I actually started collecting TF after getting into "collecting robots" for completely different reasons. That said, my TF collection is very narrow, and very focused. I'm unfortunately accumulating a "taxi squad" of figures that are outdated or don't fit with the aesthetic in mind. I am very grateful to be within yodelling distance of being done.

 

Mindwipe was a letdown for me, loose joints, parts that don't wanna stay tabbed, if i didn't buy him i could have gotten Triggerhappy down the line
Every time i go play with my fi- i mean pose them, Mindwipe is always the chewing toy, im rough when handling him instead of being careful like i am with the rest since it's not like he can become much worse anyway so im just careful enough not to break anything

 

I used to be a 'no limits' collector...heck I wasn't just a completist...I was going after lucky draws, prototypes, Brazilian minicars...I wanted it all!!!

When the movies came out I amassed a ton of them before finally saying to myself 'but I don't even LIKE these designs! Why do I have a dozen of this Bumblebee?!?!?!?'

Thus began the first culling...I got rid of all the movie figures and also most of my super rarities because I also realized I had no actual connection to them, I only wanted then because they were so rare.

So the first line was drawn...as the years have gone on I have pulled that line further and further back...and I'm a happier collector for it.

MP scale only for characters that began as Microchange or Diaclone

Chug scale for anything else, but no duplicate characters unless their desigs are vastly different.(Hot Shot from Energon, Cybertron and TF2000 can coexist). If a better version of the same character comes out, the old one has to either be culled or repurposed.

Updates of G1 through Unicron Trilogy only, priority on anything G2. (UT because that is my son's sweet spot and one day when I'm gone this will all be his)

3rd party is acceptable if Hasbro has no plans to offer the same character...sorry, but if MMC is willing to do Deathsaurus and Hasbto doesn't want my $$$ for it I'm not going to pass on that hole being filled.

I may start turning to customizers to fill holes I expect Hasbro will never do while learning to customize some figures myself.

 

Every toy is case by case basis. Usual limit is cost.

 

I, by and large, stick mainly to Seasons 1 through 3 for my display.

That said, there's plenty of wiggle room as far as what I've used to represent (rather than a 13 Original Primes concept) a Dynasty of Primes, the Wreckers, and notable characters from other series' and continuities in the background or interspersed in crowds.

It's my Transformers shelf. Rules are malleable.

 

I honestly don’t miss being a completionist. Every once in a while I worry that I’ll miss out on a cool figure or cool piece of engineering or that I’ll look back in 10 years and regret taking part in a certain line, but then I think about the figures I already own that I bought because of a gimmick that I just don’t feel any attachment to. Sure, there are a few figures that I’ve developed a love for, but generally if I don’t feel an attachment when I buy it, my feelings stay lukewarm.

 

My boundaries have changed a little over time, but I started collecting with an idea of what I wanted my IDW2005 cast collection to look like rather than a "gotta catch 'em all" attitude.

My most hard and fast rule is No Stand-Ins.
Doesn't matter how sorely "needed" a certain character is, if I don't like any currently or previously available toys of a particular TF I'd rather wait for something I consider "definitive" than settle for a toy I don't even really like. This does occasionally backfire on me when I warm up to something that I wasn't necessarily feeling when it came out but is now a pain in the ass to track down, like Siege Shockwave.

A newer one for me is "less background characters".
This is mostly because of my Lost Light shelf, which is pretty crowded already, and having a background cast full of named characters means I'd very easily run out of space if I kept buying them. I've retired and plan to sell a few of them already.
Most recently I've forced myself not to get Kingdom Inferno, even though he is very purdy, because of this rule... Which I then proceeded to break by getting Huffer because, I mean, have you seen Kingdom Huffer? How could I not?! (I did spend about ten minutes wracking my brain as to whether I really should get him though, it was a calculated impulse purchase!)

When it comes to Masterpiece Beast Wars I'm only in it for the show cast. The only exception is if the stars align and they do something crazy like retool Waspinator into Injector (or rather Rartorartatartatarta) or Rhinox into Torca/Elephorca (imagine!!!). Same rules for my Kingdom (and beyond) Beast Wars crew.

Only one version of each character with certain exceptions like Transmetals (if we get them in Generations).

Despite my rules I still have a shelf dedicated to things that I had to have regardless of whether they fit in my main collections, like GS King Poseidon and Super Megatron, Computron, Fossilisors, Powerdashers and such.

 

If they appear in the 86 movie it’s a must everyone else is based on the Tug...
When I see it if I feel the urge I buy it if not pass

 

I broke all my boundaries in 2020, went figure crazy, bought I think maybe 200+ but I been going backwards this year, downsizing my stuff to what I think is cool and worthy of sitting in my shelf, nothing more. Also updating figs that I feel like deserve it.

