Too old to invite friends over and play with them? Yes, probably. Too old to start collecting them and putting them on display? Naaaaaah
I stopped buying toys at around 14/15, because I worried I was too old. (Still made a beeline for the toy section in the Argos catalogue though!). Got pissed. Got women. Had fun. Then, at around 18 I had disposable income, and started buying beast wars and RID. Got toys. Got pissed. Got women. Had fun. Still do!
saaaame haha! Well I was going to stop collecting until I saw prime and those awesome toys lol! I wanted to stop collecting, but I like it so much at the same time. I don't really want to miss out on all the prime action. I was mostly interested in the movies, as thats how I got into tfs. Then ths summer, I got interested in G1. Its pretty tough for collectors my age to get tf toys we want though cause we obvoiusly don't have the privileges of adult collectors. Meaning we don't have much money, and have to rely on our parents for transportation. :/
14 And routinely collect Toys (Halo, Sonic, Mario and Lego as well) don't get any heat for it but I am running out of space.
At 15 I was at that phase where comics, cartoons and toys has deminished and moving towards fucking the hot chicks... If I can turn back time, I should have stayed and continued with comics, cartoons and toys. I mean, this was my greatest childhood of the early 80s! Moral of the story, do what makes you happy despite the critiques from your peers or whether you become their laughing stocks.
I don't think any age is too old but it does become difficult during your teens years. I loved toys as a kid and stopped buying around 12 or 13. Not for any reason other that puberty, highschool and a social life took presidence. I got back in to collecting aroun 18 or 19 and found FS at around 20 and was hooked ever since. I am not 36, never took a break from TFs and now because of Animated, Prime, Classics and especially 3rd party I am more hardcore than ever.
To be fair, though, there's much less of a social stigma for those of us in our late 20's and older to buy figures compared to that of 13-24 (ish) year olds doing it. I'm not saying anyone should adhere to the social standards if they don't want to, but I can understand someone that young wondering if it's "acceptable" or not considering how most peers of the same age probably view it. Personally speaking, I outgrew toys somewhere in my early teens thanks to naturally becoming more interested in music, parties, girls, snowboarding, nightclubs, etc. and didn't revisit it again as a collector until my very late 20's... somewhere around the release of MP-01, Alternators and the G1 series being released on DVD. I think that kind of break from being/remaining a kid is essential.
The stigma of being an adult collector changes in people's minds once you *convince* them it is as an investment. I went through that phase when "You are too old to be buying toys" because most people equate toys with kids playing with toys. Once people realise there is money in collecting toys (whether you play with them or not is irrelevant) they will change their mind and accept you buying them.
