Grave Considerations: What Shall We Do With Widows?

I just picked up Titans Return Quake at a Walgreens. Yes, Walgreens. Because distribution for this line in Chicago has turned into absolute garbage. I have actually bought a number of Titans Return figures at Walgreens stores: Quake, Krok, Chromedome, Highbrow, Weirdwolf, and Brainstorm obviously, although that may not count, seeing as Brainstorm was only available at Walgreens. I’ve begun to wonder if I should even keep checking Targets and such for Misfire and Twin Twist. Anyway, that’s not the point of this: driving home after picking up Quake, the only Quake I have ever seen in a store, I got to thinking: with all of the Combiner Wars and Titans Return upgrades of G1 figures, what should I do with the actual G1  versions that I own? Do they still have that much value to me as a collector?

In a way, upgraded versions of figures like Titans Return Quake, which is so very much a better G1 Quake, kill off a quality that the originals possess, that being their status as the only representation of the character that was available. In Quake’s case, the G1 Double Targetmaster is the only version of the G1 character that exists; nameslaps, for the purposes of this article, do not count, not that they would or should count under other circumstances. With new, updated, improved and accurate renditions of characters in modern lines, the originals in some way become widows, separated from an important value they once possessed: exclusivity, in terms of being the one or one of the few versions of a character, or representative value, in terms of being the representation of a character or toy available. While lines between G1 and the 2006 “Classics”-era have produced figures with the names of some of these characters, it is not really until the 2006 “Classics” era blossomed into the post-2006 “Classics”/Universe/Combiner Wars/Titans Return/whatever lines that actual versions of characters have been released. G1 had a Sky Lynx; Cybertron had a Minicon that was named Sky Lynx but was not in any regard Sky Lynx; and then Combiner Wars had a Sky Lynx.

So, what do we do now with G1 Sky Lynx?

That may be sort of a bad example, as the original Sky Lynx is one of those magical 1980’s toys that shuffles along a flat, smooth surface thanks to batteries and a small motor. It may be that there is never a reason to do anything with G1 Sky Lynx other than love him.

So, what do we do now with G1 Quake?

I think it’s an interesting question, even though I’m not entirely certain why it has come to my mind. In August, I again rummaged through my collection, and again sold off a fair number of things, and again made some money doing so. I contemplate my collection periodically, and think of what I could part with without incurring much difficulty or regret. Since my last venture was so profitable, I find myself thinking about this with slightly more regularity than I normally would, and that brought me to where we are now. I own a G1 Quake. I own a lot of G1 itterations of figures that either Combiner Wars or Titans Return or some other neo”Classics” line has provided faithful and modern versions of. I suppose that we could say Combiner Wars by itself gave me a modern-era version of a lot of my G1 holdings. At the time I bought my G1 Quake, I was very much dedicated to collecting G1 figures; but that was also many, many years ago, when there wasn’t much besides G1 figures. I don’t remember the last G1 figure that I bought, that wasn’t something special or a reissue.

I suppose I am making an existential inquiry into selling my G1 figures.

I am hesitant to just come out and say that, because not long ago, I pondered disposing of a fair number of empty boxes that I’d been holding on to. And, that weekend, I threw away a lot of boxes.

What if I am seriously contemplating selling my G1 toys?

Most of them are figures I’d acquired on the secondary, collectors market, not figures that I still have from my own childhood. Some are reissues from the 2004 era when Hasbro was rereleasing G1 figures as Toys R Us exclusives. They have all been in storage for years, although some of them, like the Seekers and combiners, had once been fixtures of my displays. But now, what does my complete G1 Menasor really mean, seeing as right over there is a modern-age Menasor, and its G2 horror of a paintjob version in my closet? G1 Predaking is among the best of the G1 toys, both as a combiner and as individual members. But what does it really mean, seeing as all five Ares figures are posed on my desk at this very moment? What do I do with my G1 Quake, now that I have a newer, better version, and the original just sits in a plastic box?

I can see keeping my combiners: after all, they are my favorite thing about Transformers. I would certainly keep all of my Seekers, as they are generally speaking my favorite characters. New versions of these figures may not be enough of a warrant to get rid of the old ones. But what about the G1 Headmasters I have, or the Double Targetmasters, figures that don’t really represent characters, or at least, not ones that I have real strong attachments to, or that I don’t have newer, better versions of now. After watching Headmasters and Masterforce, I found myself wanted figures of the characters, but Titans Return has satisfied much of that, and it seems that Power of the Primes will continue to do so.

Maybe some part of me is concerned that my love affair with G1 toys has long since ended, and that I just cannot bring myself to accept it. I may be a G1 fan, but there is no doubt that modern versions of figures are better than their original versions, although there isn’t much competition if anyone is being honest. To try to force some is essentially unfair. My G1 collection has never been a vintage one, as I always sought after loose pieces that were in good condition, but I never fussed over brand new, still in package samples or anything like that. They have little value other than the personal, and that is debatable at this point in time. And, most importantly, so many of them have become widows in a war against modern manufacturing and design, and the G1s lose almost every time. I love G1 Bruticus, but I have three versions of the set; I also have a pair of Combiner Wars Bruticus sets, and they are better than the originals, all around. Why do I still need the originals?

This is not a decision that I can make right now, or one that I’d even feel comfortable making right now. I’d really have to think this over, and wouldn’t have the time to act on it until some time in probably November or December, when the semester is over. But I suppose if I were to act on it, and further thin out my collection, it would be another targeted action, just as when I rid myself of live action movie toys. G1 figures are at least good toys though, only redundant at this point. I have sold off modern era toys that I owned that were replaced by better or more definitive Combiner Wars or Titans Return versions recently, so I   am not a stranger to unloading figures that have clearly been bested.

Food for thought, I suppose; to be updated at a later date. It was never the intention to reach a final answer in the span of these words, but rather to get the idea out of my mind and into some semblance of reality, so that it could ferment in a location not locked somewhere in my mind. Most of the conditions for such a contemplation are right, like Cthulhu awakening in R’yleh. Let us simply hope that, unlike that dread alignment and meditation, this way leads not to madness.