What toys do you A: Regret not buying cheap, B: Found reasonably or C: Paid too much!

What toys do you A: Regret not buying cheap, B: Found reasonably or C: Paid too much!


The older figures get, the rarer they get and the more expensive they get. And many figures reach a price point for an individual collector where they are now just too expensive to justify buying, no matter how sought after. It’s not simply that you can’t afford them, it’s that you don’t think they are worth what you would now have to spend compared to their original price. Mine are:

*Titanium 6 Inch Ultra Magnus, Jetfire & Prowl
*G1 Hardhead, Cromedome & Brainstorm
*G1 Needlenose
*Masterpiece Acid Storm & Thundercracker
*HOC Grimlock
*Energon Beachcomber
*SDCC GIJoe/TF crossover (the one with Jetfire, Hound, Ravage etc)
*GDO Wheelie


There have been a few that after keeping an eye out for years I have finally found at what I considered a respectable price (many of them on the members sales here on Ozformers). These include:

*Pretenders Grimlock (ebay)
*Titanium Grimlock (ebay)
*G1 Slag and Swoop (ebay)
*G1 Reflector (ebay)
*Animated Wreck-Gar (found mislabled for $10 on ebay!)
*Cybertron Metroplex (courtesy of Shirokaze):)
*Universe Drag Strip & Overkill (Courtesy of Hursticon):)
*Alternators Tracks and Swindle (courtesy of Sutton):)



And of course there is the odd toy that you know just isn’t worth it but you have to have it for a particular reason. For me this was:

*Paying $30 for G1 Blot to finally finish off my G1 Terrcon collection
*Spending $500 for MIB G1 Scorponok as I missed out on buying him by like one hour from the one shop that stocked a single one in Bendigo when I was a kid
*Spending $1100 on a 100% complete G1 Fort Max (not the reissue – that got announced six months after I bought him :rolleyes:) because I felt my collection warranted having the biggest TF ever made



So my questions to you are:

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

1. Overlord, most Transformers collectors club figures (start at stupid prices... ;) )
2. Snapdragon
3. My Generations Swerve and Cosmos...

1. Pyro. In 1993 I made a choice between Pyro or Clench... I went with Clench -- which I don't regret, because it's a freakin' awesome toy which doesn't suffer from GPS. :) But yeah, Pyro now goes for crazy prices and of course, the GPS means that it's likely to break on you. So I don't see the point in splashing all that money on a toy that I'd be too terrified to play with. :eek: Anyway, that's why I got Timelines Pyro -- which at $80 is rather pricey for a Voyager, but beats getting the original now. I feel the same about any Japanese exclusive G1 toy too. When it comes to Japanese G1 I either:
* Get an original G1 if I happen to find it cheap (i.e. close to original RRP); this has happened to me three whole times. :p
* Get reissues (luuurv 'em! :D)
* Get an updated toy based on that character, e.g. RM Victory Sabre, United Artfire etc. And yeah, I'll most likely pre-order MP Star Sabre too. ;)

2. Alternators Mirage, bought just last Sunday for $50, which within the AU RRP range for an Alternator (they sold for $45-55). Mirage was an Alternator that was never released here but I really wanted it, but until Sunday, I could never find it for RRP or less. The seller was initially asking for $75, but when I came back a few hours later and asked for a price check, they said $50. Sold. :)

3. $50 for Age of Extinction Voyager Class Galvatron. I could tell straight away that this toy is NOT worth paying full RRP for. But I did anyway. And my instincts were right... it wasn't worth paying full retail for. :rolleyes: Impatience Tax FML.

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

MP Thundercracker


2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

MISB Reissue G1 Hound


3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

MP Starscream

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

for me to was my grail...MP8X comic grimlock....the last figure to complete my MP collection .... this figure gotten way out priced from somewhere between 500-1000 , and now they going to reissue him soon , but with him been quiet an old mold and the Hasbro one only 80... I decided I don't need him even at rrp which was 250 ...

2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?
for me it was MP3 starscream and MP7 thundercraker... at one stage these guys were demanding 300+ .... I waited and got them for a reasonable 200

3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?
Animated lucky draw gold optimus.... well he a luckydraw figure so he going to be expensive plus I just love the gold and just started watching animated at that time ...

1. G1 Overlord. That figure had always appealed to me (for some reason) but I could never justify spending the money on it.

2. Armada Unicron. Picked him up for 2 schooners from Fatbot:)

3. ROTF Rampage. Bought it at RRP, opened it, instantly had buyers remorse. Gave it away for free.

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

Anything from the '80's that is still MISB/MOSC

2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

Stepper

3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

Henkei Wildrider

A: I regret not getting King Grimlock first time round. I might put my tax return to getting it this time round.

