My son (7) goes hunting with me and knows that just because I get something, it doesn't mean he's getting something. We can go into a TRU and I'll never hear "dad can I have this?" He's always excited when I get something new and asks if he can play with it once I open it. MP are still off limits, but pretty much everything else is fair game, though he has to ask each time. He's always a little disappointed when I leave a figure sealed.

 

Great thread!

I haven't had any issues with collecting so far... I have three girls, one newborn, the others are three and five. They don't have much interest in my Transformers, despite my attempts to the contrary!

They did seem recently interested in my FansToys Dinobots, however.   Guess there's hope.

 

I have two boys, 7 and going on 6. They have had the first few waves of the Rescue Bots figures plus extras but don't play with them much anymore. I've been leaving my TF generations figures accessible for them to play with, but starting to regret leaving them out when I'm not around. I'm more than happy to let them play with the figures, but they sometimes take the weapons around as if they are using them and drop them in random places about the house. Not sure what they might decide to do with Titan Master figures, so those are only brought out when I'm here to avoid losing heads.

 

Blimey, lucky you. Whenever I get something without getting something for my son he gives me the guilts. And if I get something for him but not my daughter she gives me the guilts. Thankfully my wife isn't in to collecting anything as it could get supremely expensive!

 

Robots In Disguise hooked mine. I showed them some of the old Sunbow episodes but they weren't really into them. RID however both my boy and my girl got a little obsessed with as they do for like a week.

 

Kids and leaving stuff around huh. We just got a puppy and they are now learning the hard way not to just leave stuff around anymore.

 

But then sometimes you go into your mancave and find Masterpiece Bumblebee oddly out of place with mistransformed legs. Evasion mode Prime seems to be missing an arm and why is Barricade's chest open showing a missing Frenzy?

 

I have twins boys that are 13 years old. One of them is autistic while the other is just your normal pre-teen. I also have an 8 year old boy too. I started collecting back in 2001 before the twins and my youngest were born. They have had a collector dad for all their lives so they don't know any different. My approach was pretty simple. I made sure they learned from a very young age that my TF's was Daddy's stuff and not to touch it. Until recently I have always had my collection set up in my room or a hobby room / office. So establishing that rule was pretty easy to do and easy to enforce. Today my display is in my dining room because my current wife is MUCH cooler than my ex-wife. My twins each have their own TF collection with Generations, Combiner Wars and Titan Returns figures. They have grown that collection by taking figures off my hands that I no longer want, getting them as presents or using their allowance to buy them. My youngest has a couple of CW figs and Generations figs and a lot of older stuff like Cybertron and RID from 2001. So they each have their own Transformers which eliminates any desire to mess with my collection. Not to mention the fear of my wrath if they mess with and/or break my stuff. My boys share in the experience when I get new TF's to open. But they understand that they either ask for them as birthday or Christmas presents or they buy them with their allowance. They have an avenue to get new TF's. So the need to mess with mine doesn't happen. Not a perfect system probably but it works quite nicely. And one of my twins will be getting the UW Computron set for Christmas if it is available and not sold out. My 8 year old will be getting some TR figures for Christmas too so they won't lose out on the cool new stuff.

 

I let my daughter play with them for a few minutes before they go on the shelf. She's elated that she's the only one who has ever played with certain toys I own. I also have Robot Heroes and Tiny Titans that we play with as well. Softens the blow. Barring that, I make sure she's getting something herself which keeps her aptly distracted as I put X robot in my shelf.

 

My 6 year old loves Transformers. He's not interested in my MP but he wanted an Arcee figure so when I got him one, he was thrilled. We collect CHUGs together and my wife loves that we play together and watch the cartoons together. He was really happy that we got the whole Defensor set

 

Frankly, my kids' reaction to my collection/collecting really makes me question why I do it. On the one hand, thus far (they range from 5-11), they know they're my toys and to leave them alone. They're also generally okay not getting stuff for themselves (I'm sometimes sneaky about additions and sometimes let them share in opening items) when I get things.

One of my 5 year olds (have boy/girl twins) has asked why I have so many and also made the comment that he wanted to have a collection like mine. I didn't really have a satisfying answer to the "why" part. I enjoy them...which is what I told him. That they either remind me of my childhood or make me think of cool/honorable/fun things. When faced with that question though and my general reaction to it, everything seemed a bit excessive and unjustified. Similarly, my reaction to his comment about wanting a collection like mine was that I didn't want him to. I wanted him to be more interactive with his toys and not hoard so many/focus on his past...value/idolize different things. I didn't necessarily express those sentiments like that, but my visceral reaction was again informative to me.

Anyway, I haven't really changed my collecting as a result, but I do think about what message I'm conveying a lot and really try to emphasize real life role models rather than tv/superheroes with the kids, though the ideals seen in superhero/TF stuff are good jumping off point for talking about integrity and good/evil, right/wrong, etc

 

My kids are very respectable of my collection, even my 3 year old. They don't mess with without me there, and only with permission. They have their own things.

Well, except my 12 year old son. He's my collection buddy, and we bounce bots back and forth between us. He's probably more careful than I am to be honest.

They're supposed to be fun. Have fun with them!

I will say I can see the difference between our kids and others, though.

 

so far it's been avoidance/cover-up with my 2-year-old boy. he's gotten glimpses of the man cave a few months ago ("wow!") but not much exposure and it'll stay that way (hopefully) for a few years. until then, a man cave with a lock. but i can't wait to play with him; and get his help building legos.

-

 

Got twin boys about to be born in a few weeks and simply cannot wait to experience this with them. So excited to be a new dad!!

 

My son just called me down from upstairs "Dad, Sentinel Prime is in boat mode". I came down to find he'd made his first fan mode. So proud!

 

Here's a rare occasion where I wish I could like a post more than once. This one deserves at least three and maybe as many as five.

 

He's now got Titan Masters in 'seats' in his boat. It's a good mode!

 

I've got a three year old boy and gotta say he has never really cared about my tfs until Titan returns. He loves the playability of the Titan masters and their vehicles, the head swapping and Fort max. Way to go hasbro for finally making something kids enjoy playing with. My six year old girl has never really cared about my tfs though. More an mlp kid, though lately if it isn't minecraft it doesn't matter (she plays it on the wii u which is nice since she doesn't have to hijack the tv)

 

My son is three and I collect toys for him and my one year old son (storing MISB toys my other son doesn't have until he's older). He was very destructive of the figures even when telling him to not do so. He finally started to turn around about a couple of months ago. He used to pull apart arms, legs and heads. He even broke up the Soundwave that has the detachable limbs for other similar figures! He finally is allowing me to help him transform his figures and is now starting to see that pulling everything off will not transform the figure. This gave him a better understanding of how to not break his toys. He still needs guidance from time to time, but he can now leave one of his figures laying around without breaking them.

I give him TR figures and CW figures that aren't natural combiners (Hound, Take Off, etc...) and he has his own version. He knows which ones are "Daddy's ____" and he knows which ones are "My ___." I let him handle my MPs and 3rd Party under my supervision. My wife also likes that he can say their name and know that they are bad or good guys. It's a joy to pull down Metroplex, Fort Max and my Make Toys Scorponok to have Titan Master battles.

 

Wow how time flies!! They are a month old now!