The fun of living on a farm, surrounded by bushland.
Birds singing, kangaroo’s hopping through the paddock….
…galah’s & cockatoo’s stealing all the ducks tucker, wombats digging holes under the fences and letting foxes through to get your chooks, monitors stealing eggs and eviscerating your waterfowl, feral goats breaking down fences to get at your nanny’s. Oh it’s heavenly.
And then, a possum decided the ceiling of the farmhouse is a great place to settle down to raise some babies.
Bloody possums! For the most part I don’t mind them, they do the occasional screeching at night or steal some of the poultries wheat, but they are tolerable. Until they decide your bloody home should be their bloody home!
We had one recently, it found a gap between the roof tiles and the guttering and decided to move in. Not just move in, but in the ceiling space right above our bed! We could hear it skittering and growling and scratching and gnawing and generally being a pain in the arse during the nighttime hours. Not only was it causing damage, but keeping us awake. I was tempted to go up there with my shotgun but I didn’t want to blow a hole in our damn roof.
So I found out the best ways to get rid of them, and it worked a treat! So here’s Big Farmer Trev’s top tips for getting rid of possums out of your ceiling.
Tip #1 Lights
Possums are nocturnal creatures, so the perpetually dark ceiling cavity of your home is the perfect place for them to take up residence. You can spoil this for them by sticking up some lights. Make sure they are safe lantern’s that produce no head, the last thing you want is the possum to knock one over and start a damn fire.
Leaving these lamps up there for two to three days constantly lit will drive the possum barmy. Instead of it being constantly dark it will be constantly light and it will want to find a new home.
Tip #2 Smells
Possums have got a very sensitive sense of smell, and do not like to hang around where odours that smell awful to them perpetuate. Garlic is good, so are peeled onions. Cloves work well as you can spread them like buckshot. But what I found best was mothballs. Not only do these smell stronger that the garlic or onions, but the beauty is you can fling them around your ceiling cavity without having to worry about removing them later. You don’t want to have to go crawling through your ceiling cavity to remove peeled onions before they start to rot.
Tip #3 – Entrapment
Now in NSW where I am located, you need to get permission to catch a possum, but thankfully that’s not hard to get. And usually the powers that be will also hire to you a cage specific to the purpose. You can either place this in your ceiling cavity, or else place it outside near where the possum is getting in and out. If placing it in your ceiling cavity, make sure you aren’t putting it near your lanterns and mothballs, or the possum isn’t going to go near it, no matter what yummy treats you place inside.
Once you catch the possum, choose a tree that’s far from the house but still in its established territory, then release it. Hopefully it’s going to like the tree a lot more than your house and decide to live there instead.
There are lots of other tips I’ve read online, but I’ve found using the above makes all the others superfluous. Simply put some lanterns and mothballs in your ceiling, then bait a cage so you can catch it and move it to a tree further away from your house – problem solved! And don’t forget to plug up the hole it used to find its way in, just in case it doesn’t like it’s new tree and decides to giving living above your bed another go.
Rise of the Beasts, the highly anticipated seventh live action Transformers movie, officially hit cinemas around the world on Friday the 9th of June, 2023 (June 22 in Australia).
A June 22 release for the rest of Australia, but a few of us lucky ducks didn’t have to wait that long
However, as befits a multi-million dollar movie of a beloved toy franchise, Paramount and Hasbro held a Special Preview Screening on Thursday the 8th, and for those notables lucky enough to receive an invitation, what an event it was!
If you are going to see a movie, do it in style!
Here in Sydney Australia, the event was held at the Hoyts Entertainment Quarter, and much excitement was in the air. One could attribute part of this excitement to the fact that due to international date lines, it was the 8th here in Australia before the majority of the world, making this one of the first ever showings of the movie!
Love getting invitied to these special events – thanks Hasbro and Paramount!
The attendee’s were made up of executives from both Hasbro and Paramount, professional movie reviewers and various celebrities such as actors, social media influencers and even cosplayers. Naturally everyone’s favouriteradio star and blogger Big Angry Trev was on hand, much to the excitement of the crowds! Photographers snapped pictures and a film crew was on hand to interview guests.
There were even some extra special guests in the form of some of the movie cast themselves – Bumblebee and Mirage decided to come along to grace their fans with their presence and pose for pics.
MirageBumblebee
Over the course of the year we have seen many Transformers events here in Sydney, such as the Beasts Base Camp at Taronga Park Zoo, and the More than Meets the Eye Exhibition at Kings Comics. What was wonderful to see with all these events, were not only the usual cream of society invited, but also notable members of the Australian Transformers Fandom.
Big Angry Trev & Miguel Maestre at the Beasts Base Camp
In attendance for this Special Preview Screening event were Transformer Exhibitors such as Lisamaree Chiu, Ben Keenan and Michael Vella and Transformer Superfans such as Trent Munn and Dallas Roderick. Yes, the royalty of the Aussie fandom were on hand to strut their stuff and I know all were appreciative of how Hasbro and Paramount have included the fandom in this years movie festivities.
Big Angry Trev and his trusty sidekick Orion posing for photo’s with Superfans Dallas & Trent
Free soft drinks and popcorn was on offer for all attendee’s as they entered the theatre, where individual recliner seats, soft and plush, were on offer to cradle every buttock. And for the very crème de la crème of the attendee’s, Hasbro reserved some very special seats dead centre of the theatre for the optimum viewing experience.
What’s better than attending an exclusive event? Getting VIP seating at the exclusive event!
These Special Preview Screenings were not only held in Sydney, but also Brisbane and Melbourne, making it not only a regional but national event!
The Brisbane event, photo courtesy of M.K Griffin of OzformersThe Melbourne event, courtesy of Jason Murray of TCCA
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts turned out to be a fantastic movie, earning a well deserved round of applause from an appreciative audience. I heartily recommend everyone get out themselves out there to watch this fun and entertaining flick.
Sadly, this event was likely the last event for the Transformers social season this year. Lets hope that the powers that be make the next highly anticipated instalment just as fun!
Were you one of the favoured few to get to attend one of these Special Preview Screening Events? Lets us know in the comments section below!
The Transformatorium, my personal collectors shed with over 5000 pieces of Transformers merchandise, was featured in the Mudgee Guardian Newspaper last month.
Something that was a bit of a laugh was when I went to pick up a copy of the newspaper, the guys in the newsagents recognised me from the front page and had me sign a bunch of copies.
Signing autographs: gotta keep the public happy
For those readers who are not local to our region, and therefore unlikely to have an online subscription to the newspaper or have picked up a physical copy, please find a roughly accurate transcript of the interview below, as originally written by Mudgee Guardian Editor Benjamin Palmer.
Inside a relatively nondescript shed 40 minutes from Mudgee lives one of the largest collections of Transformers figures and merchandise in the world.
