Case by case basis for me. $60 is basically my limit for a deluxe or smaller. $70 for voyager. I don't stick to that but it's my general guideline.
I never really had a limit on individual pieces before. But now that my collection has reached a certain size, I am now putting a limit on what comes into my collection... looks like this: -Classics and 3rd party: 84-86 G1 cast -Masterpiece: Most accurate character representation (no repaints) -Anything Omega Supreme.
Really, it all depends on the funds available. Seeing as how I usually don't have all that much to throw down on rare toys, my big purchases usually come around tax season or my birthday (Christmas is a lost cause.) So far, the most expensive thing I've bought was City Commander + upgrade set for $95 shipped. Behind that is Masterpiece Grimlock for $70. I see alot of VERY tantalizing stuff released by third party groups, but there's some I just can justify ever pursuing. Munitioner, Explorer, the Insecticons, Reflector... While I would love to have these, the prices are an instant turnoff. Where my green goes, size DOES matter. Now if you want some nice, neat numbers... Scout- $25 max Deluxe-$35 max Voyager-$60max Masterpiece-$100ish I may make an exception for Herc/Giant when I have the $$$, but that's one of those once-in-a-lifetime things. Stuff like miniature 3rd party and First edition? Eh, I can live without.
Limit?! What's a limit? My limit has long been blown out of the water. A lllllong time ago, I limited myself to a maximum of $100 per TF. Ha! After I dropped 2K on my boxed Fort Max, I knew I'd reached the point of no going back...
Depends on factors such as: -Is it a good mold? -Do I like the character? -How is the paint job? -How much extra cash do I have right now? And much more. I bought ROTF Devs for 100, but I'd say the most I've ever spent on a figure relative to it's size is about 40 a piece for SHF Tiger and Barnaby or 35 for Henkei Grimlock. Almost every single other figure I have was bought for retail or less. I'm cheap, so I don't like dropping too much on my toys. I almost bought a Botcon Pyro the other day for 65 dollars since I enjoy the character, it's a exculsive, and it's a good mold, however I lost that auction so it's all moot now . When MP10 is released stateside I will buy him no matter the cost though. As long as the cost isn't over 150 bucks.
Like someone else just said, if you live in New Zealand, you pay a HUGE amount for toys. $30 for a deluxe, $50 for a voyager. Unless you've doing quite well, (or get them on sale) it's very expensive to collect over here. Importing is usually even more expensive.
Most I spent on 1 item was my Fort Max at 750$, 3/4 was from stuff I sold on the boards here and another $200 since it was my birthday. Just blew $800 on a collection I found on criagslist last week and within 24 hrs had $500 cash back in my hand plus the stuff I'm keeping, plus more of it to sell. Limits are never strictly enforced, I wait and poach for good deals and snag them when I can. I keep it realistic, like the Fort Max was obviously the only biggie that year. I also keep it simple and only stay with G1 and homage stuff to it.
Well seeing as tfs cost (Deluxe $25-$30/Voyager $50-$60/Leader $80-$100) over here at retail, i aint paying more than that
Limits: No importing, no third party, no repaints, no more than £10 for a deluxe / £20 for a voyager / £30 for a leader. Only buying stuff I can find at retail or off a pal on these boards.
actually it does, wheater you like it or not. Your 70$ Shockwave compared to a minty flawless MISB G1 Shockwave is like the diffrence between eating at a 5 star restaurant and McDonalds. Wheater you or anyone else feel about AFA is another thing but this is how the market is and the world of collecting.
I have a limit within my budget right now, but there's no threshold. When I'm able to save up $1500+ for a Fortress Maximus, I'll drop the cash in a heartbeat. Collecting Transformers toys and merchandise is my hobby and passion, so as long as I budget right and save my money there really is no limit for me.
I refuse to pay more than the MSRP for anything that should be currently available at retail chains. For example: I will not pay $30 - $50 for a RID Vehicon. As far as import/discontinued items go, it depends on how much I really want it and how much is reasonable to spend on it.
See, posts like this one make me feel less bad about spending 70 bucks in the last 2 days, especially since much of that came from shit I sold. Granted, the whole "money that came from shit I sold" is also how I justified spending the last 120, so since math works the way it does, I'm probably at least 100 in the negative in terms of that. ... but that's ok couse most of the shit I bought is stuff I should've bought long ago, meaning that I was living on borrowed surplus to begin with. Dammit I hate how being on this forum makes me buy shit.
MSRP for most things here in the US. Some oversees stuff a little more. Though I did just get a United Stepper at Botcon though. Still a HELL of a lot more than I usually spend on deluxe TF's, but it was the lowest price I had seen for him at the 'Con.
