Movie Toys: A Question

Now, as many of you would know, I'm not an all-round TF collector. I haven't bought a 'current' TF figure that wasn't BW related since a RID Optimus Prime (which I quite liked, but thats beside the point).

But my question is: For those who are mad keen on the Movie-verse toys and such, how do you justify buying toys that are (as far as I know) remarkably similar and the same character to boot.

I'm refering to figures such as Optimus Prime.

The character hasn't changed form since he adopted his Truck-mode in the 1st movie, and from spoilers I've seen, he will have the same model in this 3rd movie and will no doubt have toys made to promote it.

But in all honesty, wouldn't the toy from the 2nd or 1st movie do?

Or is that what being a fan is? Buying the same character over and over and over?

Honestly I felt the same about the first and second movies but when you compare Leader Optimus Prime from TFM1 to Buster Prime in ROTF you understand why you need to "upgrade." Another good comparison is the voyager optimus and Battle blades OP.

Having said that, I did not upgrade BB nor did I downsize to the new deluxe ratchet or Ironhide.

the leader Prime had a better mould in the second movie, and it's possible that the trailer he is supposed to have in the third won't be compatible with the primes from the first two movies. The others I can't comment on as I didn't buy many of them, I certainly never bought doubles.

I wasn't going to upgrade my toys when the second movie came out however some were better engineered and i like mine to be movie/ show accurate. some i haven't such as Ironhide and ratchet but the others were to ggod to pass up. and i really didn't like movie 1 Starscream

i think people fall into two categories , those who love to collect toys, those who love playing with toys and buy those they want to play with, and then theres me the lone ranger (i love all TFs but i only wish too own a few)

So if someone loved transforming the first Leader Prime for example, they will no doubt be back for seconds (ROTF). But too someone who loves collecting, well.... :rolleyes:

personally i can't stand the aesthetics of the toys regardless of how wonderful their transformations are. Repaints IMO as a collector is not my thing, i saw a HA BB with a repaint of Human Driver Sam, oh man seriously... glad im not a completists..... oh yeh talking about same characters ahah

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Originally Posted by autobreadticon

Repaints IMO as a collector is not my thing, i saw a HA BB with a repaint of Human Driver Sam, oh man seriously... glad im not a completists..... oh yeh talking about same characters ahah

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for years i avoided repaints and even retools but now i see the value. i'll buy a repaint if it represents a different character that falls within that universe but a repaint that represents a powered up character eg Unicron trilogy Megatron/ Galvatron.

I changed my view when it came to the seekers and Bumblebee/ Cliffjumper.

Transformers ROTF is what actually got me into collecting TFs, as a kid I did grow up with Transformers but only to such a vague level, I had only seen The Transformers Movie a couple of times. My brother owned a handful of figures of not-so-important G1 characters while I grew up buying the occasional knockoff, not knowing that it was a knockoff in the first place thus not thinking much of the TF franchise. But after watching ROTF, I then went shopping and bought my first official TF toy - Leader Class ROTF Optimus Prime and there I realized how amazing TF toys were. It's thanks to TF: ROTF that I'm willing to buy the same character again and again (if my wallet permits :) ), given their mold changes significantly.

I'm not particularly a character collector. I'll buy different versions of the same character if they're a different mold (ie I've got Leader Starscream, RotF Voyager Starscream, and Movie 1 Voyager Starscream, but none of the many Movie 1 Starscream repaints that came out).

In some ways, the release of multiple versions of the same character and form can be a good thing. For example, if you really like a character and want a toy representation, but that character happens to have one crap toy, you don't necessarily have to be stuck with that crap toy (because you can buy a different version/size class.) In Beast Wars, if a character's form had a crap toy, you were pretty much stuck with it.

That said, I can't imagine why anyone would want even one toy of Movie Bumblebee, let alone twenty.

For me, I love the Bay-verse movies - They kick massive skid plate, have done absolute wonders for the franchise and nuts to anyone who thinks otherwise. :cool:

The figures on the other hand, were not a Priority at all for me, especially compared to G1 and the Classicsverse. :o
Here is a list of Bay-verse figures I own and why I own them:

HFTD Legends Ravage - He's cute and in a better scale with ROTF Soundwave ;)
ROTF Scout Divebomb - I love Aircraft, WWI Red Baron Bi-Plane = Win! :D:cool:
ROTF Scout Scalpel - I love the character and the fact he's a microscope, unseen since G1, won me over :)
ROTF Scout Skystalker - Looked cool and combines with Mindwipe to form, in the Hursti-verse :p, Mindwalker! :D
ROTF Deluxe Ravage - Loved his Bay-verse look and was a must buy :)
ROTF Deluxe Soundwave - He is Soundwave, that's all that matters :cool:
ROTF Human Alliance Bumblebee - Out of all the stupid amounts of figures for this character - this one's engineering, coupled with Sam and his Scale to Leader Class Optimus was what made me buy him :o
ROTF Voyager Bludgeon - A Samurai Skele-Tank-Bot? Win! :D:cool:
ROTF Voyager Mindwipe - This figure just looked Plane Awesome! did I mention I like Aircraft? :p
ROTF Leader Jetfire - Loved the character and the Alt mode - A Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird?, one of the sexiest pieces of human engineering to ever have taken flight! ;):cool:
ROTF Leader Megatron - Was bought for me, he's the Decepticon Leader in Leader Class - though it's got the technicality of Legends Class toy, he's pretty cool :o
ROTF Leader Optimus - Had to have the Autobot Leader in Leader Class, compared to the 1st Movie's Leader Optimus, this figure's engineering is truly on the level of a Masterpiece and the 'Buster' Takara version's paint job is absolutely exquisite. :eek::D:cool:

