I'm willing to eat ramen and pb&j for a while! Also, I've come to realize (or is it realise? I can never remember) that if I look at a figure and study it long enough I'll generally lose interest. If I don't, however, I know to pre-order it or save some extra cash instead of buying that deluxe I can do without. The last fig I bought was about two months ago because I knew that Metroplex and the City Commander set were coming up. I also had the Henkei TC on pre-order but cancelled it to set up high speed instead(damn you ps3 and cod4). I just may re-instate my pre-order if I can bring myself to work some overtime! I know bbts charges a little more, but the no charge pre-order system really comes in handy. I just go in and pre-order a few things when they're announced and if I don't like it or have an important expense I just knock off the fig that's being released first from the bunch or the one I like the least.

 

Last year I really had a surge in collecting because I didn't have a car payment to worry about. I picked up MP Megs, Green Scream which I then sold for Wal Scream, Music Label SW, BT Mirage, etc. This year I have a car, higher rent, and other bills to worry about. So that trick about studying figures until they're boring comes in really handy. I've found that rearranging my collection helps, too. Sometimes I'll go a few day without even paying attention to my collection, and then when I see it again or go and pick up a fig from the shelf I catch myself admiring what I've got. Being happy with what you do have goes a long way for eliminating that "oMg I don't haves it I'll never feel complEEt!" anxiety. I'm thankful that I've been able to accrue all that I have in my few short years of collecting.

I have 3 categories of can't afford:

 

1)stuff like rare japanese g1 casettes, or botcon exclusives - stuff i might want or not (no particular bots will be mentioned for fear of banination) but couldn't afford 400 $ price tags, and won't try to cough for it anyways

 

2) generally expensive stuff i want, someday - like fort max, mib g1, etc - stuff i will save for later down the road when i have nothing left that i want to fill my collection out with anymore. Like when i get that 6 figure goovernment job. :tfgrin

 

3) sorta expensive stuff - 1 or 2 leaders out at once, or several smaller tfs in around the same release dates, professional customs - I'll save over a few paychecks, stashing $$on the credit card will help me forget its there to spend so i can save up

 

 

I am getting better at not wanting everything anymore though, and with TFcon every year, I get closer to finishing off the older stuff I still look for. Like now (asside for repplacing a couple slightly damaged g1), my want list from g1 right up to before classics / animated looks like this:

 

G1 : Rampage, Headstrong, (maybe wheeljack)

Super Link: Wing Saber

Alt: Swindle (optional)

Micromasters: whatever sets i find at random that i dont have (they arent expensive :tflaugh :tflol )

 

Considering that a couple years ago, i had a list about 300 tfs long. My currnt collection size is less than 200, and the want list usually narrows with each new line that arrives.

 

I also refine the crap every once in a while, either of "what was i thinking" tfs, or ones that may have had the noveltu wear off (Most of BW toys of show carachters).

dude - mp prime is almost indestructible !

 

 

Except for paint chipping - mine had that right out of the box, practically. And I'm waiitng for someone to report his antennae breaking off when his topheavyness makes him dive off the shelf.

All 4 of my MP Prime/Convoys (5 if you count Magnus) would like a word with you. Not a single QC issue, paint issue, or any other slew of reasons people have give for this thing to be anything other than spectacular.

I have a designated list of things that I want for my collection (I collect the leaders of each faction of the various lines, eg. Prime, Megatron, Scorponok, Victory Saber, Ultra Magnus, Deszaras), and for those I save and buy them or look for a chance to get them cheap on eBay or Yahoo Auctions Japan. It's a waiting game, and eventually my collection gains more figures that I need.

 

 

If it's something I want to play with, then I usually get something cheaper.

 

 

 

I have no compulsive need to have every single transformer figure that I desire at this exact moment in time. I can wait or shrug it off.

If it's a figure/character I don't care for, then I don't do anything. if it's something I want, but know I won't pay that much for (classics Thrust, Dirge), I will just customize my own

Patience can be my friend, though I don't tend to have much of it. And right now, there are quite a few higher dollar items I really really want, but I have to save up, and then I have to be able to find them. With my G1 figures, I wait and look for unused items, and that can get really expensive sometimes, but eventually, I will complete my Megatron collection. Only 6 left, and 2 of those are Microman, and another is VSX, so yeah, saving and patience.

