Hard Times for Aussie Collectors

July 31, 2018 Big Angry Trev 2 Comments

A few years ago we had a golden age for Australian collectors of… er… collectibles.

Ebay was growing exponentially, the Aussie Dollar was worth more than the US one, and not only were all the physical stores stocking a plethora of toys, but fledgling Aussie Toy Importers were opening businesses on the net, making it even easier to get those rare collectible toys from places such as Japan and America.

Sadly it’s all now changed.

In the last couple of years many of the Aussie online toy importers have shut down or are under investigation. The introduction of GST on all overseas purchases under a thousand dollars has made importing many toys too expensive – especially since you have to pay an extra 10% on the postage as well. Any overseas companies such as the US branch of Amazon who don’t comply with the new GST laws are simply refusing to ship to Australia from this point on. And now the biggest toy stores to find in this land – Toys’R’Us – are shutting their doors forever.

So whether it be in real life or online, avenue after avenue that was once available to your Aussie toy collector are disappearing. The Golden Age is Over.

To see how this is affecting your average collectibles buff, we talk to three toy collectors and find out their take on the current situation – Dallas, Darryl and Jason.

Question 1: What effect do you believe the application of GST by the Australian Government to all overseas purchases will have on your collecting?

Dallas

A lot of what I buy overseas is not readily available here. There are one or two importers who sometimes stock it but otherwise I will continue to buy from overseas. the only difference may be that I buy less stuff, but it will probably just mean I spend 10% more than I used to.

The secondary effect of this being places like Amazon.com no longer being available to me. I will be surprised if the exclusive items or super deals I used to occasionally find on there will be available through the Amazon Australia site.

To be ‘real’ my international purchasing really slowed down when the dollar dropped from 1.05US to 0.75 US. that’s a 30% price increase, another 10% hurts but it’s not the end of the world for something that I possibly can’t find anywhere else.

Darryl

Aside from having to pay a little more, I doubt it will deter me much. I find myself having to import later waves of a line due to distribution rarely making it up my way so if I want a figure, I just have to lump it.

Jason

The only impact that the application of GST is going to have will be to increase the cost for obtaining any of the Transformers that I am currently collecting. Most of my spending on current collecting is purchased through Australian retailers so I am already paying GST and that cost is factored into my collecting. It is the items that do not receive an Australian release that are going to cost more.

Given that sites such as Amazon.com are no longer allowing sales to Australia for such items, it is going to cost a lot more to source these harder to find items from other overseas stores or pay significant amounts on postage to freight forwarding companies as well as the GST on top.

I understand that the point of the GST is to charge end users a flat tax across the board and that the purpose of applying it to low value goods is to create equality in trade between Australian retailers and overseas retailers, however the issue is that the Government has created for itself is a situation where they have reduced the possible supply/variety of goods into the country whilst relying wholly upon foreign entities to voluntarily remit GST. The compliance costs will be astounding and it will be interesting to see if any actual profit is generated for the economy from this or if there is simply more funds moving offshore.

Question 2: What effect (if any) has the behaviour and subsequent closure of Australian-based online collecting stores such as PC Collectibles, TFI Downunder and MaynStream Merch had on the availability of collectible figures on a local level for you?

Dallas

I have a lot of money tied up with PC. They used to be great, I have received a lot of excellently priced product from them, until they fell off the wagon, it must be nearly 2 years ago now. I hope to get my money back, but that’s up to the judge I guess. I never shopped at the other two stores. I never minded waiting for my stuff a bit longer as I often pre-order in batches and I nearly always collect faster than I open toys so I never ‘suffered’ the indignity of not having anything new to open because PC was taking longer than everyone else.

Lately I have been making lot of purchases at TLTC and TBI. Both are reliable and both have excellent prices on different product. I’ve actually been buying a lot of stuff from these two stores that I used to import, long before the GST was introduced. I guess it’s a sign of a good competitive business that has moved with the times.

