Page 4 of 50 FirstFirst ... 234567891424 ... LastLast
Results 31 to 40 of 497

Thread: The Decision Thread

  1. #31
    Join Date
    31st Jul 2012
    Location
    Melbourne CBD
    Posts
    1,889

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
    Most toys don't appreciate very well, if at all. And of those who do, they usually have an extremely slow rate of appreciation (unless it's something special like a limited exclusive of course). IMO it's better to collect toys because it's something you enjoy rather than as a form of investment. If people want to invest their money, they're better off buying stockmarket shares, blue chips or just opening a long term savings account at a bank.

    Anyway, here's my decision dilemma:
    I have a contact in Japan who's gradually getting me various toys and is holding them at his place until everything's done and send them off to me in one package. This is what I'd initially asked him to do because with Japan Post, the cost of shipping gets relatively cheaper per kg with larger and bulkier boxes. But the wait is frustrating. So far he's gotten me Arms Micron Skywarp, Arms Micron Breakdown and TF Generations 2012. Masterpiece Sunstorm should be coming out for me later this month. Then there's nothing until December when United Artfire comes out, then later Amazon MP Lambor and Amazon MP Soundwave... so it may be early to mid 2013 by time everything arrives at my friend's place and he ends off shipping it all off to me!

    As I said, the wait is frustrating... but also part of me is kinda fearful that I may be putting all my eggs in one basket, if you take my meaning... i.e. if anything should happen to that one box during transit, then an entire year's worth of TF purchases could be compromised. So... should I:
    a) Ask my friend to send me the Arms Micron toys, book and MP Sunstorm first in one package, then United Artfire and the MPs in a second box later on (and pay for two shipments), or...
    b) Stick to my original plan and just be patient. Possibly pay extra for registered or insured postage since it's a single shipment. Although that can get really expensive which would probably negate any savings made from a single shipment... might be cheaper to get them sent to me in 2-3 shipments.

    I'm already getting most of these toys relatively cheap because they have earlybird discounts for preorders... and AM Skywarp was purchased during a toy sale from local retail. AM Breakdown and the TF Gen book may be the only 2 items that I'm paying full RRP for, so considering that I'm already making a saving on the price of the items, maybe I shouldn't be so tight with the cost of postage. Thoughts/advice?
    It really depends on the saving and if your in financial strain, but i would get what he already has for you sent now and than get him to send another package when the rest comes out. Also it can be beneficial with less items sent, more padding can be used to secure all items, but the more items sent together i would imagine less padding would be used cause the boxes hold each other in place, and i usually find if that is the case, dents may appear on various sides of the boxes.

  2. #32
    Join Date
    14th Nov 2009
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    2,896

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by KalEl View Post
    is it valuable though? put if this way im in the same boat i have probably less than five bots mint in package still so its a tough one.
    If you've got Animated Cybertronian mode Ironhide, he needs a leader

    I saw loads of Takara TFA Rodimus' (Rodimi?) whilst in HK mid this year, so they're pretty replaceable, despite their better colour scheme. Also, this looks like a good buy price for me.

    I really enjoyed Animated, and there was some hype (from some fans anyways), but I think overall prices will fall for remain static. Exclusives like Elite Guard Prowl fell from $70-100 range when it came out, to about $50 now; and Black OP from a crazy high at $200 to $120-ish the last time I checked.

  3. #33
    Join Date
    5th Jul 2010
    Location
    Mornington Peninsula
    Posts
    2,900

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by SuspectimusPrime View Post
    If you've got Animated Cybertronian mode Ironhide, he needs a leader

    I saw loads of Takara TFA Rodimus' (Rodimi?) whilst in HK mid this year, so they're pretty replaceable, despite their better colour scheme. Also, this looks like a good buy price for me.

    I really enjoyed Animated, and there was some hype (from some fans anyways), but I think overall prices will fall for remain static. Exclusives like Elite Guard Prowl fell from $70-100 range when it came out, to about $50 now; and Black OP from a crazy high at $200 to $120-ish the last time I checked.
    done deal! opening it right now! and im gonna review it!
    Follow me on twitter:
    @Kal_ElofKrypton
    @Soundwaves_cast

  4. #34
    Join Date
    14th Nov 2009
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    2,896

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
    IMO it's better to collect toys because it's something you enjoy rather than as a form of investment. If people want to invest their money, they're better off buying stockmarket shares, blue chips or just opening a long term savings account at a bank.
    Agreed, it's never a good idea to mix business and pleasure . If making money from a hobby ends up souring, it may change one's perspective towards that hobby as well.

    Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
    ...the cost of shipping gets relatively cheaper per kg with larger and bulkier boxes. But the wait is frustrating.
    Is this a constant rate or does it becomes cheaper exponentially? Unless the savings becomes a drastic amount, then its hard to justify - say the cost of shipping per figure drops from $20/fig, to say $8/fig which roughly the cost of travel for making a local acquisition.

    Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
    As I said, the wait is frustrating... but also part of me is kinda fearful that I may be putting all my eggs in one basket, if you take my meaning... i.e. if anything should happen to that one box during transit, then an entire year's worth of TF purchases could be compromised. So... should I:
    a) Ask my friend to send me the Arms Micron toys, book and MP Sunstorm first in one package, then United Artfire and the MPs in a second box later on (and pay for two shipments), or...
    b) Stick to my original plan and just be patient. Possibly pay extra for registered or insured postage since it's a single shipment. Although that can get really expensive which would probably negate any savings made from a single shipment... might be cheaper to get them sent to me in 2-3 shipments.
    I think either way you should get some insurance, because unlike eBay and purchases from online stores, there will be nobody else to turn to if that unfortunate mishap does occur.

