I felt it this year after I met someone. I tend to spend more time with this person (& don't mind spending money for this person too). Slowly I felt collecting was becoming irrelevant..

 

Not sick of collecting per se, just realizing I need to have a narrower focus. So now my collection is mostly Studio series, I've resisted most of Siege and I'm not gonna get much from Earthrise.
Besides Prime Wars scratched my G1 itch anyway (it helps that I loved the combiner and titan master gimmicks)

 

I think I'm kind of slowing down. Noticed about a year ago when I passed on two other 3rd party TF's that I was all hyped for. I even get kind of 'eh' about things lately. But at the same time, there is soooooo much to collect and look into, I don't know if I'll ever really stop for good. Just slow down/take a break here and there.

 

Putting aside the mild sense of annoyance that I feel when people equate Transformers ONLY with G1's 1984/1986 cast.
I will say that yes dips in interest are quite natural. Some people go away for a decade and come back again big time. But for those MP collectors especially the release of that stuff is so slow it will be a very long time before Takara get around to anywhere near the core cast being finished.

I expect they will still be chipping away at making things from other eras long after some of the original fans have died off. But we should count our luck stars that we even still have a franchise officially and otherwise as Gi Joe Collectors don't & there is dozens of 1980's Franchises that could get 3rd party love that don't. We don't even have to rely on 1st party either for newish designs like say Zoids Fans do.

As the older fans age out though - I expect there will be a pivot to things like Beast Wars and Armada that might make some people slump of in a grump that it isn't G1.. So that may loose some people. But I don't expect that to happen totally anymore than it has with Gundam.

No one if forcing anyone to collect this stuff or to not set a boundry on yourself like some do - heck it might be better for your financial well being & available space to do that. So even though I see Transformers as more than a 1980's cartoon, those who don't at least have an attainable end point for their collections.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. I guess maybe its just the way I'm feeling - this year has been a big one for me - my dad got severely ill and we nearly lost him, and my wife and I have been under a lot of strain from it, one of my dogs got ill but got better and its just made me reevaluate things a lot and realise that I don't need to do this. I used to love it, I used to collect every classics update, but slowly but surely its started to feel more like a chore and it just strikes me that a hobby should not be a chore, and should not stress you out - worrying if your going to be able to afford the figures your collecting. So I'm thinking i might just scale it right back to a few favorites and then just maybe the odd one from there. Astrotrain is the prime example for me - he used to be a favorite character of mine, as soon as the siege one was announced I sold my titans one on, but now I just think I'm not bothered about it. I've got various other hobbies that I enjoy - I've collected a few Jurassic world dinosaurs, I've got model kits, that I've modified into MASK vehicles etc. so I have various other hobbies to keep with.

 

At times. I am slowly becoming less interested in the retail stuff and really considering a heavy purge this spring as I realize that only about 10% of my collection is on display, and when looking at the tubs, I realize all of it probably never will. I have been cleaning and sorting over the past month and am realizing taking inventory of my collection and my life and seeing other things I want to do.

Found an old farm pump and tractor at my moms house and really started kicking around trying to restore them in the next few years, though I have no experience with either, and have some things I want to accomplish.

That being said, I should be picking up a G1 liokaiser tomorrow. Which has ignited a shift to quality over quantity.

 

Yep, stuff like that has a way of reminding you what's really important. I was a bit too "into" TFs probably until around 2011, when the 3rd party scene started to explode. Once I realized there was no possible way to get EVERYTHING, things got into better perspective. That first "no" is always the hardest.

But yeah, never lose sight of family, friends, faith, etc. Ultimately they're just a bunch of pieces of plastic, you have no loyalty to them.

 

I'm getting there.

Looking at this year I've noticed two trends in my buying. First there's an increased interest due to siege being more back to what I like in TF: nice, chunky figures that are fun to pick up and fiddle. So I bought some of those, and still eyeing others. But a second trend is trouble actually buying figures. Figures that are important characters to me and are close to everything I want them to be...and still I don't buy them. I don't want to spend the money (even though I have it) and in some cases it feels like either checking of a list or replacing older figures. It's like the idea to spend the money to get this figures doesn't hold my interest anymore and once I've bought it anyway...it doesn't feel worth it.


I came back to TF in the late 90's (after having left it in 1991) and became a serious buyer circa 2002. Now 17 years later, I think I've reached the end. I look at the MP part of my collecting and I think: two more (Trailbreaker and Blitzwing) and I'm done (although a Blaster and Rodimus Prime would be bought). I look at the CHUG part of the collecting and although I see options there, I'm not really interested. There are still some characters/figures I would like to have, and maybe I'll get them, but maybe I won't.

Thing is, if I stop buying, I will loose interest quickly. The collection will then be stale. More and more figures will then be selected for selling.

 

I am kinda getting to that point.

With Siege i was hoping for the entire Ark crew before moving on to the Earth crap.

With the new direction and quality of the MP line i am also rethinking my MP collecting as well

 

For me I was hoping for ark crew, definitive seekers (not two sets) the season 2 ark characters including skids, and then a couple of gap fillers like the autobot target masters, power masters and the odd few season 3 bots missing. I just honestly feel like I can't be bothered to keep going. If I do, it'll be stopping around season 3 and even then it'll only be the bigger characters.

 

Me yesterday:

Later that day:

 

That's a really good point. Me, I rarely feel the urge to complete a wave 100% (Siege is pretty tempting doe). For the most part I rather admire all the interesting toys from afar, and only buy the ones I absolutely know I'll adore (while also not breaking bank, of course).

 

In a way, yes. My love of it definitely isn't the same as it was from 2007-2014.

 

 

That's me!

Limited space is tough. But I treat it like a game of Tetris cause this is all the space I got left for CHUG.

 

I've been collecting for the last 7-8 years and I've been bouncing back and forth between collections. I have a Batman collection, Marvel, Predators\Aliens, and Transformers. For the last year, I've been buying nothing but Transformers. It's getting to the point, where I'd like to sell off some of my other figures. I just can't bring myself to do it. For the simple fact, that I'm afraid, I'll want to start collecting those other lines again. Then I'll feel stupid for selling them.

 

Yes, I am moving at the end of the month and am dreading moving all of them. I have 3 rooms full of them and some of the ones I look at and wonder why did I ever buy those? lol. I am really regretting all the 07 Movie toys I have but I think at this point they would be a hard sell to unload...

 

I go through phases of buying and selling continuously. Keeps the hobby fresh for me. I also am not a completionist like I was 10-15 years ago. Hasbro is just now making the toys I’ve always wanted so these are exciting times.

 

One can never have too many figures...

 

You can have too many to display and enjoy...

 

  That's what shelves and weekends are for...