I hate you guys...

[ITZTRU]

Dammit...

So here I come innocently wandering from the net, minding my own business - just looking for some damn statues when I come across otca.com.au.

All fine and good...

I join membership, ask a few questions...then I decide to have more of a look around the forums...

I read threads about: Toys R Us being rip offs, toys on ebay, people scouting for cheap toys at various department stores and other retailers. Again...all well and good.

Fast forward to yesterday. I go shopping for one simple thing. I knew what I wanted...I knew where to get it. My journey starts at 3pm. I end up back home at close to 9pm. And why? Coz I walked into ALL the stores I could think of that would stock toys...and I started looking for TRANSFORMERS. I haven't done that for like...close to 20 years! And it didn't even stop at one shopping centre...I ended up driving to ANOTHER more well known centre, just to look at TRANSFORMERS! Now I'm debating whether or not to start another toy collection.

Thanks a lot otca community!

I've now decided...

I hate you guys... :mad: :)

[blackie]

OH LOL
join the club
this place needs a warning because itll make you poor.
I found all these other toy lines i could collect, and found out about stuff like Jap G1, which i now want like crazy, but never would have known about had i not joined :P
And overall i blame STL for starting my techspec card fetish

[kup]

I was like that when Beast Wars 10th Anniversary and Classics was released. I was driving almost from store to store looking for the toys. I also did a bit of that when the first movie came out.

Thankfully, the mediocrity of the Universe releases next to the Henkei and the mostly pointless Universe repaints as well as fading interest in ROTF has stopped me from doing that.

[GoktimusPrime]

Toy hunting is a frustrating reality of toy collecting. But don't hate your fellow collector - after all, each time you buy a toy you're also depriving someone else of that toy anyway. Who you really should be directing your hate toward are SCALPERS.

Eeeeevil! If you ever find one, kick 'em in the janglies real REAL hard! ;)

But yeah, toy hunting can be a massive WAFTAM when you travel across great distances looking for a toy and failing to find it. Sometimes I just bite the bullet and either:
1/ order it online
2/ buy it when I find it, even if it's not on sale or if it's above RRP
3/ resign myself to not getting that toy

Recent examples:
+ I ordered RotF Skids, Chromia and Wheelie from BBTS several months ago. I'm glad I did because I've seldomly seen Chromia and Wheelie in stores, and I've _never_ personally seen Skids in stores. I know they're out, but they don't seem common around places I shop.
+ I bit the bullet and paid the full $#&*ing price for Leader Class Jetfire ($100) because I was just sick and tired of hunting for that toy. Sure, I could've gotten it cheaper if I'd waited and continued looking - but buying it then and there saved me TIME (and fuel!).

On the other hand, when you do finally get that toy there is a feeling of, as Borat would say, "Great Success!" :)

This is how I feel when my toy hunt fails:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/toyhunt_nosuccess.jpg

This is how I feel when my toy hunt wins:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/avatars/toyhunt_success.jpg

And you've only just recently started collecting Transformers right? I've been collecting for 25 years! That's a quarter-century's worth of "woohoo"s and "D'OH!"s! :) It's an emotional rollercoaster. :p

[Kyle]

I hate myself for buying so many toys too... :o

[k.wong23]

Good choice let your soul wither away and be consumed.

[ITZTRU]

And you've only just recently started collecting Transformers right? I've been collecting for 25 years! That's a quarter-century's worth of "woohoo"s and "D'OH!"s! :) It's an emotional rollercoaster. :p

Well I used to own many when I was a lot younger but never really considered myself a collector...just a G1 fan as a kid. I've recently started collecting Palisades transformers statues as i grew out of collecting toys as such, but was always a fan of how they looked in robot form, rather than alt mode. But then I hear about all the toys out there still and now I go looking for them, not because I've had an urge to want to collect...but more because I hear of all of you hunting, searching and buying.

However, now that I've done (even if just one night) of browsing and looking around...seeing what's on the shelves has made me wonder if I actually SHOULD start another collection of transformable toys...not just keep it to down to nice looking statues...

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Bwahahaha! Welcome to the Dark Side!:p

[SOUNDBLASTER]

Transformers isnt even the dark side... Imagine all the gi:joe collectors and star wars collectors out there.... trying to complete their collection.... Bugger that Transformers is just fine for me . :D:D

[iceburn]

I hate myself too.

"hi, I'm iceburn and I'm a TF Toyaholic

[willocrew]

I'm a newbie transformers collector too, but based on my [rather limited] experience, I think it's safe to say that transformers is definitely one of the "more affordable" toy collecting pursuits available - assuming you steer clear from those super exclusive MISB made in 1984 10/10 condition G1 toys complete with certificate of authenticity.

