Renting

[tron07]

If you have sufficient downpayment, get your own place... you can do it up as you like.

With a rented property, you would probably have to move every couple of years, and moving around isnt easy.

Problems with renting in Syd;
-Your rent increase every 6 month or so, unless you stay in lousy surburbs and then risk getting break in, etc...
-Owner want to sell, take back to stay ownself, etc... forcing you to relocate
-difficult to get a rented property, as supply is pretty limited and lot of demand, lot people looking to rent
-have to deal with the hassle of relocating, need to change address, hire movers, your furniture might not fit your new place, etc...
-you will need to pay rent, might as well pay your mortgage
-you cant really make any modification to the place as its rented, hardwood flooring, partition, nailing the wall, etc.


If you dont have downpayment, then you dont have much choice but to stick with renting.

[GoktimusPrime]

What suggestions and tips have people got, especially with a lot of us lugging around sizable collections?

I'm just gonna assume you've never tried moving a large collection before, so please forgive me if any of this sounds very obvious.

When packing your Transformers, transform them all to alt mode as it's more compact and more resistant to breakage compared to robot mode (esp. with G1 figures), then you'd pack them in boxes as you would when posting toys - fill them with as much material to protect them as possible, bubble wrap, torn up shreds of paper, those foam bits etc. and naturally you'd put the smaller toys toward the top and the bigger toys toward the bottom. Put all weapons/accessories either in a separate container, and/or in zip-lock bags (you may also choose to put the individual toys in zip-lock bags for extra protection too). Naturally if you still have the boxes for some toys then that's even better.

Separate the toys into different boxes for different series, e.g. G1, G2, Binaltech etc. and clearly label the boxes with a permanent marker. This makes it handy when unpacking and setting up your new collection room. I remember the first time I moved out of my parent's home I just packed all my Transformers into boxes without specifically labelling what was in what... then when I moved into my new room, I had to unpack all my toys and lay them out in order on the floor for several days while I gradually shelved them in order. I had 2 flatmates at the time, so I ended up sleeping on the couch for a while until all my toys had been shelved and I had enough floor space to move my bed in! I personally wouldn't trust removalists to move my toys. I'm happy to use them to move furniture and other stuff, but for valuables I'd move them myself.

Hope that helps, and best of luck with your move!