Darryl

I was fortunate in that while I had issues with PC, I didn’t lose any money to them (nor did I get the stuff I ordered). That being said, it left a bad taste in my mouth and I’m reluctant to deal with any Australian based online retailers unless they are a well established business.

Jason

I was a huge fan of PC when I stumbled across the online store in mid-2015. There was a solid 1 ½ years where I was a very happy customer and I moved a lot of my purchases from overseas retailers to PC. However, it all started to unravel in 2017 and it has left myself, and a lot of others, out of pocket.

PC’s demise and the way in which PC conducted itself no doubt put a dampening on my collecting enthusiasm. All of a sudden, I went from using my spare time to research what Transformers I was wanting to buy to using my time to attempt to correspond with PC, reading forums such as Ozformers for guidance on dealing with PC/Banks and corresponding with the Banks and attempting to do chargebacks.

My hobby went from something enjoyable to something more akin to my job. However, there have also been some other stores pop up recently (or that have just come to my attention) such as Toybot Importz and The Little Toy Company and I am willing to give them a chance. Neither have disappointed me so far and I hope that neither will. Both have shown exceptional communication and competitive pricing. Whilst the range (and pricing, but we now know why PC’s pricing was so good) may not be the same as PC, I am able to source most of the Transformers that I want from these two online stores.

Question 3: What effect will the closure of various brick’n’mortar toy stores (such as TRU) have on your collecting? Especially since so many online avenues have been closed off?

Dallas

The closure of TRU is a bit sad. I have purchased a lot of exclusive items from them over the years and I’ve often made use of their 20% off sales or price matching policy. It’s likely that I’ll have to resort to more expensive avenues to find those special items that they would have otherwise stocked. Even TRU US supplied me with the recent Titans return Grotusque and Arcee. I would like to think Hasbro Australia will find another avenue for this product but only time will tell and I imagine if prices through alternate channels are too high I may end up skipping a lot of stuff.

Darryl

Probably won’t affect me much. My nearest TRU is over an hour away so I didn’t get there very often, in fact, with my local K-Mart as the only close source for TF’s (Target, Big W are also an hour away) I’ve accepted that I’m going to have to go online more to get the figures I want. As much as I want to support local stores (even if they aren’t owned locally) they haven’t been very supportive of me. So sadly, it looks like any money I will be spending on my collection will be heading off-shore.

Jason

I don’t think that so many online avenues have been closed. There are now quite a few Australian online retailers and a lot of the overseas retailers still appear to be selling to Australia.

I was never really one for buying Transformers for my collection from brick’n’mortar stores. The convenience of online shopping and having the items delivered straight to me is to irresistible to pass up. Not to mention, I often found the prices online (even from Australian online retailers) were far more competitive than in store prices.

Whilst it will not impact upon my collecting, it may impact a little on my younger son. He is really getting into Transformers at the moment and we enjoy going to stores like TRU together and picking ones out for his collection. Whilst we have a great time doing this, it seems as though stores such as Big W now have such a large selection of toys that they have effectively replaced the need for speciality toy stores such as TRU.

Many thanks to these three fine lads for sharing their thoughts with us. How have all the recent changes effected you? Let us know in the comments section below.

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – Street Fighter Transformers

July 20, 2018 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

I’ll put my hand up to not being a massive Transformers Crossover toy fan. Oh I’ve got a few token ones – a couple from Star Wars, a couple from Marvel, heck – even one from My Little Kitty. So I was kind of bemused when I saw they were making to celebrate it’s 30 year anniversary Street Fighter II Transformer figures.

But then I saw some pics and knew I had to have some!

The Bison/Ryu set didn’t hold much appeal. I thought the reuse of an Optimus mold as Ryu to be particularly poor (I mean really, Ryu has a faceplate now?) but the Chun-Li/Ken set looked great! The only way it could have appealed to me more was for it to have Vega instead of Ken so I could recreate that awesome fight seen between him and Chunners from the great animated movie from the 90’s.