    Just to throw some more concerns into the mix , responding to each option respectively:
    a) In terms of chance of a mishap occurring, there's a greater chance that it will occur if you increase the number of deliveries. Say chance of surviving transit is 99%, then to expect that to occur on all three goes, you're asking for 0.99 x 0.99 x 0.99 = 0.97; or a 3% chance that a mishap will happen to at least one box.
    b) A larger box may be stacked with other larger boxes during transit, and those other larger boxes may contain heavier items which may cause damage to your package/contents upon transit (crushing or tossed together during transit).

    Having mentioned that, the great majority of my collection has been bought outside of Australia (at least 80% in the last few years, due to price or availability) and I've only ever had one delivery issue, and that was with China.

  5. #35
    Join Date
    8th Jun 2012
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    5,306

    Default

    I would stick to the one package, depending on how desperate you are. Always never think of the worst-case scenario. If you are quite anxious to get a hold of some, get them over here soon. If you can be tolerant, keep them in one. It really depends on your patience.

  6. #36
    Join Date
    19th Dec 2008
    Location
    HK
    Posts
    3,250

    Default

    Breakdown is pretty awesome...if you haven't found Oz to give you a sufficient plastic crack fix this year you might as well get them sooner rather than later.
    You've got Knock Out already, right?

  7. #37
    Join Date
    29th Jun 2011
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    2,606

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime View Post
    So... should I:
    a) Ask my friend to send me the Arms Micron toys, book and MP Sunstorm first in one package, then United Artfire and the MPs in a second box later on (and pay for two shipments), or...
    b) Stick to my original plan and just be patient. Possibly pay extra for registered or insured postage since it's a single shipment. Although that can get really expensive which would probably negate any savings made from a single shipment... might be cheaper to get them sent to me in 2-3 shipments. Thoughts/advice?
    Someone else here on the boards (might have been Paulbot... but can't be sure - apologies if I'm wrong) said something once along the lines of buying at full or a higher initial price is a tax on impatience. I'm thinking that time being the elastic beast it is, travels far more slowly when we're anticipating something cool. I've got a couple of things due to arrive in the next few weeks, and I'll likely have to wait until my birthday to open them. It's only in September and yet feels like an age away.
    I say wait, unless the money you would be saving is not an issue. Patience is a virtue... which is not to say I've always been so virtuous...

  8. #38
    Join Date
    27th Dec 2007
    Location
    Sydney NSW
    Posts
    37,637

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Kazza View Post
    It really depends on the saving and if your in financial strain, but i would get what he already has for you sent now and than get him to send another package when the rest comes out. Also it can be beneficial with less items sent, more padding can be used to secure all items, but the more items sent together i would imagine less padding would be used cause the boxes hold each other in place, and i usually find if that is the case, dents may appear on various sides of the boxes.
    Hmm... that's a good point. And Artfire doesn't come out until December (which means there's a possibility that my friend won't receive it until January, depending on how fast they ship it out to him) -- so there's several months for me to financially recover after sending the first box.

    Quote Originally Posted by SuspectimusPrime View Post
    Is this a constant rate or does it becomes cheaper exponentially? Unless the savings becomes a drastic amount, then its hard to justify - say the cost of shipping per figure drops from $20/fig, to say $8/fig which roughly the cost of travel for making a local acquisition.
    It gets cheaper as the box gets bigger/heavier, but then the saving kinda peters out after a certain size. So if I have Sunstorm, the two Arms Microns and the book in one box... there's a good chance that I won't make much more of a saving by including the others or not.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ode to a Grasshopper View Post
    You've got Knock Out already, right?
    No!

    Quote Originally Posted by M-bot View Post
    Someone else here on the boards (might have been Paulbot... but can't be sure - apologies if I'm wrong) said something once along the lines of buying at full or a higher initial price is a tax on impatience.
    Yeah, Paulbot calls it impatience tax. But in this case, except for Breakdown, I've paid less than full retail price for all these toys. So considering that I'm already paying less than full price for most of these toys, I'm seriously tempted to use that money saved to just get some of the toys sent sooner. And I also suspect that I may have "capped" that point where I would make much more savings by having it sent in a single box anyway.

    Quote Originally Posted by M-bot View Post
    Patience is a virtue... which is not to say I've always been so virtuous...
    Heh, me too. Although sometimes impatience can be a virtue too (in toy collecting) -- i.e. the number of times I see some toys go for ridiculously inflated aftermarket prices and I've thought to myself, "Gee... glad I picked it up as soon as I saw it when it came out!" (or pre-ordered it before it came out) -- but a lot of other times it works against me when I buy a toy at full price, then later it gets massively discounted. Ah well... as long as I'm not paying _above_ full retail, then I'm satisfied.

    ...atm I'm seriously tempted to get the toys sent separately now. I'll wait until after MP Sunstorm's received, and after I've made some other payments and reconsider it then.

  9. #39
    Join Date
    2nd Jan 2008
    Location
    Quakers Hill
    Posts
    11,185

    Default

    Just make sure to pay for registering your package Gok, you never know.......
    Wanted AM partner Vanguard, Myclones Dirge, G1 Victory Leo, e-hobby Dark scream ( the black version), e-hobby Magnificus
    Parts- AM partner Basher-side guns, G1 Actionmaster Elite Windmill's blades[I][B]

  10. #40
    Join Date
    5th Jul 2010
    Location
    Mornington Peninsula
    Posts
    2,900

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by KalEl View Post
    done deal! opening it right now! and im gonna review it!
    It is open and reviewed!!! check it out guys and girls
    Follow me on twitter:
    @Kal_ElofKrypton
    @Soundwaves_cast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •