Why do you collect?

[optimus1]

Why Do You Collect?
Like many, I loved them since i was a kid and am now just getting anything that looks good or is a good character to me personally.

Do you collect to play or decorate?
At the moment due to time constraints its mostly to decorate! But will always love playing with them whenever i can. I have a few boxed TFs but will open them whenever i get the chance or want to get the feeling that am getting something new, as i havnt played with them before!

Do you get a new one just for something to review?
No, I tend to get something because it looks good or is a character i want. Other reviews done on a TF does have a little influence on my decision to get something but not much.

Are you collecting to complete your collection or will always add on to it?
No, it will continue to be added upon as new ones come out. I have the main TFs I want already in my collection .
Im not one of those that will search forever to look for ultra-rare TFs, because to me if they the figure is that good, then it shouldnt be rare.
The best TFs to me will always be the ones that are easy enough to get. If something looks good, i'll get it. I prefer Autobots over Decepticons and my collection was more lopsided before but is now starting to even a bit.


Do you ever think you will stop collecting?
No. I thought I might one day, but new engineering and machine tool techniques are allowing better looking TFs to be made. Cyclonus is something im really looking forward to.

Do you collect something just since it is valuable and will sell for a lot of money one day?
Not really, but if am in dire money problems i will need to eat and plastic/metal doesnt sound very nutritious.

[hanprimus]

Why Do You Collect?
I always enjoy playing with toys since I was kid, M.A.S.K, Centurions, Starcom and Transformers etc. Sadly I stopped and came to Australia about 10 yrs ago, which my mum thrown/given away everything. (I don't blame her because I love her more than the toys). Since then I had never buy any toy for myself again until the movie came out last year which light up my inner fire again. But I still don't like most of the movie toys..

Do you collect to play or decorate?
Both.

Do you get a new one just for something to review?
No.

Are you collecting to complete your collection or will always add on to it?
I will always add on to it.

Do you ever think you will stop collecting?
When I have 3 kids.

Do you collect something just since it is valuable and will sell for a lot of money one day?
Sell for a lot of money later? Hell yes! But for now I will just enjoy playing with what I got.
__________________

[GoktimusPrime]

Why Do You Collect?

Overall I love the toys - always loved the fun of transforming a toy from one form to another. And through the toys I've come to be a fan of the mythos/lore.

Do you collect to play or decorate?

I collect primarily with the intention to PLAY - I really love getting down with my toys and escaping into some fantasy where I invent stories and battles etc. I do all the voices, sound effects etc. I don't do it as often as I'd like to because of time constraints.
So most of the time my toys do end up as display items - and I do enjoy displaying them. I couldn't stand storing my toys in boxes. But I started displaying my TFs because it made it easier to play with them! When I started collecting Transformers in 1984 I immediately realised that I loved these toys so much that I didn't want to be rummaging for them through a toy box, so I chose to display them instead. So really, it all comes down to playing!

Do you get a new one just for something to review?

No.

Are you collecting to complete your collection or will always add on to it?

Depends on the series. I want to collect all the characters who appear in the Animated TV show but only one version of each character.

Do you ever think you will stop collecting?

People have been asking me this question since 1986... I haven't stopped collecting TFs since 1984.

Do you collect something just since it is valuable and will sell for a lot of money one day?

No.

[MV75]

Answer to everything:

HE WITH THE MOST TOYS WINS.

It is totally a competition.

heh

[Verno]

Why Do You Collect?
I'm still trying to figure that out.

Do you collect to play or decorate?
Used to play. Now they decorate (otherwise known as collecting dust)

Do you get a new one just for something to review?
No.

Are you collecting to complete your collection or will always add on to it?
Complete the collection. Only a few pieces to go!

Do you ever think you will stop collecting?
Yes. I've stopped once or twice before, but I can now actually see the finish line again.

Do you collect something just since it is valuable and will sell for a lot of money one day?
Yes. Anyone who says no is a liar.

[turtle boy]

Why Do You Collect?
I love Transformers.

Do you collect to play or decorate?
Decorate mostly, I'll have a play when doing a custom or I get something new.