B: KP Hotrodimus

C: The Encore Great Cassette Operation Vol 1 and 2.

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

Binaltech BT-17 Black Convoy


2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

Beast Wars Metals X-9 Ravage


3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

MP-1S Sleep Mode Convoy (Japanese ver), MP-10 Evangelion Convoy :mad:

1. More of the RTS figures at The Reject Shop. They had Tracks there, should have got him. Didn't see Wreck-gar though. :(

2. Not really years, as I've only been collecting for 2 years now, but after wanting it really badly but not having the money to ship it, I snagged Encore 20a Anime Devastator MISB for $43AUD in HK. Deal of a lifetime.

3. None at the moment really. Hasn't been long enough.

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

Diaclone Battle Convoy & G1 original Optimus Prime. Ridiculous prices these days means I'll never own one. Didn't help that I only started collecting in the last 2 years.


2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

'Diaclone' Ultra Magnus & Nucleon Super Convoy. Right place, right time .... distressed seller. A slab if VB helped seal the deal. :D


3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

MP-08X King Grimlock (first run). Ended up buying two. :o To add insult to injury, a second run is coming out very soon. :rolleyes:

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

* Million Publishing United Stepper. WTH eBay, should have listened to Leige and got him at a discount from BBTS at $90.
* FP Protector (original).
* FP City Commander Add-on set (for the original release).

2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

* TF Cybertron Primus (missing two missiles). Won it from eBay and when I met up the seller decided to only charge me $50. I think she may have been a member here, but it was before I became more active.
* TF Energon Wing Sabre. Buddy got it for a steal from Supanova for $10.

3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

* TFCC Nexus Prime (nee Maximus). Picked all 5 members separately over the course of 1 year. Another year later the complete sets start popping up on eBay at about 60-70% what I collectively paid.
* TFCC Punch/Counterpunch. Paid a mega-impatience tax for this.
* Botcon 2005 Deathsaurus. Percentage-wise probably not as bad as Punch/Counterpunch. Dammit, never again TFCC.

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

The Botcon Dawn of Future's Past 2006 figures. I have none.
The Botcon Shattered Glass 2008 figures. I have a few like Sideswipe, Goldbug


2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

G1 Bumblejumper/Bumper; I managed to get him on eBay for $100

3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

RiD Brave (Fortress) Maximus

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

Animated Ramjet, the sucker sits at about $100 on eBay lately, it's just an activator, but with this one I'll have a full set of represented screen characters from the show. I'd maybe stretch to $50 just because it's fairly rare.

As mentioned by others, a lot of G1 figures are very expensive these days and the want to collect them doesn't yet outweigh the realisation that I will probably only transform them a few times before they spend a lot of their life just sitting on a shelf and that the transformation they do have will be interesting from a historical perspective but nowhere near as engaging as a modern interpretation of the same character.
A G1 Jetfire is a perfect example, or some of the targetmaster juniors.

Takara masterpiece Rodimus prime. Even the second run of this toy is known for having issues, I can't justify the $300 eBay is asking for it when I got the majority of the toy in the Hasbro Release for $65. If I could find it MISB for $150 I'd seriously consider it.

2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

At this years Botcon I got a very nice loose G1 Apeface for $100, given that in 2011 something of similar value was sitting around the $120 - $140 mark, I think that's a good deal.

I also picked up a Loose complete, working Powermaster Darkwing from this years Con for $65. now I have the complete pair after 25 years.

The reissue Fortress Maximus filled a "Large" hole in my collection.



3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

I'll get back to you on this one, generally if I'm not happy with a price for something, I'll pass and keep my eyes out for a better opportunity.

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

Battle Gaea/ Guard City

2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

Tough one..probably my boxed G1 jetfire to replace my loose incomplete one

3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

Blue Bacchus!

my biggest regret was rotf deluxe rampage, worst toy ever.

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

G1 Artfire

2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

The Soundwave design centre

3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

MIB G1 Skylynx.

Even at $15, I paid too damn much for Age of Extinction One Step Changer Lockdown. :rolleyes:

Those CHUG seekers. It is insane how much you have to set down for them...

Well I now have a new all time winner for 'spent too much'.

I really wanted the US-TRU exclusive G1 Kreo Grimlock set. But after my TRU account kept stuffing up and TRU could not sort it out I decided to get it posted to the same US friend who got my Hasbro MP Soundwave for me.

So, a $30US figure, $10US to get it shipped to my friend. So now $40US. But I think "What the hell, its small and flat and light so should be very cheap to post so should only cost me maybe another $15 at most". Give my friend instructions to use the cheapest possible shipping method as it cost me a bit when she shipped Soundwave.