So today I received the figures. Now, unlike other reviews I write, I’ll be going from a purely aesthetic viewpoint as I intend to keep these figures relatively MIB. That means no transforming and minimal removal from packaging. I’ll be including a marketing pic at the very end from Google Search but otherwise all the pics are mine. And I invite anyone who has opened and transformed their figures to pop in a review in the comments section – if good enough I might even add it to the review and credit you!

*I… I just cant bring myself to play with toys these, though by Primus I want to!*

To be honest, I think this is a set you would want to keep MISB, especially given the price tag for what is a couple of Deluxe figures. Chances are you already have these molds as other characters anyway. Ken is redone from Rodimus and Chun-Li is redone from Arcee. I’ve got a couple of each mold (including the fantastic Legends Nightbird) so am able to restrain myself, though I am sorely tempted to see how Chun-Li looks in vehicle mode.

The paintjobs are fantastic, though Ken’s eyebrows look even more ridiculous than in the video game which is no mean feat. Chun-Li is most definitely the stand-out of the two, all the little details and changes in colour work surprisingly well on many levels – just superb!

The box-art is very good, showing the SFII origins of these two. It also shows how each character can be put into one of their special moves, and indeed they are packaged with Ken throwing a Dragon Punch and Chun-Li performing a Spinning Bird Kick, a testament to how artciulated the Arcee mold is.

Do you need these toys? No. But will you want these toys? If you are of my age, you may remember just what a huge deal SFII was, it was a revolutionary game and many of us bought a SNES just so we could play it! I’ve been a rabid SF fan for most of my life, though kinda lost track after Street Fighter Alpha. This set will sit with pride within my display case for years to come.

Got something to add, or actually bit the bullet and played with these toys yourself? Would love to read about it in the comments section below!

Ask Trev!

Ask Trev: Whats Trev’s Nuclear Armageddon survival plan?

July 15, 2018 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

Once again, we have a question from a long time reader – Madds in Melbourne.

When the polar ice caps melt, and release an apocalyptic gas cloud from the arctic tundra / or when Trumples and Kimbo wage nuclear Armageddon what is your post apocalyptic action plan?

Well, much as when Matt asked me about my plan for when we have a Zombie Apocalypse, this is already a subject I have given much thought to and yours truly is well prepared.

Like when planning against the Zombie Apocalypse, I live on a remote farm (not the same one) that is well inland hours away from the ocean. Even with the ice caps melting the seas will not rise enough to cross the Blue Mountains to reach our local and since we are now much further north, the apocalyptic gas cloud should only affect the more southern part of this continent, thereby rendering us relatively safe from this eventuality.

However when Trumples and Kimbo wage Nuclear Armageddon is another matter.

*‘Radiation Burns? Na na, it’s just an STD I swear!’*

They’ve been having recent chats but I am not hopeful. Kimbo is likely to turn around and launch a missile on a whim and, given how rude he was recently to the Queen of England, Trumples is antagonistic enough that if he doesn’t start a Nuclear War with North Korea, he is going to eventually start a war with someone.

So what is my action plan then?

Well as I said we are well situated. About half way between Sydney and Canberra we lie outside any blast zones or radiation fallout areas. Whilst millions in the region will die, we will be fine.

We will look to our sustainability first off. We have rainwater tanks as well as our own creek with a water purification system, so will maintain a reserve of clean water well after others have run out. We have a solar panels and a diesel generator, so as long as the sun shines and we can scavenge fuel for a while we will have power. We have goats, chooks and ducks so we will have access to eggs and meat on top of having fruit & nut trees and vegetable & herb gardens for sustenance. We will be OK. Worst comes to worst there are enough Kangaroos on our land to eat heartily for decades!

Which puts us in a position of power!

Like in the old world, in the new world order power will be paramount. But now as a permacultralist who has fresh food, water and also electricity, we will have the power! We will lord it over all the bankers, lawyers and politicians who currently earn 20 times more than I do. And they will come begging.

*Eating hearty while they all die of radiation poisoning – not that I’m smug about it or anything*

I will strengthen the fences of our farm and patrol our lands. Anyone looking for fresh food and water need to be able to negotiate for entry. Either with resources of their own in tow, or useful skills such as medicine or mechanical repairs will be required to join us. As our numbers grow, we will attract more people with a wider diversity of skills. Carpenters, midwives, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers – all will wish to join my our community and soon a working village will establish itself, with folks able to support each other with goods and services, even after all resources able to be scavenged from beyond our borders have been depleted.

But what of those that wish to undermine the new order?

Easily fixed. All newcomers to our community, once properly vetted, will be branded with a hot iron on the back of their left shoulder blade with a mark resembling my benevolent visage and a hand giving the thumbs up underneath. Any pretending to be part of our community who are not will be fed to the pigs – human flesh being of considerable dietary benefit to the porkers. This ensures security and loyalty amongst my flock.

But what of raiders?

Whereas with the Zombie Apocalpse, where zombies will be the biggest worry regarding transgressors, it will be Mad Max-like bands of marauders roaming the land that will be of major concern. These groups will have regressed back to the ‘might-makes-right’ mindset, with the biggest, burliest and nastiest forming gangs around themselves. Though a mixture of violence and fear they will control their followers and scour the land, refusing to create but rather steal the toil of others. Their main goals beyond destruction? Obtaining fuel, food and women.

Luckily we also will be prepared for this. Even man in my new order will be trained in marksmanship with a scoped rifle, able to knock the gnat off a rabbits dick from 500 yards. All womenfolk will be trained extensively in hand-to-hand combat, as well as the proficient use handheld weapons – particularly knives.

Not only does this empower women within my new ~~world order~~ community to know that on a one-to-one basis they can beat the living crap out of or even kill any man who tries to get overly fresh with them, it will surprise the hell out of raiders!

Imagine a scavenging road gang, having breached our gates, coming into the main compound ready for combat. Now any man they would see they would immediately kill on the spot. Not women. Women is what they are after. They see a few dozen apparently unguarded ladies with smiling and somewhat lascivious smiles on the faces. These raiders will think they have reached the promised land!

*Leading by example, I will of course also offer myself as irresistible bait*

Of course, as they dismount from their motorcycles and dune buggies and approach these fair maidens, hidden snipers from every conceivable angle will take them out. Any left standing will be sliced from scrotum to sternum by the women of our clan, relishing the feeling of spilling the guts of their would-be aggressors onto the soil below. These pricks wont stand a chance!

As the years progress, I will retire slowly from the community, becoming more of a holy figure amongst the people as my offspring continue to command the rabble and expand our territory, annexing new towns and hamlets by the score. By the time some of the radiation from the capital cities has receded, I will be lying on my death bed, surrounded by my loved ones with the palace-like-homestead I inhabit beset by thousands of worshipers crying in lament, me content in the knowledge that I have set humanity upon a path to redemption and that statues in my likeness proclaiming me as the true messiah will stand for generations to come, my will controlling the fate of the human race long after my passing.

*‘The Church of Trev’ – as long as ya worship me ya can sin as much as ya friggin like!*

Of course, humanity one day will recover enough to bring back the sciences of the past and improve upon them. It is with a satisfied certainty I know that when, in about a thousand years when humanity gets close to destroying itself for a second time, these technologies will be used to revive me to the land of the living to save civilization once again, and thus take my rightful place as overlord of the new age of man, extending my influence to the stars and beyond. I will through inspiration, charisma and my natural musky scent, lead us all to conquer the heavens above and I will live forever as Big Angry Trev the 1^st – Grand Space Emperor Supreme! All will love me and despair – or I’ll have their balls chopped off!

Well, that’s my plan anyway.

Hope this answers your question Madds.

Related Articles:

Ask Trev: How would Trev protect his family from Zombies?

