COLLECTOR INTERVIEW #83: Alexis Taylor

We’re back for more Transformers collector interviews!

Today, we’re back in the UK to chat with Alexis Taylor, who has a very eclectic 1980s Transformers collection with plenty of amazing memories and some wonderful insight.

Who are you, and what do you collect? 

Hi, I’m Alexis Taylor, better known online as Captainalexis. My collection may not be the biggest out there, but it’s proudly about 80% G1, with a splash of Generation 2 and a few other bits like sealed Armada, Alternators, RID and some new stuff sprinkled in. Also, strange Transformers paraphernalia collected over the years; who doesn’t need a Soundwave bath soap from 1985 that smells like granny’s bedside dresser? I made a conscious decision early on not to let this hobby run away with me (is it a hobby?). So I focused on the UK/US 1984–1986 G1 releases. For me, that is the golden age. That rules out anything from 1987 onward, although I would love to complete that year, but frankly, I needed to draw the line somewhere, mainly for financial reasons. Though I aimed for the best examples I could find, I don’t mind if there is sticker wear; they’re toys, it means they were loved by someone. 

The heart of my collection is built around my original childhood toys. It is a bit like a self-contained time capsule of my childhood. I’m a nostalgic fool. Possibly the first real sense of collecting came in 1989 when Milton Keynes market had a stall packed with the toxic Mexican imports. Instantly, I had to get the Constructicons, toys I had never seen in shops in 1985. My Devastator on the shelf is the more lurid green Mexican version, and I also got Astrotrain, which, back then, was missing from my collection, too. Thanks to the internet, I’ve been able to fill in the gaps gradually. Space is a premium now, sadly. I had a beautiful wall of Detolfs when I was single, but now that I have a family, the collection’s been exiled to my cold, dark studio at the back of the house (ideal storage conditions though!), but more books than bots.

Most of my collection is stashed in tubs there, rotated periodically to keep the displays fresh and interesting to me. There are permanent ‘always outs’ like Pipes, who was one of my first and I love, but otherwise, I will curate temporary displays, mixing up factions to create interesting dioramas. Many boxed figures are too fragile to transform, so they’re sealed up again… for good. I wouldn’t part with a single one, though.

What do you love most about Transformers and the hobby?

Ask anyone who knows me, including my ever-patient wife, and they’ll tell you I live in the past. I collect records, posters, mid-century modern furniture, West German pottery…Cars…  basically, our house is a time capsule. Much to my wife’s ‘delight’.

Transformers hit me at just the right age. Everything clicked – the transforming gimmick, the characters, the comic, the incredible packaging artwork. Honestly, the aesthetics probably nudged me toward becoming a graphic designer. Though writing this, I’m realising I may have never really grown up.

I still remember one of those magical end-of-term school days when we were allowed to bring toys in. Some kid brought in Skywarp, and I was absolutely mesmerised. I was already vaguely aware of Transformers from ‘The Wide Awake Club’, but seeing one in the flesh flipped a switch. I had to have one.

Money was tight growing up, but I managed to convince my gran that a Transformer was “two toys in one” – a car and a robot! Jedi mind tricks worked, and I got Sideswipe. That was it, I was hooked, plus it made buying presents for me a piece of cake; Transformers only, please. Christmas 1986 was legendary: Galvatron, Metroplex, Jazz, Thrust, Sandstorm, and a squadron of Minibots. Just before that, I won a drawing competition at school and got a £12 ASDA voucher. Naturally, I spent it on Cyclonus and Swindle. Best £12 I ever spent. These toys were by far the premium boys’ toys at that time, and I think that is why I didn’t trash my bots. I cherished them and I was aware of how lucky I was to have these pricy bits of plastic.