Do you get a new one just for something to review?
No, Never done a review.

Are you collecting to complete your collection or will always add on to it?
I'll always collect. No end of the road here..

Do you ever think you will stop collecting?
No, Unless I get married and It's something my wife and I both find is the best way to go.

Do you collect something just since it is valuable and will sell for a lot of money one day?
No!

[loophole]

Why Do You Collect?
I love the idea/story/toys of Transformers and that i have always wanted all the G1 show toys since i can remember and has since perpetuated from that

Do you collect to play or decorate?
Decorate mainly but sometimes play with them when im sitting an my room

Do you get a new one just for something to review?
No i just buy new one if the look

Are you collecting to complete your collection or will always add on to it?
Just like my car it will NEVER end!

Do you ever think you will stop collecting?
Nope, why would i?

Do you collect something just since it is valuable and will sell for a lot of money one day?
Nope

[Stompy]

Why Do You Collect?
For the engineering of the figures! I am constantly at awe at the marvelous engineering that most of the figures get (especially animated). The alt and robot modes are sometimes so day and night (Animated Lockdown) that you gotta hand it to the engineers. Aesthetics also come in to the equation to a lesser extent. Any Movie Megatron figures were just horrid aethetically speaking while the Animated line really tugs my light-hearted big-kid heartstrings.

Do you collect to play or decorate?
Depends on what you mean by play. I transform them, which I consider to be playing. I don't make scenarios and move my toys about making sound effects or the like. Decorate? I don't decorate my figures. I display them yes. If that's what decorate is alluding to.

Do you get a new one just for something to review?
Strange question as very little of us here do reviews. Proper ones at that. But no. I get one because I want it.

Are you collecting to complete your collection or will always add on to it?
Collecting to get the ones I want. I think it's a herculean task to collect everything and finances wouldn't really allow it to be a reality personally. Although I am finding myself really hooked over the Animated line, so I might complete that, maybe even including repaints. Classics/Universe line too, I might as well as they have great engineering. Not so sure with the QC but I can let those slip by.

Do you ever think you will stop collecting?
If it becomes a burden financially and/or personally, yes. But for the forseeable future. No.

Do you collect something just since it is valuable and will sell for a lot of money one day?
Never. As above. It's all about the engineering for me. So everything gets opened and taken out of their packaging and played with. Regardless of rarity. With everything else I collect. I buy to keep and play with.

Viva TF!

[Trailer Park Ninja]

Why Do You Collect?

This is a question I could apply to many things I've accumulated in my life e.g. comics/transformers/comic action figures.

Essentially, I collect because of personal enjoyment. I collected comics as a kid and well into my adult years because I grew up with superheroes and cartoons/toys.

I love a good story and enjoyed collecting issues particularly Golden/Bronze/Silver Age issues as I loved owning a pivotal story arc or plot line that was an important part of the character's history.

I also loved the fact that I owned a comic like say Amazing Spiderman that was from the 60's and way older than me. I had a piece of history in my hands.

I've stopped collecting individual comics a long time ago because there was a real crap period where there was terrible writing and more gimmicks than anything (please don't flame me as yes there were still some good stories that came out from the dark and gritty era but y'know what I'm talking about..). I still enjoy comics and the stories of Geoff Johns, Bendis, Brubaker to name of few writers, but now settle for getting collected hardcover editions from Kinokuniya as they are much cheaper than buying individual comics. I've sold off many of my comics (and made a nice profit!) but still kept a sizeable collection of titles that meant a personal deal to me.

I'm in the process of culling or getting rid of my entire comic action figure collection as they are taking up a lot of room. But my Transformers collection stays

I've collected many toys as a kid, Transformers of course, M.A.S.K, Masters of the Universe, Centurions etc but Transformers has always been my favourite and dear to my heart. Case in point, I've never had the urge to reacquire any other toy like MOTU, M.A.S.K etc.

I felt so mad at myself when at a young age I sold my transformers to an Aunty for her son. I was so happy when the Hasbro Commemoratives and TFC collection came out as I wanted to get back what I foolishly discarded.