The collection is owned by ‘Big Angry Trev’ who has spent nearly his entire life amassing a seriously impressive collection of more than 5000 pieces of Transformers paraphernalia from its inception in 1984 to present.
The Mudgee Guardian was invited to Trevor’s purpose-built shed that he has dubbed the ‘Transformatorium’ to view the collection and talk to Trevor about his passion for the shiny shapeshifters.
Trevor was seven years old when he received his first Transformers figurine, a generation one Decepticon named Dirge that transforms into a jet. Trevor, as he put it because his son was in the room, ‘lost his poop’, and the love for Transformers has not waned in the nearly 40 years since.
“It was just something new and interesting I hadn’t seen before, it wasn’t the usual superheroes flying around with their capes with their underpants on outside. It seemed to have everything,” he said.
“If you liked robots, there’s robots. If you liked cars, if you liked planes, it had all of that. If you liked dinosaurs it has giant robot dinosaurs – so it really captured my imagination from the beginning.”
Upon entering the Transformatorium it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of items housed inside the shed which sits adjacent to the family home.
You’re greeted with floor-to-ceiling views of Trevor’s collection which includes more than 4000 individual figures of all sizes and rarities from all generations as well as more than 1000 pieces of merchandise like t-shirts, DVDs, video games, cushions and even a floor mat.
Photo courtesy of Mudgee Guardian Website
Trevor spent his time during COVID lockdown fitting out the interior with enough shelving to display the collection, which continues to grow.
“This is one of the largest collections in the world. I hadn’t intended to reach this [point] – it was more I just really enjoyed it and it was a fun, harmless hobby and it seemed to interest other people.
“People would pass on their kid’s older toys or they’d pass on their old toys from when they were kids themselves…,” he said.
“I just kept collecting and they kept bringing out new versions of classic characters and great new characters, then they started making new cartoons and live-action movies and it just became a hobby that I thought was dead but now is suddenly alive and brimming once again.”
Trevor’s collection and his prolific online presence mean he is well-known among not only the Transformers community but has also attracted the attention of Hasbro and Paramount, the owners of the franchise and the publisher of the Transformers films respectively.
“There’s been a lot of promotional events around the release of the latest film,” Trevor said.
“I got invited to do the Beasts Base Camp at Taronga Zoo, after [the company] wanted some representatives of the fandom. Also theMore than Meets the Eye Exhibition. It’s been very gratifying to be invited to take part in these events.”
“It’s a bit of fun. My son Orion is a big Transformers fan too so he usually comes to these events with me.”
Photo courtesy of the Mudgee Guardian website
Trevor’s 10-year-old son Orion, who sported a Transformers shirt and pants himself on the day of the tour, said he is as much of a fan as his dad.
“They [Transformers] all look really cool and the cartoons are really good,” Orion said.
“My favourite is the Bumblebee movie, it’s really good. [And I like] Bumblebee, both old and new.”
According to the Guiness Book of World Records online, the largest collection of Transformers memorabilia consists of 5,150 items, and was achieved by AJ Ard in the USA on 5 September 2022. Trevor hinted that he might have a go at besting that record one day.
“It is getting crowded but we’re not out of room just yet,” he laughed.
Photo courtesy of the Mudgee Guardian Website
With visitors travelling to the from as far away as Sydney to view the collection, Trevor embraces all corners of the fandom and distilled his love for the franchise, while also lamenting the sometimes toxic online discourse around it.
“I do it for the love of it. It’s toy robots, it’s supposed to be fun,” he said.
“If you’re not having fun what’s the point?”
The Transformatorium is not open to the public, however anyone who wants to get in touch for a tour or would like to donate any Transformers items can get in touch via the Big Angry Trev’s Transformatorium page on Facebook or the Big Angry Trev website.
What a time to be a Transformers fan! With the Rise of the Beasts movie to hit cinemas in two months, it seems promotional events are happening left, right and centre!
Wednesday night saw the VIP Opening Night for the Transformers: More than Meets the Eye art exhibition at King’s Comics.
Promotional Blurb: Radio Velvet, Kings Comics and Hasbro, a global branded entertainment leader, are pleased to present Transformers: More than Meets the Eye – a world-exclusive exhibition, celebrating the incredible universe of Transformers, through the eyes of its fans and collectors, plus, six acclaimed artists.
Being everyones favorite exhibitionist, Big Angry Trev was invited along to the exclusive VIP opening night of the exhibition, and what an exhibition it was!
King’s Comics and Radio Velvet went all out in setting up a dedicated space for this exhibition. The floors, walls and even stairs were covered in Transformers art. Sniff… it felt like coming home.
The FloorThe Stairs
The Walls
Toy Exhibitors
Along the outer walls were display cabinets full of Transformer products, classic and new. Cabinets were set up by Hasbro, Lobos Collectables and even Kings Comics themselves.
In what was a wonderful nod to the part the fandom plays within the Transformers brand, several prominent Australian collectors were invited to display parts of their personal collections. Jason Murray’s display, along with his huge collection of Transformers pins, was enough to make the most hardcore fan drool. Lisamaree Chiu’s highly impressive collection of Optimus Prime’s from multiple Transformer continuities showed how the character has changed and evolved over the years. Kelvin Chan, as well as helping set up the comic display for Lobos Collectables, devoted much of his own display to the work of late Australian artist Andrew Sorohan. Kings Comics employee ScottSheens had a wide and varied display, including a wonderful cityscape made up of G1 figures.
Display by Jason MurrayDisplay by Lisamaree ChiuSo many Optimus!Display by Kelvin ChanDisplay by Scott Sheens
A couple of fans even got to present multiple cabinets. Michael Vella’s multitude of Bumblebee’s, many of them quite rare, were very eye catching. And there wasn’t a fan present that didn’t contemplate what it would be like to own his showing of sealed G2 Stunticons! Ben Keenan had an incredible display of different Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime toys, and a collection of boxed G1 figures that would bring a joyful tear to the eye of the most hardcore Geewunner.
Bumblebee’s by Michael VellaVarious by Michael VellaHot Rod display by Ben KeenanBoxed G1 display by Ben Keenan
All the fans putting on displays were in attendance at this VIP event. This meant that guests could ask questions about individual pieces and added that extra delight to the proceedings. And for the exhibitors, they got the thrill of rubbing shoulders with local Transformers royalty – lucky ducks!
Lisamaree & Big Angry TrevJason Murray and Big Angry Trev both point to their personal idolMichael Vella & Ben Keenan with expressions of joy and awe – both appropriate responses
Meet the Artists
Of course, it would hardly be an art exhibition without artists. Running down the centre of the room were huge bio’s of each artist, giving an insight both into their art and the artists themselves.
