Sorry if I am starting too many threads today, but I was thinking about this when reading another post.

You ever sit back and think about the money you have spent swapping out older figures with their "better" counterparts. I won't go to in detail with my list here. But I was thinking about what I had swapped out from my MP collection and what it would/will cost me to swap out the old for the new.

This is not even accounting for the Alts I have already swapped out for MPs. But I shouldn't count those. Those weren't "really" trying to be MPs.

Here is the list I have.

I have an option to swap out:
iGear Ironhide for MP Ironhide
iGear Ratchet for MP Ratchet
iGears Ramjet for MP Ramjet
iGears Beachcomber for Xtransbots
MP09 for MP28
MP04 for Appoloyn
Fanstoys Quakewave for MP Shockwave
MP11 Skywarp for MP Skywarp (Walmart)

I have already swapped out:
Artfeather BB for MP BB
MP01 for MP10
MP Starscream (walmart) for MP11
Thundercracker for MP11 versions
iGears Brawn for Badcube Brawny

Doing the math here, this is $3,100 on just swapping out to get to the "perfect" representation for MP.

$3,100!!!!!

I mean, that is not even counting new characters to buy.

Is it dangerous to think of this? TBH, this has been one of the main reasons I have stopped spending as well. I am looking at it and thinking, DAMN, $3,100 on just swapping the same character out. Am I crazy?

I actually think this is why I switched to lego collecting. (It's for my son, but who am I kidding? What 6 year old needs to have 7 modular buildings?)

So what is your swap out cost?

 

Depends if you're selling your older versions. More often than not it offsets the cost significantly.

 

Does it work? It seems that the price drop is pretty steep. Have you been getting around your paid value? So far I have justified it as 1 is for Alt mode, the other is for Bot Mode. Even though it goes into storage.

 

Don't go down this road, for there lies only madness at its end

 

I've not swapped out any of my MPs as I only buy versions I'm happy with.

 

Isn't that the truth.

 

My collection will cost as little as $6000 to as high as $8500. Far more than I ever thought possible and more than I ever wanted to spend.  

But damn do I love the figures I have!

My MPish Collection Interest:

All of S1
Tracks
Blaster
Perceptor
Blitzwing
Astrotrain
Galvatron
Springer
Rodimus Prime
Hot Rod
Ultra Magnus
Cyclonus
Scourge
Feral Cons
Cynicus
Salvia Prominion
Hexatron


My estimated cost includes several doubles of really liked figures/molds.

 

whiskeytango and DogFriedRice have it right.

I had Igear versions of:
Ironhide
Ratchet
Brawn
Seaspray
Huffer

Sold them all a couple years ago and made about $300 profit. I'm only replacing with Official versions, so they will in essence be 'free'. Apollyon will be swapped out for an official Megatron (if it gets made). I figure I'd be able to sell him for something to not make it a total loss. My guess is I'll only lose maybe $100 on the swap out game since I decided to stop playing a while ago. I am getting FT dinos-insecticons-reflector, but not for swapping out. If official ones are made, I won't mind having 2 versions of those figures.

 

I don't do this. I won't buy something I'm not 100% in love with. If another sculpt comes along and I like it, I'll get that too.

 

Replace

 

I try to only buy what I'm happy with...but sometimes a better version comes along later.

I'm "replacing" things like:
FP+Hasbro Bruticus -> Warbotron
KFC Ultra Magnus -> Masterpiece Ultra Magnus
MP04 -> Appollyon
Likely all of the FP Fx figures -> Maketoys more "Masterpiece" versions
Maketoys Yellow Giant -> Maketoys Green Giant -> Gravity Builder
Hasbro Metroplex -> Utopia

Some of these I've managed to sell and not lose much money.
Others I'm retaining both versions until I really decide I want to sell (sometimes this just means I'd rather have both versions of the figure than the money I could sell the "old" one for)

 

I haven't done it for either MP Optimus Prime nor Starscream, I kept the MP-01 and MP-03, and didn't buy MP-10 nor MP-11

Past year, I sold most of my MPs, and MP-01 sold it for 70$ (30$ loss), kept my MP-03 cause he stays in jet with my other jets. The MPs I sold recouped some or all the costs.

But I don't replace toys, I only buy what I like, and if I don't like something anymore, then I sell it, and keep multiples of the same characters I love.

 

I don't buy just to buy, I personally prefer officials, but I am buying a few select 3P as placeholders until officials come out, but they are ones I really like and do not plan to swap out for anything, they will be displayed in alt modes or on another shelf.

I never caved on Quakewave, never cared about Quakeblast... I waited, and now TT has the one I want coming out. I don't like any 3P Ironhide whatsoever. There's 3 Infernos, Inferni? And I've examined them, and barring bad QC, I'm going with the XTB, no need to buy all three then decide and play with my ass to resell the two I don't want. And that's if I decide or have the money to buy it, or wait for an official.

 

Exactly. It sometimes means I can miss out on good figures but at the end of the day I only have a limited budget and display area anyway.

I thought iGears minibots were great when they first arrived, but couldn't wait to offload them when more MP orientated figures appeared. Nearly bit on one of the new Devastators, but I am 100% certain we will yet see a better version from either Takara, or Fanstoys. Or maybe someone else.

 

God I would hate to have a hobby that causes so much anxiety.

 

no cuz I don't do that

 

The expense here is exactly why I don't buy things unless I'm sure they will be the perfect fit for my collection if a newer version is never made. I may end up replacing, say, Apollyon one day if a version that's just as good but with a more accurate gun mode comes along, but I definitely never bought it with the intention of it being a placeholder. I'm too poor for that.

 

I think there's a fair number of people who got caught up in this game, mostly because of the timing.

But we're all getting wiser now and (should) know to wait for what we can live with being the last version we purchase.

 

I had a related thought when I saw that MP Prowl would be US$70. That seemed awfully high for a Voyager sized figure. But, between the G1 reissue ($25), the Alternator ($20), the CHUG Deluxe ($12), the CHUG Legends ($3), and World's Smallest ($5-$10 with shipping), I'd already spent about that much to NOT have a definitive G1 version of the character. That made the price not seem so bad.

 

Fortunately for me nothing ever caught my eye out there in the MP sense, even when I got my first MP (grimlock). Feral rex, I-gear Ironhide, Alternators, TFC constructicons, coneheads et al did nothing for me, they looked like cool transformers not cool sunbow transformers. At their asking prices they deviated way too much from the source material for my liking.

As it is at the moment the only swap out I could potentially be doing is replacing TT with FT dinobots, Skyfire and Insecticons when/if TT release theirs. I think the dinobots will have a lots of room for improvement but with the insecticons...not probably a lot from what I've seen with the exception of cleaning Bombshell's kibble and giving him the chest swapping aspect.

And with TT being a bit of hit and miss these days who knows...I'll wait and see!