Not in debt.

 

I'd likely be a much bigger Go-Bot fan.  

 

Actually a hell of a lot poorer. I know at first glimpse, and certainly financially I have spent mad duckets of cash on Transformers, but for what they've meant to my life, the friendships I've made, the people I've met and the places I've been? Man, I'm all the richer for having Transformers in my life.

 

Would be riding a bigger bike.

But its cool. A time n place for everything. Not like i feel the need to sell of my collection anytime.

 

All of these things.

It's a bit difficult to admit, because it calls into question a lot of what I do and have done, but I would have watched a lot more films, gotten out more, made a lot more art, been generally more proactive about my life and interests.

There's nothing wrong with being a toy collector, really. I want to stress that. But everything takes up space in your life, and as much as it bothers me, I have to acknowledge that my TF hobby has pushed aside a lot of interests that intellectually, I place a higher value on. My nostalgic guilty pleasure has become a too-easy distraction from other parts of my life.

I mean look at my post-count for god's sake!!

Of course that might just be blamed on the internet. If I wasn't here, maybe I'd be trolling the IMDB forums or surfing more porn. Who knows?  

zmog

 

I like this answer a lot

 

This. And playing more video games.

 

I feel the same way.

Sometimes I look at how I spend my fee time, and wish that I'd directed it more toward my creative pursuits. I can pretty much map the downward spiral of my creativity with the increased time spent on the internet looking at toys.

I still love my hobby, and for good reason. I also manage to have an active social life andother intrests outside this pastime.

I have noticed though, that when I'm secure and happy in life (good job, relationship, less money issues etc) I'm less into my collection, and when I'm down, or worried I spend more time retreating into my childhood passion as it makes me feel safe.

I love Transformers, but I do wonder what my life would be like without them a lot, and if it would be better...

...but I probably wold have just stayed a Star Wars collector. 

 

Interesting... Transformers as a form of regression therapy? Sort of makes sense.

I'm not sure if it works the same way for me. Sometimes just being in my room with my collection gets me down, because I start thinking about backlogged custom projects, organization, lack of space, and inadequate shelving, and then I start thinking about how much of my time is eaten up thinking about backlogged custom projects, organization, lack of space and inadequate shelving, and then it's bedtime, and I go to sleep feeling faintly burdened.

It's like the collection itself gets me down, but each individual piece IN the collection brings me a sort of joy. It's very contradictory.

And like you, I do have a social life, and a longtime girlfriend, and other interests... but robots do seem to be a larger part of who I am than I ever intended.

zmog

 

On GoBots2005.com

 

Hmm...where would I be without Transformers? That depends on the two times when I really was a Transformers fan; when I enjoyed Generation 2 and Beast Wars as a kid, or when I got back into the franchise with Armada and have been with Transformers since? I'll just go with the latter, because either way...

I'd say I would be better off without Transformers.

Yeah. I'm surprised I said that, too. But after nine years (pretty much all of my teen years, and the first few years of my adulthood) of collecting...I've grown tired of it. I don't know what would be the cause that triggered my boredom with Transformers again (and no, it's not the movies that did it), but whatever it is, Transformers impacted my life, in both good and bad ways.

First, let's start with the good. Being a Transformers fan helped me make some new friends on here (and I'll always be thankful for that, you guys are like the dysfunctional family I've never had   Especially you, McBradders), because in the real world...I've never had that much friends. Being part of something really big like this fandom made me feel happy inside; it gave me the feeling that while I may not have friends near me, I have friends from different parts of the world who I could talk to.

Collecting toys was another good thing; it kept me out of doing stuff that I would regret later in life, like doing drugs or any other illegal activity. Plus, it really gave me a lot of learning experience on collecting in general, and what it means to be a collector, and why I collect. I collect toys because it's fun, so I can feel like a kid again...despite being 22 years old. And if it weren't for Transformers, I think I actually wouldn't have gotten back into Power Rangers and Lego again so I could have something to fall back on if there weren't any new Transformers toys that caught my eye.

However, collecting to some people could be considered a double-edged sword. To me, it was that, and in spades. My parents are okay with it, but my brother think it's stupid. And you know what? I think after all this time, he may be right. God only knows how much I spend on Transformers toys every year, but I'm assuming it's in the hundreds. Had I not gotten into Transformers again, I would have saved a lot of money. If time travel were available today, I actually would take the opportunity to go back to 2002 and stop myself from getting the Air Defense Mini-Cons. If that happened, I wouldn't be made fun of so much in school for being such a dork, and maybe I would be a happier person in general.

But if I did that, then I wouldn't have met any of you guys. Technically, Transformers helped me make friends, so I'd actually be worse off without them.

 

I would still be Star Wars fan. Or fan of something like Babylon 5 or Star Trek, if get bored of SW. Now I'm fan of TF and anime, it's because Japanese TF seasons cause my interest to anime. If it's wouldn't existed, I would stay interested in Western movies\series.

 

In a corner in some far away galaxy doing this   or just smoking a whole lot more weed

 

Probably dead. Everything happens for a reason.

 

I prob spend the money I spend on TF figures on some other hobby I have. I be very bored in the TV department thought.

 

True Story: I loved Transformers so much as a kid that after G1 ended, it felt like a part of me was missing. I went on a serious nostagia trip in the year 1991 and I had such a longing to see Transformers again. But it was so far away and there were no such things as DVDs or complete TV shows being released on video back then; Transformers all seemed like buried history. As a 10-11 year old I missed it so much that I ACTUALLY prayed for Transformers to return. I missed Transformers that much. Well wouldn't you know... a few months later after that, Generation 2 came out and they started airing the old epsides under Generation 2. Transformers was BACK! I loved it! And ever since, they've stayed in my life and I look back to those times every day in amazement. Just last week while out hunting for the new Reveal the Sheild figures (Grapple and Wincharger), as I entered into Ross's I couldn't help but think about that and how blessed I was to be able to look for these brand new Transformers that are updated version of the same characters I loved as a kid.

Where would I be without Transformers? I don't know, and I'd rather not think about it. I'm just so happy that we have them and thankful that they are still around. ESPECIALLY for all the classics and Masterpiece style of Transformers where all my beloved childhood characters are getting updated toys. I mean there were times when Transformers had looked dead and buried and even when they were in their hey-day articulate show accurate portrayals seemed like a pipe dream, so the very fact that we are getting these is something I will always be amazed and thankful for. Sometimes a little bit of faith can go a long way towards joy and happiness.

 

That's a great story Rodimus.

 

YTMND - i'll do it, i'll rob the kwik-e-mart

 

Probably still single  

But wealthier!  

 

I'd probably be collecting solely Harry Potter merchandise. I also would be bored much more often...