Collecting Pondering

For those who have been around a while, this is a repeat question

2013 - I need two things.
Cash and space.

The way to get these things is to sell my Transformers collection, the issue is that I have a strong emotional attachment to them even though its all in storage and I never see them.

Been thinking for a few months about my plan to sell of most/all of the collection in order to consolidate my storage shed into something more manageable - trust me when I say it is FULL - and use the cash that may come from selling into doing one of two things (house deposit or pay of student loan)

My AFA Graded G1 items would be safe from the purge but everything else would be up for grabs. Talking G2 (USA/Japanese), Reissues (Original, Book and Encore), Binaltech, Alternators, Masterpiece, Classics, Universe, Generations, Henkei, United and all the 'misc' items I also have from other lines.

Struggling with the idea of selling some of these due to the emotional attachment, and also how I would sell (lots, singles) and pricing for the items and just what series would get the chop first.

Who has some thoughts for me ... cause the more I think, the more I get myself confused!

If you really love them, I'd keep those you love the most or the ones that would cost more to replace, as you can always buy another of the lesser-worth ones for about what you sold them for, if you ever have the cash to get them again.

If you are seriously on thin ice with cash, I'd sell what you feel comfortable selling but maybe let go of a few to good homes. :(

IMO, it's what you feel is right and what you really think is necessary for you to have and how much you'd need to get rid of, if it means a suitable amount of money. ;)

I'm not the best to ask about this and I'm sure other will be able to help much better than I can, but like you said, it's a hard decision on what and what not. :(;)

You need cash and space? Sell. Make a decision and stick to it, dont fart-arse about.
I'd avoid lots, unless they're a team or junkers. The reat should be easy to establish.

I agree with Sinnertwin. If they are becoming a hassle it is time to do something. Try starting with your least favourite line first and go from there.

Take some photos of them in preparation then decide if you can part with them. You can always buy them back and if you do go with the house deposit you will have more space without worrying about a storage unit :D

I have been toying around with this idea myself of selling my least favourite line/lines to make the TF's I like more displayable. Still haven't got there so all I can say is good luck with making a decision. You collect doubles don't you? I would look at thinning them down first and go from there if you still want to sell more item's.

Sell off the doubles.
Not in lots, unless the buyer is someone like HD who has a lot of disposable income, you wont get much buyers for lot items, plus you lose quite a bit on lot sale.
As everyone has said, start with the least fave items, if not here have it on Ebay. Prioritize.
Keep your goal in sight - which one is it? Student loan or House? decide then stick to it. Plan with foresight - coz with a house you have enough space but do you have the means to maintain a steady mortgage? If you go for the loan, being a student would you have enough cash/income to sustain this hobby and be sure that what your studying for will end you in a definite job in the end, not some idealistic course where you'd struggle come graduation to find a job that'll suit what you studied for? or will you end up still selling more of your stuff?

Just some questions that you might have already asked yourself and hopefully have finally reached a decision with before you sell any more of your collection.

Value your time. Sell off the items that will go for more money.

Sell off your TF's?!?! No. No no no sir!

Cash? You've got two kidney's don't you? Surely you can part with one? Or I hears that if you've got a skirt and a nice smile you can make good tax-free cash down the docks after dark, even when sporting a 5 o'clock shadow. And I also hears there is a place in Ballarat that will buy all the sperm you can produce!

Space? Surely you don't need more than one shirt, one pair of jeans, one pair of socks etc? Free up those wardrobes man! And surely you don't need a washing machine to do them in when a sink and a scrubbing brush suffices. Buying fresh food daily gets rid of the need to have full cupboards or a fridge. A warm sleeping bag means you can get rid of that pesky bed and free up the linen cupboard.

But if worst comes to worst I'm in the next two years building a Transformatorium shed on my farm (cause I need the space lol) so send'em this way and you can visit whenever you like :)

I totally agree with liegeprime - offload your doubles first.

IMO anything you haven't used (whether it's for viewing/display or playing... whatever) in the past year or two you ought to consider offloading. That seems more like hoarding than collecting to me (JMHO). :)

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Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev

Sell off your TF's?!?! No. No no no sir!

Cash? You've got two kidney's don't you? Surely you can part with one? Or I hears that if you've got a skirt and a nice smile you can make good tax-free cash down the docks after dark, even when sporting a 5 o'clock shadow. And I also hears there is a place in Ballarat that will buy all the sperm you can produce!

