So I've been going through most of my figures now that I'm finally properly settled in to the new house my family has moved into. While going through them, I noticed a lot of the figures I have (mostly the Cybertron, Titanium, and Movie figures) have quite a few missing parts. The parts missing range from arms, legs, weapons, heads, and other miscellaneous parts. What I'm wondering, is if it's even worth trying to find the parts, of it I should just sell the figures for parts, and put the money towards repurchasing the figures. I don't want to have to repurchase any of them if I don't have to, but I'm not entirely sure if it's worth attempting to look for the parts. Anyone have any advice on what I should do here?
I've been considering adding what parts I'm missing to my sig in hopes that anyone here that might have them might see it and sell them. Hunting eBay has been a crapshoot, so I'm not super sure what to do either.
The parts are out there for the most part. You need to decide if acquiring them to restore your original figures is with the time, money, and effort. I've done many restorations - all on vintage tfs. For me, it's worth it. I like the idea of bringing a dead toy back to life. I'm not familiar with pricing or general availability of non g1 parts. I know that if someone has money, someone has parts. (Usually) It might make more sense to just buy replacement figures if you don't have any direct sentimentality to these specific figures. Again, only you can answer this.
Figures missing parts (at least, the ones I've tried to sell, especially if the missing part is a head) go for little to nothing, if you can even find buyers for them. I personally would rather spend a silly amount to replace a part or two to complete a figure than lose a figure for next to nothing. It also depends on how much I spent on the figure in the first place (note to self: don't buy a new figure because a customizer wants one of the parts in thinking that you can sell of the rest of the figure. You can't).
I've bolded portions of your post for emphasis. You may end up paying a tad more for the same figures, but you're going to come out better just selling off your incomplete figures (and yes, people who use them for customs often times will seek out incomplete figures and such for their customs) and then just rebuying the same figures. A few pieces of advice after you do so: - Develop a good system for keeping up with your parts/accessories, especially while your collection is in storage. Whether that's a separate box for parts or just bagging your figures individually with their weapons, etc., find a system that works for you to avoid this same instance. That's not to say you won't happen to lose a part every now and then, but you'll greatly minimize your chances of repeating this. - Really consider if these are the figures you wish to repurchase. Chances are, after you end up selling these incomplete figures, you may find that your collecting interests have changed some. That's perfectly ok, and you may end up moving on to other things. Or not. And that's ok, too I hope that helps!
I went through my boxes recently too. I'm missing more pieces than I like to think about. Plus all the wounded. But I'm enjoying hunting down parts and completing old favourites. This year I completed (all G1) Megatron, Thundercracker, Sunstreaker, Mirage and most of Jetfire(just need his rifle and clip), and Reprolabeled Megatron and Thundercracker. I've owned each one fresh from the box and putting them to rights feels like getting them new all over again. Optimus and Metroplex are next up and I can't wait until they're finished. But between parts and decals, I've spent at least $100 fixing up just Megatron and Thundercracker alone. But they're probably worth 5-6X more than they were worth before. It all depends on what variety of sentimental you are. I want my Thundercracker, not someone else's Thundercracker. My Megatron has 30 years of history with me, it's the one that I want, not a new reissue or Misb artifact. It's the one that my elementary school teachers would borrow for school plays when the show called for a gun. Now, he'd just be confiscated and burnt.
how many of the figures are missing something? i think you should post a list on here so we can better help you. which figures are missing integral parts, which figures are missing accessories, and which figures are missing missiles/projectiles.
Pretty much my biggest issue. It's near impossible to find any of the parts I'm missing on eBay unfortunately... Biggest reason I am wanting to find the parts for some of these is because some of them are from when I had first got into Transformers ten years ago. I'm starting to think I MAY have to go that route. Hopefully I should be able to make out with enough money to replace the figures I'm REALLY wanting to keep. Shortened to keep the post from being too long. But thank you! I'll keep that in mind! I'll try and get to making a post later when I get home. There's quite a bit I'm missing. Thanks for all those that have been able to help so far!
SS is totally right, unless you are willing to skulk around ebay or the junkion board for inordinate amounts of time, to ultimately save a few bucks, you would be better served just selling off the incomplete figures, and re-purchasing the ones you want. It might not save much money, but it will definitely save on time If you decide to replace the parts, keep in mind that large junk lots are a good way to get several needed parts at once (and a bunch you don't need lol) for a cheaper price than buying them individually, granted its a lot more work to sift through lots on eBay, but it has been pretty effective for me in the past, and has let me complete some figures at crimanally low costs
It's nice to see newer fans having that connection to toys still, "their" toy has an extra special meaning that buying a new one MISB can not replace.
Also figures from that era don't have a whole lot of "value" so most people aren't parting out their incompletes (unlike G1 figures, for example). Your best bet would be to try to buy a bunch of large lots from that era and sell off all the extras as needed. You'll almost always break even when you buy a lot and sell off things one by one.
I'm not gonna make a list of ALL the figures tonight, but I'll try and give a general idea at the moment... Titanium figures missing limbs/various parts (Ex: War Within Optimus Prime missing left arm) Dozens of Cybertron figures missing limbs/various parts (Ex: Jungle Planet Optimus Prime missing foot, Shortround missing a leg) Some Animated figures missing limbs/various parts (Ex: Jetstorm and Jetfire missing heads) Some movie figures missing limbs/various parts (Ex: Armorhide missing head, All-Spark Power Jazz missing weapon) Classics/Universe 2.0 movie figures missing limbs/various parts (Ex: Cheetor missing tail, Mirage missing gun) Beast Wars 10th Anniversary figures missing various parts Star Wars Transformers figures missing various parts/limbs Hopefully that might give a bit of a better idea and whether or not I might just be better off replacing certain figures for now...
Yeah if you are missing limbs and heads, and it isn't Unicron Primus mp-01 or mp-09, you are going to have problems tracking things down, really the only options I see are buying up lots, or buying replacement figures, to swap parts out and then sell the leftover bits, if keeping your original figures is important to you, otherwise just sell the ones you have and replace the ones you still want
