This is something I've seen discussed in toy collecting and in other collecting hobbies in general, the fact that many collectors progress through stages. Here's are examples in a TF context:

"I'll only get the characters I like, nothing else"
"I'll get the characters I like and the figures that look cool"
"One of each mold only, no retools or repaints"
"Ok heavy retools are fine but definitely no repaints"
"M..maybe I'll make an exception for the seekers"
"I don't really know or like that guy, but he is only $10, worth a try"
"I'll never spend over $50 for a figure"
"Over $50 is fine for selected figures but never over $100"
"I'll make an exception for certain MP figures"
"I already have 10 MPs, what's a couple more?"
"If I don't get this guy now for $200, he'll only be available later on from scalpers for $300+"
"I only need one of each figure, no army building"
"Ok exceptions made for canonical armies"
"Hmm...I could use another one of those for spare parts"
"This is my TF shelf"
"This is my TF cabinet"
"This is my TF wall"
"This is my TF room"

Now to be clear I'm not disparaging any aspect of this or any particular level. Every collector has their own personal journey and their own goals. What I want to discuss is:

1. When have YOU noticed a progression to a next step in collecting? Was it a conscious choice or did it just happen? Are you planning any further changes in your collecting habits in future?

2. Setting aside the obvious limitations of money and space, what are some boundaries you have set for yourself? Are they soft or hard boundaries? Has any particular figure forced you to revisit your boundaries?

 

For me its a fact that this thing of collecting is addictive, once you've started, you want every characters on that line to have, and then goes on and on to every line and iterations, unless you're in tight budget.

 

I’ve broken boundaries all along the way in terms of the number of figures...number of shelves...number of display cases...number of different toylines...max cost per figure...etc. The ones I still hold onto, mostly, are:

-Minimal repaints/retools (except in the cases of seekers...Datsun bros...Ironhide...stuff like that),

-Avoiding buying things just because they’re on clearance

-Avoiding buying figures just to complete a series

-Avoiding buying figures when I already have a version of the character that I like more

Edit:

- No statues
- Almost no 3P

 

I've been in this game a long time- too long- since 1997, when I first wandered into a KBToys and came home with Transmetal2 Scarem and Optimus Minor. I was hooked.

Fast forward to today and even after multiple purges, I am completely out of space. I used to collect 3.75" GI Joe and Star Wars too, so I am disappointed but relieved those lines have finally ended.

I am a proud and unrepentant Geewunner, but I can enjoy cool figures regardless of series. A good figure is a good figure. Threrein lies the issue. I stick to G1 and Beast Wars/Machines, so the last two trilogies have been a dream come true and a nightmare for my space and wallet.

The first thing to go was Masterpiece. Price, aesthetic, and redundancy pushed me out of that line. I dont touch the kid lines like Cyberverse etc. I like Japanese G1 but lack any connection to it, so I don't collect. I have what G1 reissues I'll ever need.

Exclusives: back in the day I refused to own anything Botcon or FP related regardless of how desirable. Today I have most (but not all) of the Selects/Pulse/Amazon exclusives. They are relatively easy to obtain, and affordable compared to attending a convention.

I judge new releases on their own merits. I hated Prime, but 1st Bulkhead and Arcee were great figures so I own them. If they come out with Armada and BM figures which dont suck as hard as the originals, it will be hard to say no.

I wont collect odd subgroups like Shattered Glass, but I'll go all in on G2.

I won't touch 3P aside from the odd upgrade kit.

What I hope to see is that one day the brand will stop eating its own tail. A new series, new characters, new factions done in an aesthetically pleasing pseudo Generations style- a man can dream.

 

I call it “breaking the seal” I avoided all SS, WFC, and Cyberverse until one day someone gave my kid a Siege Prowl, and after that it was too easy to get back in. Had to have Beast Wars. SS86 looked good but passed for a long time. Then came the day where I could get them all in one swoop and I did it. Now I’m in too deep. At least my son is happy!

 

My boundaries are as follows:
-I am a CHUG collector, so everything on CHUG (including Selects, Generations, Studio Series 86) is fair game. 3P Addons for them to make them better are also fair (and I also love them). I'm completionist with CHUG. Basically no limits.
-Studio Series is a side thing. Focus on core characters and avoid side character redecos (like the KSI ones, or a ton of those bumblebees) or "alternative molds" (WWII Molds)
-Crossovers are fair game, on a case-by-case basis. Pretty much comes down to if I like the character or not.
-Masterpiece, I avoid except certain rare "landmarks" like MP-36 and MP-44 Optimus Prime and MP-24 Star Saber. But I avoided almost all the MP Autobot cars, all the MP Seekers to date etc. We're just talking center piece figures here.
-3P MP, entirely avoid, except Fanstoys Sovereign... a one off because Galvatron is one of my favorite characters. But MP-3P is a hard limit.
-No G1 Reissues (anymore).
-No 3P CHUG (anymore)
-No Statues or anything like that.
-No MPM anymore (got the core few I wanted already)
-No Cyberverse or "younger kids line" stuff.
-No associated lines (RED, the new 7 inch giant figure line, whatever its called).

