About
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Victor Jodocus Zuylen (Dutch: [vɪktɔr joːdoːkʏs ˈzœylən] ; born 1 April 1978 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch Transformers nerd.
Early life edit
Victor Zuylen grew up in Eindhoven.
Transformers fanhood edit
1985–1988 edit
Zuylen first learned about Transformers in late 1985, when he saw pictures of Optimus Prime and Starscream from the Generation 1 toyline in a mail order catalog. Citing their ability to "change from, like, trucks and planes and stuff into these big stompy robots"[1] he declared to his mother that he wanted one of the toys for Sinterklaas. Zuylen's interest in the toyline was further cemented with the discovery that Sky Channel aired a Transformers cartoon on its Fun Factory children's television series. By 1988 his interest had begun to drift towards other toylines such as M.A.S.K., Starcom, Robotix, Dino-Riders and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, before settling on slightly less immature interests such as home computers and video game consoles.
1996–2009 edit
Zuylen's love for Transformers was rekindled in 1996 with the release of the Beast Wars television series. Though initially uninterested in the corresponding toy line, Zuylen had a change of heart when his local Intertoys toy store ran a discount on several figures from the line in 1997. Impressed by the quality of the design and engineering of his newly purchased Optimus Primal figure, but lacking the disposable income to become a full-time collector, Zuylen resorted to purchasing the occasional discounted figure from local toy stores until he discovered eBay in 1998. In the years that followed he slowly built up a collection of new and vintage Transformers figures, spending increasingly large sums of money as his income grew.
In late 2009 Zuylen publicly disavowed Transformers after seeing a screening of Transformers: Dark of the Moon by director Michael Bay at his local cinema. Calling it "an affront to everything Optimus Prime stands for"[2] and claiming that "Michael Bay ruined my childhood"[3], he declared to anyone and everyone who would listen that he was going to sell off his entire Transformers toy collection and become a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy collector instead.
2010–present edit
In May 2010 Paramount Pictures announced that it had brought Michael Bay on board to produce a live action adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Zuylen, who by then was well into the process of selling and trading his Transformers toys for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys, reportedly screamed for three days straight upon hearing the news.
References edit
- ^ Zuylen's mother, recounted on 15 March 2014.
- ^ Zuylen's wife, recounted on 12 December 2015.
- ^ Willis, David M. (18 August 2009). "Ruined FOREVER". TFWiki. Retrieved 7 November 2018.