For young and young at heart
Something I have personally loved is that both the Roar & Snore Beasts Base Camp and the VIP Art Opening event were accessible not only by the invited adult fans, but children too. My son Orion adored being able to stay overnight at the zoo, and felt like a celebrity when the friendly Hasbro staff at the art show all recognised him from The Transformatorium video and helped ensure he had a wonderful time! Thank you to Doublejump Communications too for helping to coordinate such fantastic events!
Father, son & Optimus at Roar & SnoreFather, son & Optimus at Art Exhibition
The More than Meets the Eye Exhibition will be on display at Kings Comics from the 6th to the 30th of April. I highly recommend even the most causal Transformers fan take the opportunity to visit and become entranced by what is truly an enriching experience. Full credit to curator Eddie Zammit, he’s put on a heck of a show!
Have you been yet to see this awesome exhibition? Tell us about it in the comments section below!
This is the tale of how a bad airline can really f*ck up a good holiday.
This is the 100% true and factual recount of how it took us 8 hours to get from home to our destination, yet FIFTY FOUR AND A HALF HOURS to get home. All with two small children in tow.
We were travelling from rural New South Wales to have a holiday with relatives in northern Queensland. This meant a 3 hour drive to the airport, catching a flight from Newcastle to Cairns, then being picked up by our relatives and driven the rest of the way.
Getting There
We were booked with Jetstar(never again!) for both there and back and booked well in advance. Firstly we had booked a flight that left at noon, then only a week out they cancelled the flight and rebooked us on one over 3 hours later. A pain but we could handle it, it just meant missing out on part of our first day of holidays. We drove to the airport, leaving the requisite time to check in and reach our gate. When getting close to the airport I kept getting alerts on my phone about the Gate being changed, which happened about 3 times.
When we got into the terminal, we saw our flight had been delayed by a solid 90 minutes, which meant we had to entertain our kids in the terminal for an extra hour and a half. Funny how they never sent a phone alert about that. Because we ended up flying out 4 ½ hours later than we had booked for, it meant our relatives had to pick us up after dark and we totally missed out on our first day of holidays.
Kids truding to their first of MANY delayed JetStar flights
Getting Back
Jetstar guarantee’s on their website that all children will be seated with their parents/adult relatives. I checked our seats online the night before we were due to fly out and surprise surprise, they had sat our 9 year old son and 7 year old daughter in individual seats by themselves in different parts of the plane, well away both from each other and my wife and I. Two hours of trying to sort it out online resulted in a “get to the airport early and have the staff there sort it out” reply from Jetstar – thanks so much., how very efficient and customer friendly of you.
(picture courtesy of Imagur)
So we arrive at the airport a solid two hours before we would have had to be there otherwise, and spend a stupid amount of time with the staff until they can ensure our kids are sitting with us. We then have a LOT of time to kill at the terminal.
Half an hour before we were due to fly out, they announce that – once again – our flight has been delayed by 90 minutes! So now we have even more time to kill, and have two very understandably grumpy kids.
Finally, after being at the airport for about four hours, we board the plane and take off from Cairns to Newcastle. Getting to the end of the flight, and I mean right at the end -they had announced our descent 10 minutes previously and the seatbelt sign was on – the captain comes on:
“Please be aware that we have received a storm warning and all flights to Sydney and Newcastle are being diverted to Brisbane”
The groan in the plane was audible, and much muttering and bad language ensued from the passengers. We could SEE the airport from out of the window, there was nary a cloud in the sky! There might be a storm on the way but it certainly wasn’t there yet! We had been less than 3 minutes from landing!
So the plane turns around and we have another hour of flight to reach Brisbane.
Son: ‘Will this flight ever end Dad?’ Me: ‘I don’t know son, I just don’t know’
We get off the plane. I’ve commented on how I’m more ‘Middle-aged Tired Trev’ than ‘Big Angry Trev’ these days, well, not by then. Anyone official not being immediately helpful was not abused, but certainly spoken to sharply in loud irritated tones. I didn’t go full Karen, but by Primus I wanted to.
My family finds some seats, and I get in the line for the desk that is arranging transport to hotels the airline has booked. I was in this line for ONE AND THREE-QUARTER HOURS! I have never been in a line that long in my life! By the time I reached the front I was ropeable! Thankfully my wife came up and did the talking to the girl behind the desk as I was standing back and audibly swearing. The girl told me not to abuse her to which I replied in an aggravated tone “I wasn’t swearing at you or about you or even looking at you so how about you just get on with it”. To be fair she was just doing her job, but she had a JetStar pin on her blazer which made her the enemy at this point. I did however stop swearing and just simmered in relative silence behind my wife.
A full hour after this they finally bus us to a hotel. We had left our resort at 7.30am, and it was now 8.30pm. 11 hours of travel and we hadn’t even managed to get out of the State! Our kids are tired and hungry, we are tired and hungry. My wife gets the kids in the shower and finds some children’s programming on the TV while I walk the streets of Brisbane trying to find a takeaway shop open.
“What the hell am I doing in Brisbane?!”
By the time we went to bed we had eaten nothing but Airport Terminal food and some pizza slices and potato cakes for dinner. We get a message from the airport that our replacement flight will be leaving at 2PM TOMORROW AFTERNOON.
The next day they bus picks us at noon and thankfully this flight was only running 15 minutes late this time. However when we get back to Newcastle and collect our car, we find out that the road we would have used to go home is washed out from the overnight storm. So instead of a 3 hour drive home, we drive 4 ½ hours to my mothers-in-law’s in Bathrust. We reach there exhausted at about 9.30pm that night. We are now 38 hours into our trip home and yet still hours away from our house.
We wake up the next morning, repack the car and prepare to head off. Only one problem, one MAJOR problem. The Bathurst 1000, one of the biggest car races in the country, had been on over the weekend, and now they were finished every man and his dog was heading home, with most of them towing caravans. One of the bridges that served as an exit point to the town was underwater from the storm, so everyone is trying to get out of Bathurst using the same route. The whole town is gridlocked! We kept checking the traffic app every 15 minutes, but it is still noon by the time it lets up enough we can get in the car and start our final leg.
The drive from our mothers-in-law’s to our place takes maybe 20 minutes longer than usual as another bridge in our little home town is washed out from the storm two nights ago, so we had to take a detour to get to our farm. By the time we drive in the front gate we had been travelling for 54 ½ hours! We were exhausted and beaten and after unpacking the car collapsed as a family on our couch.
Since then we have vowed to never fly JetStar again unless absolutely necessary. We are realists, we realise that sometimes flight delays are inevitable and things happen out of the airlines control. But from some rudimentary online searching subsequent to this trip, I’ve found Jetstar is notorious for late flights, more so than most other airlines. On multiple websites they rate only a 1 Star average from thousands of customer reviews.