 

I used to collect every TF line (MP, classics, Animated, Alternators) and Marvel Legends. But onceI started collecting Bayverse toys I dropped everything else.
Then I quit collecting after AoE because the LK toys had gotten too small and expensive. But once I saw Peru Kill and the MPMs, I got back in. Now I collect MPMs and movie OSKOs.
To keep spending in check, I almost never pre-order and I usually only order one toy at a time. I won't order another toy until the one I'm waiting for arrives.

 

When I was a kid I had ironclad boundaries. I'd ask my parents, "Can I have this?" and when they said "No" that was that.

Returning to collecting as an adult, I set no boundaries. I wanted as much as I could get. Well, I did have one boundary: when the money runs out, you stop. No going into debt for toys. So I stopped short of being a completist, and even back in the thin days of Beast Machines I didn't buy everything.

As I enter my late forties, I've set some comfortable boundaries to keep things from getting out of control.

• For Generations, general focus on the 1984-85 Autobot cast plus the 1986 Movie poster characters with additions allowed (Wreck-Gar would be a pass as he's not on the poster but I will probably get him if I find him on sale).
• For Masterpiece, focus on the "pre-Transformers" crew with additions allowed (Skywarp would be a pass as he's not a Diaclone original but I may get him to complete the Seeker trio, Arcee was a buy because she fell under the "rule of cool," see below).
• Licensed car Transformers are approved but not prioritized (any licensed car figure from Studio Series would be a buy but only if the price is good and the money is unneeded. They're approved if they're found cheap on the aftermarket).
• Super-God Masterforce characters are a priority. 3rd party renditions allowed but only approved when the money is available.
• "Rule of cool" applies when a figure attains a certain "wow, that's cool" reaction. SS Devastator got in under this rule.
• Metallic gold-painted Bumblebee toys are prioritized.
• Botbots are prioritized with exclusions (I won't buy a set if it contains only one Botbot I don't have unless it's on extreme clearance).
• Most other figures are allowed only if I have specific ideas for customs and if I can get them on sale. (Airwave and Ironworks were recently bought to repaint because the idea is finalized and they were 50% off. Cromar and Sixgun were also bought in the same transaction because they were there and I bent the rules).
• Purchasing exclusives such as Botcon toys on the aftermarket is currently under review. They tend to fall outside all of the above-listed categories and are usually expensive.

 

I think the best and easiest way to keep stuff under control is to allow yourself to reject the notion that you have to have "everything."

I know as a kid, I'd stare at the back of the Star Wars figures' cards and those words COLLECT THEM ALL! taunted me. I never did get all of the original Kenner SW figures....

So when they started again in 1995, I decided, THIS time, I'd have them ALL. And it was expensive and exhausting back then in the days before pre-ordering and amazon. But I kept at it. Until 1999, and Episode One, and there was SO much stuff, and SO much stuff I didn't even WANT or enjoy. And I realized....hey. This is sick. Stop it. Get some help.

That was a wonderful liberation, the feeling of just buying what I wanted and enjoyed and not what I "needed" out of some weird obligation. I've tried to collect that way ever since, and it's been a fun hobby and it never consumes me or makes me upset or frustrated. And I STILL have so much stuff I could probably get rid of or bought on impulse or whatever.

I can't imagine anyone trying to "Collect Them All" in any toyline. It's an exercise in frustration that's only gonna bring more misery than joy.

Just buy what you like.

 

I think i never made much significant change, actually i arguably went from stage 2 to 1
My first 3 figures as a collector were TR Blurr, Mindwipe and Chromedome, characters that at the time i didn't give a damn about and bought based on their looks, i didn't even watch reviews for them, that's how much of an impulse buy they were
My next 3 figures however were TR Hot Rod + Siege Starscream and Soundwave, these 3 i bought because at some level these characters mattered to me, i also started to watch reviews more often after TR Hot Rod scared me with his loose hips(which thankfully i fixed pretty easily and they're actually pretty tight now), this in turn made me aware of Siege figures quality way sooner and as such i planned better to get the characters i like the most that being Starscream