Space? Surely you don't need more than one shirt, one pair of jeans, one pair of socks etc? Free up those wardrobes man! And surely you don't need a washing machine to do them in when a sink and a scrubbing brush suffices. Buying fresh food daily gets rid of the need to have full cupboards or a fridge. A warm sleeping bag means you can get rid of that pesky bed and free up the linen cupboard.

But if worst comes to worst I'm in the next two years building a Transformatorium shed on my farm (cause I need the space lol) so send'em this way and you can visit whenever you like :)

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Bahahaha +1:p;)

I agree with what most others have said, the toylines you don't have much attachments to should be where you start selling from. I personally had to thin down my collection, and decided to knock off the movie toys.

Whatever you do keep the G1 stuff

Thanks all for the words, it is a stark contrast to the advise the New Zealand collectors 'gave' - all they wanted was to dib certain toys in the collection for when ever I decided to sell.

When I did my collection tidy in 2009, I eliminated many sub lines from the collection as I knew that I could no longer 'catch them all' and so as I packed them away into boxes I took pictures of what I had saved from the purge and look at those images every month or so to remind myself what I have.

Regarding the student loan - I have been in the work force for 10 years now and have managed to repay $15000 back to the New Zealand Govt - I still have $20000 to go and I pay back just over $2000 a year via forced repayment under my tax code. -- Just to clarify, I am not a student anymore.

As for what I get rid of first - the clean up in 2009 got rid of the lines I didn't really care for, so everything I have is 'wanted'. I have thought of getting rid of the Western CHUG and Alternators as the Japanese 'are better' but in both instances there are toys that have never been released in Japan so if I went down that path ...

My thought of selling in lots really does come from not wanting 'reminders' of the collection I had if I am unable to get rid of a few less than desirable toys and my current sale list reminds me of that every day with the unwanted AEC toys I am practically asking for someone to take from me. I know there are very few people out there who would take a lot of toys however so selling signally is the way to go

i'm with theshape, keep the g1 stuff , or at least just sell off things you have in multiples with all the ko's going around its getting pretty hard to track down genuine g1 stuff if you did want to re aquire them later down the track.
If it was me i'd be keeping the pieces that hold sentimental value and selling off the figures i didnt like first.
to save yourself some sorting time you could always offer lots up for sale first then if they dont sell , pick 1 lot and sell it off figure by figure ? might make a little less time consuming/ frustrating /hassle with the post man

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Originally Posted by Zippo

My thought of selling in lots really does come from not wanting 'reminders' of the collection I had if I am unable to get rid of a few less than desirable toys and my current sale list reminds me of that every day with the unwanted AEC toys I am practically asking for someone to take from me. I know there are very few people out there who would take a lot of toys however so selling signally is the way to go

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I agree with others have said in terms of selling them individually rather than lots. If it's too emotionally difficult for you to do, then is there someone else that you can offload the toys to, and they can sell them individually on your behalf? That way on an emotional level, you've already parted with them as a massive lot, then that person handles the financial side of selling them off on your behalf (maybe that person can claim a small percentage of the income as a commission for their time, effort and storage space ;)).

Most people I know who have sold off their collections either in whole or part regretted it later. My advice would be - go down that path only as a last resort.

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Originally Posted by 5FDP

Most people I know who have sold off their collections either in whole or part regretted it later. My advice would be - go down that path only as a last resort.

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Yes, I agree with this wholeheartedly.

Probably not the advice you wanted to hear but... I think it needs to be said. Selling off your collection is a serious decision for a serious collector, and is something that I, personally, couldn't do.

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Originally Posted by Zippo

Thanks all for the words, it is a stark contrast to the advise the New Zealand collectors 'gave' - all they wanted was to dib certain toys in the collection for when ever I decided to sell.

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Exactly why I left the NZ collecting scene long ago. Everyone out for themselves with zero consideration of other collectors. Not that I'm bitter or anything :o

I agree with Gok, if you know someone who would sell on your behalf they could seperate them out and pass the money on when the items do get sold.

It may be worth really assessing your attitude towards ollecting. I mean no malice that, let me make that clear. Question is, lets say you do sell off, what will stop you from ending up in a similar situation in 2 years?

I agree with a lot of other comments regarding picking sections to sell, and also what to keep.