It’s also the people you meet. I met Andy Couzens (EDITOR’S NOTE: former Category Development Head of Boys, Girls Toys and Creative Play for Hasbro Europe during the ’90s, who helped develop many fan-favourites such as the Turbomasters & Predators!) at TF Nation, and there I convinced him to work for me as a lecturer (I lead a Design School at a University). He thankfully said yes, and bought with him a lifetime of skills in product design. It was a devastating shock when he suddenly passed away. A chance meeting at a Transformers convention meant that he added ‘lecturer’ to his long list of achievements (which I later learnt he was very proud of), and I remain ever thankful he gave in to my persuasion. A kind, talented and generous man, greatly missed.

Podcasts opened up the fandom further, and I was lucky enough to become friends with the guys on Autopod Decipticast. They even let me guest on a couple of episodes. I would never have thought that would be a ‘thing’ after 40 years of fandom. 

How has the collecting scene changed since you joined the fandom?

To me, “joining the fandom” started at eight years old, and I never really left. Even when it wasn’t cool, I kept the flame alive. I even had Transformers in my university digs in the 90s (but no girls). So Hasbro, take a bow. Your marketing worked, but it stunted my dating career. There wasn’t really a “scene” back then, but now, here we are.

G2 coincided with my teenage years, music and hormones took over, but my mum kept picking up the odd bargain-bin Transformer when she found them. That kicked off my second collecting wave. I didn’t open most of them; it had shifted from play to collect. In fact, that trait has stayed with me somewhat, so when I got ‘Beast Wars’ toys, or ‘Robots in Disguise’, I kept them sealed. I am by no means a MISB fetishist, though, and receiving the Platinum Edition Trypticon for my 40th meant it filled a gap, and it was straight out of the box and on display. Same with a recently purchased sealed Encore Sky Lynx. I have an original 80s version, but browsing eBay and seeing one at a good price for nearly a 20 year old sealed toy, I had to have it, and now that version is on display.

I am less precious about reissues, and have replaced a rather battered Skywarp and Skids with the book-box examples from the 2000s – why not? For me, reissues were something I would have never thought about, but the lure of G1 is ever present, so as soon as a reissue appears, I grab one. Thinking back, I am sure the first reissues I bought were the Cliffjumper and Bumblebee keychains from the early 2000s. They were about £2, so I bought all that was in the shop and they are stuck in a box in the loft. 

I suppose the Mr Bay movies made it acceptable for adults to like Transformers again. When other middle-aged blokes come to my house, they don’t see a grown man surrounded by toys – they see a museum of 80s nostalgia.

eBay changed everything. Around 2002, I started tracking down the figures I missed as a kid. I filled in the UK G1 catalogue with gusto at prices I could actually afford. You can’t do that now, prices have skyrocketed. After that, I chased down the ones we never got over here, like the Deluxe Insecticons and Predacons.

But the biggest shift? Since Beast Wars, there’s never been a time without a Transformers line on shelves. Every generation has a jumping-on point. Going to TF Nation and seeing so many kids into Transformers – that’s what’s changed the most. And I hope it stays that way. The most significant change is seeing other people’s collections through social media. I am constantly in awe of what other people have.  

How do you see the scene changing in the next 5 years?

I’d love to see more G1 reissues – Fortress Maximus again, anyone? I’d buy that in a heartbeat. The Missing Link stuff is fantastic, but spenney. That said, Hasbro seems to be going through a rough patch, and with kids drifting toward digital platforms like Roblox, we may see fewer physical toys and more collector-focused releases.

Which would be fine… if the prices weren’t climbing faster than a Seeker on Nucleon. It’s getting expensive out there, and it might price some of us out, certainly me.

“Time is the fire in which we burn”, a Star Trek quote I could paraphrase to: “Time is the fire in which 40-year-old plastic goes yellow and disintegrates”. Naturally, there will be fewer and fewer original toys that exist. I still browse eBay, and just last month managed to get an early chromed legged Metroplex (my original was the later release), almost complete and minty white for about £20. A mother cleared out her loft and found her son’s toys. They are still out there if you don’t mind waiting.

