Displaying items by tag: Collectibles

Hello,

My name is Kim aka Jazz, I was born in 1983 and adopted in 1985 from my Luxemburgish family, so that I missed the start of the TV series “Transformers G1” better known under the real name, “The Transformers”.

For Christmas in 1985 I got my first Transformer from my aunt, God bless her, and that is where my passion started. I got the action figure Transformers G1 Ultra Magnus, a bit of irony was that the neighbours kid got the Optimus Prime figure, which I preferred. Knowing that the Ultra Magnus was only a repaint of the the Optimus Prime, but it got another charm and got rubber wheels, which was definitely fancier.

But I still liked my Magnus. In 1996 my passion for Transformers decreased, with the TV series of Beast Wars, Beats Metals and Beast Machines. The idea of Transformers which can convert themselves into animals was not for me and didn´t fit in my opinion the initial thought of this genre.

In 2001, when the Transformers RID, which means “Robots in disguise” or in Japanese “Transformers Car Robots”, was released I rediscovered my joy for the franchise. And again, some irony, was that I bought on the Belgium coast an Ultra Magnus figurine in a small shop.

Quickly I realized, that with 17 years I was too old to play with the figurines, so I decided on that day to collect them.

Now I am already a collector for over 20 years. My collection counts more than 1000 figurines and is still growing.

Where do I buy/bought my figurines? In the past I got my pieces from www.bigbadtoystore.com, but quite fast the import taxes increased to that point that I looked out for an alternative. Afterwards, I discovered the German fan convention C.O.N.S Wars, now I am ordering since the past 6 years my figurines from www.tf-robots.nl. They also get the exclusives from Walmart, Target, Amazon.com, Hasbro Pulse, HasLab, Walgreens, which is a big plus for me as an enthusiastic collector.

Besides of collecting Transformers characters, I also read the comics from IDW Publishing. I buy those comics from the internet site www.blackdog.de., which I can only recommend, as they are delivered in a good condition not like from amazon…., which can be quite annoying.

Last but not least, I am also collecting all kind of soundtracks and scores from the movies, without sparing that I am in the possession all the DVD’s.

P.S. I also stream regularly on the steam, here is my link https://www.twitch.tv/unitedjazz.

Here you may find some photographs of the collection:

For many years video games have been released in different versions. If we take the example of FIFA, we have a good start.

FIFA commonly made three versions of its game, at least in recent years. With a simple version at the price, we know from games. Then we were entitled to a more expensive version with bonuses for the career mode but also and especially for the FUT mode (FIFA Ultimate Team). Then a version with even more bonuses and early access to the game.

There is more to other games than this kind of bonus. Collector's editions often feature figurines and other goodies ranging from cool to downright awesome.

Consider a very recent game. The Far Cry franchise has had a newborn baby with the 6. To say the least,  players are thrilled. An unboxing of this version is available on Zeph's Youtube channel, BOTRLTV. You can watch a video there where everything is shown. The centerpiece is the "Tostador"

A flamethrower no more no less. Naturally unusable in real life. A stand is provided and if you don't have two left hands it is easy to assemble. It’s clear that players are not left apart with such great pieces.

Other examples would be Guild Wars 2. Back in the day we were entitled to a fully armored Charr with a legendary sword in hand. Very well made and made of a material flexible enough not to be afraid of it breaking at the slightest chance. It came with a frame and various artwork from the game.

There's also the Fallout 4 Pip Boy. We even have an excuse to buy it for. Coming with a base and foams adapted to the size of certain models of mobile phones, the Pip Boy could be used. Yes, we could use the supplied Pip Boy. And be careful. We no longer needed to press Start while playing. Because there was (or still has) an app to manage your menu via the mobile phone in real time when you were playing.

So you could put the Pip Boy on and use it in the middle of the game. Not very practical, not necessarily always useful in the panic of a fight. True, but it was so cool to be able to use this mythical machine.

Nintendo often offers packs with Amibos, the miniatures that you can connect to the game to have certain bonuses during the game. At best it is useful in the middle of the game, at worst it makes a nice collection of miniatures.

For Just Cause 3 we were entitled, somewhat in the same vein as Far Cry 6, to a device used in-game, Rico Rodriguez's legendary grappling hook. A real size figurine made in detail. Really beautiful, this figurine also recalls the franchise just by what it represents. A good idea therefore for fans of the revolution made by Rico.

We can, or we must, talk about the Assassin’s Creed franchise which has made models each more impressive than the last. Between the boat, the guillotine and so on, the players are served. Details, quality and iconic moments or items from the franchise.

More and more players are entitled to some impressive and often exclusive collector's items offered in the collector's edition of the game in question. This gives an additional dimension of exclusivity which is often not negligible for collectors.

From a personal point of view, I find these offers not always useful, but when done right you have to admit that it is more than tempting. I have the Pip Boy for example and the Charr from Guild Wars 2. I also sometimes take advantage of specific offers to get in-game bonuses that interest me. I did it for Elder Scrolls Online, besides getting all the DLC I got some pieces of gear.

I am much more sensitive to offers that provide bonuses or useful in-game products. I am more tempted, and I will go to these offers more often. Others will want these exclusive figures. So, creating a collection around video games and inevitably the offers of collector's editions will be the best to create a collection.

Do not hesitate to share with us pieces from your collector's editions if you have any and I hope you will have enjoyed the photos of these objects which are part of my collection or that of my brother for example.

Good game to all