Patience can be my friend, though I don't tend to have much of it. And right now, there are quite a few higher dollar items I really really want, but I have to save up, and then I have to be able to find them. With my G1 figures, I wait and look for unused items, and that can get really expensive sometimes, but eventually, I will complete my Megatron collection. Only 6 left, and 2 of those are Microman, and another is VSX, so yeah, saving and patience.

 

I know where you're coming from *is currently... in negotiations for a MISB G1 Pretender Metalhawk*

Patience can be my friend, though I don't tend to have much of it. And right now, there are quite a few higher dollar items I really really want, but I have to save up, and then I have to be able to find them. With my G1 figures, I wait and look for unused items, and that can get really expensive sometimes, but eventually, I will complete my Megatron collection. Only 6 left, and 2 of those are Microman, and another is VSX, so yeah, saving and patience.

 

I know where you're coming from *is currently... negotiations for a MISB G1 Pretender Metalhawk*

Very nice. Sometimes it does just take time.

 

Check out my Megatrons if you care, it took some time to track them all down, and it'll take longer to find the rest. A lot longer, setting a decent chunk of money aside for toys is going to get a lot harder, now that me and the little lady are expecting.

Yeah, I have a 5 month old son. It also changes how much you perceive that you need to buy some 20 year old toy.

Nice Megatron collection RN. I think I like the non chromed G1 Megatron best. I think I may be chromaphobic. :shrug

 

On topic...

 

Number one and most important when it comes to collecting is be smart about it. Know your priorities.

 

I learned all of this the hard way. You know you have a problem when you need a loan just to cover overdraft expenses and get back in the black. Hopefully if all goes well I'll be easily out of the red by this time next year.

 

That said it's all become a waiting game in terms of when I buy what. I no longer depend on my overdraft to carry me through toy purchases. I just but when I can afford it which since buying a house in Spring is not that often. Since moving I've bought eight toys all of which are animated. The biggest change is the amount I buy from time to time. In the Cybertron days I easily dropped $200 at a time (deluxes/voyagers etc) but not I'm averaging maybe thirty bucks a paycheck, a voyager or a couple of deluxes.) Sadly this means skipping out on a lot of great stuff. My movie line is still missing an LC Megatron and LC Brawl and I still have yet to get anything from animated larger than a voyager.

 

It sucks but what can you do. Thankfully I got over the need to have all figures during the movie line no matter how cool some of the stand alone figs looked. I've been on the fence about Universe for a while and love the Cybertron hero line but again there's just no way to buy everything and come out with money for everything else.

 

Right now pretty much every transformer figure is out of my price range. If I can set aside thirty bucks a month I'm pretty happy, if not there's always next month. When it ccomes to paying bills, eating, and hygiene toys, eating out, movies really aren't all that important but keeping within a budget is.

 

Tips, habits I've implemented.

 

Don't carry around credit/debit cards. They make spending money all too easy. Unless I'm paying bills I like to carry around cash. You can't spend what you don't have. A hundred bucks goes a long way at Walmart believe it or not. Especially when you look at animated Megatron and go holy sh*t that's over half my food budget for the next two weeks.

 

Extensive Internet research. I love reviews and such, especially first hand opinions of toys. I know a toy shouldn't be judged fully until it's in hand but for some of us that just isn't an option and I hate the thought of returning a toy just because it's crap. If it's universally hated to begin with why bother. All opinions can't be wrong or for that matter right.

 

Don't be frivolous in making a purchase. By this I mean picking up a lesser figure because the one you don't want isn't in. In the time I've waited for animated to show up I've passed on a lot of movie incinerators, and deluxe drones. It gets easier to pass on a given toy when you know it's only a matter of time before the ones you want eventually show up. With animated it was well worth the wait. Had I bought any number of the first mold drone deluxes they'd probably be long in storage by now with the mass majority of the line. Along with Universe,BW,BM, RID, Alts and whatever else I felt was worth buying at the time but really don't care for now. I also know Animated isn't just a phase because I still love owning most of my AEC bots.

 

Still dislike most if not all collector orientated lines/pieces. Statues, and such aren't fun.

 

I collect because I like toys that are fun to play with and don't have to be handled like glass for fear of busting off a piece.