Last week I managed to pick up an Apeface, complete with box – no inserts of course but that doesn’t matter to me.

This will now be Apeface number 3 for me.  My first, I got from the most unlikely and rare of sources, my Uncle.  It was a family holiday to Pontins (yes, that’s a real thing) – I can’t remember which location but I do remember it was a good TF week.
Now, my Uncle and I were never particularly close, he and his family lived in a small village in South Wales, and I lived in the South of Hampshire, so we didn’t really see each other much, and when we did, he worked whilst I hung out with my Aunt and cousin. So.  

Our group was on a stroll through whichever local dive town this holiday park was located in, and as you do when you have two young kids with you, it ended up in a toy shop.  This was a time when Headmasters, Targetmasters and Pretenders were all out on the shelves, and naturally, that was where I was to be found.

I don’t even remember the rest of what was on the shelves at this point, I just know there was an Apeface and no one was feeling generous enough to buy him for me.  Come to think of it, this would have been a summer holiday so quite close to my birthday, looking back I expect everyone had already spent enough cash on me because only child, cha-ching.

Any way, we went out of the store, no toy in hand, I suspect I had a little sulk about it, but as is right and proper, was told to get on with it and went back to the sweet BMX track they had and promptly forget my misery.

The very next day after, after throwing myself around the pool for the morning and going back to the chalet (yes, a chalet, real place people) my Uncle, with very few words, handed me a carrier bag.

Behold, Apeface number 1!  He was great, looked proper menacing in jet mode and frankly I couldn’t have given a damn about gorilla mode, whatever.  Jet and robot was what you wanted in a Decepticon.  That one stayed with me, minus gun and fin/shield of course, until the big sell off.

Now, Apeface 2, I bought this one when I finally decided to actually collect.  I bought it with my paper round earnings.  It was sealed.  It cost me £40 from a guy called Maz (other Maz, not TFSquareOne) who was one of the major players at the time.  The price alone should tell you all you need to know about how long ago this was..  I’m pretty sure I picked it up from him at a TMUK meeting in a little village hall in Liphook.  Any way, needless to say that didn’t stay sealed for long, it replaced my original one on display whilst the old one went in to the parts box.

This brings me to current events.  I’m currently on a long and no doubt thoroughly expensive crusade to own a boxed/carded copy of every 1987 release that was available in the US toy catalog for that year.  I’ve got a few down but this new Apeface has a special place in my heart, it brings back some great memories for me and frankly, looks amazing.

The box is lovely, the 1987 art really kicked it up a notch in terms of quality, which is why I want them all.  Apeface himself was pretty much spotless.  Stickers are great, and don’t look like they need replacing at all.  The only issue was his backpack was floppier than a 90 year old.  This is of course a common fault with Apeface, and luckily, I knew how to fix it.  He now stands at the front of the 87 display, looking like one bad ass mother.

Any way, that’s a lot of words that don’t say very much.  So here are the customary photos of my kitchen table and surrounding area, which happen to include a robot.

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