My VINTAGE Action Figure Collection: JRNY to K-Mart Plaza!!!

[BrandonDaCollector]

Actually yes and no Acid. He's assembled but not on display. I have him in storage with the rest of the figures

[BrandonDaCollector]

So I had planned this long ago, just hadn't got around to it. PB & I were talking about them a long while back so here it is. This will be a big, 3 PART showcase of My vintage Transformers: Generation 1 collection. While I do not have an enormous one (that belongs to My Go-Bots & Rock Lords but that is for another showcase) but I have some that is important to Me. Here is My Dino-Bots that I got from My Grandma MiMi (this is the first vintage showcase I have done since she has left this world So, I'm keeping the plan ongoing as I always thought that it would be very apropos to show this one first as these are My most fave of all of My vintage Transformers action figures. However, most of these are actually NOT official which for Me makes them EVEN MORE SPECIAL I will get to in a while

Please bear with Me as I go down a very fond time & memory of mine. I have posted a bit of this before but I must remind the audience and oneself about it because these were some of the absolute best times of My childhood plus I will have a VERY special bonus at the very end that I have been waiting to show for a long time now so please stay with Me here

Now on to how I got these paradigmatic figures. It was during the good times when Me and My Grandma was going out every now and then in the mid 80s that would last up until 91 or so. She'd take Me to this nice store and that cool store. I have mentioned about this previously throughout My topic which I'm gonna provide a bit more detail now. My favorite area to go to when I was a child was on Cherokee Street, it had so many good stores there...there was Globes (2 different stores that had different stuff - 1 was a drug store and the other was department store!), Walgreens (the one I got My Super Naturals from), the awesome Woolworths, the rad Bazaar and of course My Grandma's friend's store...Judy's Superstore! As much as I loved Woolworths, Judy's Superstore was the best, I always had a fun time there. It would be Judy whom would have these ultra rare Transformers & Prehistory - Ancient Animal figures There is a lot that I could tell about it so here is some of the highlights of her because this whole time of Me going there was/is extremely imperative to Me and she is one of the many stores that I am trying to bring back in this pathetic day and age where things seems to matter less & less as the seconds occur than yesteryear's magical moments. Please allow Me to express some important thoughts of reliving prominence of Judy's Superstore

Here is Judy's highlights and My thoughts about her: She was one of My Grandma's best friends (My Grandma knew a lot of good people back in the day) and she was Korean and married to a Caucasian American man and they were to My knowledge as a kid a happy couple. He was actually her only employee. She had a huge store and they ran the whole shop all by themselves but boy did she do a lot herself...they were terrific When you walk in the store, on the left wall she had tons of shirts of Bruce Lee and I got some of them cause I was at the time a huge Bruce Lee fan. She had a lot of novelties and a lot of "Adult" stuff too that I occasionally gawked at as a very curious 6/7/8 year old boy. Most of it was women and even then as a youngster I knew I liked Women Her toy isle was great, she had so many rare items. She had a lot of rare cars & trucks. My Grandma got Me a lot from her but one particular item was the Black Hole movie set of cardboard stand ups from her that I have no idea what I did with and I so regret that, even this very moment She also had in stock imported Japanese figures, knockoffs and bootlegs that most places never would have and would have figures that was already discontinued from big department stores such as Venture, K-Mart & Target and even Toy Chest & TRU. I liked talking to her as she was a very different person to be around with for Me because she was Asian and I had only really seen Asian people in the movies at this young age though a bit later My Grandma's Doctor, he would be become Mine as well and he was Filipino and his name Dr. Viloria and My dentist, he would be Chinese named Dr. Chang who was all on the same street just steps way from Judy (when we would go there for check ups and stuff, then we'd go to the stores) Judy was in her mid/late 40s or early 50s during these times. She was very pretty and a very nice woman. Later I would really like Asian people and especially I find Myself very fond of the women and every now and then I think about these moments that once was and regret that I didn't know her better and pay more attention and talk to her more but I understand I was a child and let her & Grandma check the bull$h!t level while I looked around her Superstore but that to Me has always been a blessing and curse. We had gone to her for years, My Grandma way before Me but I got to experience someone and her store that nobody ever matched before nor since. Unfortunately she went out of business in the early 90s and lost contact with her She along with the aforementioned stores as Cherokee was becoming crime ridden with different cultures not agreeing with each other nor taking consideration of the stores and property up and down the street which has always been a darn shame to say the least Today they make it out like it it such a great place to be but in reality it is far from it Globes hung in there the longest and did the best they could but they unfortunately closed their doors of both locations in 2010 As I speak Judy's poor store is still empty and it pains Me so much that this is a reality, it makes Me just wanna cry so hard I am one of the very few people who knows how it was back then with all of the great stores that Cherokee street once offered and as much sorrow comes from this juncture, I am very thankful to have been involved & participated in these great times and to know Judy and her Superstore

