for me I used to limit myself to $50 a figure, but now that I'm a grown successful "mature" adult, I usually limit it to $100 per.

 

A normal/official deluxe will cost you $35 in Norway, retail. Sometimes I can find them cheaper on ebay including shipping.

 

The thing to remember is that these boards have everything from early teens with part-time or no jobs to very financially secure adults.

Of course you are going to get different price tolerances. This isn't some import car board where most everyone is at a certain minimum level financially.

 

To me the right price for a transformer is the retail price. Anything you can get below that through sales and deals is cutting out your overhead so you can grab even more robots. I really need to slow down as lately it seems I'm collecting everything. I'm High on rescue bots toys. $14.50 for Fire Base Prime started it two weeks ago and now I have the bumblebee garage, all the human partner vehicles, Hoist, Medix, Chase, Optimus Prime, Blades, and Boulder.

I also buy a lot of third party transformers and mastepieces so I'm no stranger to high end figures. Alternity, Binaltech, Alternators and Masterpieces Proudly displayed.

 

I bought my holy grail, Grand Maximus, back in 2001 for $450. I can't possibly spend more than that again on any TF because I can't appreciate any figure more than Grand Maximus.

The most recent high priced item I bought was Beast Wars II Diver w/ playset for $140 shipped. It killed me to have Lio Convoy, Apache, Bighorn, Scuba, and Tasmanian Kid, without Diver among them so I just had to get him.

 

hmmm, well depends on demand of the figure and how much i really like it. Will I spend $90 on MP Sideswipe? No, but Ill spend the $160 on MP Soundwave.

 

About $600+ for TFC Hercules when all was said and done (all six bots plus the Rage of the Hercules add-on set). I'm sure TFC Uranus will be another wallet buster. XD FP Bruticus was about $300-$350 in the end (with Reprolabels and modding PCC Heavytread as Brawl). But a singular figure would probably be around $200, which is about what I spent on MP-10 Convoy (including shipping from Newegg.com and eBates special).

 

At this point, after dropping $600 on Hercules, I don't hink I have a limit. sorta

When it comes to new offerings and the retail price is what it is (as in higher than expected) and I want the figure I will buy it. All the TT only Prime figures is proof of this.
When it comes to 3P stuff it is a matter of gauging prices with comparible items and how much interest I have in the item. I could not pull the trigger on the $100 PE Arcee.

As for ebay and older figures; I become much more frugal. AFA prices are the craziest thing I have ever seen EVER. Most loose G1's sell for reasonable prices but I refuse to pay for MISB because it sells for way more and I open all my figures anyway.



Long story short:
Different rules for different purchases.

 

I think it is all relative o the toys themselves,

To me , afa stuff is too much for what you get (ie I would rather have 3 mib toys than one afa sealed one).

I've spent a bit on a grand max but he is big and awesome, but I couldnt spend $1000 + on an original Dino cassette set or some rare Japanese headmaster heads.

 

The most I've spent on a single TF is like £150, but I could spend much, much more depending on current funds, how bad I want it, availability etc.

 

Or you get teens who have a steady income and adults with part-time/no jobs. XD

 

My problem is that I have Fort Max taste on a Legions Prime budget.

 

Pretty much what Omnius said, within reason. I think a Grand Max is worth $3k but I wouldn't spend that, because I don't have it  

It depends on my available cash, my desire to own the figure, and value relative to rarity. Most I've spent on a single figure is $800 and I still think that was worth it.

 

£50, but I still spend it anyways.

 

For me, it's not about the money, it's about space, or starting to be a lack thereof.

But to fully answer the question, it depends on the figure, and if I want it. But of course rules are made to be broken...

For a standard deluxe figure from any main line, I will buy when it's at least 25% off, but there's a couple of figures where I broken my rule.

I'm not poor, nor am I loaded with money, so setting a rough guideline of max spending per month is the best method for me.

It also helps that I know certain shows I go to, will be a money pit, so I try to spend less in the months around it less. TFCon in late July, and Fan Expo in late August. It's been constant in the past several years, and both shows I make sure I set a reasonable amount.

Biggest purchase is like most people's....Fort Max. I'm sure 3rd party will be making things for collectors in the future to make Fort Max seem like lunch at McD's.

 

I was thinking about this recently as well. My limit is right around $500. I have hit that mark a few times, and I'm not comfortable going over that. I suppose it's possible I could some day see a piece of awesomeness where I would consider breaking the bank, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon.

I was able to get Hercules, but I pulled several trades as well, so that kept my out of pocket costs lower on that figure.

 

Depends o na lot of factors:
Available money - Depending on how much cash is avaliable will determine if I'm willing to spend. If the cash flow is really good in a particular month, I'd be more willing to shell out.

Other responsibilities - I'm married with 2 kids now. I don't spend anywhere near the amount of money I spent when I was in college or single and working.

The figure itself - Let's be honest. Some Transformers are just better than others. Really good figures can get money out of me quicker than ones that are just decent. (For instance I'd rather spend $400 on Make Toy's Giant rather than $90 on FOC Bruticus. Not that Bruticus is bad, I just think Giant is much better. And Devastator is my favorite combiner ever...which brings me to my last point)

Sentimental value - If the truth were told, I'd drop more on an Optimus Prime, Jazz, or Devastator than many others. Same goes for the lilkes of many G1 remakes vs some of the newer stuff. The fact that many 3rd party companies are just rolling out toys that we could have only wished for back in the day is always a compelling argument for spending the extra dollar.

So in closing, I wish I had more than I do to spend on Transformers, but I'm glad that here we are so many years later still havin a conversation about buying Transformers. Hopefully we'll still be talking another 20 years from now!

 

It depends on the figure and "bang for your buck". Why should I spend hundreds on Brave Max when it will deplete my budget and I won't have the cash to spend on toys that can interact with it?

 

If I want the figure for its price and I have the expendable money there is no limit.

 

Depends on the toy. I want prime unicron, but he's only as expensive as he is because if the marketing situation. Hard pill to swallow..