It was bad enough that we missed the first day of our holiday because they cancelled our booked flight, then delayed our rebooked flight by 90 minutes. But if they had just left when they were supposed to on the flight home, all our troubles could have been avoided. If they had even just landed when they were supposed to (I swear you could see the people on the ground we were so far into our final approach) instead of turning around despite the storm still not having arrived, all our troubles could have been avoided. But because they were running late, and because they couldn’t be bothered landing a plane which was moments from touchdown, by the time we reached our State the storms had actually arrived and washed out the highways we would normally take to our home.
As far as I’m concerned, Jetstar can fornicate themselves vigorously with a pointed stick. No wonder in 2017 an international survey ranked Jetstar as the worlds worst airline. In my opinion a truly inept company on every level. It would give me great joy to hear some irate baggage handler rammed some lost luggage up their CEO’s arse.
Have you had a bad experience with Jetstar? Pop it in the comments below!
Blast Effects are becoming more and more popular in the Transformers toylines. What can make a giant alien gun look even cooler? How about a huge coloured laser coming out of the end! Lots of the larger figures in the mainline Transformers toyline are coming with blast effects now, though sadly not many for the smaller bots.
With this new trend, it was only a matter of time until some Third Party Companies decided to jump on the bandwagon, and start producing blast effects for those toys who came bereft of them. One such company is a new Australian business, 3D Damsel, who have been kind enough to send us a selection of their new products to peruse.
Yee-haw!
Note: 3D Damsel have not paid for this review, nor have they tried to dictate the contents of this blog. Bigangrytrev.com would like to thank 3D Damsel for the opportunity to review their products.
Pew Pew!
The blast effects we have received come in a variety of different sizes and blast-effect patterns.
The ones provided came in red
and blue
It is our understanding they are also available in green, which would perhaps suit characters like the Insecticons. It’s really nice to see such variation on the different blasts, making it easy to match the effect you want to the weapon its unleashed from.
Leader-class Bots
Voyager Class BotsDeluxe Class BotsScout Class Bots
Watch out, missile!
One of our favorites was the missile effect, showing the shell firing out with a trail of smoke behind it.
Careful of breakages
This fit great initially, then when reattaching it…
These blast effects are 3D printed, making them more brittle than the rubbery type included with the larger Transformer toys. While by no means overly delicate, it does mean you have to make sure not to be overly forceful when attaching them to the ends of weapons. These blast effects have been designed with hollow nubs on the ends, meaning you either push the nub into the end of the toys weapon, or else fit the hole within the nub over the tip of the weapons barrel.
Overall
It’s great to see an independent Aussie company trying something new, and the effects certainly do jazz up your battle scenes! The blast effects wont attach to every figures weapon, there being so many types, but are versatile enough you should not have much trouble matching them to a wide assortment within your collection. Hopefully down the track we will see an even wider variety of colours such as the traditional oranges, purples and yellows.
Bad neighbours can make life hell, especially if you just want to be left alone and mind your own business. Some people seem incapable of not bothering their neighbours though and I’ve had quite a few over of this sort over the years, perhaps in part because I used to live in the crappy parts of suburbs because the rent would be cheaper.
“Please Karen, I’m sorry I used my mower on my own lawn, don’t have me arrested again!”
So here are Big Angry Trev’s Top 10 Encounters with Bad Neighbours:
*Bad Neighbour #1: Parking-Spot Parionia Karen
Reservoir Victoria, Australia, 1996.
Was living in a block of 5 units in Reservoir. We were probably the bad neighbours to most other residents because it was during my Uni days and used to throw lots of parties. The cops would usually show up and ask us to keep the noise down. We would apologise and immediately do so, but it must have irked the neighbours that this would happen about 8 times a year.
One morning I’m in the shower. My girlfriend who had stayed the night came in to tell me the lady in Unit 5 (we were in 3) had just come to the door and told me to stop the harassment or she would call the police. I had never even said hello to this woman so had no idea what she was on about.
Went and knocked on the ladies door to find out what it was all about. She accused me of parking my car out the front of her place and revving the engine a lot (never happened) to harass her. She then went on about how I shouldn’t judge her just because she’s a single mother (I would have been 19, she looked early 20’s), making it sound like I had already decided she must be a slut or something.
I informed her that I had never revved my car in front of her unit, the most I had ever done was pull up in front so I then reverse in to my allotted spot. Told her that I had never judged her because I knew absolutely nothing about her and that for all I knew she lived with four big guys that would beat me up for even looking at her sideways.
My mother came to visit me a few months later. She asked where she could park and I told her the end spot because no cars ever parked there. My mother did so and within minutes this mad woman was at my door demanding we move the car. As I went to do so the irritation on my face must have been evident as when I passed her she stared to Karen-likeblather on about her rights. I snapped at her ‘why don’t you just move then?’ and then continued to shift my mother’s vehicle. She left us alone after that but we never dared use her parking spot again, which remained completely vacant until we moved ourselves a few years later.
*Bad Neighbour #2: Toothless Nutcase fakes visit by Prostitute
Reservoir Victoria, Australia, 2000
Second place in Reservoir and had moved in with my now-fiancé. Two units this time, with ours being the one closest to the street. The unit at the back had a husband, wife and wife’s father living in it. Had never spoken to either of the men and to her only a couple of times. She was missing most of her teeth, wore these awful singlets all the time that barely covered her unfortunate physique, and would be constantly hosing down their half of the driveway. Like, constantly – maybe for a couple of hours each day!
I went away for a weekend to visit friends out of town and that evening my fiancé rings me up screaming. Apparently the neighbour woman had come over and given her some story about a blond in an SUV showing up and when I wasn’t home had knocked on her door. This supposed blond was asking where I was and then had left a magazine with the neighbour to pass onto me. The magazine was like the Prostitute Quarterly for Melbourne or something – all articles about the sex trade in Melbourne and lots of ads for brothels. One of these brothel ads had all these different messages to me written around it, things like ‘We love your Goatee’, ‘Come back soonTrevor!’ etc, making it seem like I was a prolific and favoured customer.
Took ages to calm my fiancé down over the phone to get her to look at the facts:
A: If I actually had visited a brothel (which I hadn’t), what kind of brothel would be randomly sending out prostitutes from their business to visit their clients homes uninvited? Was this meant to be some kind of after-sales service? And when people visit a brothel, are they required to give their home address? I’m guessing not.
B: If for some unfathomable reason, when you visited a brothel and for whatever purpose gave them your home address, it was unlikely they would send prostitutes then knocking on neighbours doors and asking to leave incriminating evidence.
It all made zero sense except for someone going out of their way to punk me and I finally got my fiancé to see that. When I confronted the neighbour about it she told me the same story she told my fiancé; a blond in an SUV had turned up looking for me and gave my neighbour the magazine. Then she proceeded to tell me that I shouldn’t be getting married if I was doing that kind of thing. So obviously her intention had been to break up the couple next door, but for what reason I never found out.
