I was in the simple task of counting my Transformers and... Piranacon counts as one or six Transformers? Transformers with their targetmaster partners counts as one or two? Metroplex is one, two, three or four? And my troop of Autotroopers? Count only one? I count Piranacon as one (he is always combined on my shelf), Transformers that have targetmaster partners as two, Metroplex as two (Metroplex and Scamper) and Autotroopers i stop to count at "three" because they came in groups of three (not very logic, I know) And you? How do you count your Transformers?
i count by individual characters. So i would count Devastator as 7. Though Animated Shockwave is only one. like my Metroplex is 4, between himself and his 3 lil guys. Junkions is 5 and Wreck-Gar. Targetmasters are two, though i only own Cyclonus and Nightstick guy, as well as the other 2 versions of the mold I have. Though admittedly, I'm starting to wonder if Devy is only 6...
Usually starting with 1. Kidding, kidding. IT depends on how displayed. Combiners if together as 1, if in individual mode than as their respective characters. Target masters if displayed being held in weapon mode I only count the larger bot. Pretty much if standing alone as 1, if combined as 1.
I count characters but also Targetmasters, cassettes, Mini-Cons, Headmasters, those little guys. I don't count the combined form of a combiner team. I also don't count KOs, I'd rather buy the actual toy. When it comes to third party products (don't own any yet), I separate third party figures from official toys as it's own collection.
Its always tempting to answer the original question over the actual topic, but mods tend to frown on it learned this when the topic was "where is my seaspray?" And I answered "lost at sea"...sigh On topic I have trouble with this as well, because while target masters are never counted, by me cassettes and gestalts almost always find themselves in a middle ground. The g1 essentially portrayed laserbeak and ravage as drones, while dark of the moon portrayed laserbeak as much more, so dotm almost depends on the day how many decepticons I have in my collection.
I avoid counting in combination or in a group. I usually count them individually. One of the reasons behind this is that by counting this way I convince myself that they are large in number (however I know that they are not and I know I need to get more).
one per character/toy. Combiners themselves don't count as they aren't their own toy, but their components do. Minicons count on their own as well.
As far as G1 goes, technically the 'masters are accessories. I certainly count them as characters, but not stand alone toys, per se. I mean, we all know they are, but I'm just being technical here. Also, Valkysas hit the nail on the head with the combiners. However, if you're collecting G1, you could count gift sets as "one" if the whole set is complete. Though, they can still be counted the same as Valkysas pointed out, too.
It is entirely up to you how you want to count them. For me it just depends. If a figure has a discreet character, like the individual constructicons or combaticons, etc. I count those individually and in my catalog, I make a note of them belonging to a group (Constructicons) or combined robot (Devastator). For the PCC figures packaged individually with a minicon, I count those as one. If I have a 2 figures sold as a set, for instance, OP vs. Megatron and I keep them MISB, I count them as one, but if I open and separate them I count them as 2. If its a figure that has a targetmaster or headmaster, I count them as one since they are almost useless without their counterpart. Its all a matter of preference. For me, I don't really care about the total # as much as I care that there are all cataloged in some way, shape, or form.
It's sort of a grey area for me. If it's the combined form of some weapons in a human-like form, it doesn't count. It's still a weapon to me (except when it's a thing like Metroplex's Sixgun). If it's the combined form of a combiner team, it's it's own entity. If it's a thing like a (Power, Target, Head)master or a Mini-con, it counts. The only things that don't count to me are Human-like weapon configurations & drones from a TF (Generations Thunderwing's nosecone drone for example)
I count each individual robot, but no combined mode and no nebulon partners, that to me is like counting a gun or a head separately. I usually keep my MicroMaster / minicon count separate so as not to inflate the numbers.
Here is how I count them. If they came in one package, like Metroplex or Fortress Maximus, then they are 1 character and it's accessories. The character that come with head, target, or power master is 1 character and it's accessories. If the "other" character, is part of the one that came in the box, then it's not counted. See RiD Prime - Deluxe - Soundwave. Laserbeak would not be counted. If they come bundled like OP vs. Megs or Bumblebee and Arcee then it's 2 characters. Gift sets like G1 Devastator are 6 because it's 6 separate characters that happen to be packaged together..combined modes are never counted, ever except in the next situation, see below. ROTF Supreme Devastator is only 1 because, their individual "characters" are not actual robots. They turn into the vehicles but, not a robot so they don't count individually. If the Legends version of devastator had each character turn into actual robots apart from the combiner form, then it would be considered 5/6. IDK how many come in the Legends package and I'm not sure if they turn into actual robots but, I believe they do, I don't own it and i'm not looking it up. Mini-cons that come packaged separately from a character like the Energon Sword/Shield, are counted separately in this case they would be counted as 3 characters each. If the mini-con is something like what comes with the AM Prime line, then they are not counted as a character but, as an accessory for that character. However they also released the "grab bags" for the Prime line or whatever they are, I believe they will be counted separately. Mini-cons are a touchy subject so it depends on how they showed up for me to depend on how they are counted. All tapes are characters themselves, they have earned their rights to be a fully blown character and not an accessory. I do believe they also come in packages with other tapes and not just with Soundwave/Blaster, which then classifies them in the same situation above with the Energon Sword/shield mini-cons earning their rights to be called a character. Basically, I count each (potentially) individually BOXED character. If it comes with another bot that is an accessory, then is not counted as a bot. Only exception I see to this are the tapes. See above. When I count I want to know how many actual transformers I have and not how many accessories I have. If that makes any sense.
I count by individual characters. Head/Target/Powermasters = 2 characters. *note: double targetmasters and powermasters are 3 characters Combiners by component characters. *example: G1 Devestator = 6 characters; Road Caesar = 3; Landcross = 6; Animated Jetstorm & Jetfire = 2 Minicons are their own characters. *example: Animated & TFP Soundwave & Laserbeak both = 2 Spies are one character. *example: G1 Punch/Counterpunch = 1; Animated Shockwave/Longarm Prime = 1 Other grey areas that I'm not sure about. -- G1 Optimus & Roller? Is Roller worthy enough to be counted as his own character? -- Statues with more than one character. Like the mini-statue with Devestator, Arcee and Hot Rod. I count it as 1, but I guess if you want to convince yourself you have more toys than perhaps you could get away with counting it as 8, using the above combiner logic. -- non-transforming accessories. Like the Unicron head that came with Primus. Or the Headmaster unit that came with Animated Bulkhead. Do they get their own count?
I agree that combiners are individual bots, except for PCC. PCC Dinobots are one. The drones dont think for themselves and serve no purpose but to make the big guy.
I count combiner team members as individuals, if for no other reason than it bumps up the collection count.
