Post by Branjita on Jun 18, 2014 10:07:14 GMT -6
Branjita's 2014 Dragonball/Z/GT Figure Collection
I thought I would do my collection pictures differently this year, so they aren't so overwhelming--both for me to produce, and for you guys to look at and comment on. So what I'm going to be doing is kind of a "picture a day" format, where every few days I add a new picture. That way it won't inconvenience me as much, and you guys will get to appreciate things much more.
If you want to know my history, click this spoiler:
This isn't entirely chronological, because my memory doesn't work chronologically, but I figured some of you guys might like to know some of my history.
I've been a fan of DBZ since the day when I first started watching it on Cartoon Network in 1998. I bought tons and tons of Irwin reissued SBC and AB figures back then and (after joining the original DBT) eventually actually managed to fill in the gaps and had a complete set of AB 5 inch Super Guerriers (I think I was the first on DBT to manage that, at least loose figures?). I used to be really into 2 inch AB figures since not many others were and they were inexpensive to get. Those days are over, but I still have my 2 inch figure collection and I have almost every one that AB and Irwin made. Again, this isn't chronological, just random tidbits about me:
In 2001 I joined the original DBT message board and was member 282 or something like that, was inspired by a member named Future Trunks (a customizer) and I started customizing figures myself. I was a very active member who posted often... which hasn't changed much! Eventually I was made one of the admins of old DBT, and Despotes gave me access to do news updates on the home page. I'd do the news from Japan updates showing upcoming figures and many news items related to Italian and French figures. Once Irwin started making their own sculpts, I started getting those. When they went bankrupt, I started buying the Jakks figures when they started making them several months later. Eventually, Jakks figures were no longer sold at Target or CVS/Eckerds (the two places I went to), and only Toys R Us still sold them. I stopped collecting because I wasn't close to a TRU and didn't want to buy the figures online. DBZ was no longer on Cartoon Network (I think they did show 1 episode every Saturday night) and so my interest faded a lot. At some point I needed money (I was a college student) so I sold a ton of my SBC, AB, and custom figures. I also sold almost all of my Buu Saga figures since I thought that saga was uninteresting; sold a bunch of my Cell Saga figures too (I needed money!). It really sucked because I never played with my figures and they were literally removed from the package and put on a shelf. A year or so later, I had a little bit of money and I began buying back a lot of the Irwin and Jakks figures I sold. They weren't all unplayed with and mint, but most were close. Then my interests died after 2008 because the original DBT forum died, and Mike's DBT was not doing well--barely any members transferred over. Eventually I made an account and looked around a bit, but I didn't say much or look often. I was into cars at the time and having fun on those message boards. In September 2011 when I moved to a house, it was when I was unpacking my figures and setting them back up that the collecting bug bit me again, I started posting on the DBT ProBoards a lot, and over the last few years I've spent a few thousand dollars nearly finishing my collection of both figures I have on display and figures I wanted for custom figure parts. I also began customizing again in I believe November 2011, and I've been making the best customs I've ever made and really enjoy the hobby again now that I have access to better quality sculpting materials, more space, and occasionally more time than I had in college!
In mid-2013, I was really getting annoyed being a member on the DBT ProBoards forum. Mike wouldn't make a new section for Figuarts and everything was really disorganized and annoying to look at. Some other people and I all offered our time and services to help him, but he wouldn't accept our help, or comply with our requests for changes to the site. It was frustrating! Mike wouldn't assign moderators or additional administrators to improve DBT, and wouldn't do what people wanted, so I contacted Capsule x Nike, asked him if he'd be up for helping me run a replacement forum, and he was into it. Now... some people have asked me about why DBF was started, assuming it was started as a threat like "well Mike, if you won't let me be an administrator, I'm going to start my own forum! " but that wasn't exactly the case, as the situation was pretty non-confrontational. Mike just really didn't care about DBT anymore, it was obvious, and it wasn't worth the effort to try to beg to be in a partnership or something with somebody who simply lost their passion and didn't care anymore. (Is Branjita teaching us life lessons now? Yep, don't get involved with someone with no passion in what they do.) He refused the help people offered, saying that he didn't need help... he had it all under control... but he didn't, and he unfortunately went down with his sinking ship he wouldn't maintain. I wasn't happy about this, but it was what it was. Mike provided us a place to post when the original DBT forums no longer worked, and he did so for many years. That should be respected! It's just a shame he lost his passion and was unwilling to accept help, because I didn't want to kill DBT... I wanted to help revive it. So DBF wasn't created out of anger, it was created out of necessity, love for the hobby, and wanting to provide everybody an organized place that looked good and had passionate leadership. Mike is still welcome to join here if he gets his passion back, as I know that passion still has to be inside him somewhere, and he wasn't a villain.
