Addendum

Woe is me. In all the busyness of the last few days I neglected to fulfill my commitment to list a Transformer for March 18th. I had pulled it out of storage earlier in the day and taken the picture but never got around to posting it on the blog.

This is Alternators Optimus Prime. And this figure (like Hound earlier) is a bit of an enigma to me as to why he  is still in my collection. After selling off most of my Alternators a couple years ago (even giving a few away for free to my younger brother Keegan) for some reason I thought it important to hold onto this one. This is an example of latent hoarding at it's worst. Let me tell you why.

1. I don't collect Optimus Prime as a character. I Simply can't afford to. There is no other character in the Transformers brand that gets more attention and has more toys made. Collecting Optimus Prime for a completionist like me is an expensive and impossible task.
2. The licensed replica form of this toy is a Dodge Ram SRT-10. I have never really liked Dodge trucks. There is no real objective reasoning for that. I know many people who do and those that like them like them a lot, but there is something deeply personal about whether you are a Dodge, Chevy or Ford man when it comes to trucks. I have always been a Ford guy.
3. The toy itself isn't very good. The mold was plagued with QC (Quality Control) problems and (as you can see in the picture) the panels don't really fit well together in vehicle mode and some of the joints leave you holding your breath when you transform it hoping something doesn't snap. The design of the Robot mode has way too much "truck kibble" for my liking and he just doesn't come off looking enough like Optimus Prime.
4. Lastly, it's not worth anything. There was a black version released a few years ago as a SDCC (San Diego Comic Convention) exclusive under the banner of Nemesis Prime that's somewhat valuable - but this mass release toy is neither rare nor special.

So why do I still have it. I guess it's just for the sake of owning something. A poor reason if I ever heard of one. Off it goes to the sales.

Chris