I too am paying off a student loan here in Aus, over here it's essentially an interest free loan only being adjusted for inflation. As such there is little point in clearing that debt any faster than is required by tax law. If it's the same in NZ I would let that debt slide.

The next consideration is, money for a deposit. I realise that any little bit helps, but take into consideration how much money you have saved at the moment, and what sort of a deposit you are looking for.

How much do you actually expect to make from selling off your transformers? your OTCA audiance is a fairly large pool of collectors true, but many of us have a lot of what we need, I've noticed this with trying to onsell some of my stuff over the years. your other sales alternatives like ebay are going to take a cut of any profit, you need to take that into account.

Apart from saving any potential money you are spending on renting the storage space, how much do you think you'll make for your hours of work selling off a lot of your collection. if the number is around 5K is it really worth it for the loss. I doubt you'll be looking at 30 or 40K or more. which is the sort of numbers you need to be looking at for a deposit on anything over here.

Consider selling off to save space, but if you're doing it to make some cash for a deposit on a house, unless it's literally the last couple thousand you need to get a deposit on something you really like, I'm not personally convinced that it's worth it.
you're probably better off looking at other avenues in your lifestyle where you can reduce spending and build up a deposit that way.


disclaimer: UltraMarginal is a transformers collector who really doesn't like selling off parts of his collection at any point, unless it's doubles. Ultramarginal is not a financial adviser and any advice taken is at your own discretion/risk:rolleyes::D

Go pick a random figure. Play around with it for a bit. Transform it, try out any gimmicks. Put it down and think: did this toy work for you? Did it make you happy? Does it make you think "well, it's good, but..."? Do you just kind of stare at it blankly?

Really if it's anything other than the first answer, it's not a figure you need. As someone who has gone from trying to get pretty much everything to just specific figures I want (basically anything that can fit in my Classics or can be repurposed as such), and while making that decision and parting with some toys has been very hard, I haven't been happier as a toy collector in a long time. It's less stressful, takes up less space, I spend more time with each figure, and it doesn't cost anywhere near as much. Selling off your whole collection will no doubt lead to a lot regret, best thing to do is streamline it first. I know you probably don't want to hear "well, take it slowly", if you need money quickly but that's the best thing to do. Don't be rash.

And, yeah, TF aftermarket prices are crazily inconsistent, so good luck with that.

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Originally Posted by Gouki

Go pick a random figure. Play around with it for a bit. Transform it, try out any gimmicks. Put it down and think: did this toy work for you? Did it make you happy? Does it make you think "well, it's good, but..."? Do you just kind of stare at it blankly?

Really if it's anything other than the first answer, it's not a figure you need.

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This is similar to what I did last year. I sorted my collection by series and at the same time gave it a good "do I need this figure" question. Got rid of quite a lot then, but still kept many :o Now I have no idea how many I have.

I'm clearing out collections of things at the moment (non TF toys, comic books, dvds etc) but more for space matters, losing money, but I look at it as its okay since things are going to people who want them rather than something who just has stuff sitting in boxes.

But the stuff I have isn't a well looked after MISB collection like Zippo's.

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Originally Posted by 5FDP

Most people I know who have sold off their collections either in whole or part regretted it later. My advice would be - go down that path only as a last resort.

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That's why I think liegeprime's suggestion of selling off doubles is a good idea. That way he'd be selling off toys that are essentially surplus, and later if he misses those toys then he would still have them (just not in duplicates). But considering that he's not even "army building" with those doubles that he keeps in storage and never sees the light of day, I personally don't think he'd lose out on much by offloading his spares.

There are some damn good points and I have heard that selling off the collection is always a bad move (ie, I will regret it down the path) and it does have me wondering if I do sell, what will keep me 'sane' later on down the line (ie what just will I do with all my spare time ... stare at online stores and then one day start collecting again)

I don't really have the doubles that makes selling them off easier than selling the collection. I have a bunch of the same figures twice yes, but one is sealed and one is opened and in some cases actually on display somewhere (while many more live within a tub/tubs in my storage shed). If you talk doubles as in Japanese vs American (Henkei vs Universe) the I could get rid of one but it would leave my collection incomplete - since I have a couple of complete sets.
- However I guess over the last couple of years I HAVE been offering up the doubles as space to display anything new dries up (take a look at the sale list - labelled as 'Zippo's to open sale' - these are toys I brought two off one for the collection and one to open. I never opened the second and so am offering that for sale. Some toy lines like TFPrime where always going to be a line that I didn't keep a single item sealed but I never opened them either - so they are in the sale list now.