Anyway, on 8/12/13 I started making DBF with Cap's help to add content and bounce ideas off of. You can read more about that here: dragonballfigures.boards.net/thread/158/today-dbfs-grand-opening-welcome On 8/21/13 we had our grand opening. and here we are today, a very successful forum! Currently the most popular English-speaking forum for DB/Z/GT figures on the internet!
And... as an update for my collection... I believe I have 900+ figures at the moment.
So let's get started.
Here's my AB Combat Sets. These were released only in France by AB, and I have all 6 sets. My sets have all been opened, and I currently have them displayed in the packages. Some of the packages are different than the others, and I have inserted clear Bandai Real Works bases to help support the different pieces so they don't sag or depend so much on 20 year old glue. These are pretty unusual, especially for '90s figures, because they are based entirely on the movies! Bandai wasn't really doing stuff like that in the 90s, so these are kind of really unusual! 5 of them are based on the Janemba movie Fusion Reborn (movie 12), and even weirder, one is based on the Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans! I also have a mint on card Giochi Preziosi 2 pack of figures from Italy that are similar to the Combat Sets, though a little smaller scale. I don't think this is based on anything at all (lol) as Tien never fought SS Vegeta. The figures are incredibly cool though, I didn't expect the Tien and Vegeta to be so well sculpted, and they appear to have a little bit of articulation.
I thought I would do my collection pictures differently this year, so they aren't so overwhelming--both for me to produce, and for you guys to look at and comment on. So what I'm going to be doing is kind of a "picture a day" format, where every few days I add a new picture. That way it won't inconvenience me as much, and you guys will get to appreciate things much more.
If you want to know my history, click this spoiler:
This isn't entirely chronological, because my memory doesn't work chronologically, but I figured some of you guys might like to know some of my history.
I've been a fan of DBZ since the day when I first started watching it on Cartoon Network in 1998. I bought tons and tons of Irwin reissued SBC and AB figures back then and (after joining the original DBT) eventually actually managed to fill in the gaps and had a complete set of AB 5 inch Super Guerriers (I think I was the first on DBT to manage that, at least loose figures?). I used to be really into 2 inch AB figures since not many others were and they were inexpensive to get. Those days are over, but I still have my 2 inch figure collection and I have almost every one that AB and Irwin made. Again, this isn't chronological, just random tidbits about me:
In 2001 I joined the original DBT message board and was member 282 or something like that, was inspired by a member named Future Trunks (a customizer) and I started customizing figures myself. I was a very active member who posted often... which hasn't changed much! Eventually I was made one of the admins of old DBT, and Despotes gave me access to do news updates on the home page. I'd do the news from Japan updates showing upcoming figures and many news items related to Italian and French figures. Once Irwin started making their own sculpts, I started getting those. When they went bankrupt, I started buying the Jakks figures when they started making them several months later. Eventually, Jakks figures were no longer sold at Target or CVS/Eckerds (the two places I went to), and only Toys R Us still sold them. I stopped collecting because I wasn't close to a TRU and didn't want to buy the figures online. DBZ was no longer on Cartoon Network (I think they did show 1 episode every Saturday night) and so my interest faded a lot. At some point I needed money (I was a college student) so I sold a ton of my SBC, AB, and custom figures. I also sold almost all of my Buu Saga figures since I thought that saga was uninteresting; sold a bunch of my Cell Saga figures too (I needed money!). It really sucked because I never played with my figures and they were literally removed from the package and put on a shelf. A year or so later, I had a little bit of money and I began buying back a lot of the Irwin and Jakks figures I sold. They weren't all unplayed with and mint, but most were close. Then my interests died after 2008 because the original DBT forum died, and Mike's DBT was not doing well--barely any members transferred over. Eventually I made an account and looked around a bit, but I didn't say much or look often. I was into cars at the time and having fun on those message boards. In September 2011 when I moved to a house, it was when I was unpacking my figures and setting them back up that the collecting bug bit me again, I started posting on the DBT ProBoards a lot, and over the last few years I've spent a few thousand dollars nearly finishing my collection of both figures I have on display and figures I wanted for custom figure parts. I also began customizing again in I believe November 2011, and I've been making the best customs I've ever made and really enjoy the hobby again now that I have access to better quality sculpting materials, more space, and occasionally more time than I had in college!
