I started collecting by accident. As I recalled, in 2003 I went to Walmart to buy milk for my kid, and accidently came across toy aisle, suddently I saw a beautiful Masterpiece Optimus. My first impression when I picked him up was "WOW! he is diecast" and everything else was history.
Nice collection! I like how you displayed them - very clean and organized. Like you, I started collecting by fluke as well... just happened to walk by retail store that specialized in Transformers toys and that was it - I was hooked!
Just got this in the mail today. I think it's really worth the money. Well today, I manage to give her face a new paint job. You can see before and after.