Yup!  

 

To put it simply, no.

 

Most of the TFs I sell or because I have extra or because I no longer want the figure. My other big reason is because I buy in lots. I usually keep what I want and sell the rest. In the end the stuff I kept out of the lot is either free or really cheap.

 

I have no plans to sell my TF's but you never know what may happen in the future. If no one wanted to sell thier TF's then I wouldn't have a lot of bots in my collection.

 

Same here, been selling off a lot of my stuff as I really don't need a bunch of stuff thats just taking up space wile never seeing the light of day. I have a core group of stuff that I would never sell but from here on out I'm really keeping a tight ship.

 

No way am I going to sell mine. Same goes for my brother.

 

I've never had to sell any of mine, but in an emergency of course I would. Transformers are a nice hobby, but there are SO amny more important things in life than plastic toys. I wouldn't go out and get a second job just so I could keep on buying Transformers  

 

Never sold any, but graduate school is causing my credit card to bill to shoot up so I've been thinking really hard about it lately.

 

Attitudes change. People go from being completist, to simply collecting the figures they like. That's what's happened to me over the last couple of years. I've got a complete Armada and Universe collection sitting in boxes and I realize the only reason I bought most of them was because it was a Transformer, not because I have any real attachment to the figure.

Space is becoming an issue especially with the girlfriend moving in with me in a couple of months (anyone who knows her knows she's not demanding that I get rid of anything TF related).

People also go from liking a figure one one day, to thinking it's just OK the next. It happens, it's human psychology and may happen to OmegaDead someday as well.

 

This is pretty much how I view it too.

 

Does RiD go for what you paid for it in the store? (MISB I mean)

I got a MISMB Megatron and a couple others I'm thinking about selling but I'm not selling it if I can't break even.

 

I've sold many of my TFs for various different reasons. Some I sold because I lost interest in them. Others because I needed the money, quickly. Others because I needed the space. Some have hurt to sell (really wish I had held on to my VF-1S Hikaru & virtually every Alternator) while others I haven't missedat all.

I just recently moved and got married... I have all but a few figures stored away. All that's out right now are my two Mach Kicks, BWR Convoy and Megs, BWN Big Convoy and Magmatron, and of course my VF-1J Stealth. All the rest, well, they're on storage because I have no room... and I've realised i don't miss them. So they'll be up for sale as soon as I get around to sorting them. Hell, even half of what I have out may be going. Might as well sell the whole Neo collection, eh? (Anybody interested shoot me a PM, heh.)

The money will be used in various ways. Yamato has some nice Macross stuff coming out. YF-21. New 1/60 scale FV-1s. Maybe I'll use it to help pay off the credit card bill intead... NAH.

 

Congrats on that Boo! You look like you have a beautiful wife there (in your sig). That's a good couple right there. I find the kids pretty funny btw.  

 

I don't mean to offend you, OmegaDead, honestly. But I'm actually a little offended by how narrow-minded your opinion is on this.

If you don't want to sell your TFs, we have no problem with that. That's your privilege as a collector. But every one of your opinions for reasons why fans shouldn't sell their TFs is extremely short-sighted, and show a lack of consideration for real world reasons why fans do end up having to sell stuff off. You may view your reasoning as an "easy fix," but it's just not that simple, and it's actually unfair to other collectors to assume it is that easy.

I have done a fair amount of trading/selling in the Junkion Exchange forum, and based on your posts in this thread I'm going to say you haven't even read many (or any) of the "For Sale" listings there. I'll save you some time and share some of the posts there with reasons why fans have had to sell (several of which have already been listed in this thread, but perhaps this way you'll see it on a more personal level):

- I'm moving in with my girlfriend/getting married, and we badly need the space...
- I'm getting a new car/house and need to come up with enough cash for the down payment...
- I was in an accident/had surgery, and am unable to return to work and am in bad need of cash to help pay my medical bills and other expenses...
- I wrecked my car and my insurance didn't cover enough...
- I need money for college. [And I've also specifically seen: "They won't allow me to take my finals unless I come up with X-amount of cash..."]
- We're having a baby... [That's a huge reason a number of fans find their priorities change. You bring a new life into the world, and it will make you see EVERYTHING in a different light.]
- We're having a baby, and the collection room is being converted into a baby room...
- I need to pay off some credit card debt. [Which in a number of cases a contributing factor was buying TFs on credit. Am I right, or am I right?]
- (From my own experience) My employer filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and went under owing me over $3000...
- (Also from my own experience) I had to have emergency surgery to have my appendix removed. As a result, I lost over a week of work (didn't qualify for paid time off) and I got the hospital bill yesterday for a whopping $16,000.

Now permit me to reply to your opinion in kind.

That does work for some people, but did you consider that a collector might have lost the only job he had and needed the money? Or someone who already works too many hours for meager pay and has no other financial resources?

Perhaps you also haven't noticed that the job market in several industries sucks big time? It's hard enough to find one job in retail or the restaurant biz even for part-time work because many places simply aren't hiring right now.

Again, it's not that simple. Sometimes space is just too limited to store them away. And then you have important factors like kids and other bigger financial concerns that simply must have priority over your collection.

Also, renting a storage space isn't always an answer either because it's expensive. The cheapest places still cost about $30 a month, and climate-controlled ones much moreso.

My wife and I have a 1400 square foot home, and I have a huge collection packed away that takes up a third of the garage space. Even after I get my prize pieces organized in my office, it will still only represent a percentage of my overall collection. It's been my own decision to sell/trade off stuff that I just don't have an interest in keeping.

