Transporting Transformers

Bit of a conundrum and Looking for some advise on transporting transformers for storage while I complete a house build..

I am moving for a 9-12 month period while I am currently building and have decided to pack my collection away of around 200 figures (nothing old) mainly figures from the combiner wars onwards for G1 and Studio series + some AOE movie verse until I can redisplay in my new house..

I am not a box collector so cannot repackage so will need to wrap in bubble wrap and place in storage containers..

All of my figures bar the wreckers and Grimlock in SS are in their robot mode.

So my question, is it best to store in their vehicle mode or because they will be wrapped in bubble, all should be fine even if the containers experience some unnecessary accidents so to speak (I guess Im thinking of arms and legs popping off due to the figures placed on top of each other)

Most modern figures are pretty durable. I'm personally doing renovations at the moment and I've just chucked my modern figures in large boxes a shelf at a time. If you happen to have a figure though that is known to be fragile, like my BW Optimal Optimus or BW TM2 Megatron, put them in a smaller box by themselves and use brown paper or bubble wrap or something like that to help protect them.

It depends on the figure. I don't really have space to display more than a handful of figures at a time, so most of my TFs are stored away, and have been transported quite a few times, including across the country and/or from overseas. So, this is what I've found works best. :)

Generally I'll go with a layer or two of bubble wrap and newspaper for wrapping (those free local-community newspapers are great for that sort of thing), preferably wrapped in a plastic bag (if you can get them/have them spare) for security. Scrunched-up newspaper and/or similar materials (paper bags, junk mail, shop brochures, etc) can make good extra padding, but you want to make sure there's some give in there too - too much padding will make everything too tight. I also like to leave a bit of space at the top and bottom of the box (I generally use cardboard boxes) and put some old t-shirts/towels on the top and bottom for some extra security, but that's more for long-distance transport where I can't transport them myself.

Most car-mode TFs can be stored in car mode pretty easily, maybe untabbing bits if they're delicate (and watching for potentially fragile tabs, especially clear plastic ones). You can always untab parts if there's likely to be pressure on them. Tanks etc are tricky 'cos of the tank barrel - loose on the bubble wrap around the barrel, and when you're packing them away try to put them upside-down wedged between a gap/depression between other figures. Helicopters are even worse. For plane-type figures I generally find half-transformed to be as flat as possible without pressure on wings or tail-fins works best, though it very much depends on the design, shape, and mass distribution of the figure. Same thing for trucks, and similar thing for beast-mode figures except their various appendages made it trickier - try and get them flat with any bits that stick out as secure as possible. You can always remove bits on pegs or mushroom joints if you need.

Use whichever mode seems to be the most robust and compact. As Ode mentioned, for car-bots this is usually car mode. For trickier modes, I make little cardboard open ended boxes (3 or 4 sided). Cut the cardboard to appropriate size then fold around the figure. EG, long open ended triangular box works well for helos to protect the blades. I've used this technique to transport figs in check-in luggage (using both suitcase and soft-luggage). Can wrap fig in bubble wrap beforehand for extra protection, and tape accessories to the inside as well.
Given the length of storage time, and depending upon your 'storage containers,' I would also suggest using ziplock bags as well to keep moisture, insects, etc, out.

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Originally Posted by Flukey

(nothing old) mainly figures from the combiner wars onwards for G1 and Studio series + some AOE movie verse until I can redisplay in my new house..

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Herein lies your biggest advantage. Newer toys are more robust than older ones. I personally don't think it's necessary to transform them into alt mode; maybe half transform some if they have any delicate parts. But I think just keeping them in robot mode is fine. Put them in a "standing at attention" pose and put them in individual zip lock bags with their accessories (so you remember what belongs to whom later). Definitely remove all accessories/weapons to avoid accidental post breakages.

Other things to your advantage:

• Worse case scenario, any toy that gets broken would be easier/cheaper to replace (compared to a vintage figure; and childhood toys are outright irreplaceable).

• I mean this purely in a positive way, but "only" 200 figures. I had about 200 figures when I went to live in Japan in 1997 and my entire collection fit into two boxes. Granted a lot of TFs are bigger these days, so you may need maybe 3 boxes tops. The last time I moved (6 years ago) I had about 1965 TFs and it was a female-dog to pack and move. There are advantages in having a smaller collection, and this is definitely one of them! :)

Here's what I did when I had to move a few thousand figures. Hope there are some tips in there that help :)


Moving your Transformers: Part 1 - Sorting & Packing

Moving your Transformers: Part 2 - the actual move

Goktimus is on the money here. I've moved house with 400-600 Transformers a couple of times in the last few years. Ziplock bags with the figure and accessories is the way to go. For good measure, you might want to remove any parts that are potentially fragile - for example, I pulled off the wing tips of my Studio Series Thrust when he went into storage.

I just started putting my Transformers back on the shelf after renovating. Grant it they didn't travel, but everything seems to have survived. Modern TFs are so durable.