What Has Almost Made You Quit Collecting

[Lord_Onslaught]

This thread has been edited for unacceptable content. If you flame, you will be warned. If you flame a flamer, you will be warned. No more of that here please or else this topic is locked.

Not to nitpick or anything, but with the context removed my post (#31) looks really random and silly. I may as well be declaring my love of apples! :P

 

Don't forget the caramel LOL

 

Nah but its better that Blitz edited it. Trust me Cause I did read it.

 

Anyway the only figures from Beast Machines that are in my collection are the Dinobots, as they are not true beast machines figures just repainted Japanese figures except for T-Wrecks who is a repaint of BW Megatron.

[Goktimus Prime]

Goktimus, do you have any idea at all that a lot of people, including myself, were children during the 1980s? We couldn't get any Transformers that we wanted and I never imagined that I'd be collecting them when I grew up.

Yeah, I was a kid too. Please examine my words carefully...

 

Set a PERSONAL standard of what YOU think are acceptable price ranges to pay for toys. Then restrict yourself to that range. If you see the toy sold above YOUR range, then don't buy it.

Different people will have different standards for what they believe are "acceptable" prices to pay for a toy.

 

Using RRP as a metre stick is merely MY personal standard. It's _one_ example of a standard, but I'm not saying that it's the standard. Everyone has different standards depending on your circumstances, but what I'm saying is that you should have a standard - whatever that standard is - and stick to it. My standard is based on RRP. Maybe someone else is willing to pay 1.5x RRP, someone else 2x RRP, someone else 10x RRP... whatever - but decide early on what your limit is and stick to it. That helps to make TF collecting a financially sustainable hobby rather than simply throwing massive amounts of cash at toys that you want. I know this may sound really obvious to some people, but I've encountered some people who don't seem to limit what they spend, then have the audacity to complain about how much they've been spending on toys. If you thought it was too much to spend in the first place, then don't spend it. If you think it's an acceptable amount to spend, then you shouldn't have regrets later on.

[Fatherdeth]

Money has always been the one deciding factor that has made me almost quit. Another factor has been certain continuities, say like Energon and Cybertron. When those were out, I basically wanted to quit. Now currently, it's the Bay Verse and ts influence on newer continuities is making me upset, but as long as Classics/Generations and Masterpieces stay around, I'll probably keep collecting.

[Goktimus Prime]

Money has always been the one deciding factor that has made me almost quit. Another factor has been certain continuities, say like Energon and Cybertron. When those were out, I basically wanted to quit. Now currently, it's the Bay Verse and ts influence on newer continuities is making me upset, but as long as Classics/Generations and Masterpieces stay around, I'll probably keep collecting.

Yeah... that's one good thing about Transformers atm, there's not just one single line dominating everything. If you don't like Bayverse, you can collect Animated or Prime or Generations or reissues etc. I think the early 1990s was a lot worse when Action Masters just dominated the toy line (especially in North America where those poor sods missed out on a lot of stuff that we got in Australasia and Europe, like the Classic reissues!). I think back then a lot of people saw the Action Masters, realised that they suck, then pretty much gave up on collecting. Little surprise that the Marvel Comics got canned shortly after, then not too long after that G1 itself died off. Then when G2 came out it initially just offered G1 toys repackaged, some repainted (badly - 'cept Sideswipe, he looked pretty kewl)... so mouldwise nothing new. So during that period fans were stuck with a bunch of non-transforming crap, then repackaged and repaints of G1 toys (the reissues were more appealing, at least they weren't given the "Day Glo 1990s makeover" (although some of them had rubsigns replaced with faction stickers - some also had the rub sign indents removed too)). By time G2 did give us new moulds toward the mid 1990s, it was too little too late... most people had already turned off Transformers.

 