NOTE: Starting NOW I will be adding all of the stores and places of My childhood that were dear to Me as best as I can, it has become a mission of mine that has become so imperative so they are all remembered and no longer stays in limbo as I think it will serve the most proper place for them

[BrandonDaCollector]

So here we go with My actual showcase. I wasn't the biggest Transformers fan, I know a lot of people disliked the Go-Bots & Rock Lords for their own personal reasons. I know how it was when you were a kid in the 80s, if you didn't have this particular toy you were a loser but if you had a Transformer then YOU WERE A"COOL" Kid As much as a bummer situation that was back then, this MEAN'T you were A KID and it actually mean't something. I miss those days very much going to a friends house and seeing that you weren't the only one that had great figures of Transformers, MOTU, & Ghostbusters and oh boy, it rocked when you were a TMNT fan Sometimes it was rad that some of My friends didn't have the same stuff I have back then but as the years went on I grew to kinda feel sympathetic because they didn't have the same experiences as I had.

Now the age old question is what came first: the chicken or the egg Well, the same could be said for who was first, The Go-Bots or The transformers Actually the former was first by only mere months but that's for another showcase at a later date

If by any reason you are not familiar with them, then CLICK HERE for the Wikipedia Page!

I know I have been quite harsh on Hasbro as of late but I'm not goin' to bash them this time for being woke & corporate locusts because I loved them during this era. While Bandai teamed up with Tonka to make the Go-Bots, Hasbro joined forces with Takara-Tomy way back in 1983 There was so many crazes back then that made the 80s what it became, a time of joy & magic compared but unlike today's "forced" androgynous media & the transhumanism elements that is ridiculously being shoved down our throats more and more every second of everyday of just about everything we watch, sci-fi was cool and robots were fun but they always gotta ruin times don't they

PLEASE NOTE: These will NOT be transformed, I know its a bum-steer deal but I didn't want to risk harming them They are all still in great shape thank goodness

Here is My first Dino-Bot: and it be Sludge the Brontosaurus He is one of My top figures regardless of any series. I love his design and his gray & silver body scheme!



I have always loved his translucent head and how his jaw opens & closes. He is such a beauty of a toy

[BrandonDaCollector]

Now, here is where the fun "TRULY" BEGINS These guys are of the bootleg line that went by various names including Prehistory - Ancient Animal hence the logos you saw above I know some fans and collector's don't prefer or even like bootlegs but I beg the differ plus the 80s offered us some of the best ones ever seen IMO. I was maturing and even now, I find it so amazing how Judy was able to get such rare stuff that NOBODY had in our area, I'm so thankful that My Grandma MiMi knew her and came through with these goodies for Me These guys are extremely rare, I mean they are some of the most obscure Generation 1 of the type to find or even know about If you can find these on the bay, they go way more than the actual Transformers themselves in all categories such as parts, loose non-complete or complete and especially MIB There is very few places on the web that talks about them as they have fell victim to inconspicuousness insensibility like so many others from the decade IMO, they have always been fantastic and are just funner than their more recognized counterparts. Here they are

Stag: The Triceratops. Unlike the official versions, these figures are more metal than plastic yet still feel like the real thing. See, even as a youngster, it was a big deal to Me about the unofficial stuff, if it looked good, was fun and rare then I WANTED IT...BAD This guy is just so cool!



Snarl: The Stegosaurus is great, he looks so good too



Grimlock: Now, the original version of Grimlock was a Tyrannosaurs Rex, gray, had different arms & feet. He is now of a bronze/copper color scheme, has 3 separate fingers and more toes this time. On to My favorite section of him which was a major change that I LOVE is his head was retooled and now he has a horn on his nose and and has a METAL TONGUE that moves up & down Oh that feature is awesome Instead of being a T-Rex, his is now a Ceratosaurus I have named him Grimmlok, the evil cloned twin!




Oh now here is arguably My most prized of the whole lot...Sludge the Prontosaurus Now he is completely a fictional dino. I loved him the first moments I laid My eyes on him at Judy's Superstore While he is similar like the actual Sludge, he is actually a hybrid of him and Swoop Yes, he has foldable wings and has a head like a Pteranodon Most of his new parts are metal and it is so far out

[BrandonDaCollector]

SPECIAL BONUS GALLERY!

Here is the packaging of the Prehistory - Ancient Animal series. NOTE: These pics came from SUPER TOY ARCHIVE!, click that link. It it one of very few vintage action figure web pages from the 90s that is still around. I visit them oftem for many reasons




Copyright: As always, I love to find and look at the copyrights. This is from the original Sludge as the Prehistory - Ancient Animal versions do not have'em.

ULTRA COMPARISON!