As the movie came out and Transformers was a big in the mainstream, my "hobby" of collecting transformers continues with the mass merchandising, comics, fandom forums like this, cartoons, toylines etc.

I enjoy being part of the fandom community (like this one )that unashamedly admits to revelling in its love for Transformers and the personal enjoyment received in collecting this seemingly immortal toy series.

I collect Transformers as they represent a period of my life where my imagination ran wild and my astonishment of these unique toys and the characters with their perculiar personality traits enthralled and fascinated me till this day.

As long as I derive pleasure from this and my collection, I have continued collecting Transformers till I have all the ones I want.

Do you collect to play or decorate?

A bit of both, but more for display purposes. As a kid, I used to roleplay with my Transformers and create my own stories. As an adult and more of a collector, I don't do this but like to transform my loose figure collection simply because I enjoy the engineering aspect.

I enjoy my MISB collection for display but also love my loose collection for action poses and group displays.

I'm not a pure MISB collector as I do buy duplicates as what fun is there if I can't transform my figures? However, I do enjoy my MISB reissue collection (Hasbro/TFC/Encore) as I also enjoyed the toy packaging and it resembles a toy store. It's a great pick-me-up on days when I'm down and brings me back to fond memories as a child in a toy store/Christmas day/birthday.

Do you get a new one just for something to review?

No, I just get a new transformer as long as the overall design/engineering aspect of the figure is great and the character was a favourite of mine.

Either that or because I don't have it as part of my collection for display.

Are you collecting to complete your collection or will always add on to it?

Mostly, I'm collecting to complete my collection. I've got all the Hasbro Commemorative reissues MISB and nearly all of the Takara reissues (TFC) MISB as part of my collection with only four more to go for the set.

I am collecting the Encore series as well with duplicates for MISB and for display/play.

The Encore series is great for the reason that it re-releases Transformers reissued by Takara/Hasbro with newer reissues and is cheaper to use for display purposes than opening up my MISB TFC/Hasbro reissue collection.

Do you ever think you will stop collecting?

I would say yes, simply for the fact that I don't collect everything and anything Transformers e.g. merchandise, Revoltech, Robot Heroes etc. I was only ever a G1 Transformer fan. I didn't care for G2, Beast Wars, Beast Machines, RID, Armada, Energon, Transformers Movie Line.

I'm not even bothering with the Animated line either as I don't like the stylistic aspect of that toyline.

I've given up trying to get all the Alternators and Binaltech as well as it was too late and expensive for me to backtrack and get that line for me.

I've been collecting G1 reissues as this is in-line with my goal/aim of reacquiring all the Transformers I had as a child and the ones I really wanted but couldn't get but now can e.g. Encore Metroplex, Omega Supreme.

I don't collect any original Transformers due to high prices and finding originals in great/excellent condition is a gamble sometimes. The only exception I'm going to make is finding all the Dinobots as they were my favourites as a kid.

I do collect the Classics/Henkei range as well and the Masterpiece series. These are the exception as the homages to the G1 series.

However, I'm not a completionist by nature now (I've un-trained myself ).

I won't get figures because of QC/design issues despite the fact it could be a favourite character of mine. E.g. Greenscream Masterpiece, Classics Voyager Blaster etc. I'm at peace if that means I might not have the complete Wave X of that toyline.

Lastly, the reason I will stop collecting is because of change in priorities due to lifestyle (travel, family) means there is an opportunity cost involved with the expense of continuing collecting anything and everything Transformers. Also, there is just only so much space I have to house my collection so keeping it finite is paramount to me.

Do you collect something just since it is valuable and will sell for a lot of money one day?

Absolutely not! I have managed funds and shares for investments purposes. I collect because of personal enjoyment.

[STL]

Why Do You Collect?

1. Engineering
2. Nostalgia
3. Creativity

If you'd asked me this question three years ago when I first started, it would've been nostalgia, creativity, engineering. But how things have changed. TFs started to mean more to me the moment I slipped into the Cybertron line. It was only at that point that the possibilities of modern engineering caught my eye. And ever since it's a dominating factor in my collecting.