Get contacted by my friend. I forgot she and her husband are lovely but not the brightest bikkies in the barrel (she took up 'bikini dancing' {apparently different from stripping} as a career at age 41 and he legally changed his name to 'Blade'). They said it cost them 50 damn dollars US to ship it! :eek: And when it gets here its in a box that could easily have fit 6 of this kit and they have used an expensive carrier! :eek::confused:

So I just ended up paying $90US for a $30US Kreo set :o:(:o

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev

Well I now have a new all time winner for 'spent too much'.

I really wanted the US-TRU exclusive G1 Kreo Grimlock set. But after my TRU account kept stuffing up and TRU could not sort it out I decided to get it posted to the same US friend who got my Hasbro MP Soundwave for me.

So, a $30US figure, $10US to get it shipped to my friend. So now $40US. But I think "What the hell, its small and flat and light so should be very cheap to post so should only cost me maybe another $15 at most". Give my friend instructions to use the cheapest possible shipping method as it cost me a bit when she shipped Soundwave.

Get contacted by my friend. I forgot she and her husband are lovely but not the brightest bikkies in the barrel (she took up 'bikini dancing' {apparently different from stripping} as a career at age 41 and he legally changed his name to 'Blade'). They said it cost them 50 damn dollars US to ship it! :eek: And when it gets here its in a box that could easily have fit 6 of this kit and they have used an expensive carrier! :eek::confused:

So I just ended up paying $90US for a $30US Kreo set :o:(:o

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Ummm this is just my opinion and I'm sorry if I offend but your friends sound like morons. Unless this woman has a celebrity calibre body you should not take up bikini dancing as a career at 41.

Again sorry if I offend but I had to deal with more stupid than usual today and I've had my fill.

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

G1 Dai Atlas, Victory Leo, G1 Trainbots, Road Ceasar, Galaxy Shuttle, Actionmaster Elites Turbomaster and Windmill

2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

G1 Bumblejumper, included in a BIN group lot with him in it, he turns out to be around $30 if I split the final price I paid for the lot.
G1 Frenzy (Takara version) - found it in a Bookstore in Phils costing around 100 pesos ( again divide by 40 to get dollar conversion) which I thought oh wow, they don't know what they're selling!
G1 Abominus loose - paid Php2,500 or it, it had all the combiner parts but not the individual guns, I thought the price was alright so bought it staright away for that price, heck I pad for almost half that for a minibot, and here I see 5 robots and a combiner (plus combiner parts) for that price... it was a steal heheheh
Fort Max - Thank goodness for Encore.
Trypticon - Gutsman sold it to me for less than $200, ballpark, can't recall exactly but I know it's less than $200


3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

waaaay back when I was younger and just grabbed on to any G1 TFs I could find - this was before the Takara Book type release was even a rumour.... I paid for G1 Powerglide for 1000 pesos ( divided by 40 for conversion to Au$). I was thinking it was way expensive then but I did pay for it anyways coz I don't know if it's ever gonna be reissued... grrrr, it did. :mad::mad: ah well. it's still with me.

G1 Overlord - coz he aint gettin a reissue any time soon... and I needed him to finally complete my G1 collection (US released characters only). Plus he was offered to me cheaper than ebay priced (still it's gone way up price wise thru the years so I considered it ... acceptable) and I did get to pay for it in terms and staggered heheheh...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bartrim

Ummm this is just my opinion and I'm sorry if I offend but your friends sound like morons. Unless this woman has a celebrity calibre body you should not take up bikini dancing as a career at 41.

Again sorry if I offend but I had to deal with more stupid than usual today and I've had my fill.

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I find it more off putting that a grown man would legally change his name to 'Blade' when he is a pale skinny white guy and not a muscular African-American vampire hunter :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev

So I just ended up paying $90US for a $30US Kreo set :o:(:o

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Ill make you feel better if i tell you how much guard city cost me :o

1: What figures do you really want but you think have just gotten too expensive compared to their original price to warrant buying?

G1 Bludgeon or any of the pretenders i am missing for that matter

2: What figures have been too expensive but after years of patience you finally found for a reasonable price?

closest one would have to be G1 Astrotrain, picked it up a couple of years ago MIB with bubble for a whopping $8.75

3: What figures did you know were way too expensive but you ended up buying anyway?

Targetmaster Scourge and Cyclonus

i regret not pre ordering the first four pack of the encore series first four for $200 now struggle to find them for around $200 Ea

Takara Tomy MP-10 no thanks to MP-1 and then the rest of the cars that made me went crap, I need a prime. Ended up with current Hasbro version on pre-order.

I will add MP Sideswipe and Red Alert as I came in too late and paid more than what I would need to.