when new toys that come out its all hype. there is no reason some of these reissues are as expensive as they are.

 

But MP-04 is the best of the best. He's the epitomy of all TFs. He's not some obscure TF character molded into a brick with arms from 20 years ago (that is now at best somewhat rusty and fragile) that only functions as a display piece, if he's allowed to be seen outside his box at all. He's the best representation of one of the most iconic robot heroes ever. And anyone with the dough can own a new one of him now, not a toy that's been sitting in someone's room or basement which might or might not be legit.

Glad I got mine at his cheapest price before he went to the moon.

 

People place have different styles of collecting. These 2 items just sold for $150.

TFC 00 - Convoy - MISB


Optimus Prime - MIB




One person will say, "Oh man, a vintage piece and it's complete!".
Another will say, "You're paying $150 on a beatup toy?"

One person will say, "That TFC isn't even Optimus Prime. It's made from a G1 Ultra Magnus, look at the front wheel pegs."
Another will say, "The paint is immaculate and it comes with an energon axe and an awesome box".


There is no one way to collect. There is no food chain either. (ex. Vintage > Reissue > KO > etc) It's a hobby. It's supposed to be fun.

At the end of the day, you still have to explain to your girlfriend why you have a house full of toys ... and convince her they're not staring.

 

but now if you don't like him ... and put it on eBay ... guess what, parts of the TFW "community" will deem you a scalping SOB that should go to hell.

sigh.

 

If I do go it wont be for capitalizing on expensive toys  

 

At the current Ebay prices the only way you can own him now is if you're a millionaire, and even if I was, I still wouldn't spend the kind of money they want for it currently, strictly out of principle. I don't like being so blatantly scalped. You didn't create this thread to enjoy seeing people like me complain about how we got screwed out of getting MP-04 cheap did you? 
Seriously though, it's annoying how all the stores raised their prices when the movie came out, TFsource, Superbeeds, Chocalate-city, etc. I'm looking at Amazon right now and some moron is seeling him for $500.00 freakin' dollars! What is worse is that some idiot will probably pay that! I just wish buyers would show some restraint with their wallets. If he is the epitomy of all Transformers like you say, then surely Takara would be foolish not to re-release it at some point. I gave up waiting for Hasbro to do it.

 

How does a high price on an item equate to scalping?

Would you slander me if I decided to sell my mp-04 for twice what I paid for it, if someone was willing to pay it? What if I want to spend the money I made on more and different transformers?

Heck, it seems most people don't know what scalping is, and then accuse anyone selling something higher than MSRP that isn't in production anymore, of being a scalper. Welcome to capitalism. Just because something cost $100 when it was released, doesn't mean it's going to cost the same a year later when it's no longer made. All sorts of items, collectible and otherwise end up like that.

A more traditional example would be... baseball cards. If someone gathered up a few say.. Babe Ruth cards when they were released, kept them in mint condition, and decided to sell them now, would that person be a scalper because the cards originally only cost them a few cents? No, and there are plenty of people that would willingly pay whatever the current market value is, which is whatever people are paying for them.

And the stores? So what? That'd be like saying I couldn't sell the Babe Ruth card I mentioned above for more than what, a nickel from the mentality of some people here if I owned a card shop.

If you're really going to complain about something, gripe about the people willing to pay the price that people are selling the product for, not the seller. It's not like these items are essential to living(I'm sure it may be for some, but that's another discussion   ).

Welcome to capitalism, where people can sell a product at a price people are willing to pay. If you aren't willing to pay it, too bad. If you can't afford to pay it, work more.

And personally, I hope mp-04 doesn't get re-issued. Not because I hope to sell it for a profit someday, but because I enjoy the reactions when people see it "oh shit, wtf is that? omg, that's the best looking optimus i've ever seen! that's frekain cool!" type of stuff. Rather than "oh hey, you got that expensive toy that's collecting dust on shelves at all the stores, meh"

 

On that first one, no I didn't but it sure seems that way   If I were trying to buy him now and I had the cash, I'd be bugged about the price increase but I'd rather pay $225-250 for him (or try to get the less expensive versions without the trailer and buy the trailer seperate) than say drop $600 for the botcon toys. A number that absurd for classics repaints of toys whose originals were much better is absurd.

Second, the raising of his price from those retailers began slowly as the amount available began to disappear. At one point I remember seeing a used MP-04 at BBTS that was more expensive than buying it new from them. Go figure.

And yeah Takara would be pretty stupid not to, but it's Takara. They're even more clueless than Hasbro. If they do rerelease it it wont be now at a time when them doing so could actually drop the price of the toy. They will likely do it later (like Hasbro did with 6' Titanium UM) and keep the demand just as high.

 

I call total shenanigans on that one... I've got two and I'd sell them both for half that. He ain't that rare.

 

...no no, he's actually jumping up there. I mean, at least on Ebay, he seems to be commanding about $80 when all is said and done.

 

KP Rodimus seemed to jump up in price pretty quickly also.

 

So obvious. My TFs make me happy. They're relaxing and calming to me in a way that nothing else.

I say I'll never stop, but if that feeling goes away, I probably will. I just don't want it to become some sort of weird personal obligation.

In the meantime, I love 'em and hope that other people feel the same way about their collections, no matter what is included in it or what form it takes.

 

i keep tellin you guys its all hype. look at all the botcon stuff. that stuff jumped up in price even before the botcon weekend was over. huffer/springer pack was going for over or around $100. that is a 100% increase. so the huffer/springer pack actually increased higher than your masterpiece.

now huffer/springer is going for around $70.

 

It is hype. I remember when the first X-Men movie came out. I was collecting back issues of Uncanny at the time, and as soon as the movie opened the prices on the really old claremont issues skyrocketed. Three or four months later they returned to pre-movie prices.