I faced a particular dillemma before Siege got announced, the local toy store had SS Doritoscream and POTP Popeyescream, i really wanted a Starscream figure at the time, SS was pretty good but it was based on a design i hated, POTP was G1 but the whole figure was pretty problematic, i guess that kinda helped me come to the conclusion that i should only buy versions i like of the characters i like and said version has to be good, this paid off when i got Siegescream, plus in hindsight not even the looks of the POTP figure are good, this criteria for example is why i avoided Siege Prowl, i like the character but clear plastic on joints is dreadful to me, it doesn't ruin the whole figure but it was enough of a liabilty to break the deal for me, i hope someday Hasbro reuses that or Earthrise's mold but with better materials

 

Last year I had a load of G1 sitting in storage containers, I realised this was pointless and got rid of most of it - I expanded my one figure per character rule to G1. If G1 was the ‘best’ version then it stayed, otherwise I got rid of it.

Then my circumstances changed and I suddenly no longer have space limitations on my display. At that point I decided to double up on the ‘main’ characters, to have one in each mode, though preferably different molds. (Partly though that was motivated by Siege, and specifically Ironhide and Soundwave.)

I also have a rule across all my collections (not just transformers) that a character has to have appeared in some media that I’ve seen, be it comic, cartoon or film.

 

I hit the next phase. "This is the Transformers floor"

 

I’m currently working on establishing boundaries now. It’s a long process lol.

I had no boundaries at all and was buying every release I possibly could, from every mainline, every MP and almost every MP3P. I realized last year that I was overflowing with figures, and a lot of those figures (especially 3PMP) were not what I wanted in my collection. I also had an overwhelming amount of CHUG figures that I thought were outdated and redundant, a bunch of the “kid” lines that I put in boxes and had no real intention of displaying, and a lot of actually decent figures that I just had no attachment to. I’ve been working on sorting through everything and selling those off.

Going forward is a bit weird right now. I’ve gotten every beast wars kingdom release because BW was an all time favorite line of mine. Studio 86 is also a completion task for me because the movie is my main attachment to G1. The main ‘84 generations line is being limited to figures that I have a previous attachment to, and I’m not really interested in getting duplicates of a mold. Also no weaponizers or fossilizers.

As much as I like the new movies, I’ve realized that I don’t have any desire to display movie figures so I have sold off most of those lines (especially pre-studio series). I’ve kept MPM Optimus and Bumblebee as a core representation but that’s about it.

3PMP has completely stopped except for select FT releases. I just don’t enjoy that area anymore. The few recent figures that I was super excited about ended up being too plagued by QC issues for me to buy, and over all, I just feel like most of the MP3P figures I have just don’t fit well enough with my official collection for me to be happy with them. It’s rare for a 3P company to nail the official aesthetic. I’m working on selling a bunch of these off.

Official MP is really down now to truly special figures. I have almost every release before the 3.0 reboot, but the price hikes have made the line less doable for me as a completionist. $200 seems to be a HARD boundary for me mentally, and that sadly seems to be too low for the MP line nowadays. I’m also really turned off by the QC issues. I was bouncing off the walls for MP Hound, but I held off after the QC reports and I just can’t justify the new preorders at $199.

MPBW is similarly not in my price range. I’ve debated stopping all other lines so I can go all in on this line, but I just can’t pull the trigger on figures priced so high. I’ve gotten a few smaller, core figures that make me happy and otherwise I’m scratching that itch with the Kingdom line.

KO is a hard limit for me.

Going forward, I’m focusing on figures that I like and only completing very select, core groups. My current displaying is composed of two shelves: the Studio 86 cast and the kingdom bw cast on one, and then the other is an absolute collage of my favorite MP figures with zero cohesion or direction and it’s the happiest I’ve ever been with it.

 

I don't overthink it.

If I like and can afford it, I buy.

 

I'll only get the characters I like, and nothing else.

I'll get the characters I like, and the ones that look cool.

I don't really know and/or like that guy, but he's not very expensive.

I only need one figure of each character (gifts and custom bait not excepting.) No army building.

I passed the first two long ago, as I was expecting to only get a few ever, when I first started. I wasn't much into the two I started with, and did not think I'd ever actively collect. I'm never been big on action figures, and TF is one of my three exceptions. Now I have 100+ toys. How did that happen?

I bought Shockwave, Megatron and Bumblebee because they were cheap. I don't really care either which way about Shockwave, but I like how pissy CV Shocky is. I never liked Megatron as a character or a design, but the Titan Warriors are only $4, so I figured, "Why the hell not?" I'm a bit tired of Bumblebee being shoved down my throat, and I prefer his G1 design, so when they did the repros, I jumped on him.

