Hey guys, I just thought I'd ask some of you guys about your collecting habits (since we're on, well you know, a Transformers message board). As an artist (kitbasher and/or illustrator), our collecting habits may (or may not) differ from many of those on TFW2005.com who typically aren't into TFs for the means of expressing and communicating artistically (though some are, but you get the drift).

For the kitbashers, have you found that you, say, get one toy for the "collection" and one for projects? How do you go about obtaining extras? What's your thinking process(es) there? How does your craft impact the way you view your collection? Toys as a whole?

For the illustrators, is one of your primary motivations to obtain a model for reference? How might being an illustrator influence your collecting habits? Do you find that particular box artwork greatly impacts your desire to own a given toy?

For me as a kitbasher, I've been pretty good about getting the extras I need for projects. Depending on the toy and such, I may just get the one for the collection, even if I want to customize it. Sometimes, I'll get a factory version of the toy to keep as it came, and one to customize. I've found that this really has little impact on my desire to integrate my customs into my collection.

As an illustrator, I must say that the box artwork (especially the gorgeous G1 work) has a great impact on my desire to own a toy sometimes. I've found that it's had less of an impact as an "adult" collector, though. I do like to have a figure sitting in front of me when I draw, especially since I prefer toy accurateness in my illustrations.

Anyways, I just thought I'd start the topic. Discuss!

 

First and foremost, if I'm getting a toy, it's going to be for the collection. I usually let the high of obtaining the figure, posing it, and displaying it with the rest of my shelf kind of wear off a bit before thinking about any mods or improvements, if any, would be done. But I usually like to leave the display figures as-is. Actually, the only ones I've done anything to have been Ironhide & Starscream's faces (silver sharpie), giving Ravage fangs & silver missiles, and Optimus' Ion Cannon.

As far as custom projects go, I don't usually look at a figure at the toy section thinking of who I could turn that figure into. More or less, I'm here at my computer at hours like this (11pm) thinking "my shelf needs more Decepticons. Nuts to HasTak, I'll MAKE THEM!" And then I think about which mold I could use or what can I currently pick up that I can use for this or that and whatnot.

I actually keep a text file with the name of the character I want to make and a checklist of figures I would need for parts and all that.

So yeah, basically customizing isn't the impulse. It's the long thought out process I take afterwards. And I guess that's best evident by the fact that I have yet to finish a single project. Not that I've scrapped any save for one (Brawn was turned into Swindle), but I consider them all in progress. Mostly because I hardly own any paints.

With illustrating, it's different. For me, action figures & toys were the hobby, and drawing was the career path I wanted to take. So I never exactly mixed the two. I do love good boxart, but it's never been a selling point on a toy. In fact, I find more often that good box art (whether it's toys or most especially video games) leads to a pretty terrible product. But that's just my experience.

Though having said that, I should mention that I came up with my own character and ensuing storyline after customizing an action figure.

 

when there is bash i wanna do first i go to my box of parts then if there is a piece off a whole fig i need. i either buy a second or just turn the whole fig i allready have into fodder.

 

I'm never one to go wreck an old fig i already have, lest i have two, or if it's already too broken for any other use, so i'll often buy seconds. As a record so far, i've bought 12 of the same mold.

I do use text files some times, generally for bigger projects like teams and such.

I generally do have a bad habit of looking at toys on shelves going, "what could i turn that into?". Bad habit, definitely. Currently i'm going looking for 4 cosmos without ever seeing the thing in person.   I generally don't use a thinking 'process', well, nothing more specific than "see toy, think about potential, take or leave".

At least now that i bash, i don't get bored waiting between lines, and i actually go around searching for stuff just to rip apart/take the gun off/cut up/etc. So i end up taking a different view on other toy lines in that i don't now bother about their play/display value, i look at them and see how they could be used as fodder.

For me, customizing is an impulse to go buy a figure. If i see the potential in it, that may just be reason enough for me to acquire it.

And where do you guys get so many of these boxes of fodder??? Is it something that just kinda is there over time, or some kind of lucky find at a car boot sale/auction/online/etc?