A few months later they broke in through our backdoor and stole our TV, I found it pawned at a local Cash Converters.
*Bad Neighbour #3: The Drunken Dog-Beater
Werribee Victoria, Australia, 2001
For a short time I rented a house in Werribee. Not long after moving in a drunk neighbour in his 40’s knocked on the door and asked could I please give him a lift as he really needed to get into town. I was sceptical but obliged, part of the reason being I was only 23 and he was much older than me – I hadn’t gotten a handle of saying no to people my senior as yet. Drove him into town and he insisted on giving me a pack of cigarettes as a thank you.
After that at least twice a week he would show up tipsy on our doorstep asking my partner where I was. She would always lie and say I was out (I was usually tinkering in the shed) and he would protest that I wasn’t because he could see my car there. Guy was obviously in need of a friend but I had no interest in being it.
He had 3 big dogs that would howl all the time, pretty certain he was beating them from the way he would be yelling and the anguished noises they would make. Rang the RSPCA about it and they said there was nothing they could do – was pretty surprised and annoyed by that.
*Bad Neighbour/hood #4: Crime Everywhere!
Broadmeadows Victoria, Australia, 2003
Was living in a block of a dozen units in the cheapest part of the suburb. Don’t know how much of it had to do with my neighbours but I got burgled within a month of moving in, then 6 months later came home to find a stolen car in my parking spot with its inside completely stripped.
Bad Neighbour/Housemates #5: The Dodgy Nurses
Cricklewood London, England, 2004
Lived in a slim, 3-story share house in Cricklewood, London. The two girls that ran the share-house, both nurses, were very dodgy – they waited until we gave our deposit before telling us that if we didn’t find someone to replace us when we decided to move out that they would keep our deposit. They would never give us a receipt for any of the rent we paid so we were pretty sure they were overcharging everyone in the house so that they themselves could live there for free. My girlfriend had small items of jewellery go missing as well so we had to start locking our bedroom door.
We were on the top floor and there was another Aussie that had his bedroom across the hall from ours. He would play the same Dire Straights CD over and over again everysinglenight. You’d just be starting to relax when you’d hear “We gotta move these refrigerators” come blasting out of his room. Idiot used to sit up there drinking beer all night every night listening to the same songs, the cops even turned up once because he was throwing his beer bottles out the window onto the busy street below.
After a month we couldn’t take living there anymore so found someone to take our room and got them to give their deposit straight to us. The nurses were livid, it was obvious they had intended to keep our deposit as well as get the deposit off the next guy. We ended up moving a week early just to get out of there.
*Bad Neighbour #6: Stalked for Sex
Grays Essex, England, 2004
Pushy gay guy that lived across the road stalked me for sex. Full story here.
Neighbour had a cat who he never bothered to feed or look after so I ended up feeding it. He kept it locked outside 24/7 and I would come home to find this cat waiting at my back door crying for a pat and some food. Neighbour saw me putting out a bowl of water for his cat once on a really hot day but said nothing so it was an indication he was probably happy someone else was looking after his animal, saving him the trouble. When I moved out I left a note tacked to the inside of one of the cupboards for the new tenants to find, telling them about the cat and suggesting they may want to pick up where I left off.
Had a break-in there, but my housemate was home so the guy got scared off.
*Bad Neighbour/hood #8: Pigeon Lady
Northcote Victoria, Australia, 2009
The lady living to our right was quite nice, but had big bird boxes full of dozens of pigeons right up against our fence, which irked my wife as she hated pigeons. The thing that used to really annoy us though was she would throw tons of white bread scraps over the fence to our dog, despite being asked several times not to because they were bad for our dogs digestion.
One day came home to find the kid over our back fence was throwing rocks over the fence at the clean washing on our line. Got robbed twice while we lived there, once they stole my laptop, the other time they stole our digital camera which still had all the photo’s from my 30th birthday party on it, so I don’t have a single photo from that night.
*Bad Neighbour/hood #9: Our Nature Strip is his Toilet
Swan Hill Victoria, Australia, 2011
In the small town of Swan Hill in Victoria we had neighbours a few doors down that would have a party every Friday night and be blasting really bad country music in their backyard. Then one night while I was away supervising a camp, two drunk guys decided that one of them couldn’t make it home to use the toilet in time, discussed the issue and decided to take a dump on our nature strip at 3am, my poor wife having to listen to the whole performance in the middle of the night alone in the house.
*Bad Neighbour #10: The Grape-Guns of Wrath
Murrawee Victoria, Australia, 2015
Living on a farm you think you would be safe from bad neighbours but we got one when we bought our first property. Things were OK for the first couple of years, then the neighbours decided they were going to grow grapes. So they got three of these huge scare guns that went off on timers to blast every few minutes to scare the birds off. Problem was that they were so loud you could hear them in our house like they were only a meter away! I looked up the rules regarding scare guns in rural areas and you were only allowed to have one blast every 15 minutes and only between the hours of 7am and 6pm. He had 3 guns on 10 minute timers so there was a blast every 3 minutes or so and would go from 6.55am to 8pm every day. It was like we were living in a warzone and it made life hell, as well as disturbing the sleep of our infant daughter and toddler son.
I finally had enough and went over to complain. When I arrived I found he had put one of the scare guns as close to our property line as was physically possible. When he and I began to argue about it I said to him in a reasonable tone “Look, come over and have a cup of tea and you’ll hear what it sounds like in our kitchen”. That chilled him out a bit and made him more reasonable, but the guns never fully stopped during grape-growing season and we were relieved when we moved away 2 years later.
Thankfully my family and I live in an even more remote part of the country now, where we can only see our neighbours by standing on the veranda and looking into the distance. Lets hope our relatively peaceful existence continues.
Got a bad neighbour story? Pop it in the comments section below!
Since pictures of the The Transformatorium have begun to circulate on various social media around the globe, I get asked a lot of questions. Much of the time, these are questions I have been asked many times before.
This picture tantalizes the curiosity!
So to address this, I put the call out on FB and Twitter for people to put forth their queries that I could answer in a Frequently Asked Questions blog, so in the future I could quickly direct people to it rather than type out the same answers yet again. Don’t get me wrong, I love people taking an interest! This will simply be a bit of a time-saver all round 😉
Find below the list of FAQ’s I received, and thank you to everybody who submitted one!
The Transformatorim – FAQ’s
About the Shed itself:
Q: OMG your house must be soooo big! Is it?
A:The Transformatorium is actually a separate building to the main house – a specifically designed shed to store my collection. We live on a big farm though, so there was plenty of space to construct the shed.
Q: How tall is that ceiling?
No wasted space, not even the ceiling!
A: At it’s apex it is 4 meters high, at it’s lowest it is 2.6 meters.
Q: Why did someone who is so obviously genetically related to hobbits build shelves so high?