More of the same figure, means less space on the shelf for a fig I really want. I won a mystery prize and in it, was a wind up McD Megatron. I kept him. I ended up buying the cel-shaded Optimus Prime because he's amazing. I couldn't resist Earthrise Starscream and I didn't have any seekers with their classic alt-mode, and I'm happy with him. I bought two blind bag Grimlocks to paint, but I'm no good with small figures, so I let them be. Grimlock is the only tf I have a very small army of. PotP, Hershey Kisses Surprise, and Dollar Tree.

 

This is a good boundary. I am afraid that if a WFC/whatever comes next version of Star Saber or Sixshot are released, I may have to challenge this boundary.

These are hard limits for me too.

Scarem and Optimus Minor are both really really good.

+1 on the hope for a new series, though I'm not optimistic. For now, Japanese Beast Wars scratches that itch for me at least.

MP-24 was a landmark for me too. I am not an MP collector, but for years I had MP-24 as my only exception (seeing G1 Star Saber in person as a child blew my mind, though I was never able to own it back then). Although I got one for a really good price, it did force me to reconsider my price limits. Finally getting MP-24 gave me conflicting feelings. On the one hand, I had a strong feeling of "this is it, a major milestone achieved, I no longer have a huge drive to buy anything else". On the other hand it did seem like the "floodgates" were opened and I progressed to being more comfortable with the idea of spending a bit more on individual figures, especially Japanese exclusives. Once in a while I have to check myself to make sure that I don't get too comfortable.

This is very true and very important. I make sure to reasses myself and my collecting to make sure that I never cross that line.

When I collected over a decade ago, my boundaries were arguably a lot looser. Getting back in last year I made sure to really lift my standards so I understand that feeling of taking a step back. I'm glad I didn't make any really bad choices back in my first phase (and looks like you didn't either, the TR line was largely very good), though I am much more careful now.

I await the next update where you reach the Transformers aparment and its sequel, the Transformers barn.

Yeah MP Primal and BW Megatron are ridiculously expensive. Though adversity forces us to reasses our goals and limits I suppose. Do you miss being a "completionist"?


In my case I used to have a longtime limit of "no combiners". I always thought that they were too compromised. I didn't like any of the Combiner Wars figures. I always found the POTP combiners better but still not worth getting. However, lately I've had to reexamine this limit thanks to Abominus. After watching many many reviews and finding super good deals on them I finally decided to order the Terrorcons. I think "no combiners" might remain as a soft rule, which I will most likely have to revisit once MP Raiden is fully revealed.

 

Well, in my case, progression and boundaries were dictated by changing priorities.

Back when I became an adult collector in the late 90’s, I had no boundaries. Expendable cash and not many other responsibilities meant I bought a LOT. That’s how I ended up with shelves full of Unicron Trilogy toys even though I didn’t like the shows and thought the toys weren’t that good either.

But, changing priorities and all that. Got married, got a house, had 2 kids. Now family is top priority, and daddy’s toys are way down on the list. I limit myself to only toys I MUST have, and then only if I can afford it. The bigger, more expensive ones are usually Christmas or birthday presents. Incidentally, this might be why I’ve gravitated towards Botbots; cheap and fun. Lack of space hasn’t been a huge problem yet, because my buying has slowed so much.

 

-No kiddie lines/budget lines
-Studio Series Bayverse focus, since it's what I grew up with. Bee movie, especially the Cybertron scene figures, are interesting but not high priority. 86 is a case by case basis.
-Only get what seems interesting when it comes to WFC. Usually it means it has to have some kind of gimmick or transformation engineering trick, or if I simply like the appearance.
-Dinosaurs are the coolest thing ever, so if it transforms into a dinosaur it's something im more likely to buy.
-No MPs, MPMs, 3P MPs, and the like. I've only broken this once with MPM Barricade because I got it for more than half off, so I can experience having an MP-branded figure, but that's it.
-No 3P or KO, unofficial items, whether it be figures, add ons or the like.
-buy botbots when you can! Unfortunately the line fizzled out here after series 1 which kinda killed my hype for it.

 

There was a really good interview a few years back with its designer. MP-24 is also the official Takara 30th anniversary piece. They didn't do Thrilling 30. MP-24 was that for thing. Also it's more-or-less in scale with CHUG, because an actual in-scale Star Saber would be Titan class. One of the running theories I've had with the Star Saber character is that we haven't gotten a CHUG one, even through Takara, because the people who care about the character got him. He's "close enough". Just the same with an MP Power Master Optimus Prime, we got the legends one.

I think this official picture is the give away.