The kind who will mull over an online purchase for a week before finally caving in and getting it.
I actually like buying in-store, but our selection in the UK is terrible. I actually hadn't bought a Transformer for a good five months before just happening to stumble across Jazz, Tracks and Windcharger all in the same place. Since then I've gone a little "bat-shit" on buying the classics and generations.

You think you're well out of the game, and without warning you right back in the thick of it.

 

There was a time when I used to search store after store & found nothing - absolutely nothing that I was looking for. After many wasted days & much wasted fuel I now do 95% of my TF purchases on the web. Be it either online stores or Ebay, I do occasionally pay a few dollars extra but IMO it's well worth it. Plus, I don't buy unnecessary crap anymore.  

 

I'll buy online only cause I want to make sure I get the figs I want at the right price.

 

When you live in Canada where prices are normally +$16 for deluxes and +$20 at hobby/comic shops, buying toys online - hasbro or takara tomy - doesn't really seem that expensive.

 

depending on the figure mostly, but i tend to buy most of mine second hand, and used. already outside the package, it takes away the need to have to figure out what to do with the boxes, lol

and it also is normally a little cheaper.  

 

25 posts and not one 'It's so hard living in the UK' reply.


BBTS just make things too easy.

 

I have to admit....I enjoy the hunt.

 

What I want and when I can afford it and a friend does it for me and then I pay him. He enjoys the hunt so much that hes addicted to it and plus I can't get around that well so it works for me and online buying.

 

I never buy online, unless it's something I can't find in shops, such as Fansproject and G1 stuff. If it's availible in shops, I'll just wait.

 

It's a bit tricky for me because there aren't that many toy shops in my area, the best I can do is the toy section at my local supermarket and a small toy shop in a neighbouring town. That being said, I can more often than not find what I'm looking for, and I only resort to on-line shopping if there's something I really want that doesn't pop up anywhere (RTS Voyager Lugnut, RTS Voyager Lugnut, where for art thou, RTS Voyager Lugnut?)

 

Got quite a few stores in my area, but if after a few weeks, I don't find anything I usually hit up the online retailers like Automaton Toys and BBTS.

 

I am a balanced buyer.

I make a judgment call whether the time and energy spent is worth the dollars I am saving.
I make a judgment call whether the figure will be hard to obtain, or easier later.
I make a judgment call whether the figure will rise in value, or decrease in value.
I make a judgment call whether the figure is something I desperately want, or just kind of.

Then I come to a decision and use the less "cost effective" way to obtain the figure. "cost" is defined as both time, and money exerted.

 

To save money, I have recently really limited my online buying. I normally look for stuff in stores anyway. Within 30 minutes, there are 8 walmart, two targets, a TRU, a Marshalls, and a TJ Maxx. Not a big deal to drive around for me. It's more fun for me anyway.

 

I used to enjoy being a brick and mortar sort of collector.

I could space out the purchases instead of having to buy the entire wave at once or even skip figures I did not like. Just something fun about finding it in the store that on line can't replicate. Plus it was a nice way to get out of the house and walk around a bit.

Now I only go hunting out of town if there are other reasons to go than just toy hunting. Distribution has been horrible and too many stores aren't stocking the other Hasbro things I like such as GI Joe or Marvel Universe.

Part of me is feeling like I may just have to give and become one of the on line collectors because it's just getting harder and harder to collect from brick and mortar alone. Toys come so late to this part of the US that things are sold out on line before they ever see a shelf here.

 

The majority of my Transformers purchases are in retail. But if there's any figures that I simply cannot find in retail -- and especially if there are any older ones that are no longer in retail that I want -- then I will buy them off of the internet, be it through fellow TFW members or an online retailer like BBTS.

 

I scout at places like Target, Toys R Us, etc. But if I can't find it locally and I want it REALLY bad, I go online.

 

I like the thrill of the hunt, there's very few I've ordered online, and receiving those definitely has not been as fun as going out and grabbing them.

 

The hunt was fun for a few years, but it got old after too many wasted trips and ROTF-clogged shelves. I don't make TF-specific hunting trips anymore, I just drop by stores if I'm close or I have to go for something else anyway. I do my grocery shopping at walmart and target, so I see those once a week. I might hit TRU once in a month or two, though usually only if there's a mention in the sightings thread. If I'm actively selling and have a paypal balance, I'll place orders just to avoid hassles and make sure I get the figures I want. I got screwed by distribution and missed Classics Ratchet, which will end up costing me about 4 times the price (at least). That won't happen with these last waves of Gen/RTS, they're preordered.

 

When I have to I buy online but I prefer to buy local. Sometimes it means I miss things.

 

I usually buy what's avaliable and if i can't wait and is impatient like he did with Generations Darkmount/Straxus and Megatron, I go to the Comic booke shoppe and pre-order there,