What’s the point of having all that space if you don’t use it?
A: (Sigh… yes I know the questioner and yes he is significantly taller than me) I built the shelves myself to scale with the shed, and to maximize shelf space I made them all 2.6m high. Of course that means if I want something off the top shelf them I need a ladder to get it.
Q: What are you going to do when you run out of room?
A: There is a second part to the shed behind the big main back wall. If I ever run out of room I guess I will need to knock out that wall and utilize the storage space behind it. Lets hope that’s a looong way off in the future though, as it would necessitate taking EVERY single Transformer off the shelves for the reconstruction and that would be such a huge job!
Q: How do you deal with heat?
Shady
A: The placement of my Transformatorium Shed is such that during the worst parts of the day it is shaded by tree’s (though I have genuine fear of one of them falling the wrong way one day). The ceiling is also quite high and well insulated so heat doesn’t build up much. The only part of the shed that gets particularly hot is the West facing wall around mid-afternoon. Thankfully I only have MISB crossover figures on that wall which affords the figures some extra protection, and I am growing plants in the garden I made out front that should adequately shade that wall within a few years. I also have thick heavy curtains across the glass door to keep out heat and light.
About me and my collection:
Q: What is your evacuation strategy for the figures in the event of bush fire/flood?
Picture from 3 years ago – would need a bigger trailer now
A: Back in late 2019 I had to evacuate my entire collection due to bushfires. Thankfully the majority of them were still boxed so I was, with the help of a mate, able to load them all up and take them to a friends house in a nearby town that was not as threatened. They lived there for a month until the danger had passed.
If a bushfire or flood came out of nowhere now, I’d be far more concerned with getting my wife, children and pets out safely. Toys can be replaced, loved ones cannot.
If I had time I might dash back and grab as many G1 and Masterpiece toys as possible though 😉
Q: WhErE iS “insert figure obviously missing from your collection here” I dOnT sEe iT.
Oh Timelines Counterpunch, where art thou?!
A: If you don’t see it, chances are I don’t have it. My collection is big, but I can’t think of any specific Transformers toyline that I own every single figure from.
Q: I noticed you’re in Australia – has that ever caused problems with adding to the collection? Import costs, local distribution, environmental damage etc?
A: Yes it can be a real pain in the arse to get certain figures here in Australia, especially for me since I live in the bush and there are no stores that sell Transformers within 50 kilometres of my location. Occasionally here in Aus we luck out and get a figure before the rest of the world, like Legacy Motormaster, but in an age where more and more figures are becoming exclusives to chain stores that don’t even exist on this continent, sometimes the choice is to either pay a ruinous price and postage to get the figure, or to just accept fate and let it go. I certainly think my collection would be bigger if I lived in the US or Japan.
Q: How much of your collection has had to be replaced due to damage or wear, things like Gold Plastic Syndrome, yellowing, sticker damage etc?
Poor Pipes… er…. pipes.
A: I’ve had to replace the odd G1 figure over the years, like Omega Supreme and Mirage, who were too damaged to repair. In fact with my G1 figures I am loathe to touch any of them anymore as they are so old even with a gentle and perfectly executed transformation they can break – poor old Sludge will spend the rest of his life in dino-mode because a hip broke! I need to get around to sourcing a replacement G1 Silverbolt too due to hip damage. For the most part I haven’t had to replace much, I’m pretty careful with my figures. My son broke a few when he was younger, but is much more careful now, to the point I even let him transform my MP’s sometimes.
As for replacing figures which have suffered from Gold Plastic Syndrome or yellowing, its pretty hard to do because any other figures out there on the secondary market usually suffer from the exact same afflictions mine do.
Q: Have you ever had a problem with figures falling over for whatever reason? Does it cause a domino effect, or are they all spaced out enough that you can more or less avoid a catastrophe?
Figures 5 rows deep – what could possibly go wrong?
A: Oh dear Primus yes, this happens way more often than I would like! Some shelves are fine, whereas others I feel like I have to perform some kind of delicate surgery to remove a figure without knocking over a dozen of its brethren. My son has given up now, if he wants a toy he asks me to get is as the domino effect is a shocker! But yeah, it happens, and considering the floor is concrete I’ve had a few heart-stopping moments when a bunch of figures have tumbled and I’ve had to check if they survived.
Q: So many toys! Your wife must be very understanding/ hur-hur yOuR oBvIoUsLy SiNgLe…?
Through thick and thin and Michael Bay movies
A: I’ve been with my wife for nearly 20 years and married for 14 of them. She is extremely understanding of my hobby. She is also relieved that my son is so into Transformers, as it means I have him to share my passion with so she no longer has to fain interest 😉
Q: Is there any third party or customs in the collection or all official HasTak stuff?
Leftovers from the days when official Quintesson toys seemed to have no chance of ever being made
A: I have very few customs or 3rd party stuff. I have nothing against them or those that collect them, they just aren’t for me. I’d say far less than 1% of my collection is not official merchandise. Most I had bought in the past were of characters that had never had an official toy at that point. These days it seems no matter how obscure the character they are probably going to get an official figure at some stage, so I don’t bother with 3P stuff at all anymore. I do have some tiny custom figure made by the talented Michael I am very fond of.
So tiny, so fragile, so perfect…
Q: TWO Unicrons?! What are you, a billionaire!?
They do add a certain gravitas to the room don’t they
A: Heh heh – far from it. Here in Australia we got about the best deal possible through a chain store. You could order the items at cost, then you had a full 18 months to pay them off before they arrived. Plus you could pick up in store so no postage costs! Because of this, I was able to slowly pay off my order of two Unicron’s without breaking the bank, and then take the ute to pick them up – it was a sweet deal!
Q: What are you going to do with your collection when you’re dead? (Obviously the answer is nothing, because you’re dead. But hopefully you put a plan in place prior to your fateful attempt to fit 16 tomahawk steaks in your mouth at once.)
I’m afraid the wounds are fatal
A: My son gets all my male Transformers, my daughter gets all my female ones and BotBots. Before anyone argues this is supremely unfair due to the disparate numbers between male and female Transformer action figures, it should be noted my daughter isn’t really into Transformers so wouldn’t really want many (if any). She also gets my complete collection of Rarity figures from MLP as well.
I’d let my family pick a few for me to be buried with (not that I would have a say in it at that stage). If as a family they decided to simply keep a few each to remember me by, then sell off the rest of the collection to pay off the mortgage or go on an overseas trip, more power to them.
Q: Can I, a complete stranger located on another continent, come and see your collection?
Q: How much are the Tickets?