1 sealed. 1 loose <--- you have spares. You can either choose to sell the loose ones or sell the sealed ones. Either way, you'll still have one set of those toys, you won't actually lose those toys.

e.g. When Beast Wars Metals came out, I bought 2 X9 Ravages. One to open and the other to keep sealed. A few years later, I traded off my sealed one for some loose G1 and G2 toys. Okay, in hindsight had I kept the sealed toy longer I would've gotten a lot more for it -- but I don't necessarily regret offloading the sealed figure per se. I wasn't as if I "stopped having" a BW X9 Ravage, I just went from owning 2 to owning 1. I have a few other doubles that I'm keeping sealed, and I have no immediate intention of parting with them -- but if I were desperate enough, I'd sell the sealed ones (simply because they're worth more... if I offloaded the loose ones, I'd just open the sealed ones anyway (I wouldn't keep a toy sealed if it were the only one I had).

So I'd start by offloading your straight up doubles first. That way you won't have regrets because you haven't really lost anything other than surplus. If after that you still feel the need to offload more toys, then I'd start looking at offloading your Hasbro/Takara variant sets.

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Originally Posted by Zippo

If you talk doubles as in Japanese vs American (Henkei vs Universe) the I could get rid of one but it would leave my collection incomplete - since I have a couple of complete sets.

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Then I would consider offloading one entire set.
e.g. if you prefer Henkei, then offload all of your Universe toys. That way you'd still be keeping the better variants anyway (and possibly more difficult/expensive to re-obtain on the aftermarket too).

Take this scenario

Binaltech vs Alternators

BT - have all except BT-17 (Black Convoy which was really expensive even when released). Also have all BTA and Kiss Players
Alternators - complete set including two box variants

Binaltech is (to me) the better line - die cast, better paint scheme and 'they feel complete. So naturally if I was to keep any BTs or Alternators it would be BT all the way ... HOWEVER

Alternators have 2 completely new castings (Rumble and Ravage v2) that have not been released as Binaltech, along with 3 recolours (Decepicharge, Swerve and Camshaft), 1 cheaper recolour (Nemesis Prime) and 1 better casting than BT (Mirage). If I said I was going to sell off Alternators and keep Binaltech would I have to give up the new castings and the recolours and have just a BT set, or do I keep a few selected Alternators mixed in with the BTs.

... *ponders*

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Originally Posted by Zippo

keep a few selected Alternators mixed in with the BTs.

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Do this.

do exactly that :)
i'm taking stuff from your words here but you sound like a bit of a completionist (there's nothing wrong with that ) perhaps you just need to look at it a little differently . If you keep the best represented figure from each line whether it be alternators or binaltech , you still end up with having a complete set of those figures and you get to keep the best representation of that figure

what he said ^

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Originally Posted by Zippo

or do I keep a few selected Alternators mixed in with the BTs.

... *ponders*

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As others have said, do this. ;)

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Originally Posted by Kapryiath

i'm taking stuff from your words here but you sound like a bit of a completionist (there's nothing wrong with that ) perhaps you just need to look at it a little differently . If you keep the best represented figure from each line whether it be alternators or binaltech , you still end up with having a complete set of those figures and you get to keep the best representation of that figure

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That's all well and good unless:
1) It's impeding on your ability to manage your finances (such as repaying loans).
2) Usage (whether that be active play or even just static display). Do you have the space to display it all? As Zippo says, a lot of what he has is in storage which he hasn't even seen in a jolly long time. IMO if you haven't even looked at a toy in over a year or so, then what's the point in having it?

Being a completist is one thing, but when it starts affecting your life in an adverse way in terms of finance and just wasting space (which is really what cold storage is, as opposed to more meaningful uses of space, like display or 'warm/hot' storage (i.e. the toys are stored in boxes/containers, but are taken out for use occasionally (say at least once a year -- any less than that and your Xmas tree is seeing more action than your toys! :rolleyes:).

Yep, I am a little bit of a completest - on certain lines however only.
Around the middle of Super Link/Energon series I realised that I could not continue down the path I was heading down back then (Japanese and American of both series) so cut back to the best series (normally Japanese) OR first out the gate (ie, Classics)

Some of the suggestions just don't fit in with my 'personality' - if I haven't opened something in the first 2 months of it being in my collection then there is a good chance that I will never open it even if it was purchased to open. So having a storage shed full of toys doesn't bother me until the storage shed got full (really full). As I said before, I have images of all the stuff I have in storage and look at monthly as a reminder.

