Regifting Hound

Yeah, so I'm headed home for the week - I mean home home, as in away from the apartment I live in.
I was packing up and giving the apartment the once-over and my eyes landed on a box sitting above one of my shelves. And something in me stirred... I was reminded of a debate I participated in on the Robot-Japan forum. To keep or not to keep, was the topic.
Emotions ran high on both sides when it came to arguments about whether or not people should keep their collectible toys in "mint in-the-box" condition (possibly for resale or auctioning later on) or should they be enjoyed as they were meant to be (i.e.: opened up and played with like we did when we were little). An element that was pointed out by many was that lots of today's collectible grade toys weren't meant to be played with considering their fragile nature (the whole "they don't make'em like they used to" side of things). I for one was on my own high-horse reassuring everyone that I did indeed open every box and handled my toys at least a few times before committing them to my glass cabinets for permanent display.

Little did I realize that at one point - I did forget about one guy... a remake of the old Transformer Jeep, Hound. This guy was released around late 2004 in Japan (and later made it to American toy stores in cheapy plastic form too). Of course, when I had the time and money I had sprung for the imported die-cast metal version. But somewhere along the way, I did forget... it arrived on my door step in the mail and I put it aside for some reason or other. And it did remain "Mint in Box." And for that, I'm a little embarrassed. I had truly become one of those collector geeks.

But no more, I told myself this morning!
I plucked the box off the shelf and packed it into my stuff before leaving. And come Sunday, I promise the world, it will no longer be MIB... I WILL play with him. :)