A: I happily give tours of The Transformatorium to locals, and if people are willing to trek all the way out here to outback Australia to see it, then they get in for free 😉
Q: How do you keep the shelves clean? My own collection is getting fairly dusty but they’re packed too tight to a shelf to just pull’em down and start wiping
The dust, oh the dust…
A: Ah, now this is easily the question I get asked more than any other. Yes dust is an issue in the shed, though not as bad as one may think. It is its worst near the glass door, so my Movieverse figures cop the brunt of it, and there are figures there in their alt-modes there that need to be wiped off monthly.
In the rest of the shed its not too bad. This is where its handy to have an explorative son who wants to check out all the toys. Whenever he or I get a figure from the shelves I give that figure a quick wipe down. In the long run though, I’ve had to resign myself to the fact that, unless I somehow magically become a millionaire and can buy gigantic glass cabinets, my shelves and figures are never going to be dust free and I am just going to have to continue to mitigate the worst of it as best as time allows. Good thing the shelves themselves are brown eh!
Thank you to everyone that submitted questions for The Transformatorium FAQ. If you have any further queries, pop them in the comments section below!
It’s been a few months since the last installment, but we have another entry in the ever popular Transformer Fan Interviews! In this latest interview with Aussie TF collectors we are talking to Trent, a good bloke who is always willing to help a mate out with a sought toy, or provide some online sparring to entertain and amuse.
Name and/or nicknames: – Trent
Family? Yes
Career? Tiny cog in the ever churning capitalist machine
How would you rate yourself on a C scale, C10 being MISB Mint perfection, to the lowest C1 ‘junker not worth it even for parts’? C6 – 99% complete but has significant wear in joints and stickers are faded. It would also appear that there are no reprolabels available for my model.
How would you rate your attraction to Big Angry Trev? With one being ‘very’ to 10 being ‘I purposely shave my head and paint a red dot on top in the hopes Trev mistakes it for a giant breast and lavishes it with his tongue’? – Sorry. I’m not attracted to overcooked lobster.
Editor’s Note: Smarmy arsehole
Fan/Collector since (year)? So, I was thinking about this a few weeks ago. I was trying to figure out when I got my first Transformer. The earliest TF memory I have was of stealing a G1 Hot Rod from the kid that lived across the street. He brought it over to play with and I thought it was so awesome that I hid it under my bed and he went home having forgot about it. My elaborate ruse came undone however when I took it to school and the taxi driver noticed that my shiny new Hot Rod was the same as the shiny new Hot Rod that the kid across the road had lost. So I sadly marched over to his house and proclaimed that I had found it under the lounge! Hooray!! After that I recall a G1 Optimus and Ultra Magnus showing up as well as a Kup. It kinda snowballed from there. I stopped collecting once I hit year 6 or so and agreed to sell all my TFs to assist with some family financial troubles.
I watched a bit of Beast Wars when I was a teenager but it wasn’t until my 20’s when I saw an Armada Starscream in K-Mart that my interest rekindled. I loved that Starscream and still have it today. I collected quite the number of Armada, Cybertron, G1 reissues and so forth but stored them all at my mother-in-law’s place when we bought our first home. It wasn’t until some years later I went back to get them that I realised she threw them all out without even asking me. While at the time I was beyond pissed these days I don’t hold it against her though as they are just things, not people. These days I collect a bit of everything. MP, G1, Generations, Cyberverse, third party, whatever tickles my fancy really.
Transformers Allegiance, if you had one? I suppose it’d be Autobot? Being a Decepticon seems like a lot of effort. Like Megatron would expect you to do things, and not pay you overtime for it. Optimus seems a bit more laid back. Like he’d let you take of early on Friday and would understand if you threw the occasional sicky on a Monday.
Your Techspec motto if you had one? Megatron can kiss my shiny metal @*$!
Editor’s Note: Referencing Whirl referencing Bender? Very meta.
What existing, official Transformers character best describes you? G1 Outback
Which special ability of any Transformers character would you want to have for yourself? Mirage’s invisibility. Maybe then I could get a minute of peace and quiet.
What drew you to Transformers, making you become a fan/collector? Giant fighting robots that transform. I’m a bit of an engineering nerd. I’m not an engineer, because that would be a horrible job. But cool engineering of any kind fascinates me and I have a very logical brain. So I view them as a sort of 3D puzzle.
Do you think you will collect Transformers until you die? I ask myself this a lot. I’ve been through enough up and down collecting phases that I’m not too bothered when I get a bit bored with the franchise. In fact I’m probably not at my most interested right now. I have a ton of unopened TFs and my displays are in a bit of disarray. However I know I’ll come back around. And my son is obsessed with TFs and playing games with him is seriously one of the highlights of my life. But will there be a time to get out of the hobby? I’m not one who sees this hobby as an investment. If you think you’re gonna cash out of this hobby ahead or even anywhere near equal are you need to go speak to a financial advisor and prepare yourself for a shock. But that’s not why I do it. I buy them because I think they’re really neat. And as long as I enjoy them, then I’ll keep them. I think my son will happily take my collection when I die and that would be the best possible outcome for me. As it is he’s become somewhat of a TF collector himself and the grand old age of 6. He’s particularly into toy photography and he’s not bad at it. I’ve added a few of his photos for a bit of fun.
The kids got talent!
Do people outside of the hobby know you collect TFs (like at work/school)? Maybe 6 people at work know. I don’t advertise it. I work in a blue collar industry and while I don’t care what other people think of me, I also don’t see the point of making my life harder than it has to be. Because while some of my colleagues are great people, they’re old school and if they found out I collected toys, there’d be no malice in it, but I’d literally hear about it every single work day until they all retired or I left because I work with some BIG personalities.
Were your family/parents supportive of collecting toys or did you have to hide your passion from them and friends? Family aren’t worth squat if you have to hide who you are from them. My dad kinda rolls his eyes and grumbles at the money I sometimes spend but he’s cool. My mum usually notices when I add new ones to my displays and asks me about them. My brothers are cool too.
Editors Note: I get the feeling Trent’s son approves of his hobby as well
What does your partner think of your hobby? My wife is the most awesome person ever. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive partner even though she’s not into any of my “Nerd Stuff” as she calls it. She bought me that Armada Starscream all those years ago and more recently, when I was worried about the cost, told me if I didn’t preorder the HasLab Unicron, she’d do it herself. I sometimes feel really bad because she doesn’t collect anything. So I make sure when something does catch her eye, she gets it.
Have you attended any fan-meets, Fairs, Conventions? Been to lots of Paramatta Toy Fairsover the years. I don’t live in Sydney so it’s always a bit of a hike for me to get to these things. Been to a few Penrith fairsbut my god! I don’t go that far on holiday so I only went to them on occasion. And now with COVID canning everything I haven’t seen anyone all year. I do have a chat group with a few fellow TF collectors and that has actually grown into solid friendships with all of them so that is great. We are always there to chat with one another and they have helped me through a few rough times, if only by making me laugh.
