Start with generations. Very high expectations for this line.

 

I gotta agree with the idea of get what you like. I passed on plenty of ROTF toys cause i did not like them. Generations is promising to and based on the 2 figures from generations i have so far being WFC Prime and Bumblebee they are amazing.

Welcome to collecting and to tfw!

 

I would recommend rare afa graded 95, or 100's G1's to start off, then work your way down

 

Cool, thanks for the info  

 

that's a great idea if you are a trust fund baby or can afford to be oblivious to economics.

my suggestion is to start simple and set a goal that is not so difficult. like buying all the 1984 G1 figures. there's not that many in that year's releases and you can still have room to collect the recent TFU/Generations/HftD figures.

then work on the 1985 figures.
the Encores are a good place to start (what little there is at the moment).

good luck with the collecting.

 

well first off welcome to our ragtag misfit bunch, we all hate you already. lol

seriously, i have been hooked and collecting since 1984... i have been through more than 3000 characters, possesing roughly 1000 right now. my recommendation to you is to get to know your characters, develope a kind of relationship with the stories and era's you like and buy based off of that. that way you will be buying a character you appreciate more. now there will be some that you hate as a character but look cool as hell and have a great toy, buy those and you can repaint or kitbash them into your own character. but i find if i can relate to or respect a certian character more on some level or another, i appreciate owning its toy(s) that much more. it also makes buying in this economy all the more satisfying as your purchase means that much more to you. i am a G1 purist myself, so i collect masterpices and classics etc. but there are characters from every line either do to cool factor or a true semblence to their G1 self that i buy.

i will warn you to watch for knock offs as others have said. also this is truly plastic crack, so dont rush and spend more than your budget can handle, especially for some older toys or more complex collectors toys such as masterpieces and certian re-issues. Happy hunting and pm me anytime...

 

Kranix gave a good advice to all newb collectors. Props to Kranix, for pointing out a crucial thing many new collectors have to do when they start with this "bussiness".

That is the advice I gave last year to a newb collector on a local cartoon/toys forum.

I didn't do that, so eventualy I had to sell off the toys that I didn't care much (or at all), and I still have some that are sitting in the display case, just because I can't find anyone willing to buy them.

 

I just got hooked myself a year ago now. This is a wonderful place, but it does tend to make one ambitious, lol. I've narrowed in on the movie style and the Classics style (new molds almost exclusively rather than A/E/C) as my lines of choice, but I have a small collection of Animated Decepticons as well.

One thing I do every few months or so is actually write out what I'd like to see on my shelves (I don't have very many, lol) by theme, faction, scale, etc and then estimate what it will cost me to get what I want on them.

Keep an eye out for deals, esp. on EBay and in the Junkion Exchange. Some of my best deals and experiences have been through dealing with members here. But don't forget EBay either...I'll never forget when I got Ultra Magnus with City Commander armor, one of my personal Holy Grails, for half of the going rate. That's patience, observation, and knowing when to bite on a good deal!

Also, if you're just going to display them on shelves and transform them anyway, buy loose! It will save you so much, and most collectors aren't drop-testing their figures so it's not like you are losing much in the way of quality. It's not as if merely being minty guarantees you quality on, say, Hasbro's paint apps.  

 

I focused on one character, Optimus Prime of course, and then built my collection around him--getting all the Optimus Primes that have come out over the many years of Transformers (I have a buddy who is collecting all Bumblebees).

Sticking with one character allows me to see 1) how the character has evolved and 2) many artistic interpretations of the same character. Furthermore, it is better on my budget if I make certain rules for myself, like no repaints of the same mold, or if I have a Leader class I do not get the voyager class. Oh, what out for Botcon figures, the cost $$$!

Like Kranix mentioned, do not spend more than your budget. I budget no more than $100 month on my collection and I try to stay away from Ebay unless I really have to, not because of the over-priced or ko sellers, but because I get anxious and start to buy all the "missing" pieces of my collection.

Good Luck to all new collectors, have fun, and try hard not to feel ripped off (we al have our stories)!

 

I won't make recommendation because you have to ultimately decide what it is that you want to collect. But whatever you do, focus on a little bit at a time. Don't focus on multiple lines right now. If you do, you might go hog wild and buy up everything you see. That's what I did and I totally regret it. I've sold off most of what I had 2-3 years ago (TFTM and Animated) and decided to keep anything from Classics/Henkei/Uni 2.0/Generations and Masterpiece.

 

like others mentioned, be patient, you'll find good deals, i got my newest classics rodimus for $5 this year, if you like the fansproject additions to classics, try to get them in stores, saves you a lot of cash

 

Ultimately only buy the stuff you like, if your unsure, just google the item and check out the reviews.

 

so after a bit of time on these forums, I've purchased a few items here and there (mostly MP) and I've been eyeing the G1 Reissues. I'm a little confused so maybe someone could give me a bit of insight on these:

1. Hasbro Commemorative Series Reissues
2. Takara Collection Reissues -- there seem to be quite a few different packaging for these but I've seen "bookstyle" and they look awesome. how are these different from the others, like Collector Edition Reissues, and ... generic "Reissues"?

I was interested in those Takara bookstyle reissues, but then I'm no gold-mine and they appear to be quite pricey. I like how they look on a book shelf MISB   and because of my OCD and hoarding nature, the fact that they are nicely numbered adds to the appeal  

Being Takara branded, I'm sure there's gotta a price-premium, but how do they compare to the Hasbro Commemorative Reissues? Would the Hasbro ones be more worthwhile to collect? and do they have as nice as "presence" as the Takara bookstyle ones?

 

I'd go TFC over HAsbro reissue. I believe one of the main differences is the use of metal in the Takara reissues versus minimal to any in the Hasbro ones.

 

I don't know of any reissues that differed in metal content.

Hasbro reissues sometimes did lack chrome on some weapons(Blue/Silverstreak) and either had elongated firing missiles(seekers, ricochet) or had non-firing launcher(hoist, grapple)

TFC also had some reissues with 'anime' paint schemes, mostly some Autobots got blue eyes and Starscream's whole color scheme is more cartoon-colors than G1 toy colors.

A few TFC guys also had little extra accessories: Prime with an Axe, Megatron with the mace/flail/morning star/whatever you call it, Starscream with Megatron gun.

I think you have to choose which reissue you want on a case-by-case basis. Some reissues have minor differences depending on 1st Takara reissue line, TFC, Encore, or Hasbro reissues. They also might be cheap/expensive in a certain line or are only available in 1 or just a couple of those lines.

Red Alert for instance was reissued twice be Takara, but both times as limited editions/"exclusives", so they were at a 'premium price' to begin with. However the Hasbro reissue was readily available at retail and is only lacking a firing missile launcher.

 

The TFC reissues are brilliant, except for Jazz. His face is horribly distorted, and his roof does not line up in car mode. These problems were corrected in the Hasbro reissue, I believe. I'd pass on him unless you're going for collecting every single one of them.

 

anybody have or know where there is a checklist with photos? Even if it's just 1 big photo of someone's collection would help. I remember seeing somebody's collection that was complete while I Google-ed Takara bookstyle reissues, but I can't seem to find it anymore.

Something for the bookstyle, encore, commemorative would be awesome.