It happens to every fan at one time or another. You take a good hard look at something and ask yourself, "Why the @#$% did I want this piece of crap again?"

Also, sometimes it's not the having, it's the getting. And once you've finally tracked down a holy grail, in some cases fans have actually found them to be a disappointment. There have been several threads here where fans have discussed this, especially involving blocky, ugly or drab, non-posable G1 toys like Metroplex, for example.

This is also short-sighted. Opinions change. Priorities change. People change.

Most importantly, you can't take it with you when you die. Like Ops_was_a_Truck said, they're nothing more than material objects. It's just stuff, after all.

These are the facts of life.

This is the one I take personal offense to, an insult even, to even suggest that someone's going to "probably get divorced anyway." This felt like a slap in the face to someone like me who's completely devoted to his wife and wants nothing more than to spend the rest of my life growing old with her.

My wife is my soul mate, and the best thing that ever happened to me. She supports my hobby, but says my collection is too large. And she's right--I have waaaay too much stuff that I used to collect before I got married. It was all I spent my disposable income on because before my wife, I had no life. Now, I see most of that stuff very differently. It's part of my past and I don't get the same enjoyment out of it anymore. Back then, it really was more about the getting than the having. It was like I collected just to collect, and not necessarily for the enjoyment of collecting.

Granted, there is sentimental attachment to certain items, but largely, I'm not so attached to anything in my collection that it would be difficult for me to part with it if I had to.

I nearly lost my entire collection during an electrical storm back in 1999 at my parents' house. Long story, but if we hadn't been home when it happened to turn off the breakers, the house literally would've burned down in minutes. And I nearly died from electrical shock from an exposed ground wire trying to put out a fire in the laundry room as a result of the accident. Due to damaged power lines behind the house, every bit of current for the house was running into that ground wire I touched. If I'd grabbed it instead of just brushing it, it would've probably killed me and anyone else who tried to pull me off without protecting themselves.

Afterwards, I thought, "I need to insure my collection and put it in climatized storage. I've got some rare, limited stuff that can't be replaced."

And then I heard this voice inside saying, "It's only stuff, and most of it actually can be replaced. But your life can't." And I had an epiphany in that moment that completely changed my perspective.

Think about it. You could lose your collection in an instant due to fire, water damage, or other natural disaster. Do you really want to be worrying about keeping it protected all the time?

Since then, I've sold, traded, and even given stuff away to charity, close friends, and underprivileged kids at churches and schools.

I still get lots of enjoyment out of collecting, but I'm nothing as attached to any of it like I was before I nearly died and almost lost everything in a fire.

Quoted for Truth. Amen, brother.

 

I get bored with things very easily, so I usually sell anything that sits on my shelf for more than a month right after I get it. That's usually the sign that I don't like it very much. For example, I had most of the movie line but sold it all except for Barricade, BB and Ironhide, which I still love.

I don't like too much stuff (heck, I don't even own a tv) so I usually like to pare down my collection and only keep essentials. When I do sell them, even if they are MISB, I usually let them go at a bargain price just to get rid of them. At most, I will let it go for cost, cause I don't believe in profiting off a fellow collector. I don't look at my toys as a source of income. That's what my job and my investment portfolio are for. I just buy things that I don't need, then realize later that I shouldn't have bought it. That's all.

Personally, I don't understand the opposite: this packrat mentality where people hang onto their collections even if they don't like them anymore or have them packed away in boxes in the basement. I also don't understand those that buy virtually everything that comes out. I think some people are too easily impressed.

 

I never said I loved transformers more than a girlfriend/wife/ etc. (because I don't) but she would never tell me I have to get rid of stuff of mine that I enjoyed and I would never make her do that either.

I was a little harsh ealier and you need compromise in a relationship but things like that can lead to a slippery slope. First it's your hobbies, then its certain friends she doesn't like, then it's another thing they don't like and that can lead to a lot of resentment and end a relationship.

and as for feeling embarassingly sorry for me Ops was a truck / Voice Roy, no need Iv'e done much more embarassing things then make dumb posts on a transformers website and look forward to doing many more 

 

Thank you my friend.  It's only been about a month-and-a-half, but (knock on wood) this whole marriage thing is pretty easy so far. It's great being married to your best friend.

Back on topic, though... yeah, my wife has asked me to sell some stuff off. At first I said "I'll think about it" and was a bit annoyed. But as I said it's been sitting in a box in the spare room out of sight and, quite honestly, almost completely out of mind. The things tht once seemed so important to me mean very little now. I guess it's safe to say I fit in the "people's views can change" category on this topic. JUst gonna keep the few that mean anything to me and that I like then it's going to be a clean sweep... till the next time. 

 

and by the way Voiceroy (talk about a dead on board name), try to keep a response down to a short story, that book you wrote rivals Websters 

Also, that whole my post is like a slap in your face thing seems a little melodramatic.

but as you said, "I don't mean to offend you, honestly," 

(I know that bay thing doesn't really fit, but it's the first time I saw it and it's awesome.)

Shnoooogins!!!!!!

 

Sooner or later, I'm going to sell off most of what I have, just keep some neat ones that I like for myself...like Trypticon, Bruticus, some alternators...

I'm not going to get much for them though ;/ shame, cause I started with Beast Wars and have many, many of the TF's from that series...


why will I sell them? personal obligations and all they're doing is collecting dust..