g1 prime missing hands, trailer and weapons at a yard sale, just months after it came out. my first new in box was g1 swoop.
G1 Snarl was the first I remember getting as a xmas present. I'm pretty sure I had Topspin and Windcharger before that.
Optimus Prime. Either 1984 or 1985 for Christmas (or maybe my birthday). I don't think I knew anything about Transformers beforehand. Definitely never asked for one.
G1 Sunstreaker. I had told my Mom and Dad that I wanted the red Lamborghini transformer, meaning Sideswipe, for Christmas, but I got Sunstreaker instead. Of course, I loved it, I still have it (no longer in the box though) and it wasn't until years later that I got Sideswipe. My second one I bought with my own money, G1 Mirage. Unfortunately it broke in half a few months later. Tim "toy geek"
I was 3 in 86 so I have random memories. I remember getting Thrust and maybe a Maxx Steele from a friend of my mom's that my dad affectionately referred to as "Aunt Jugs" when we visited her once, but it seemed like I always had Rodimus Prime (and hated that I didn't have Hot Rod), Blurr, and some others. I remember getting Ultra Magnus for my birthday. I have no idea when any of this happened.
Windcharger. Got it at a Kmart in 1984. Still have it too. Missing a wheel but transformers fine and the joints are somewhat good.
I remember buying Erector on sale at Woolworths back in 1991 when most stores had started to clear out their G1 stock. (Remember, TF's had disappeared from U.S. shelves for about 18 months or so up until the 1992 Christmas shopping season when G2 started to arrive on shelves.) Still have the figure and it hasn't aged a day. It was a kick ass figure then and it is a kick ass figure now.
I think a better question to ask is how many of us still have some of our old figures from over 30 years ago. Me ? I still have ALL of them. Crappy shape, dust collectors in some ways. Trailbreaker won't even transform after I super glued him back in 85' after his legs broke. Same with Mirage and my Hound has been stuck in robot mode for probably 25 years as I do not want to break it trying to convert it back to the jeep. I got Blaster in a trade in 85' and still got him too. Out of all of my old G1 figures from back in the 80's for some reason Kup has held up the best.
First ever transformer would be longhaul followed by the rest of devastator, then at the age of 10 i brought the optimusprime and megatron 2 pack from beast wars first transformers i ever brought myself, i was going for dinobot but it had sold, next i saved up and brought polar claw, after that my first transformer as a adult was transformer classics 1.0 rodimusprime with all his wave mates followed by the voyagers from another store, followed by transformers amarda megatron then a whole heap of basic deluxes and ultras, then i brought primus a month later followed by supream starscream, then i got given my first alternator. i can keep this up for the last 10 years all i need to do is look at the toy and i know when i brought it or it got gifted to me
2007 deluxe bee, still love the alt. mode. Though, I did throw it away since i thought it was "broke". Poor 5 year old me.
Robo Machines Dump Truck. Even though it isn't an official Transformer, it will always be remembered as my first. Then (official) was the two pack of Rumble & Ravage. I was amazed that they could do not only 'tapes' into robots but one of them was also a robot animal!
Unfortunately I have lost three Transformers collections and several other figures to my mother's sense of charity. First my season 1, 2, and 3 figures, then the Master-era collection (ended up being mostly action and micromasters but sooo many bases I would love to still have), and finally the G2 collection, which was the biggest of the three as I was pretty much only buying Transformers. That was also when I started trying to display them until one day I am told i need to learn to take better care of my room and grow out of toys. Neither took. Fortunately years later a buddy of mine gave me a Powermaster Prime he'd managed to hold on to and I was bit by nostalgia for a time. I bought a few of the commemorative releases, including my desktop residents Tracks and Starscream. Of my G1 toys, I am most fond of my shining, glorious God Ginrai/PMOPAA reissue.
1985...X-mas...got both G1 Ironhide and Ratchet as well as Prowl and Bumblebee and the Bot himself...PRIME!
Christmas of 1986; G1 Galvatron who I still have till this day. I remember my father having to go out in the blistering cold to get batteries because my mother had forgot. 3 year old me would drive my order sister crazy running around the apartment firing Galvatron to my hearts content.
Cybertron Landmine, I believe. The first ones that really clicked to me then were Voyager Classics Prime and Voyager MV1 Megs, ironic how Landmine is one of my all-time favorites these days.
Bluestreak here. He got broken pretty badly right after I got him which was right around the premiere of the G1 cartoon. Around 2000 I bought a couple of junkers to replace the three window pieces. The main body and wheels are all original. As you can see at one point I had tried to tighten his shoulders resulting in the sticker damage. Part of me wants to get reprolabels and finish refurbishing him but there is so much love for him in his current state.
Skywarp in 84. I was into Gobots & knew the Transformers were coming. All they had were the 3 seekers. Took me over an hour to pick one. But purple is my favorite color so Skywarp inevitably won.