Apart from Leader Class Starscream, maybe, that's it - I'm done with the Bay-verse line, it really doesn't interest me all that much but that may change with with DOTM but I'm not holding my breath. :p

Basically, with the movie line it's best to wait until figures are released and see if they are indeed improved, if they've already been released, or if you like the character enough.

Being a complete-ist with the Movie line? you're going to be very poor and very disappointed with the line because the amount of pointless repaints is just purely ridiculous but at the end of the day, a collector buys what his mind says "I like" and is worth the money you're about to hand over.

IMO being a fan certainly doesn't mean buying a character over and over, Cybetron Megatron and Optimus Primal are NOT Beast Wars figures/characters ;), but in the end - each to their own. ;):)
(I hope that helped Verno dude :o)

It's interesting to read peoples justificat... I mean explanations as to why they collect what they do :p

I'll admit I thought about getting a set of Movie Autobots in the most kick-ass model they came in yet still to a relative scale. Who'd want a BB that was bigger than Prime? (Even if it might be awesome) Be it Prime from the 3rd movie, Ironhide from the 1st, Ratchet from the 2nd etc.

In the end I didn't, because collecting for me is about the association with character. As Sky Shadow pointed out, with BW, if the show character had a not-so-good toy, you were stuck with it becuase of the way the line was structured, but it was still that character none the less. Blackarachnia for example, I couldn't wait to get the Takara 10th Ann version just because it looked much closer to the show, yet I'll still keep the original Hasbro version. Patience is a virtue I guess.

For me and the movie toys, I can only hope one day they put out an 'Ultimate' line. No repaints, just the best version of each Movie character. Likelyhood of Hasbro doing this... Hahahaha, as if.

I bought the first movie Leader Prime and was pretty happy with it. Then, Takara released a chromed version, so I upgraded to that (selling my first). Then the ROTF Leader figure came out, which was quite an improvement, so I got that. I didn't sell the former chromed Prime because I still thought it was a nice figure and it's quite rare. But lo and behold, Takara did it again, and released Buster Prime, all chromed and metallic, so I had to upgrade to that (and sold my Hasbro ROTF Prime). Then, TT released the two-pack with an updated Jetfire, so I had to get that one too. I still haven't sold my lone Buster, and I likely won't, so that brings me to 3 Leader Primes:

MA-21 Battle Mode Prime (1st movie)
Buster Prime (2nd movie)
Buster Prime & Jetfire 2-Pack (2nd movie)

With voyagers, the very first Transformer I got since being a child was the original voyager Prime from the first movie. However, after Hasbro Premium'd up the whole line, I again traded that one in for the upgraded Robovision Prime (aka Premium voyager prime). I have not bothered with any of the subsequent voyager Prime releases (there have been many!) as they are all inferior.

My basic philosophy is to have the BEST of any figure/character/class. If the better one comes out after I've already gotten one, then I'll upgrade, and in most cases, try to get rid of its predecessor. If the subsequent ones are not as good (more common than not), I happily pass.

^^ Agreed! 'cos that is what I do often too!

Sometimes I don't really know what new transformer toys will be repainted or re-released or upgraded... so for me it's buy first talk later... or in this sense sell later.

hey Jay, that is exactly what I did with Leader Prime!!! only I sold off all the 1st movie Primes that i got and am now left with buster prime & the Prime Jetfire 2 pack which i am both happy with... well at the moment haha...

I was in Big W the other day and they had 3 different RotF deluxe Bumblebee figures, all fairly similar barring the weapon.

The missus had a good laugh at the craptitude of all 3 and asked why?

I couldnt answer her. I personally didnt buy any RotF figures of characters from the first movie, and I got the robo-vision deluxe Prime, and have skipped all leader versions. I cannot see the point in getting similar toys from subsequent movies, but on the flipside I get why Hasbro have released 1672 different movie bumblebees and I can also understand why some collectors hunt every toy down too.

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Originally Posted by uteiki

Sometimes I don't really know what new transformer toys will be repainted or re-released or upgraded... so for me it's buy first talk later... or in this sense sell later.

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Kinda have to agree with uteiki on that, I have passed on quite a few figures and LEGO as well and then regret it later when they ran out of stock in stores and are later being sold at inflated prices online. So now, if I'm not 100% sure I don't like a figure/toy, it's get it first and decide later.

As for the recent movie crappy (KO lookalike) repaints, they are easy to pass. So was deluxe Ironhide and Ratchet. They make no sense to me being that size when their voyager size is more relative to their proportions in the movie. Plus I have kinda had enough of the movie figures releases and am glad they have the Generations line.

I started collecting after the first movie in 2007 and Bumbleebee is my favourite and so I do have multiple figures of him in the different variations. But for Ultimate Bumblebee, I bought it during the first movie and when they came out with the second release with the battle mask, that I couldn't justify paying another $80+ bucks. Battle Ops Bumblebee was different and the Costco one was chrome and good price, so I did get that.

As for toys of famous characters like Optimus Prime in other variations, I get what you mean. I have Movie 1 Leader Prime and Nightwatch Prime as well. I now really don't understand why I got Nightwatch Prime and will probably sell him and Movie 1 leader prime later on in the future. The point is to get the "latest version" of Prime (for me) I guess?

And I've got Hasbro Leader Jetfire and Prime as well as the 2-Pack Jetfire & Buster Prime. I do intend though to keep both as one can be displayed in robot mode and the other vehicle mode. Likewise for MP Prime, I got the Hasbro fluroscent red one first and then I got MP-04, I'm keeping both too.

I guess in the end it all boils down to what you like and wanna buy. There's no real need to justify - just like a woman buying clothes, "I like it, so I'm getting it." :D :p (even though her wardrobe is already overflowing!) :D

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Originally Posted by jaydisc

My basic philosophy is to have the BEST of any figure/character/class. If the better one comes out after I've already gotten one, then I'll upgrade, and in most cases, try to get rid of its predecessor. If the subsequent ones are not as good (more common than not), I happily pass.

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^ This. :) Another thing I enjoy about having different versions of the same character is that I can display one in robot mode and another in alt mode. :D

For me it's all about having the best version of a character to display rather than every variant, or collecting them for the sake of completion.

And when I say best I mean the one that suits me best. As such I had Voyager Robovision Prime from the first movie, sold him to get ROTF Prime because he looked better, sold him and got Buster Prime. Pretty happy with him now so dunno If I will sell him based on the images we've seen of the new toys. Mind you I did the same with Classics Megatron and Starscream, upgrading to Henkei versions, for me this is all a standard part of TF collecting, it's less about a large all encompasing collection and more about a small fancy one:).

I also downscale too, No doubt I'm in the minority but I sold my voyager movie Ratchet (I never liked the mold) and replaced him with the Deluxe version, becuase to me he evoked the character better and displayed better with my other movie favourites except Buster Prime (also sometimes smaller is better).

ROTF Prime and movie Ironhide remain the only excpetions to the rule, And that was only because I wanted a Prime with hooks to pose with Voyager Megatron and the deluxe crowd.

I really only bought one of each character and even then it had to be a character that interests me. For instance, I bought the 2007 Ironhide (deluxe) and didn't even look twice at other versions.

The only time that I have been tempted to 'upgrade' was getting rid of my Ultimate Bumblebee for the Battle-Ops Bumblebee. That never happened (mostly due to laziness on my part).

Generally I prefer to only have one version of a character/mould, but I agree with the idea of having the 'best version' of a character - I was initially reluctant to get RotF Optimus, but that figure was a massive improvement over what was already a good figure, so it warranted a purchase. A different design may also be a factor: even though I already had '07 Megatron, RotF Megatron warranted a purchase because he was so different.

It also depends on whether or not I like the character/design/updates enough to warrant another purchase. I'm quite happy with my '07 Ratchet and Ironhide figures and don't plan to 'upgrade' either one as of now, nor did I want to upgrade/replace my '07 Barricade or Blackout figures with Interrogator Barricade or Grindor. I have yet to get a second deluxe Bumblebee, although I have been tempted by the Battle Blade version, as it's a new mould.

In addition to my Sideswipe and Jazz deluxes, I also have the HA versions, as even though the basic design was the same, the extra complexity and new features warranted purchases - plus, I liked the characters/designs.

Thread should aptly be named "Vernos thread where he pretends not to understand other peoples collecting patterns"

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Originally Posted by SharkyMcShark

Thread should aptly be named "Vernos thread where he pretends not to understand other peoples collecting patterns"

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Haha, I don't think some people understand their own collecting patterns.

If you had to pick only one figure from the Movieverse to get, it'd have to be any form of RotF Leader-class Optimus. That figure is the definitive piece in showing how to make the movie aesthetic translate into plastic molded form, from the engineering required for the transformation to the screen accuracy. Just comparing it the first film's Leader-class is evidence enough, but stick a photo of Prime from the actual movie between them and you'll see what I mean.

The one thing I don't like about ROTF Leader Prime though is how the blades interfere with the arm articulation when they're retracted. Otherwise he's a sweet sweet toy. TF1 Leader Prime is still a really nice toy in its own right though.

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

The one thing I don't like about ROTF Leader Prime though is how the blades interfere with the arm articulation when they're retracted. Otherwise he's a sweet sweet toy. TF1 Leader Prime is still a really nice toy in its own right though.

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That's my only gripe with mine too, though he doesn't have the TakTom paint job either! Hmph... :p