Editor’s Note: Back atcha buddy
Any creative endeavours with Transformers (drawing, writing, customising, etc)? I did draw an Optimus Prime the other day. We had a new appliance delivered and my son wanted the box to turn into an art space. I’d just like to let IDW know that I am available and that I’m sure we can work out a mutually agreeable fee.
Favourite series/era/year, and why? The default answer is G1. I grew up with it, it’s what started it all and it still permeates every part of the franchise to this day. But to leave that as my answer would be a disservice to the franchise. I think there are so many good stories and toys that the franchise has put out over it’s life that they need a mention. Animated would be the one that comes to the forefront of my mind. It was so divisive when it came out. The new aesthetic and take of the story was a radical departure from what had come before and even I didn’t like it at first. But it grew on me and now my animated figures are a highlight of my collection.
And as a subgroup, even though it is G1, I can’t not mention Micromasters. Any TF fans with kids will know what I’m talking about. They are just so much fun and so easy. Once you add in the big sets like Skystalker or Countdown, maybe throw in a G1 Fort Max as a base and watch your kids play, or even play with them, you really have distilled the whole franchise down into its purest form.
Collect any comics? I collect the collected IDW editions. I’m about 5 years behind but slowly catching up. On my ipad I have read up until around the time that Megatron defeats the DJD and just haven’t had the time to go back to them to finish them, but I will.
Favourite Comic issue/story, and why? I love Autobot Megatron in MTMTE. The idea of a reformed genocidal maniac responsible for the deaths of billions of beings across the galaxy getting stuck on a ship sharing command with an egotistical brat, an almost OCD second-in-command and a crew of clowns on a quest is a marvellous concept. The way James Robert’s was able to set the light, humorous tone but also incorporate moments in which the gravity of who Megatron was and what he had done was fully realised by the reader was great writing.
Favourite Cartoon episode/story, and why? I, like everyone else, was always partial to Call of the Primatives. I wish the whole series could have been animated to that level.
Favourite Character, and why? My favourite character has always been Ultra Magnus. I have a strong suspicion that the G1 UM was the first TF I ever got. And I loved it. I remember playing with it and taking it everywhere. I even kept it in its box.
You can imagine my disappointment then when nearly every iteration of Magnus throughout the franchise has been, in my opinion, a chump. G1 Magnus was this hulking, powerful bot yet hardly ever did anything of value. Animated UM was an arrogant tool, only outdone by Jerky McJerkface himself. The original Marvel run saw him have a very cool story however it eventually led to a very unsatisfying end. IDW MTMTE was good and his latest iteration, the Netflix Siege version, had a decent ark I suppose but still didn’t live anywhere near up to the expectations 5 year old me had.
I’ve always wanted to see Magnus as a more measured, logical and restrained version of Grimlock. A powerhouse that could unleash hell when he needed to but was always conscious of the fallout and collateral damage that doing so would cause.
Sexiest Transformers (robot) Character? Rung. Because I’m sure there’s fan fiction about that alt-mode…
Which Transformers character would you want to exist for real? Sky Lynx. Because Sky Lynxis awesome and anyone who disagrees can bugger off.
Approx TFs toy collection count (or give a range like 200s, 300s, etc): 200-300? My collection has always been this evolving thing. But it’s starting to climb in numbers. Especially now my son is kinda a young collector.
I think our sons would get along real swell
Sealed collector or out-of-packaging collector? Open them. Let your kids play with them. Otherwise you’re just like The Man Upstairs in The Lego Movie.
How much do you think you’ve spent on your collecting habit? Lots.
Any rare/expensive figures in your collection? A few. It’s not why I collect plus I’m also terrible at picking what will go up in value. In fact if I ever buy a TF because I think it’s going to be rare/worth something, just hold off until it’s on clearance for $10.
What interesting Licensed Merchandise items do you have? None that I can think of. I like commissioning comic artists but haven’t gone nuts with that. I got this earlier this year as a group by a friend organised. It’s wonderful.
First Transformers toy? G1 Ultra Magnus (I think)
One toy you most want? MISB G1 Ultra Magnus. I’d love to have a pristine example of the toy that started it all for me.
Editor’s Note: Wow – you are really into Magnus eh! Remind you to show you my one from the Titanium toyline 😉
The centrepiece/favourite toy in your collection at the moment (and why)? Not a toy but that megaposter I mentioned earlier. Every time I take a moment to stare at it I notice something new.
Favourite toy in your early years of collecting? So as to give a different answer, I’ll say my G1 Galvatron. That was a cool toy.
Worst toy(s) ever in your opinion? Those things from the last year or two that only half transform. I can’t even….
Editors note: I agree! Those figures from Cyberverse that don’t transform fully are total shite!
Toy(s) that were most disappointing when you got them? The recent Earthrise Quintessonwhen I got it was disappointing. I mean it looks great, until you transform it into that jail thing and then it’s like, what is even going on here?
Thoughts on gimmick and non-convertable Transformers toys? Gimmicks can be successfully integrated, they can also ruin a toy. MP-44 is an example of a toy that had a gimmick successfully integrated.
Which single TFs toy should every fan own? I suppose a G1 Optimus. It’s not the first, but it is a defining toy that is still being released today.
Which Transformers toy/product would you give as a wedding present? I mean, I wouldn’t. But maybe a Chromedome/Rewind cake topper?
Do you collect other toys? Lego sets that catch my eye. I have a UCS Millennium Falcon sitting in the bottom of my wardrobe to be built when I eventually get a house with somewhere to put it. As well as some other cool sets. I still have a few classic space sets from when I was a kid.
I also collect Macross Valkyries. Although I don’t get anywhere near as many of those as they aren’t cheap. I also just realized you could probably call me a Voltron collector.
What is your favourite TF themed post on this website? What website? Does Trev have a website? I never even suspected.
Editor’s note: Double Smarmy arsehole
How did you find out about www.bigangrytrev.com ? Trev never shuts up about it.
Editor’s note: Fricken Triple-smarmy arsehole!
Many thanks to Trent for this interview (I think) . Got any more questions for Trent? Pop them in the comments section below and I’m sure he’ll happily answer them.
After Bushfiresand Pandemics, apparently it’s now time for Floods here in New South Wales in Australia. We have had a huge amounts of rain in the last few days, causing massive floods in parts of the state.
Here in Rylstone we haven’t had terrible floods like other parts of the state, but a large amount of rain for our region nonetheless. 2 inches of rain less than a week ago, then 4 inches of rain in the last 48 hours, with far more predicted today.
Through Rylstone runs the Cudgegong River. For years of drought this river has resembled more of a creek than a river; a small and stagnant waterway that meanders its way through the small township.
Find below a few images and a short video of what that usually small & stagnant river looks like this morning (23/03/2021). These were taken from the It will be interesting to see what it looks like after even more rain today (Edit: Same size but faster flowing).
