Hello fellow collectors, I am in a situation right now... I am going to clean out my basement for more space and i noticed that a good amount of space is taken up by 30 garbage bags full of empty transformers boxes that have accumulated over the past 10 years of collecting. I suppose it is my collector instinct to save every box/packaging that i open.

So to sum all this up I would really love and appreciate your own opinion on this matter. Do you guys think these empty boxes and card backings worth anything in the future? or if i decide to sell a already open figure and put him back in the packaging will it really make any difference?

Any advice would be a huge help to me on making a decision to keep them or throw them away. Also if it helps make your answers easier, I will always keep super exclusive's and Takara Masterpiece's packaging. I just need to know if mainline releases packaging is worth it or not.

Thank you all in advance for helping me.

 

An often-asked question.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...u-keep-boxes-you-loose-figures-if-so-why.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/927965-collectors-boxes-space-them.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/865474-throwing-away-hasbro-mp-boxes.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/699151-packaging.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/609839-storing-tfs-tf-boxes-attic.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/665148-do-you-keep-extras-product.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/558572-how-do-you-store-your.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/542490-boxes-keep-not-keep.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...advice-how-do-you-decide-what-boxes-keep.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/497710-toy-boxes.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/483697-do-you-keep-packagingo.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...85405-transformer-boxes-do-you-keep-them.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...n/455774-collection-tetris-storing-boxes.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/378816-what-do-you-do-your-tf-boxes.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/379900-selling-boxes.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...373309-when-start-throwing-away-tf-boxes.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...00-what-do-you-do-packages-your-tfs-come.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/324112-saving-boxes.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/299638-boxes-i-need-help.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...n/240793-boxes-keep-them-throw-them-away.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans.../231765-gah-seriously-need-help-deciding.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/225835-boxes-boxes-even-more-boxes.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/193874-i-finally-did.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/175131-what-do-ten-years-packaging.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/170193-keep-not-keep-your-tfs-boxes.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/163606-tf-boxes-keep-throw-away.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/149246-do-people-actually-want-boxes.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/115326-keep-box.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/trans...rently-i-am-now-packaging-collector-well.html
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/112570-i-thought-day-would-never-come.html

Plenty of food for thought.  

... boy, I never realized until now just how often this topic comes up. Seriously, this must be collector's dilemma #1 or something. Not a criticism or anything, just an observation.

Anyway, to answer your question, I've started throwing away my Transformers' packaging a long time ago.

 

lol Yea it must be seeing all those threads you posted. I will look into all of them. Nothing more i hate then to regret doing something that im not 100% on. Thanks for the help and advice.

 

Trash bags??? Show a little more respect. Put them in nice boxes neatly. You can organize the boxes by series so they're easier to find later on. Ovbiously, label the box after packing.

 

The thought of maybe flattening the boxes and saving the card backing to save space crossed my mind.

 

I would if I had more time. I am so busy with work and home that i just grab a bag put them in and bring it down stairs lol.

 

I only keep the boxes for exclusives or special edition figures - TFCC or various convention figures, pretty much. Although I did keep the box for YOTS Omega Supreme. It's so shiny, and if I ever need to store that guy I'd rather have a more secure spot for him than "in a bin somewhere".

Otherwise they just take up too much space. I try to keep my collection count from getting too high; if I can't fit most of the figures in the plastic bins I have (two larger ones and three small ones) then I've got too many.   Keeping the boxes / packaging for every figure would severely cut down on collection count (which might be a good thing, but, eh, I'd have a hard time parting with that many).

 

I keep special boxes like MP, but the rest are thrown out.

 

I keep anything G1, Masterpiece, 3rd party or Japanese Beast Wars. Everything else is thrown away.

 

All my boxes get trashed.... Unless I can reuse for storage... Mp soundwave box is great for storing instructions for all me other Transformers.

 

glade you posted this. Been thinking about it myself as well. Just started in collecting resently and already wondering what to do with them.

 

I keep all of mine personally, but that's because I never have all of my display out at one time, so I keep most in their original boxes for storage. A lot of times, I keep them in their original bags too, along with the receipt. I like having them to see the differences in the packaging over the year too.

It is rough trying to store them all, though. I'm very quickly running out of room in the lamest game of Tetris ever that I call my bedroom closet.

 

any value you may derive from those packages is lost to the space you lose by storing them all of this time. if you consider rent or mortgage by square foot, think of how many square feet you are losing holding on these things. mainline packaging is not worth saving. by holding them all this time you have already lost more than you'll ever get back by getting somehow recouping your value on them.

 

I only keep the MP Boxes...the rest I dispose of.

 

This looks like a good thread to bring back. I'm still tetrising away, but I'm pretty much near end game.

I understand that it's shelf presentation in a store and shipping protection to reduce returns, but today we should be looking at reducing material cost in packaging and more so cost in shipping.



What I'd give if that box was 1/4 the volume. There'd be so much more space to store more and shipping could be half the price. We buy online and import far more now, with shipping services ever increasing. I think manufacturers, if not already, should be considering how to minimise the packaging.



Mind you if it's by weight, I hope they never make diecast Lego.

 

Okay, just saw which board this came from. That rant probably applies less so to takara or hasbro as their main lines are about shelf presence, and their exclusives have been tight little shipping cartons. Though the MP cars are nice, did MP Soundwave really need to be that big?

 

Boxes go in the trash. Only exceptions are Masterpiece and 3rd party boxes.

 

Aside from Japanese Masterpiece or something like that, it all goes in the trash. The cardboard is so thin and the packaging offers no significant info relating to the character anymore...it's just a waste of space.

Super Sentai packaging gets saved, however. This is probably a holdover from my Godiakin collecting days...

 

It make sense. Some of the packaging is really cool, and if you're someone who rotates your collection getting rid of packaging decreases resale value.

My rule of thumb for a while was keeping boxes/plastic/etc. When I got married, bought a house, and had a kid, space became a concern. So those multiple boxes of boxes/plastic turned into a giant Sterilite tub filled with flattened boxes, instructions, and cardbacks.

I did, however, keep all of the materials for my Power Rangers stuff (especially since it came in some really nice Styrofoam. And it's helped me come back nearly 10 years later and sell them for nearly triple what I paid.