But in recent times we have had several TF franchises running consecutively, which gives people choices. :) Although the choices seem a bit narrowed down atm... right now we have the tail-end of DOTM trickling through (I just picked up Movie Trilogy Optimus Prime tonight (the Deluxe with the trailer)); but yet Hasbro won't give us stuff like DOTM Dlx Leadfoot, Que and Soundwave (sigh). Then there's TF Prime... we missed ALL of First Edition here and only have TFP RiD... but just the first wave or so. The new stuff - Arcee, Vehicon and Ratchet - has only been spotted in a very small number of isolated locations... currently rare as freaking hen's teeth. :( And NO Classicsverse stuff! What's with that?? Why no Generations or Reveal The Shield? :( It's almost as if Hasbro's expecting to ride off the coattails of the movie franchise's success, but that's only gonna last so long. Are they hoping that Bay is going to pump out another film and ride off the success of that film? There seems to be not much future scope/vision. The same thing happened 12 years ago -- Beast Wars got axed, then replaced with Beast Machines, which was really riding off the coattails of Beast Wars' success. Then when that started winding down, Hasbro needed to come up with something new by 2001 - and remember in January when Hasbro said that they would NOT be importing Car Robot?? Then about a month later at Toy Fair - surprise surprise - Robots In Disguise!! With cardboard mockups because they had no physical product samples ready to show retail buyers! Why, it's almost as if Hasbro came up with that idea at the last minute!! </sarcastic.surprise> :P Then a year after that... NOTHING! 2002 was a freaking annoying year of bugger all toys to buy! It was the 2nd worst year to be a TF collector IMO other than 1995. Those are my two least favourite years for TFs. Even Takara wasn't doing much other than pumping out G1 reissues -- which was great for filling out your G1 collection, but a lot of Japanese fans were aching for NEW products! It was only toward the latter part of that year that we heard about Armada -- and most of us folks outside N. America didn't see them in our local stores until 2003... so 2002 was really a pret-ty dry year.

 

I don't blame you for being turned off by Energon. That was pretty ordinary. The fact that the 1989 Multi Force gimmick works better than the 2004 Powerlinx gimmick says everything. A person who's relatively new to TF collecting recently came over to my place, and I showed him the Multi Force guys whom he'd never heard of before, then compared it with the Energon Powerlinxers... he was amazed at how the Multi Force TFs were, for their size and vintage, better engineered than Energon Powerlinx. Each Multi Force Autobot has a different head (and identity) when combined, e.g. Wingwaver is NOT simply Wing stacked on Waver - a new head pops out when Wing is on top. Whereas when Hot Shot combines with Inferno, it's just Hot Shot's head sticking out and sitting atop of Inferno. The Multi Forcers also have simple but neat looking vehicle modes - unlike Jetfire's ridiculous jet mode or Ironhide's abomination of a vehicle mode with that absurd head sitting on top! Multi Forcers can also all combine to form a gestalt robot -- Energon Powerlinxers can't (and their weapons can all combine into a mega-weapon - Powerlinxers can't). Multi Force were awesome by 1989 standards. Energon Powerlinx TFs were forgettable by 2004 standards!

 

Cybertron was a mixed bag. There were some crap figures like Leobreaker, but some great toys like Downshift. But on the whole, I thought Cybertron was the best out of the Unicron Trilogy lines for one crucial reason -- the Cyber Key gimmick is not as "invasive" as many gimmicks on Armada and Energon toys. i.e. the engineering in many figures weren't badly compromised by it. Look at Downshift (later repainted as Movieverse Big Daddy). It's a nice solid robot mode that transforms into a really neat 1970s/80s style muscle car. The Cyber Planet Key gimmick is discreet and doesn't interfere with the toy badly. Totally different from say Armada Hot Shot (or worse, Armada Scavenger) or Energon Ironhide who are toys that suffer from suckness because they're engineered around dominating gimmicks. A gimmick should be engineered into a toy... a toy should not be engineered around a gimmick! And that's something else that made a lot of Classicsverse toys so awesome too -- many of them don't rely on gimmicks. They're most just nice, well designed Transformers who simply transform from robot to vehicle and back - but the do it well! Their robot modes look good, the vehicle mode looks good. They don't need fancy gimmicks to make them awesome! And often, fancy gimmicks tend to make toys suck... just look at Combiner Class ROTF Devastator! Even the current TF Prime RiD Voyagers suck because of their gimmicks... how bad does Optimus Prime look with all that transparent blue and grey? (which they could've added more paint apps for if they didn't blow money on the stupid LED weapon gimmick). Don't even talk to me about the bag of suck that is Voyager Megatron...

[puma]

i like the Prime toon and toys. Its a solid evolution from the bayverse. it's the first media based toy line that i wanted to collect most of the figures in. I only collected main characters in the movie line with Human Alliance figures too. From Armada to Animated, i only picked up Optimus and 1 or 2 other figures here and there. I loved RID and Beast Wars. I sold those off years ago because i needed money and didn't have space. But in the last year, i've bought all of them back and more from the series. Makes me very happy to see these guys again on my shelves. Alternators and the CHUGverse are fantastic figures and would love to see CHUG continue in the future.

