You know, when I was collecting the original G1 toys, I was like 10-12-years-old-ish. I had a decent collection, although mostly Autobots, and mostly mini-bots, because I could afford them. I always wished I had Mirage, Soundwave, Jetfire, and Thundercracker and Skywarp, among others. My parents wouldn't get me Megatron because he was a gun and I couldn't afford him on my own.

I hadn't expected plastic to get so brittle and stiff: I'm kind of afraid to handle them now. Jazz is already broken, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper are falling apart...now I learn of these Classics and think I can upgrade and expand my collection! I'm an adult and can buy myself toys if I want to! There's just a little problem...extended periods of unemployment, underemployment, grad school, and student loans have conspired to leave me with no money.      

 

I wish you had gotten on the Classics wagon while they were still available.
Hopefully, they'll rerelease the first set of figures along with the 2.0 figures.

 

So are you saying they're not available now? Even online?

 

Some might still be found in the Clearance aisles of Wal-Mart, or online shops. The rarer and/or more popular ones, like Megatron (gun), Starscream, and Grimlock might take some extra work/money to obtain.

Edit: After a quick check, HasbroToyShop.com still has Classics Cliffjumper, Mirage, and Optimus Prime available for standard retail price or cheaper, not counting shipping.

 

I suggest starting out with the classics and a few Alternators if you can find them for a good price. A few well made knock offs won't hurt either imo.