Transformer Toy Reviews

Toys Review – POTP Optimal & Unicronus

July 2, 2018 Big Angry Trev Leave a comment

The Power of the Primes toyline continues at a good pace, and just in time for some midyear toy sales, the next two leader class figures – both sporting the evolve gimmick – have hit the shelves. The first of these is a brand new mould and likely to excite those who are Beast Wars fans – Optimal Optimus! The second is a recolour (albiet a very cool one!) of a previous figure and a brand new (sorta) character – Rodimus Unicronus!

Optimus Primal

Robot Mode

Optimus Primal looks quite good here, reasonably faithful to how he looked on the cartoon, though minus the hair, and very well proportioned. He comes with two guns instead of his signature swords, and though that is unfortunate it is forgivable. His backpack is fairly visible, personally I fold the cockpit up when looking at him head on to minimize this. The red on the body, along with the Maximal sticker, give the figure that little bit of contrast in his colours which makes him pop more.

Hoverboard-Spaceship thing

Primal’s alt-mode, instead of being a gorilla, is the flying surfboard that was used by his second incarnation back in the Beast Wars cartoon. While personally I think this is a good way to incorporate all of the forms he had back in the day, purists will be annoyed at the lack of Beast Mode. Optimal Optimus can affix to the top fairly well without falling off.

Optimal Optimus

Robot Mode

The big fella! One of the biggest Beast Wars figures has been very well recreated here. The guns from the smaller figure can be combined into one large rifle, or else can affix to his chest to represent the weapons that the original had. Likewise the armour from his forearms can be removed and added to his shoulders to make him appear more like the original. The face sculpt is very good and, the colour scheme is well done and he has those gigantic orange signature hands. Overall pretty good.

Cyber-Gorilla Mode

Really just the robot mode but with shortened legs and a different head. Works well on the hoverboard but you would be hard pressed to call this a proper transformation. The hoverboard can transform into a gun-toting backpack for some variety.

Cyber-Jet Mode

*“I beat Victory Saber in the ‘weirdest spacecraft’ competition”*

This is pretty much the robot mode lying down with the hoverboard attached to the back to add a cockpit and guns. It’s not bad, but certainly not great, I haven’t been less impressed with a Transformers flying mode since RID Twinferno.

Nemesis Hot Rod

(Please note: As I have already reviewed POTP Rodimus Prime, I will be giving an abridged review of this figure. For a more comprehensive review of this toy mould, please check out my review of Rodimus HERE)

Robot Mode

Geez the colour works well here! I was that in love with the Unicronus mode that I didn’t think I’d pay much attention to how Hot Rod would look, but one look at that face changed my mind completely – almost makes me wish I had the cash to buy a second so I could have both the robot modes on display!

Sports Car Mode

Really sexy! Got that evil-mirrorverse motif down-pat! Looks exactly like a macabre version of Hot Rod should look!

Rodimus Unicronus

Robot Mode

*“You can tell I’m the evil twin because I have a beard”*

Oh he is just cool! I’m absolutely loving the beard! You just see him and Motormaster arm-wrestling while they pound some Energon-brews in some dingy cyber-pub somewhere! Big, black, bulky – just great!

Cybertronian Winnebago Mode

*What Hells Angels go touring in when they retire*

Probably the least impressive of all the modes for this toy. It has the faults that Rodimus Prime has, but a lot of the cool little details are hard to see because there is too much black in the paintjob.

Overall

I can’t say I’m hugely overwhelmed by Optimal Optimus, however my son, who is vaguely aware of the existence of Beast Wars at best, can’t stop playing with him so that’s a big tick. And personally I am loving Nemesis Hot Rod/Rodimus Unicronus and plan on picking a second one up if they ever become super cheap. Both would do well to find a place in your collection.

Got anything to add to the above review? Write it in the comments section below!

Related Articles:

POTP Dinobots

POTP Terrorcons

Big Angry Trev!

Monthly Archives: July 2018

Hard Times for Aussie Collectors

Toys Review – Street Fighter Transformers

Ask Trev: Whats Trev’s Nuclear Armageddon survival plan?

Toys Review – POTP Optimal & Unicronus

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