[Smokescreened]

I've been at the point of giving up on the collection for the past couple of years due to the heavy amount of movie Bumblebee, and now Prime Bumblebee's, that are clogging the shelves. The local Argos is useless and the local Tescos has over stocked on Prime Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, and nothing else.

I bought Prime Soundwave for very close to £20 this past Tuesday since I couldn't find him in Argos nor Tescos, I also bought Prime voyager class Optimus Prime and Megatron online due to the same reason - there's nothing but Prime Bumblebee and Cliffjumper here, just as for a long time there has been nothing but movie Bumblebee's here.

 

I've been trying to find the reissues of Sideswipe and Rodimus Prime with no success while I'm also looking for a Prime voyager Bulkhead, also not released here.

 

The obsession with clogging the shelves with Bumblebee's makes it hard to care when many of the more interesting Transformers either don't get a release or simply aren't released in very many places. And online prices have fairly been shooting up, I'm trying to find a Human Alliance Soundwave and Barricade, but the prices are over the top, far more than I'm willing to spend.

 

I have a feeling that the upcoming new Generations will be even harder to find while more Bumblebee repaints clog the shelves.

 

They may as well just rename the entire franchise - Bumblebee - Milked to death all the time.

[Lord_Onslaught]

Soundwave has actually been dropping in price, as the asian sellers are trying to find out where they will be able to sell him at.

[ShellformerV1]

What really sucks is that it would be the THIRD time around for me. When I turned about 14, I gave away my entire collection to my cousin, who proceeded to immediately piss it all away. It was fairly substantial: almost all of S1; over half of S2, and a good chunk of S3. My GF is trying her hardest to get me to try rebuilding my collection, but I don't have the heart to start over again right now, and given the current state of the economy, I don't think it'd be a good idea anyway.

 

@John 3:16: I don't think you've asked before, but the main thing that's necessary is perserverance and a thick skin. I may try one last time to submit my project through conventional means (most likely Antarctic Press, as they fit my style and I'm somewhat familiar with them), but barring that, I'm just going to save up a little cash and publish my own black-and-white limited series. I tend to pencil slowly, so I definitely want as much finished as possible by the time it's time for me to pitch my project. As for actually doing it: for years, my best friend did all my thinking for me in this area--he was the writer and handled all the business; I was the penciller who simply pencilled the book. Now, I'm having to learn the other side of it, which means doing all my own legwork, printing up all my own copies, distributing them to local shops and working out deals with them and hitting up all of the conventions and...UGGGHHHH...networking. This is reason even for me to try the submitting route once more...especially since AP only wants creator-owned submissions. All original work.

If my collection got lost or stolen there's no way I'd try to rebuild all of it. I think I'd start over with new stuff that comes out...

 

And that comic stuff sounds like a LOT of work! Best of luck with that!

 

Thanks a lot. And it is a TON of work. But I think that that is what I was meant to do in this world...well, at least one of the main things I was meant to do.

 

I'm gonna take the long view on (potentially) rebuilding it. Firstly, I'm gonna take a year or so and see where I'm at emotionally and financially. I bring up the financial part for obvious reasons but also because I should have treated my collection like a commodity just as much as I treated it like something that I truly enjoyed, and take the proper steps to safeguard my commodity as much as I can to ensure that no one EVER AGAIN takes a much advantage of me as has happened thus far. This part will be easy, because the only contemporary releases I am interested in are--by and large--the Prime toys. That's money saved right there. And honestly, if not for those, I'd snag a Human Alliance Soundwave for whatever I could get it for and be DONE with collecting because I am really, really tired of Hasbro. I mean, tired to the point where shopping for these toys has become much more of a drag than it should be. But one toyline is not going to be nearly enough, because Prime will be done some day, too. I'm no longer jazzed on any Bayverse figures for any of the upcoming movies because Hasbro dropped the ball so completely with the DOTM offerings.

 

The other factor is the little guy. Kids make s**t fun. Plain and simple, they really do. Especially when things that are actually meant for them come into play. The little guy has re-discovered Transformers in a big way, and is playing with everything I've got. He transformed my MP Convoy all by himself without the instructions one day (which shocked the hell out of me), and he's been on a tear ever since and now, we're playing Transformers every day. And I must confess: that has really taken the sting off Hasbro's failings and the thief (thieves?) in my midst. Now, I don't know what effect that will have on my collecting per se, because I don't have to collect to have fun with him, but it does make it a little easier not to completely close the door on my toy-buying habit.