 

I try to only go for the 'mainstream' best version of a character. I didn't care for a large swath of Classics/Generations pre-Combiner Wars, and even then most of that has been replaced. I dipped my toe in Masterpiece, but being a Late-G1 guy, that line was never for me. Tried a couple of 3rd party TFs, but the only one currently on my shelf is G2 Arkose.

I've begun to see my collection less as a conglomeration of toys and more of a display piece. I still play with them and enjoy them, but now I want there to be a bit more to it than just rows of toys in static poses. I want it to look good, and I don't think I can do that just buying whatever random toy I come across.

 

I always try to make some boundaries but then I break them.

When I started my rules were only G1 and BW figures. Don’t get into modern retail. I got into retail stuff.

No “big figures”. I own multiple titans and MP figures

Don’t spend more than $100. I own a MP-44 sooo yeah.

No 3P. I almost exclusively purchase 3P legends figures


My current boundaries are 3P legends and main retail beast wars figures. I’m almost up to date on my 3P legends wants so buying future figures should be easier on my wallet since releases are slower.

 

I made 2 progressions. I started getting 1 3rd party CHUG and bought a few official TFP 1st Editions. I progressed to G1 MP, MPM, and Legends but have managed to keep the collection under 20 figures for each category (I bend the rules a bit by counting combiners as 1 figure since they stay in that mode). It'd be a pain to try and sell even 1 figure where I am, so I try to be very selective.

The second progression was picking up Motor Nuclears first two Gundams because they had a beast mode. So I ended up buying three 1/72 and two 1/100 builds I thought fit a similar theme. I'm out on Gundams now.

I only plan to add four 1/6 Ichigo Kurosaki figures to my collection because Bleach as a franchise has no modern figures.

Soft boundaries, I won't buy it if:
-I have no attachment to the character
-Don't like both of its modes
-I think a better version is shortly behind it

Hard boundaries:
-No single order (1 item or multiple items totalling) over $300 at once.

-A combiner team cannot be left incomplete. Meaning, even if I like the look of 1 member, if I don't like them all I won't buy it.

-If the color palette of a figure doesn't fit my current shelf aesthetic, I have to pass on it.
Part of the aesthetic for me is not having too many varying colors

-The current display exists "completed", figures added to it serve the display, not to have representation ie. If the G1 display is just carbots vs. Stunticons, there doesn't need to be a Reflector, Shockwave, Galvatron, Skyfire etc. in the MP collection.

 

That's interesting, thanks! I do find his scale good, though Saber himself is only deluxe sized. There are some things that could be improved still, if they ever choose to make another version.

I'm more or less "done" in terms of my list, with only SS86 Slag left for the time being. It's a good feeling. I'm hoping to make a switch to focusing more on my storage and display options in the near future.

I went back and forth so much on Mindwipe but in the end decided against it, mainly because of his soft wingtips. Definitely get Triggerhappy if you haven't, he was definitely my highlight of that line.

That's a big change from wide open to very specific! Arguably much more specific and focused that most!

I have bought multiple figures with cool engineering where I had no attachment to the character.

"No stand-ins" is a good rule and one that I've kept to as well.

Haha smashing through those walls one after the other. I feel that the step to 3rd Party is a really big step for most. I actually hope I never have to make that transition.

Branching out into another toyline entirely is a huge progression. I did the opposite, used to be really into Lego but dropped it entirely a few years ago. Now it's exclusively TF for me.

I also made another exception lately. For my entire collecting life, I have done my best to avoid repaints and retools. I literally own one single repaint: Universe Starscream + Generations Thundercracker. However I have ordered both POTP Hun-Gurrr as well as Selects Turtler. Even though they are very heavy retools of one another with different transformations entirely, it still took much deliberation before finally pulling the trigger.

Which combiner teams pass your filter? I suppose one good thing about all the retools and repaints in Combiner Wars it means that you can sort of mix and match.

 

I'm no. 2 "The characters I like and figures I think look cool"

At this point WFC has given me the definitive versions of the characters I love that I always wanted. Theoretically I could stop now but 2021 told me "Not yet, not even close." The toys are so damn good and have been since WFC started that I'm just in for almost anything. Now with Studio Series '86, Combiners returning in this style and Titans still on deck - I don't see an end in sight.

If I get some Powermasters, Protectobots and Metroplex then MAYBE that could do it for me.....maybe. Right now I just don't see it, I can end up being one of those people who just keeps collecting their favorite brand perpetually. Which is a good thing, Transformers was my favorite back in elementary school so seems fitting.