This was magnified when I met Jaydisc. Before, it was more of an internal/intuitive appreciation of the engineering. Prior to that, I'd conversed mostly with Borgeman, Paulbot and Iceburn who were different collectors and I didn't get a chance to discuss that aspect of TFs with them as much. Iceburn was the MISB guy, Borgeman the nostalgic chap, and Paulbot the fiction/creative bloke. Engineering was very much a secondary issue in those days of discussion. (It seemed so long ago that there was just the 4 of us!)

But talking with that Jaydisc bozo let me get out a lot of things about the engineering that I marvelled at intuitively. That started to give form and substance to how I valued the engineering. I knew I did but I just never had much of an opportunity (or time to sit down and) think about it.

Nostalgia is still a very large part of why I collect. Prime was a dominating figure in my childhood. The never say die attitude, his forgiving nature. Prime was in many ways a role model for me as a child. Not in the sense that I wanted to turn into a massive red truck (oh okay, I did want to at some point) but in the sense that I aspired to be like him, to possess his traits. He's simple but simplicity is a beautiful thing that's rare in our world today. And nostalgia, hence, has always stuck with me not just in the sense that it was a fond part of my childhood but it's also meant a lot to me on a more personal level.

And well, creativity has been shafted. I've always had a creative spark but that's no more than a dream that will never be fulfilled in me. Between everything else in life, I don't have the time for it which saddens me so. The fictional possibilities, the visual possibilities (not to mention the engineering possibilities) were what fascinated me and still do but TF fiction is very poor unfortunately. I once harboured thoughts of writing stories, drawing comics, making photocomics designing transformers, customising, but those will be small embers of creativity in the next decade. My career path will simply not allow that and I've stopped kidding myself that I will be able to find the time. I can't and that's a reality I just have to accept.

Do you collect to play or decorate?

Really, to play in the sense that I work my way through them. My play is purely experiencing a transformation and the poseability of a toy. I find that in this scale is relevant b/c it affects the synergies you get in displaying and posing the figures.

I have recently progressed to "decorate" though and have started to place lots of value in collecting packaging that is displayable. I think theDamned started it in me when I marvelled at his display room and Jaydisc compounded that little by little since he has shelves of packaged goods that are displayed attractively. It's not my primary purpose for collecting; however it is becoming more relevant as I near the end of what I still want to get and reason why doubles are increasingly relevant in my collection so that I can trash the packaging of one and keep the other MISB for display.

Do you get a new one just for something to review?

Never. First and foremost is to enjoy.

Are you collecting to complete your collection or will always add on to it?

Maybe at one stage I was planning to complete everything. But then when I started viewing a lot of collections that had heaps and heaps of stuff, I started to realise while as awesome as it may appear, there's a lot of inconsequential insignificant clutter you start to amass in the name of completion. So that's changed my mindset and I no longer have that completionist urge in me. I'll collect stuff I place value in rather than trying to complete every figure in every line.

That said, the only thing I ever plan to complete is USA/Real G1 and Classics 1.0/2.0. Nostalgia drives that.


Do you ever think you will stop collecting?

Surprisingly, I believe I will. Nothing lasts forever. I've recently thought about it. I've wondered if I could let go and I found that I could. If I left tmrw, I'd have no regrets about leaving all the TFs behind.

Do you collect something just since it is valuable and will sell for a lot of money one day?

Principally no. But it does play a part. As Verno says, I'd be lying if I said it doesn't factor into calcuations. For instance, I've got a MISB original Rattrap and MIB Overlord that I've rarely even touched (well, okay I've played in the case of Overlord). I love both toys to bits but one remains unopened and the other one's straight in storage b/c of "space issues". But truth be told, even if I had the space, I'd leave him box and only ever bring him out to play with once in a while. Maybe when I grab a doube that might change.

But yes, value is factored in so I try to preserve what value I can. Not b/c I plan on selling them but b/c when I die, I'd like my estate to be able to sell them off and give the money to my family and friends. I've toyed with the idea of having a nominated TF trustee to liquidate them in that event. I'm not a pessimist no, but we all die some day and it's good to know what you've left behind and to whom.