COLLECTING THOUGHTS: The joys of a vintage toy shop trip

I’ve reached a strange stage in vintage G1 Transformers collecting.

As incredible as it sounds (even to me), I’ve amassed almost every regular release you could think of, especially on the Western side of things, where it’s now mostly just variants remaining. Dare I say it, but the collection is starting to look almost complete.

It leaves me with a dwindling list of items to hunt for, and those are all either ultra-rare (or ultra-pricey) Japanese exclusives that you don’t typically stumble on without some planning or serious consideration beforehand.

All of which might make it sound like there’s little about G1 collecting that could feasibly provide much in the way of thrills any more. After all, given that any toy shop or convention hunt typically only turns up vintage specimens that can already exist within my own home, one might imagine there isn’t much to get excited about on such trips, right?

Fortunately, that couldn’t be further from the truth, as demonstrated on two recent vintage toy shop jaunts; both left me feeling like I had an out-of-body experience considering the wealth of treasures I observed! It was all I needed to affirm what an out-and-out thrill G1 Transformers collecting can be, even if you’re already familiar with a lot of what you see and if you’re (planning on) just browsing, for the most part.

Firstly, I went to The Spacebridge in New Milton last week, where famed UK Transformers dealer Paul Hitchens always has a fantastic assortment of robots in disguise. I’ve written about this shop before, but this latest visit was just as enjoyable, with well-stocked shelves and a plentiful side of friendly banter.

It’s not just Transformers that you’ll find here, mind, with a notable range of Star Wars, He-Man, LEGO, M.A.S.K., vintage gaming and much more besides. However, it was most certainly the ‘bots which caught my attention, and it wasn’t long before I was pouring my eyes over the various loose specimens in the cabinets or craning my neck to glimpse the boxed alternatives on the higher shelves.

True, in this case, my visit was due to a pre-agreed purchase of several items Paul had only recently acquired. However, it was still worth the considerable trip to have a gander at the various delights on display. It affirmed how much joy I still get from seeing these things up close, even when they’re items I already have in my collection!

Oh, and it’s not like I went away empty-handed besides the stuff I knew I was already going for. A last-minute random enquiry about Go-Bots had me suddenly scouring a now unlocked cabinet, hoping to find a small treasure to put the cherry on top of an otherwise specular outing. I was not disappointed.

This demonstrates how fruitful such vintage toy shop visits can be at times. I’ve lost count of the number of Cy-Kills I’ve studied on sites like eBay, always hoping to find a suitably minty one but forever being turned off by the aggressive prices on offer. Here, I simply lucked onto a copy that I could tell from a cursory glance would look beautiful in my display, and it cost me a tenner and a smile. Job done!

My adventures don’t end there, though, as I found myself unexpectedly barreling it over to Leicester Vintage & Old Toy Shop in the East Midlands just today. I’ve long been a fan of what Joe and the team have put out on their YouTube and social media channels, with their recent Jonathan Ross interview a particular highlight. However, I was finally tempted to make the trip after they announced an unprecedented large vintage Transformers haul this week!

To say I was not disappointed is the most considerable of understatements. I knew there would be a lot of toys, but nothing could have prepared me for the sheer volume of what I saw! Again, there was more (much more!) besides robots, with displays bristling with everything from M.A.S.K. to Starcom to He-Man to TMNT and pretty much whatever else you might think of! I could have spent the whole day there just ogling the cabinets and cooing over the various items of interest.

That said, it was impossible not to be impressed by the Transformers haul that the team has just secured. Joe told me it was their single biggest collection purchase so far, and it’s not hard to believe that as soon as you walk in the door. They were still in the process of sorting through everything and were currently making their merry way through the sealed and boxed items, which meant there were Transformers everywhere!

It immediately had me nostalgically remembering my childhood toy shop trips when I would lovingly and longingly stare at the sea of sunburst-themed cardboard before me, except I’d imagine this was on an even grander scale than anything I ever saw back in Woolworths in the ’80s. I could challenge you to think of any Western G1 toy, and I reckon there’s potentially a 75% chance they had it in stock. Moreover, so much of it was just there to be freely examined at my leisure, as the team were all too happy to entertain my presence (and my many questions)! They even made me a cup of coffee, bless them.

I found myself in a dizzying state of awe, almost unable to grasp the magnitude of what I saw before me! The fact that I already owned so much of it seemed irrelevant to me at the time – it was simply a pure and unequivocal thrill to observe so much of this stuff up close and in such pristine condition. It affirmed for me one thing above all else; the idea that the appeal of G1 Transformers collecting will ever dwindle is utter nonsense. These toys are just too striking and wonderful to be bored of in such a setting. Even if the intent is merely to pop in and browse, there’s still so much to appreciate and enjoy about such a trip, and I can’t see myself ever tiring of it all.

That said, I made a rather cheeky purchase whilst I was there, after all. I know I said that the remaining G1 Transformers items on my list typically require some planning or forethought, but as it turns out, sometimes you do stumble across the most desirable of treasures when you least expect it. When that happens, you’d best make the most of it!

So yes, whilst I had not planned on picking up a vintage Minerva today, it’s a beautiful jewel to come home with and a wholehearted reminder that there’s still plenty of joy in G1 Transformers collecting yet.

TTFN

Big thanks to The Spacebridge & Leicester Vintage & Old Toy Shop for being so welcoming on my visits!