Buying for the sake of buying

[ChlorHex]

I think every collector would go thru the "buying for the sake of buying" phase of their collecting.
that's the most exciting yet terribly draining phase of collecting as it becomes more of an addiction.
this was like what? 15 years back when i was snapping up anything TF i could lay my eyes on.
worst bit was buying multiples of the same figure (i did that the most with Beast Wars where I had every figure ever produced by Hasbro & Takara in duplicates)... 1 to open, 1 to keep MISB, 1 to trade, etc, etc.
the MISB BW lot i've still kept to this day (at me folks') to remind me of that crazy phase of my life... every MISB BW bot had a unique acquisition story
looking back now, i'm amazed at how carried away i was.
i pissed off the ex-girlfriend then as i dragged her shopping for toys whenever we had the time and my room was literally filled to the brim with toys!
I had to place my bed in the middle of the room as i'd bought shelves for all 4 walls to display and store my collection (which seriously drove the ex insane! LOL).
these days, i'm older (and hopefully a little wiser) with me own family and toys are no longer a priority.
i just buy what i like after bills (they never end) have been paid and essentials for the family have been taken care of... which means I don't get to buy much these days!

[Kyle]

A very good topic. Collecting toys is an addiction worse than drugs. I look at my pile and ask myself WTF everyday.

[Zippo]

Having just got back from my storage shed, I have had several 'what the fudge was I thinking' moments. Since I keep on re-organising how I collect, I have quite a few toys in the sealed collection that are just not needed anymore ..

I have decided that I am collecting Sealed G1 and G2 (both Japanese and American, but not other versions), BT's and Alternators, Classics and Reissues. No kids toys, no movie toys etc..

[SilverDragon]

I'm not sure whether I ever bought for the sake of it-I usually had a reason, even if it was only "I want to see how automorphing/Cyber Planet Keys/insert gimmick here works".

I think I've become more selective nowadays, focusing on characters I like and characters with dinosaur alt modes.

[SofaMan]

Actually, I went through a moment maybe 5 or 6 years back where I went "WTF?" and decided to think about what I loved. Money was tight at the time, and I felt like I needed to bring more focus to my collecting. I was buying a lot of non-TF transforming toys reflexively, and not getting much joy from them. I thought about it for a while, and these are the self-imposed 'rules' that work for me:

1) No repaints. I wouldn't say that I never break this rule, but there are usually pretty compelling reasons when I do, so it is infrequent. If a toy has play value, buying the same toy in a different colour isn't going to improve the play value.

2) What lines do you love? For me, it was Transformers first, Masters of the Universe second, and M.A.S.K. third. Everything else has been dropped, and things I want from the latter 2 lines now come up so rarely that it doesn't eat into my budget in a big way.

3) Avoid toys with little or no play value. My hobby is all about the play, and if there is not something compelling about the play value of a toy, I'll avoid it. If it is ludicrously cheap I may sometimes buy one just to have an example in my collection, but will usually avoid. Things like Bumper Battlers, merchandise like costumes or toothbrushes, Armada Laserbeak, etc.

4) Where possible, wait for the sales. This one probably saves me over $500 a year.

[The_Damned]

i buy too many cant help it have to have them all .......

[Vector Sigma 13]

Great discussion- i sure can relate to many of you.

Ive always questioned why people have to keep Transformers MISB. It always gave me the impression that people were preserving these items in their packages to maintain or gain value.
I tend to think that anything i collect from the G1 era will at least hold its value, i dont care if it doesnt rise in value. The theory is if i get stuck for $$$ i could reclaim what ive spent by the sale of them (lol,if i could let them go!). Packaging is not important to me in g1's as i like to be able to take them out and play with them with the kids (with lots of supervision of course). They are really fun toys after all.

Ive been thinking a lot about collecting the new stuff to the point of -i reccon ill be putting all the universe gear up for sale soon. It just doesnt give me the same enjoyment as the old stuff. So then ill be just collecting g1 and maybe some of the movie stuff (characters in the movie).

[GoktimusPrime]

The problem with the idea of collecting toys as a financial investment is that they're generally a very _poor_ form of investment because they appreciate in value very slowly - and more often than not, they don't appreciate at all and many figures depreciate (I recently found MOSC Darth Mauls for like five bucks at fairs). It can be hard to know which toys will become popular in ten or twenty years' time. Look back at the 1989 line in G1... I happened to receive both Bludgeon and Thunderwing as gifts. At the time neither character had appeared in the comics and I had no idea that they would become such sought after and valuable figures. Simon Furman said that had he known Bludgeon would've become so popular that he would've bought box loads of them for cheap back in 1989. Investment is based on speculation and I think it can be difficult to make accurate speculations in the future markets when it comes to toys.

Investing in toys is generally a much, much poorer form of investment compared to say investing in real estate or stock market shares.

[JuzMel]

A very good topic. I myself have been asking the same questions since a few months back. I chatted to Icy a couple of time telling him and sometimes I'm really sick and tired of all the "chasing" of the new toys that come out, having to buy them at sales and then refund the more expensive ones, or even worse, the price-matching nightmare; it causes such a stress to your mental state of mind (when you need to argue your way through with the sales person) that I just couldn't be bothered anymore.

When I first started collecting after the 2007 Movie, I would open up each and every TF to play and transform, leave them on the shelves (to breath some fresh air ) for a few weeks and then put them back into the box because I didn't want them to collect dust. But as time went by, I kept buying more and more and didn't even have time to open and play with each and everyone of them (as in the same case as Paul mentioned), that I sometimes think to myself, why do I keep buying then? I sometimes just stand in front of my shelves with stacks of MISB TFs and wonder, "which one should I pick to open?" And in the end land up opening none. The only series which I actually do open (a few) to play are G1s and Animated because they are my favourite.

I guess all those were reasons as to why I decided to stop collecting certain class like Legends or Scouts and decided to sell them instead. Movie series isn't exactly my cup of tea too, and thus I'm waiting to see which characters appear in the second movie and I'll probably start selling those that do not. Generally I prefer to collect TFs which actually appear in the cartoons of comics because they seemed more "real" to me.

These days I'm also much more selective. In the past, I would just buy the new TF that came out on the shelves regardless of the price. Nowadays I just look and think if it's worth it, otherwise I wait for a sale or something. I'm also lazy to check out the retail stores to see if there are new TFs particularly this period, if I happen to walk in, then I'll just pop by the section for a look or something.

[autobreadticon]

I can relate to many, not forgoing the chance to get a toy before it becomes harder to find and more expensive, as a collector you want to save your self the trouble later, there's nothing wrong with what you collect it's more to do with how you go about it, when I started collecting movie toys I thought wow I will collect all these toys since I missed out before, I brought a heap of deluxes only to return them hours later bcuz there was no passion no love for these toys, sure they maybe good toys but for me I may transform them a few times in a space of a week after getting them, did I want to be struck with toys I had no desire for, this is how I became a fan of Takara TF for the simply fact they have collectors interest at heart. At a time of reflection I came to understand why I collect since that thead was started, collecting toys brings back memories of a happier time on life, collecting is fun but it should always be exactly that. It's good you raise this point Paul, if you getting toys and either not appreciating them or not proudly displaying them what's the purpose of buying ? If you are buying them and show no love for them ,are you really a collector? For me this thead shares my sentiment and that there isn't a right or wrong it's about receiving the maximal joy, pride and fulfilment in your collecting, without them it will feel like you are purchasing with material desire in mind and not for the enjoyment. In my situation I don' t ever think I will be a completist for the simply fact I collect what I like..