If you stick to the regular stuff that Hasbro makes, you shoudl be fine.

Even if you buy the occasional masterpiece that would set you back by $250, that's fine too - relatively speaking of course.

Before getting into transformers, I used to collect 1/6 figures (Hot Toys, Enterbay etc.) and $250 is pretty much the standard price point. The thing is, new figures come out every 2-3 months and that situation is simply untenable for me. I've sold off most of my 1/6 collection and in fact i've decided to even cut back a little on transformres.

Waiting for Hasbro Masterpiece Grimlock now :D fingers crossed.

[Golden Phoenix]

I currently have a love/hate relationship with blackie
I love him coz he keeps organising group orders and offering to share shipping or offering me stuff
I hate him coz I'm too weak willed to resist and I keep spending money during a time where since the movie line isn't a big interest to me I could, nay, should be saving

[GoktimusPrime]

I hate him coz I'm too weak willed to resist and I keep spending money during a time where since the movie line isn't a big interest to me I could, nay, should be saving
That's not Blackie's fault! :)

[Golden Phoenix]

That's not Blackie's fault! :)

He knows my lack of will but still tempts me. Hence it being his fault

[SilverDragon]

Well, Bonecrusher hates you too. :p

[Robzy]

Whhaaahhh??? :eek: Why the hate? Toy collecting is FUN! :confused:

:p

[GoktimusPrime]

Here's some of my personal habits which help to keep this hobby relatively more affordable:

Buy toys while they're current
I seldomly buy toys when they're no longer in production or not on sale. I don't even have an eBay account! Generally speaking if I want a Transformer I buy it when it's out - saves me from having to track it down months or years later and pay ridiculously hefty aftermarket prices.

Avoid buying toys I don't really want
One question that enters my head when purchasing a Transformer is "Why?" What is the reason for me wanting to buy a TF toy? The reason can vary; often the toy appeals to me, but sometimes (esp. in the case of some Animated and movie/ROTF toys) the toy doesn't appeal to me but I'm collecting characters. Either way, I have a _reason_ for wanting the toy, not just "because it's a Transformer." I saw the RPMs at TRU a few days ago and I asked myself, "What's your reason for wanting these?" and I couldn't give myself a good answer, so I didn't buy any.

Import in bulk
Overseas shipping works out cheaper for the individual when shipped in larger numbers. This is where getting involved in group orders helps.

Take advantages of sales and other forms of discount
This is a no-brainer. Obviously when there's a sale on it's a good time to start buying up. You spend more in the short term but save more in the long run. Now I'm going to contradict myself in the next point...

Buy hard to find toys immediately
Toy hunting sucks. It wastes so much time and it's emotionally frustrating - and now with the cost of petrol it also wastes _money_ because you're frantically driving to various suburbs looking for that one toy. As a result sometimes when I'm having trouble finding a toy, if I see it I'll just buy it, even if it's not on sale. Saves me the hassle of looking for it afterwar.

Avoid buying multiples
Another no-brainer. I'm not greedy... there's no need for me to own like 10 of the same damn toy. I will on a _very_rare_ occasion acquire a second one to keep sealed, like once in a blue moon; but overall I just buy ONE of a certain toy. I'll happily collect variants but that's not the same as buying a straight out double.

[kaiden]

im contemplating buying henkei rodimus for $68US shipped -.- damn scalpers.

[Lord_Zed]

Yeah, I keep telling myself I will stop collecting... when its no fun!!!! however it's still fun after all these years (more so even) and yes being part of several communities for my various collections increases my exposure to all the cool things out there I want to collect.

I'm confused though I always thought toy hunting was part of the fun. obviously repeated failure sucks, but most of the time I'm happy to wait if I don't find a toys straight away and are usualy rewarded for my patience. When I do find the toy I'm after it's all the more rewarding.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I always thought of the chase being a lot of fun. I have occasionally just bought the damn toy after searching for it ofr a couple fo weeks, even though I didn't really want it that much. Strange but true.

Now though, with the decent oz dollar, its cheaper and much less hassle to import. Plus it fits in with my morals about not being ripped off by the bulltwang high prices us southerners get slugged. $30 for a deluxe? Not if I can help it thanks.

[blackoptimus]

I purchase figures every week, I currently have another 2 g1 figures on the way.

[Autocon]

im kinda glad i cant order online for myself or id be in dept lol

all this paint app crap, i didnt see any of it in the first tf movie lot but in the rotf theres heaps:mad:

it almost makes me want to stop buying tfs