Currently around 450. If I hadn't sold original collection and masterpiece (including 3rd party): 1249.

 

At last count it was 160-something a few months ago, so probably around 180-ish now, most of those new ones being BotBots.

 

Mine is pretty modest. At rough count, I have somewhere between 35 and 50 (maybe a little more). Most of them are Masterpiece figures. I also have Feral Rex + Felisaber, Takara Legends Fort Max, Takara Legends Trypticon, and Walmart Reissue G1 Hot Rod (desk toy). It used to be considerably larger back when I actively collected 3rd party, but I've scaled back a lot since last year.

 

Me, last year: "If I start collecting Transformers, I'm not going to be one of those people who run out of room. I'm just going to get a few of my favorite characters."

Me after doing a rough count in my head:

 

At my biggest around 600, have had to sell a bunch so now sitting at around 250 ish lol

 

I low balled myself being under a hundred . I think I’m just in denial though .

 

I'd have no idea where to start...  

 

I really haven't kept track of the overall number. Even trying to do a rough estimate is surprisingly difficult for me. It's probably somewhere around 300-500, but I wouldn't be shocked if after counting that the number climbed a hundred or two higher. I'd count individual transforming toys, so combiner's would be member count only and super or armoured up modes wouldn't be counted separately. I'd probably count headmasters and targetmasters as accessories to the parent toy, mostly because they're so small and simple, but if one of those was sold separately I'd count it as a unique toy on it's own. Every toy I'd count would have to transform, so no action masters or statues, and I also wouldn't count artwork, books, or other memorabilia. I'd definitely count 3rd party.

It's interesting to hear other collector's thoughts on what a big collection means to them. For me it'd be like this:

1-30 small: I think that's about right. That's someone that just wants a representation of transformers on display. It doesn't require any real thought about paying or storing. It represents a more casual interest. Friends and family wouldn't likely to see anything unusual about a small display like that.

31-100 medium: This would be someone that's more of a collector, but a very focused one. Just wants one line, or a small group, or one character in a lot of different lines. It's not too taxing, but you do have to start thinking about where they are all going to go. Friends and family would likely think that's a huge collection of toys and comment about it.

101-500 big: This is a collector that probably doesn't have an end line and will collect whatever strikes their interest. At this point most collectors have to be making sacrifices to their life to accommodate it. If you have been collecting a long time it might not be that expensive, but space takes some real thought. Either you have a room dedicated to it, or a lot in storage. Friends and family might actually be alarmed at a collection of this size, at least until they know you better.

500-2000 huge: This collector really loves what they collect, and probably has no limits on what they'd buy. Money is probably the only thing such a collector thinks about, if they can afford it they buy it. This is starting to go beyond just collecting and becoming a lifestyle. Friends and family probably react the same way to this as the last category.

2000+ high end collector: This is starting to be completest. Such a collection could be on the level of a museum display. This is a very impressive number even to other collectors. Displayed well, such a collection would likely impress even friends and family.

 

I'm sitting in this category, and it describes me perfectly. I've got a room for my collection of over 300 bots (including 3rd Party) and shelves get cluttered quickly. I have several in storage that I can't display, but if you were to walk in the room and see all of the TFs, Marvel Legends and various other toys it would look overwhelming to a non-collector.

 

Across all of my Transformers series I have 561 figures. 819 if you count all action figures including those that are not Transformers.

 

I had about 1,000 or so at one point, but have gradually been scaling back, selling off, and refocusing the collection. I'm still probably over 500, but I'd really like to scale down to mostly just G1 and Beast Wars characters in their best representations for my collection...might not get there before I'm dead, though.

 

So I'm assuming this is counting legends class figures right? I know they're small, but I mean they still take space and cost money.

Yeah, I feel that so hard right now dude. I started buying toys again back like 3 years ago, but I was picking very few purchases (basically a combiner and 1 other). Suddenly 2019 dropped and I guess all bets were off. I thought I was still heavily moderating my purchases, but after doing my count for this year alone I guess that's kinda out the window. This hobby is a damn rabbit hole I swear to god lol.

 

I agree that having a very large collection/being a completist can easily drag you down into a hole where it's all you care about, so you have to be careful. I did fall into that trap for a few years in the late aughts. Actually it was the 3rd party explosion that snapped me out of it, once the number of Transformers and toys based on Transformers just got sooooo big I couldn't remotely afford them all even in my wildest dreams. The first "no" is always the hardest.

I will say to anyone who is currently or is planning to eventually have a big collection, make sure you know what's really important. Don't get into debt much because of it, let kids play with your toys if they ask (and you know they'll be reasonably careful), your family, friends & faith come first, etc.

 

Yeah, you have to find the right balance that works for you. I did want to say that having a big toy collection, and making sacrifices for it, isn't necessarily a bad thing. You just have to be aware that it's happening and don't overextend yourself. I'm okay with my transforming toy collection becoming a bit of a lifestyle, it's just a good thing to know that your there and be okay with where it's taking you. Similar to the old saying " the difference between madness and genius is success ", I say " the difference between a hobby and an obsession is self-destruction ". Know what your limits are and how much of the hobby you can actually support.

 

About 300, mainly G1.