In mid-2013, I was really getting annoyed being a member on the DBT ProBoards forum. Mike wouldn't make a new section for Figuarts and everything was really disorganized and annoying to look at. Some other people and I all offered our time and services to help him, but he wouldn't accept our help, or comply with our requests for changes to the site. It was frustrating! Mike wouldn't assign moderators or additional administrators to improve DBT, and wouldn't do what people wanted, so I contacted Capsule x Nike, asked him if he'd be up for helping me run a replacement forum, and he was into it. Now... some people have asked me about why DBF was started, assuming it was started as a threat like "well Mike, if you won't let me be an administrator, I'm going to start my own forum! " but that wasn't exactly the case, as the situation was pretty non-confrontational. Mike just really didn't care about DBT anymore, it was obvious, and it wasn't worth the effort to try to beg to be in a partnership or something with somebody who simply lost their passion and didn't care anymore. (Is Branjita teaching us life lessons now? Yep, don't get involved with someone with no passion in what they do.) He refused the help people offered, saying that he didn't need help... he had it all under control... but he didn't, and he unfortunately went down with his sinking ship he wouldn't maintain. I wasn't happy about this, but it was what it was. Mike provided us a place to post when the original DBT forums no longer worked, and he did so for many years. That should be respected! It's just a shame he lost his passion and was unwilling to accept help, because I didn't want to kill DBT... I wanted to help revive it. So DBF wasn't created out of anger, it was created out of necessity, love for the hobby, and wanting to provide everybody an organized place that looked good and had passionate leadership. Mike is still welcome to join here if he gets his passion back, as I know that passion still has to be inside him somewhere, and he wasn't a villain.
Anyway, on 8/12/13 I started making DBF with Cap's help to add content and bounce ideas off of. You can read more about that here: dragonballfigures.boards.net/thread/158/today-dbfs-grand-opening-welcome On 8/21/13 we had our grand opening. and here we are today, a very successful forum! Currently the most popular English-speaking forum for DB/Z/GT figures on the internet!
And... as an update for my collection... I believe I have 900+ figures at the moment.
So let's get started.
Here's my AB Combat Sets. These were released only in France by AB, and I have all 6 sets. My sets have all been opened, and I currently have them displayed in the packages. Some of the packages are different than the others, and I have inserted clear Bandai Real Works bases to help support the different pieces so they don't sag or depend so much on 20 year old glue. These are pretty unusual, especially for '90s figures, because they are based entirely on the movies! Bandai wasn't really doing stuff like that in the 90s, so these are kind of really unusual! 5 of them are based on the Janemba movie Fusion Reborn (movie 12), and even weirder, one is based on the Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans! I also have a mint on card Giochi Preziosi 2 pack of figures from Italy that are similar to the Combat Sets, though a little smaller scale. I don't think this is based on anything at all (lol) as Tien never fought SS Vegeta. The figures are incredibly cool though, I didn't expect the Tien and Vegeta to be so well sculpted, and they appear to have a little bit of articulation.