[Goktimus Prime]

I've had some Transformers stolen before... totally sucks. :( So sorry to hear about you losing your entire collection. :( :( I'd be like John 14:6 though - if I lost my collection I wouldn't try to rebuild it. Aside from time and money, the fact is I'd never be able to get my original toys back.

 

For example, last time I got burgled, among the toys that were stolen were:

+ G1 1984 Optimus Prime

+ G1 1984 Megatron

+ G1 1985 Astrotrain

+ G1 1986 Ultra Magnus

+ G1 1986 Galvatron

...I've since been given another 1984 Optimus Prime (incomplete, but it was free) and I got another 1986 Astrotrain... but that's it. I'm not actively looking to replace the rest (I have reissues of them all) because the fact is, when I look at my 'new' 1984 Optimus Prime and G1 Astrotrain, they're NOT, and never will be, my childhood toys. These were toys from someone else's childhood that have been abandoned by their original owners and have now come into my possession. I can never love them the way I loved my childhood originals. It's like Andy in Toy Story with Woody, Buzz and his childhood toys (I can't believe he gave them away at the end of Toy Story 3!! That was such a SAD ending! Who does that?!? (T-T)). *sigh*

 

That's the thing I really hate about thieves... they think that when they steal something, it's just a material possession -- but they never stop to think about the sentimental value of what they're stealing that's just _irreplacable_. :( It's pretty much like stealing a family heirloom or sports/war medals. Thieves just think, "They can replace these," -- no, WE CAN'T! :fire Gah... HATE thieves.

 

i like the Prime toon and toys. Its a solid evolution from the bayverse. it's the first media based toy line that i wanted to collect most of the figures in.

I've come to like the cartoon, but still not a massive fan of the toys. I'm generally not a fan of media based Transformer toys, as they're usually not as good as toy-based Transformer toys. If you've heard the audio commentary on the TF Prime DVD set, they explain how animators design Transformers as robots first, then work them into vehicles, whereas toy designers make them into vehicles first, and then engineer them into robots. So designing Transformers as media characters is complete counter intuitive to designing them as toys, and as a result, the toys are _always_ compromised. :( I much prefer the regular way that Transformers are made -- designed as toys first, then as media characters later, because then you (should) get better toys as the toy designers aren't restricted/impeded by trying to force the toys to conform to some media character likeness. IMO some of the better figures from the movie line were ones that never appeared in the films or games; i.e. ones designed primarily by toy designers and not based on media designs.

 

Alternators and the CHUGverse are fantastic figures and would love to see CHUG continue in the future.

I would definitely like to see CHUGUR come back. Can't believe it ever stopped.

 

I've been at the point of giving up on the collection for the past couple of years due to the heavy amount of movie Bumblebee, and now Prime Bumblebee's, that are clogging the shelves. The local Argos is useless and the local Tescos has over stocked on Prime Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, and nothing else.

 

The obsession with clogging the shelves with Bumblebee's makes it hard to care when many of the more interesting Transformers either don't get a release or simply aren't released in very many places. And online prices have fairly been shooting up, I'm trying to find a Human Alliance Soundwave and Barricade, but the prices are over the top, far more than I'm willing to spend.

 

I have a feeling that the upcoming new Generations will be even harder to find while more Bumblebee repaints clog the shelves.

 

They may as well just rename the entire franchise - Bumblebee - Milked to death all the time.

^this. :)

 

I've been trying to find the reissues of Sideswipe and Rodimus Prime with no success while I'm also looking for a Prime voyager Bulkhead, also not released here.

You guys missed out on Hasbro Commemorative Sideswipe and Rodimus Prime? Cos we got them in Australia and they shelfwarmed badly as all Hasbro reissues did... because they sold here for like about $75, double what you'd pay for the Takara ones from Japan -- even special import stores were selling Japanese reissues for $65-75... so for about the same price, most people just got the Japanese reissues! (full chrome, working missile launchers, extra box inserts, reversible display stand, tech spec cards...)

 

But you guys should've gotten the Classic reissues in 1990-91 though. My first G1 Sideswipe was a Classic reissue that I got from that time (ditto Prowl and Tracks). It was weird... I got Classic and Action Master Sideswipe within just a few days of each other, so I had a reissue of G1 Sideswipe on one hand, and a non-transformable Sideswipe on the other! Conflicting!

[puma]

First thing I did after I moved into my house was to install a security system and changed the locks. My TF room even has a lock on it for while i'm out of town. I'm not fucking around. If ADT is good enough for the White House , it should be good enough to protect my house and family and collection. I'd probably feel like Shellformer if my collection got stolen.