The one that started it all

Back in 1984, when I was about 9 years old, I got my very first collectable thing for Christmas. I'd had action man and various toy cars but this toy was different. Its box was bold and shiny and had amazing art and character stats on the back. The toy was a Transformer (TF).

The box said Transformers were "More than meets the eye", never had a box been so correct. The TF in my hands at the time was Hound. He is an Autobot (good guy) and can transform into a military jeep. I was blown away. When I opened the box the TF was in vehicle mode and if you didn't know it could transform then you would never guess. I read the instructions and slowly transformed it to its robot mode. It looked almost identical to the box art. Could this toy get any better??

YES! I looked back at the instructions and saw he should have a gun. I looked in the box and saw there was not only a gun but a rocket launcher, missiles, a gas can, spare wheel, a gun for his jeep mode and a sheet of stickers. I played with Hound for hours, days, weeks, months, years. One day in my early 20's, I decided I needed some money and had not played with Hound (and lots of his friends) for more than a few years and sold them to a local toy store. I spent the money on a trip to the U.S., where my love of toys was rekindled and I was gutted I had sold my collection. And to add insult to injury I'd sold it for 1/10th of its value. I have since purchesed the complete Takara collection and some others but this is Hound, my first (shame its not the actual first) TF.