Here they are combined in display, see, you really can't tell the difference can ya They look so cool together



Spot the Difference: Now, the official and original Transformers will have the pressure color changing sticker on their body. Note Sludge has his on the back of his neck while his hybrid counterpart has nothing of the kind...THAT'S HOW you spot the difference of authentic & knockoff Generation 1 Transformers and the like

[BrandonDaCollector]

The Greatness of Judy's Superstore: So here is a VERY SPECIAL BONUS Remember I have been saying about bringing My old stores that I have very fond memories of back when I was a youngster when I presented legendary wrestler Joe Tangaro's defunct restaurant in My Grandma MiMi's tribute that this is how I'm gonna bring them back Well, I have so went thru the green light and that's the way it's gonna be. I'm doin' this thru Instant Street View as it's the only fast way to go back to the past to My liking so please excuse the markers and the like

So here is how her former store looks currently as I speak. I find it so pathetic that nothing has moved in there since Don't be fooled by the lighting and appliances, it's always like that. I'm one of the only people that knows about this time and remember's it and anybody else that does is most likely doing nothing about it but I'm not letting that happen...not by a long shot As you see Cherokee street is HUGE, I mean it goes down and up for blocks & blocks. As I previously said in her little bio & My good times, the 2 different Globes, Walgreens, Woolworths & The Bazaar were all on that street and I had so much fun at all of'em and their all gone In ways, it reminds Me of a DMZ, that's how awful this situation has become




Ah, she is back with honor NOW I know it's nothing fancy but hey, I'm trying My best. I have been wanting to make this happen for long now and how apropos that Judy was the first one



So here is a small selection of some of the great stuff My Grandma MiMi got Me from Judy, the just now seen within this showcase Grimmlok, Bandai's Voltron and My recently seen in My great Star Wars topic, My ESB Presto Magix Oh look at that fun, it was such good times



Well, that's all for now. I hope you liked it and were surprised here. This was a very important one for Me to do because of so many reasons. I hope you read the imperative parts of Judy as well but if didn't and you just now reading this then please go to the beginning, you don't wanna miss it . So next will be part 2, it will be smaller than this one but it will be very good as well and it will be soon. Until then I'll see you around

[AcidDragon]

Nice collection of vintage transforming robots you got there, Brandon. As I've said before, I didn't actually get a lot of toys when I was a kid. I did get some hand me ups, though. Among them were transforming robots. I was always a fan of the G1 Dinobots but I didn't have any as a kid. I don't blame you for not wanting to transform them as a lot of them would be quite brittle now and may snap or you could risk tearing/scraping the stickers.

The ones that I remember having were Decepticon Twin Pounce, Laserbeak, Twin Twist and Tantrum from Predaking. I also had a few Gobots like Arco who turned into a cap gun.

[Idiot Savant]

I only just learned of those in the last handful of years. I was able to snag the flying Sludge and I love how strange it is…now I have to find the rest.

Side query: is the red Snarl from that same line? I have the G2 Dinobot Snarl (as well as Slag and Grimlock) and Snarl looks exactly the same as the one you have pictured.

Thank you for the history of that line

[packerbacker180]

Cool. Never saw knockoff TRAs like that. I don't remember owning any Dinobots but I did have quite a few TRAs including G1 Optimus and Megatron. I still remember how heavy Megs was being a lot of metal and how that weight aided to is sad demise when he fell off our second floor porch we had in the house my parent's rented back then. Sadly he plummeted to the concrete driveway and his plastic parts didn't fair so well. I remember owning Starscream, Soundwave, etc. I didn't get as many after the movie, I assume they were much more expensive than say a GI Joe, He-Man, or any of the other myriad of single carded action figures of that era, so that's probably why I had more Joes and MOTUs. I do recall having Springer and Jetfire, and they were two of my favorites. Thanks for the memories.

[BrandonDaCollector]

OK guys, I waited for all of you to reply so I can reply to each of Yas

Acid - Thanks Oh, thanks for understanding about Me not wanting to transform them. Well at least you had some I do not have any of them guys that you mentioned and nor do I have Arco but I like I said, do have a big Go-Bots collection and I'll get to soon enough. Thanks Acid

I. Savant - Well, you had a great discovery didn't ya Yes, he is from the Prehistory - Ancient Animal - Dinosaur Bots series. They just made him so much like the original unlike Sludge & Grimlock as they really altered them and for the better IMO Oh I'm glad I could help, I have a lot of history in My collections and I wanna share it and try to make it known once more

PB - That sounds cool but sorry about your Megtron I didn't get O. Prime & Megatron till the mid 90s when they rebooted them a bit. When I get to showing My stuff of that decade I'll see about showcasing them then. Yes, they were more expensive than other figures and especially Go-Bots. Never had your faves, I'm sure they were great Again, I want to, I want to try and bring the good stuff back as much as I can

Thanks for all the replies guys. Part 2 will come soon, like I said, it'll be official ones but it'll be a smaller showcase however but it'll be good. Until then guys