I’m Already Worried About The Vintage Collection Hammerhead

As above, so below. Patterns from the larger scale (TBS) tend to hold in the true collector scale (TVC). When something is relegated to deluxe in TBS, the inevitable release in TVC will also be deluxe. The notable exception to this is Sabine Wren, which infuriatingly cost $3 more than it's Black Series counterpart. I can't think of a reverse case where a main line TVC figure was deluxe in TBS. Thus, it's reasonably sure bet that Mamaw Nadon (Hammerhead) will be a deluxe figure in TVC since the TBS Momaw Nadon is deluxe. This is making me worry.

It's not about the price. I like to buy the O96 figures by the case. I'm not thrilled at the prospect of paying $25/figure (or $200 for the case), but I'll make do. Despite what some OG Bantha Skull jokesters will tell you, I am not a wealthy man. That's not why I will somewhat casually plunk down two bones for a case of Hammerheads. It's because TVC represents the majority of my frivolous spending. I don't go on pricey vacations. I don't go "out" at all. I go to a sit down restaurant about once a year (to meet John Miko). I work from home and brew my own coffee for about two bits a day. It's not that I have a lot of money to blow on action figures. It's that I have nothing else on which to blow my discretionary income (or alternatively, you could choose to call me a homebody loser). So the $25 price tag isn't going to be great, but it's not what has me freaked.

It's the 7" x 9" card, and it's not because it won't make a homogenous display with my hundreds of 6" x 9" carded figures (although that is a minor drag). On the Bossk's Bounty Q&A with Mr. Stevie, he explained the extra inch of horizontal space was the "minimum common denominator" they could come up with that would accommodate a presentable film out for all of the known figures planned for the deluxe expression. If deluxe stuck to the familiar 6" x 9" format, it would have left too little real estate to the right of the bubble to make a quality presentation on some figures. I can guess exactly which culprit will take up too much bubble real estate. Perhaps a certain insectoid General who may have won a prominent fan poll. I trust Hasbro made the right decision. So the card size in and of itself is not the issue.

IT'S THAT I WON'T HAVE A STAR CASE THAT CAN PROTECT THE FIGURE! This seriously weighs on me. Every single carded keeper in my collection is in a Star Case. If you do the math, that means I've invested over $1,000 in those cases over time. Do you know that Scott's commercial they air every spring where they say you can hear the army of crab grass seeds germinating in your lawn? That's sort of how I feel about naked TVC cards. I can hear the edges chipping and the corners getting dog eared. If I have a mint carded sample that isn't entombed in a protective bubble, it keeps me up at night. It stresses me out, man. To that point, whether I order 8 or 2 TVC Momaw Nadon figures next year will depend entirely on whether or not a worthy protective case is released.

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