Most toys released between 1984 and 2011 I have played with a version of it somewhere down the line. The 8 months I spent unemployed did change my habits a bit.


Based on the feedback and my own thoughts
So far I could get rid of (if they sell) Masterpiece MP-1, MP-2, MP-3, MP-3G, MP-4, MP-6 and MP-7 since they have made better versions, as well as the bulk of my Alternators.

I can actually see myself eventually getting rid of everything aside from G1 and MP-8 onwards but .. that will take major amounts of time and I guess I need to very slowly release items from the collection into the sale list rather than dump and hope.

So 4 months on and my thought this week returned to 2014 and selling the collection. I have roughly thought of the rules that I would need to set in order to make sure 'the good stuff doesn't go first' - one box gets put out for sale. Most needs to be sold before I move onto the next.

Use the sale proceeds to get my savings back up to a more comfortable level and if a year or two down the track I decide I want to purchase the items again, so be it.

It is after all the thrill of the hunt that is the main staple of my collecting :)

Sounds like a good way to do it. I'm trying to do similar. Once I finish my current sale I'll be left with only a small number of Unicron Trilogy toys but the ones I really want. Then it will be time to move on to the next series and go from there.

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Originally Posted by Zippo

Use the sale proceeds to get my savings back up to a more comfortable level and if a year or two down the track I decide I want to purchase the items again, so be it.

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New items? Or are you referring to buying back the items you've sold?

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Originally Posted by Zippo

It is after all the thrill of the hunt that is the main staple of my collecting :)

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So you're more into Transformers buying rather than Transformers having?
It's the complete opposite for me.

The time has come!
Over the past few weeks I have been deciding what order I would sell the collection in (if I did sell) and what if any figures would be spared from the cull.

Today I have decided that I can't put this off any longer - my storage space isn't going to grow by itself and I have decided that everything from the line is going to eventually go up for sale rather than keeping selected figures (if I figure wasn't released as a Binaltech but was as an Alternator, then keep the Alternator with the Binaltech collection)

Have decided that I am going to release one storage box from the collection for sale (most of the storage boxes contain a entire line (like Alternators, Collector Reissues) and run with the sale of the items in that box until the box is 90% empty. That way I am not putting hundreds of toys up at the same time and the best of the best get taken first and I am left eventually with the toys no one wants.

As a result, it will take a while for things to happen :)

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Originally Posted by Zippo

Have decided that I am going to release one storage box from the collection for sale (most of the storage boxes contain a entire line (like Alternators, Collector Reissues) and run with the sale of the items in that box until the box is 90% empty. That way I am not putting hundreds of toys up at the same time and the best of the best get taken first and I am left eventually with the toys no one wants.

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This sounds like a good way to go. When I try to clear stuff out I've had problems of a few popular items going and the rest sitting around still waiting for a new home. Then I started consolidating the remaining items and it got harder to find anything. And then some things sat in the "buy me" pilt for so long I started giving them away!

I'm finding that my collecting habits have gradually changed over the last 6 months. I've only been collecting for less than 18 months. When I started out I mainly sought after larger size TFs and had no issue with freeing them from their box. Now most purchases are left MISB and my preference is towards smaller deluxe class. I'm adhering to the mantra: Any more than two handfuls is a waste. :D

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Originally Posted by Zippo

The time has come!
Over the past few weeks I have been deciding what order I would sell the collection in (if I did sell) and what if any figures would be spared from the cull.

Today I have decided that I can't put this off any longer - my storage space isn't going to grow by itself and I have decided that everything from the line is going to eventually go up for sale rather than keeping selected figures (if I figure wasn't released as a Binaltech but was as an Alternator, then keep the Alternator with the Binaltech collection)

Have decided that I am going to release one storage box from the collection for sale (most of the storage boxes contain a entire line (like Alternators, Collector Reissues) and run with the sale of the items in that box until the box is 90% empty. That way I am not putting hundreds of toys up at the same time and the best of the best get taken first and I am left eventually with the toys no one wants.

As a result, it will take a while for things to happen :)

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If you have Commemorative Reissues Thundercracker and Skywarp, I will gladly take them off your hands. :p