Completely agree about the statement on focusing on more important things like marriage and raising a family than spending money on toys. I only collect TF's for my fiancee because her father banned toys for her when she was a child and when she saw the TF movie almost two years ago, she became fond of them and I started collecting what I could find for her. She only accepted that though if I choose ones for myself, so I picked G1 Prowl, G1 Prime, BT Smokescreen and RID Scourge, the rest are all hers, 61 TF's and 45 mini cons to herself out of a collection of 65 TF's. I would prefer to be spending the money on the wedding which is later this year and saving up every penny so that there's always money in the bank for whenever it's needed.

Every TF and mini con are out of their packaging and on display, my beloved prefers them on display like that than still in their packaging. I don't care for value and how much they're worth, the market changes all the time and it would be silly to only collect just to sell later on. And besides, it would be fun to show my future kids a toy line from long before they were born, future generations might keep the TF line alive with new ideas deemed from their parents and from playing about with their parent's TF's. Can imagine it, me and my beloved's kids come up with the ultimate TF line just by playing about with an Alt. Smokescreen or Armada Prime. Anything possible if you think about it.

 

-Chuckles

Some of my Transformers get opened before I even get them home. I mean, they are TOYS after all. What good are they if you can't play with them? *fires off Unicron's chestburster cannon* Yep, you can't get that kind of satisfaction from MISB... :tflaugh

Whoa lots of posts.

 

I collect tons of Transformers and other robot toys..and i play with them as i watch tv or surf the net.

 

My wife has let me have a computer/robot room and she even gets into the spirt when we shop sometimes.

 

I just had to make the post to see if others think like i do. other people i know in person think like this one guy.. that he will be rich one day.

 

I think he would be happier if he set them free and enjoyed them.

Open them! Set them free! (and it's more like 2,500 to 3,000 comics)

alot of times i keep them in the box and then I'll open one once in awhile to...ya know...light my darkest hour (or just to pose on the coffee table once i have all the figures for that particular scene)

I actually find a lot of fun rearanging my display shelves...stetting up new poses and such. Out of all my collection, there is only one MISB, and that's the BT Smokescreen, mostly because I have the alt one as well. Keeping them sealed...well if I ever get E Unicron I may keep him in box, mostly because of the memories of de-twist tieing him lol.

the only toy I still have thats MISB is an ancient Star Wars model X-wing that my mom gave me. It's still in it's slightly yellowed wrapper, never opened. when the Next movie comes out, I'll have it appraised. the market for old star wars crap seems to go up with movie releases.

I've cut down a lot since my G1 days. All my G1s are gone, so I cherish whatever I have from subsequent series. As of right now, I have only around 20 TFs in total, and they all have some sentimental value to me. That is, figures that are based on G1 figures that meant something to me, or figures that are just too darn cool for me to pass up purchasing (gotta love my E. Screamer),

 

But for sure, with a very limited budget, collecting has to take a backseat to other responsibilities.

I try to keep them mint in box even though I play with them. I just have terrible memories of breaking them, and of their deteriorating from age and play. So for my own enjoyment I try to keep them in good shape. The boxes help protect them from wear. I wouldn't try to invest in them. But I wish I did back in the 80s - who would have known what a hit it would be?

You're right few of us knew back in the 80s that TF would experience a revived interest. I traded away many G1 MISB of Megs, Prime, Soundwave and other TF for other items I thought were worth more at the time. *shrug*

 

In the terms of collecting in general, since I also collect original cels, I've learned it helps to limit my collecting to quality vs. quantity. There is always someone with a more impressive collection, both in quality and quantity, hey, more power to them. But what I've learned after the initial jealously and resentment was it isn't worth it. Remember cels are one of a kind not like TF, so if abc person hoards all the cels for a specific series, others usually cannot hope to find them. Imagine if one person bought a good chunk of the Ninja Scroll movie cels, well that person would hold in their hands a lot of highly valued collectible/historical cels. Additionally I've learned that these type of collectors usually do not sell, trade or even scan them to share with the public. How sad for us all. Thankfully however, there are some international TF cel collectors out there, who DO share with scans. :thumb

 

Back on topic, I too try to avoid collecting TF for profit. I highly doubt any of the recently released TFs will command much in 10 to 20 years. Possibly with the exception of MPP or 20th Ann. Prime, I just don't see many TF worth more than retail value in the future. One of the reasons is as someone stated, more people now are keeping toys MISB. Toys unlike wine or say cels, do not get consumed or "deteriorate" physically, thus reducing the actual available inventory. TFs in comparison are mass produced internationally, moreso than cels which are unique and are far more durable than wine, which also have limited releases. I say collect what you like and while in an ideal world our TF could help our fund retirement, we should enjoy them for what they are now. The good memories will always exist if think about them, right? :beer

 

On that note, anyone know roughly how many MPP were made by Takara? How about how many 20th Ann. Primes were made by Hasbro? I am wondering which has a higher production or if they were the same.