 

Forgot one...Other than the 84-85 Diaclone cast like the seekers or Datsun bros, if a repaint comes out as a different character I try and see if I have the ability to have one or the other in the different mold for the sake of visual interest. (like having Sudio Series for Jazz but the HFTD mold for Stepper.)

 

I think being able to continue collecting for as long as possible would be the ideal case for most (all?) of us.

That's a good rule! I think the past few years of Generations/TR/Siege/Earthrise provided lots of opportunity for this.

 

At this moment in time I'm a teenager with no steady flow of income. So basically I'm left to having a very pick and choose outlook on figures.

At this point in time it's CHUG only, tho I've been toying around with getting Warbotron's Bruticus since that's at 150$ on BBTS.

For G1 I'm mostly limiting myself to cartoon characters, and for those only guys I really like. I'm pretty much skipping on datsuns at the moment simply because I hate the Earthrise mold, and siege Bluestreak seems a bit hard to come by. And only one version of a character, so I'm only getting the siege Seeker trio cause I like them more than the earthrise mold (still trying to get my hands on Hotlink to turn him into Skywarp.) The Beast Wars aspect of Kingdom I've been all in for. No fossilizers because I know I'd splurge way too much there, and then I'd have no idea if I'd have the money to get what I actually want.

No movie figures as of now, simply because there's no way I can go in on another shelf. I don't have the money, space, or attachment to those versions of the characters to want them, no matter how cool the designs and toys might look.

NO MP figures period. Too expensive, and I'm not a fan of how the design philosophies and qc issues have been as of late.

As said earlier, third party is a maybe based on how much I like the figure and how relatively inexpensive it is. Subject to change upon being a working adult.

ZERO STATUES. They take up too much space and completely remove all of the things I like about transformers. Stupidly expensive, no articulation, no transforming, I just don't see what the point to them are beyond putting a gaping hole in your wallet and taking up space things I actually like could go.

I don't really have any boundaries set beyond that simply because the lack of income causes me to use the relatively small amount of money I can earn from doing whatever around the house very sparingly.

 

Because i was a kid when 07 came out, my collection started as only the hasbro movie line since my parents were paying. At some point, around 16 or 17, I got myself a bookshelf and kept the collection small enough to fit on it but looked in to 3p add-ons. Fast forward a couple years and i have geared in to "whatever catches my eye, some combiners and soundwave".

 

I'm strictly 3P unless a better toon/Ox version is made by HasTak, so it's more of "which company's rendition looks aesthetically pleasing in all modes". For example, I really enjoyed the look of Ocular Max's Vortex, Onslaught and Brawl. But I don't like Blast Off or that because it is all-in-one, Bruticus has Onslaught's blue body, so even though I really like 3/5 on the team, I can't justify it in my head.

I'm collecting FansToys Stunticons because even if the combiner is unstable, they are great in both modes.

The Terrorcons, Seacons, and Liokaiser are the only ones that I may pass on just because of their diverse color palettes being less cohesive than say, Computron.

 

I have always had a set of collecting guidelines that have changed over the years I used to only get one version of a mold and avoid repaints. Then Combiner Wars came along and that rule had to be modified. For me, it was more like Combiner Wars or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Repaint.

These are the current guidelines I'm working with:

I only buy mainline generations figures, no MP, no 3rd party, no R.E.D. no Super 7 or anything along those lines

I avoid too many repaints and I limit myself to no more than 3 versions of the same mold. This lets me avoid things like the shattered glass line and other side stuff that Hasbro puts out.

I really don't care about scale as long as everything looks about right in robot mode I don't care. I mean my legends scale seekers had to be changed out for voyagers but having Bumblebee and Cliffjumper be a little bit bigger compared to the Prime Wars mini-bots doesn't bother me.

Only have one version of a character, if a new figure replaces an older figure of the character the old one must be sold/traded to make space/make back some money. If I don't like the new version I just take it back to the store and keep the old one. It is more important to me to have a version of the character I like then the newest version or if the have a Cybertron mode or an Earth. Hense why I kept most of the Siege figures and only focused on the new characters in Earthrise. Aside from Optimus and the seekers they needed to be changed out.

I also keep my factions even so I don't go too crazy with too many bots or cons.

I also pay very close attention to what's coming out and I have a list of characters that I want new figures of. Once that new figure gets revealed that's the only one I order and I ignore the rest.

Like with Fan First Friday the only figure that I ordered was Wreck-Gar because I'm happy with the Prime Wars versions of Gnaw and Slag that I already have. This way I can focus on what I really want and get the character that I really need and not end up in a cycle of buying the same characters over and over again. At this point I'm more interested in getting figures of characters I don't have rather than buying new versions of characters I already have. So basically I'm trying to avoid this: