The house I've been living in ever since March 2005 will no longer be my home in early next year. I am excited we get a larger place. Worst part is I gotta move my stuff. Any advice? I got alot of video games, Transformers, clothes, shoes, and other shit.
Get some moving boxes and bubble wrap for more fragile things and make sure you pack the boxes well to where you avoid from having things move around in the box as you head towards your new home. Also, look into insurance coverage while you're moving. You can always check with your homeowners/renters insurance provider to see if they provide any coverage as well. Typically if they do, they will not cover things like "breaking, marring, and scratching" which is usually caused by negligence of people not being careful with your stuff, or securing things properly into the moving truck. For "breaking, marring, and scratching," you're going to want to look at options available through the moving company.
I have moved from vacation rentals constantly from 2006 to 2018. My recommendations would be: 1. Start packing early. Even if it's a little bit at a time it makes moving so much easier. 2. Carefully pack fragile items. For transformers I'd store them in vehicle mode. 3. Keep all electronics safe from water and anything else.
Berate and abuse the movers. Keep calling them schleps as they lift heavy things. You only get them for a few hours so you might as well get your money's worth.
Check in with local restaurants to see if you can take boxes off their hands. Also wearhouse stores could have boxes for you to use. Bubble wrap is your friend with moving toys. Anything stupid heavy, get the pros to help.
Label your boxes on top and on the side. If other people are going to be handling them (be it movers or family/friends), label the fragile ones. Try to keep related things together, specially when unloaded. It’s a bitch if everything is all mixed up. Try to use your own things to protect furniture or mirrors, like a rug or bed sheets. That’s all I can really add to what’s already been said. Also, I hate moving.
All the heavy stuff goes in small boxes (books), all the light stuff goes on big boxes (linens, blankets, pillows), clothes and shoes medium boxes. All your toys and valuables is dealer’s choice. You protect that shit. I say bubble wrap and it all goes in totes, medium boxes, small boxes. Label all your boxes with sharpie. Don’t stress and have fun.
Are you moving your stuff or is a moving company doing it? If a moving company is going it, inventory your shit!
If you want free cardboard boxes, ask employees that work in grocery/dept stores, as they have a lot that they throw out every day, all kinds of sizes. Go when the store first opens, as most of the stocking happens before the store opens. Get friends that you trust to help you move. Bribe them with food. Maybe some will even be willing to temporarily store some of your stuff. Give extra care and attention to your more valuable and rare toys/games/shoes. Don't pile up a lot of stuff on top of them in the box, that could damage them. Wrap them up with lots of bubble wrap and/or clothing. These things can get banged around while in transport.
How far is your new place? What I did was I just put my TF carefully in a box and I gradually moved them myself. Less boxes and no padding needed. TFers are tough, even G1s and I have 6 giant cabinets full of TF opened. My MISB are just sitting in tubs.
If you have anything extremely fragile and/or that's of value to you, pack it carefully and move it yourself. Don't let hired help touch it. That also goes for ALL electronics. Only let hired help move heavy furniture, linen and clothing. If possible, recruit family and friends to help who will actually care about your move rather than a few bruisers looking for a quick payday. When I had an 80 mile move, I had my dad, uncle and a good friend help out.
Bubble wrap lots and lots of bubble wrap. Boxes are great but I'd suggest duffel bags, preferably ones that are collapsible. They are damn durable and can haul a good amount. Best part is you can get collapsible ones that don't take a terrible amount of space,It's nice to have just in case you have to move again so you don't have to run around asking for boxes. And if at all possible like others have said move your stuff in small batches. Had 72 hours when I had to move and ho boy you realize how much shit you've accumulated in such a short period. Twas not fun and fuck you grandma for causing it(yes it seriously was my grandmothers fault).
Grab something from your old room and put them in your new room. Honestly though, like what folks (well most folks) here are saying, get some boxes, but not too big boxes because you can underestimate the weight after putting your stuff in them. Move your video games last. I say this as a video game collector because I don't trust anyone with my games, outside my family. And when you have placed your boxes in your new room, remove the items from the boxes and reuse the boxes to place more items.