I have been collecting since i was a wee lad. They were my favorite toys as a child and i actively collected till i was in highschool through RID stopped for AEC and started again with the movie line.

 

Cassette-Man with Jaguar,
Marvel Comics,
Alternators.

 

i started becuse of energon sort of but realy started when i got cybertron hotshot and um whats her face combo pack then moive jazz got me to start collecting moive figs also when i found out older ones can be worth a good deal of cash    

 

I grew up with G2 and Beast Wars, and I had a good amount of figures. With RiD, I again had a few of the figures from the show.

I didn't really start "collecting" until I happened to grab a Classics voyager Optimus...

 

For Transformers? I got the reboot back in 01 or 02 with a cheap reissue G1 StarScream. RID came out right around that time and I've been rehooked eversince. Also a Prime that could unite with Ultra Magnus. SOLD

 

I've been a fan all my life but I officially started collecting due to the hype during rotf.

 

MP Grimlock. From there, it was trying to figure out which figures would go well with him.

 

I forgot to add to mine, but the character that I liked the most out of the line that got me back in was RATTRAP and second is Rhinox those two were just straight boss..

 

Even though I watched the G1 cartoon, I never bought any toy during its run.

After seeing TFTM (2007), which I enjoyed a lot, I still did not get any of the toys, altough I got some for my nephew.

Then, after seeing ROTF (2009), after getting my nephew some more toys from the franchise, I decided to get one for myself, an ROTF Legends Bumblebee, loved it and decided to get more, Legends/EZ and some Deluxes, so that's how it all started.  

 

The $500 Liquidation of my Jurassic Park collection which gave me money to spend on
Masterpiece Optimus Prime and Beast Wars inferno among other figures.

Actually, ya know, I've never known a time when I DIDN'T have Transformer figures, so I'm gonna have to go with when I received my FIRST Transformer (My original Beast Wars Inferno) for my Sixth Birthday on May 21 1997

Though my current collection was Pretty much started with the RTS Wreck-Gar that currently stands behind DOTM Sideswipe. I purchased that guy back in '09 When I first Started working at Kroger and I saw him on the shelf in our Cereal Aisle and I just had to have him (I passed up RTS Bumblebee for him)

 

I just dripped into it during RID and the Unicron Triolgy.

 

As a kid in the 80s g1 was the culprit. Growing into a teenager girls and partying became 1st priority. Then it was when i caught wind of the 07 movie it was all rekindled. Once me and my wife saw the movie i had to have them all. I havent looked back since!