This one takes the cake for me. MP-25L Loudpedal may be my favorite all-around Masterpiece figure to date. They finally did Tracks justice as a Masterpiece, with full facemask and blaster, plus Takara gave us poorfolk access to the elusive, exclusive black giveaway colorway, in a proper homage to Diaclone. That checks off all the boxes for me. Plus, those Decepticon highlight colors… RAD! (P.s. still don’t have my camera setup working again, so just iPhone pics for now. Maybe I’ll reshoot someday, but probably not, haha.)

G1 Tracks was always one of my top 3 bots, blogged here, but I’m a sucker for black variants and exclusives of all kinds. Since there’s little chance I’d lay my grubby fingers on a Finnish Black Tracks, this beautiful bot will have to suffice! And in Corvette mode, it couldn’t get any nicer. Look at those curves!

And of course, it couldn’t be a Tracks clone without the flying car mode! This one really brings back memories of the Spyhunter game for me. I can imagine oil slicks trailing in the back. Also, reminds me of M.A.S.K.! If you put a Diaclone driver in the cockpit / driver’s seat, that’s pretty much what you’d get (and I always like to pair a Diaclone driver with a G1 fig when possible). That was the original intention for these toys, and I only wish that they kept this feature and connection between the two franchises, Diaclone and Transformers. But just having this figure realized as an official release is enough, and even better that it’s in my collection.

I really like the Decepticon stand, although my peg is broken off. I usually display all my bots in bot mode, but that translucent Decepti-purple is just so retro-futuristic, it adds some pizazz when in flying car mode.

But I must call out the fact that the QC on these figures are getting worse and worse, with no recourse for replacement for us loyal customers. I’m especially pissed off that his faceplate has such a shitty paint app with some hair or dust cemented in there – it’s his mug, for Sparks’ sake! I could, of course, repaint it but I need more hobby time and my eyesight just gets worse and worse. Old people problems, lol.

For most collectors, their “favorite” piece usually is their favorite because of some sentimental attachment, and not the resale value or its exclusivity. To me, that’s what distinguishes a true fan from a collector who just collects just for the sake of owning things so others can’t – for bragging rights. That said, I do love my exclusives and rarer pieces, like Diaclone Police Sunstreaker, for various reasons – mostly aesthetics, but also a bit because of the thrill of having a piece of history. I’m only human after all, and an overgrown boy for that matter. We boys like to brag, to various degrees and in different ways.

This might be a strange place for me to moralize, but if you’re in your adult tax-paying years and paying gobs and gobs of money for cheap (and getting cheaper) plastic, you should be able to justify your collecting addiction. And for real fans, it’s because of nostalgia, preserving precious memories of childhood, love of the design and play, the story and the brand, and community of like-minded collectors who share your passion. These are all things I can get behind. Sure, there’s always going to be a bit of rivalry and competitiveness within any circle, especially in subcultures like toy collectors where puerile behavior is built-in and highly encouraged, but I think overall if people are collecting for the right reasons I listed, and not just to satisfy a void in their souls by hoarding plastic, eventually they will settle on a more focused, streamlined collection. Being a completist used to have its place when collections were finite and archival, but when the industry keeps churning out crappy and overpriced junk to milk the fanbase without taking any feedback in return, the board members have you by the balls, for life.

Me – I’m happy with what I’ve got (which is already too much), until the next figure I must absolutely check out comes out. Now I’m happy to buy them used, loose, with damaged packaging. But that’s after I’ve recollected and created my core collection. That’s the point of this blog, anyways, to have a quick online exhibition of my faves. This is one of them. Anyways…