I would love to see less of a G1 cartoon influence in the newer toys. Don’t get me wrong, they look amazing and have become almost action figures rather than a toy that goes from one thing to another. Personally, I love the janky exposed wheels and kibble of the original line. I like the fact that it’s a robot with car parts on it. In that sense, the Bay-era toys have that in abundance. 

What’s the most surprising or outrageous collecting story you’ve heard?

Not heard, witnessed. Around 1993, I walked into Poundstretcher and saw a stack of Overlords going for £6.99. I passed them up. Madness, right? That kind of thing happened a lot back then. My mum even saw a stack of Megatrons in a shop once around 1988, but she had no cash on her. When she went back a few days later, they were gone. That still stings. My life is full of ‘might have been moments’; if only I had had the money in 1989 to fully raid that market stall of all the Mexican imports!

What’s been your biggest collecting success or greatest ever find?

Biggest success? Not losing the lot through decades of house moves. Although I did somehow misplace a crate of sealed Beast Wars figures. God knows where they went. Still gutted about that. Also, I’ve lost a few guns and fists along the way; they’ll turn up. Hopefully.

Actually, recently I went into the loft and found that I had a set of one of those knock-off Raidens. I picked it up in the early 2000s from one of those shops that sell Bob Marley banners, bongs and phone cases. Sixo surprised me when he said it now sells for stupid money. I did a scoot online and it seems he was right. Bizarre. It is down in my office now, next to Menasor.

One of my favourite finds was a Roadbuster off eBay in 2007. 90% complete, with paperwork, and the Benelux version for just £14 shipped from Germany. What a toy. I also got the Deluxe Insecticons around that time, all complete and pristine, and even ended up with doubles of Venom and Chop Shop. You’d need a small mortgage for those today.

And then there’s my Rodimus Prime. At first, just another childhood toy… until I discovered (with some DM’s with Maz) that it might be one of the exact two used in the 1987 Argos summer catalogue. My granddad’s wife worked at Argos HQ in the 80s, and he snagged it as a sample. The battered box still has the giant Argos sticker on it. At the time, I thought he was just being cheap, turns out it’s a piece of Transformers history… I hope. 

If you could only keep one item from your collection, what would it be?

Ah, well, this is the thing, I would never sell anything (unless I needed to feed my family), so that’s a tough one. So many of my toys are tied to vivid childhood memories, so it would be like cutting out a bit of DNA, but I’d probably pick Wreck-Gar.

Why? He’s not my favourite, although an awesome figure, but it’s because that’s the moment my collecting mindset changed. A week before my 9th birthday, I saw my mum hurriedly shove a Woolworths bag under the kitchen sink. I threw a tantrum until she caved and gave it to me early. Instant regret. She didn’t have the money to be splashing out on £12.95 toys, and I ruined her surprise. I felt awful, and it taught me a life lesson.

From that day on, I never peeked under beds before Christmas or birthdays again. I also kept the packaging for the first time. Before that, I was a serial box-cutter, snipping out tech specs and glueing them into a scrapbook. Wreck-Gar marked the beginning of me keeping everything – box, bubble, inserts. That’s why I now have so many boxed G1 figures; they’ve been opened, of course, but played with with extreme care. That was the ground zero of me being a kid with toys, to being a kid who collected toys.

If you could have one item from someone else’s collection, what would it be?

Everything I don’t already have! I would never chuck anything back in a raffle, but seriously, I’d love a Browning or a Fortress Maximus; either of those would be amazing. That said, if anyone’s got a spare Omnibot Camshaft, I need him to complete my UK/US G1 run. Hit me up.

What advice would you give a new collector starting today?

Mind your wallet and your storage space. This hobby can get out of hand fast. Try picking a specific line or era and stick to it; it helps with focus, budget, and sanity. But, ultimately like what you like; you do you, as they say. There is some snobbery in any collecting circle, but your collection is your collection – big or small – defend it and ignore the internet wibble.

Special thanks to Alexis for his words & photos! Be sure to give him a shout on Bluesky, Twitter & Instagram!