Finback is alright, but not nearly as > cool as his fellow aqua-con Submarauder. But if I get Iguanus, will I > eventually cave and get Bugly and Finback as well? #firstworldproblems > > The other side is that Bomb-Burst, Skullgrin, and Submarauder are the only > Decepticon Pretenders to ever get any cartoon appearances, in the Japanese > show Masterforce (with their Japanese names of Blood, Dauros, and Gilmer). > So I can display the three of them together nicely and evoke that -- > Iguanus would be the odd man out. But by the same token he has a really > spiffy monster shell (a purple upright lizard monster) and a > unique-among-Pretenders alt mode of a motorcycle. So I return to my nerd > pondering. > > On Monday, February 2, 2015 at 8:06:41 AM UTC-5, Luke Jaconetti wrote: >> >> Nerd goals continue! I finished reading Volume 3 of Hawkman, which was >> an uneven series which ends on a downbeat note for sure. I'm reading some >> of the random comics which have been sitting on my nightstand since last >> year's HeroesCon, and then it's the 3 issue prestige format Legend Of The >> Hawkman mini series, followed by Volume 4! >> >> On Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 10:01:28 AM UTC-5, Luke Jaconetti wrote: >>> >>> It has begun! I won G1 Skullgrin off eBay last night, complete except >>> for his belt, which is readily available on eBay. Also, for what it's >>> worth, Reprolabels -- http://reprolabels.com/index.php -- has added >>> sticker sheets for Skullgrin, Bomb-Burst, and Submarauder, so as soon as I >>> get Bomb-Burst, I will get the repro stickers and make all three of them as >>> spiffy as I can. >>> >>> >>> On Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 12:30:30 PM UTC-5, dug wrote: >>>> >>>> --Finish viewing the entire run of Blakes 7. It's a low goal but I have >>>> always heard of the show but never seen the series. I'm mid way through >>>> now >>>> so this is a resolution I think I can keep. >>>> >>>> --Produce and release at least one audio drama. >>>> >>>> --Get my wee bairns as hooked on Star Wars as they are on Frozen, How >>>> to Train my Dragon and Labyrinth. And the hardcore indoctrination will >>>> begin not with the movies but with the audio drama. Because my daughter >>>> LOVES having stories told to her and actually requests audio dramas when >>>> we >>>> drive. And I want her to be the only kind in the world who wants to know >>>> why Lord Tion is left out of the movies. >>>> >>>> On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 11:32 AM, Luke Jaconetti <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> 2015 has begun in earnest, and everyone always makes personal >>>>> resolutions or goals for the new year. But I thought it might be fun to >>>>> examine our nerdy goals for 2015 instead! >>>>> >>>>> -- Finish the models on my modelling desk. This includes a >>>>> Monogram/Aurora Mummy, Monsters of the Movies Dr. Jekyll, and Monsters of >>>>> the Movies Mr. Hyde. I would also like to paint some miniatures and do >>>>> at >>>>> least one other model kit as well. >>>>> >>>>> --Finish my Hawkman read-through. I am currently about midway through >>>>> the 90s series. I have read all of the Silver Age and Pre-Crisis stuff, >>>>> and am working through the Golden Age as well. >>>>> >>>>> --Buy the other 5 Generation 1 original Decepticon Pretenders. I have >>>>> Submarauder, but I want to finally get his monstrous brethren: >>>>> Bomb-Burst. >>>>> Bugly, Finback, Iguanus, and Skullgrin. The original 6 Decepticon >>>>> Pretenders are the closest I can get to merging the worlds of daikaiju >>>>> and >>>>> Transformers, and I totally dig them. Pictures here, along with the >>>>> other >>>>> 1988 Pretenders: >>>>> http://www.seibertron.com/toys/index.php?f_series_id=5&f_subgroup=22&f_name=&f_type=exact >>>>> >>>>> So what are your nerd goals for 2015? >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "The Unique Geek" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>>> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>> >>>> >>>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Unique Geek" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek. 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