Originally Posted by ComicGuy89 (Post 4479)

I agree with all your sentiments about Japanese versus American toys, but my reasons may differ slightly.

Articulation and accessories are not as appealing for me. I'm not really good at posing and I often worry about losing accessories. Instead, I want my toys to be durable, solid and most importantly, playable. I'm not so sure I can explain it right. For example, attractive as the SRC Sentai bots are, I still prefer the DX figures because of transformation, ratcheting joints and stability. Limited articulation? I don't mind as there are less joints to worry about wearing out. I also enjoy fancy but non-intrusive electronics and gimmicks. I guess you can say I like my toys to be more...toy-like.

In the past, Transformers has largely fulfilled this role. Excellent engineering with decent production values at killer prices made them very attractive. However in recent times, I have been more often disappointed with Transformers than pleased. Figures with loose joints right out of the package, cheap and brittle plastic and transformations that don't lock in tight, Transformers had become steadily boring, which troubled me greatly.

I used to justify my Transformers purchases by saying that they were cheap, which was true. But when I looked at my filled shelfs of figures I barely play with or look at, I start to wonder if it was worth it even if they were cheap. I wanted to buy less, but I wanted more substantial toys. In the end, I realized that Super Sentai DX toys currently fulfill this role. As for Transformers, I'll discriminate more, even at their cheap prices.

Originally Posted by Crown Athlete (Post 5495)

For me it was a big distraction. I blew so much money on GI Joe, Marvel Legends, DC Universe and Transformers which could have went to anime and toku toys, especially when the Yen was so weak. When the Transformer movies came out I took a look at my room and made the decision this wasn't me. So it all went up for sale. A decision I've never regretted.

My collection that I have now is exactly what I want. It's smaller, but it's truer to myself. I can't apologize for being an otaku. It's what I am. Call me a weaboo, poser, or whatever. I'm too old to lie to myself or give a shit what other people think.

Originally Posted by Crown Athlete (Post 5495)

For me it was a big distraction. I blew so much money on GI Joe, Marvel Legends, DC Universe and Transformers which could have went to anime and toku toys, especially when the Yen was so weak. When the Transformer movies came out I took a look at my room and made the decision this wasn't me. So it all went up for sale. A decision I've never regretted.

My collection that I have now is exactly what I want. It's smaller, but it's truer to myself. I can't apologize for being an otaku. It's what I am. Call me a weaboo, poser, or whatever. I'm too old to lie to myself or give a shit what other people think.

Originally Posted by ComicGuy89 (Post 5809)

I know it's weird discussing Transformers here rather than on TFW, but I thought that what I wanted to ask was more appropriate for this particular topic.

Are Takara toys better than Hasbro toys quality wise? The only Takara toys I've gotten are Beast Wars, and those, while good, haven't reached Bandai-level of plastic quality. I was just wondering if Takara follows the rule of "Japanese toys are of higher quality due to less cost-cutting".