Been thinking recently about selling some of my old Transformers that I played with as a child. Mostly Armada through Cybertron. They're currently in their boxes taking up huge space in my parent's upstairs closet. I'm still living here so they don't mind but I haven't touched them in years.

Wanted to know if you guys still held on to old figures from your childhood for nostalgia sake or if you were willing to let them go. And for this who did sell them off, did you regret it and years later try to buy some of them back?

I'm sure for a lot of you who grew up with G1 I'm sure you kept a lot or eventually bought back any you sold off given their collectability now, but for me I'm not sure it's worth hanging on to any of my Armada, Energon, or Cybertron figures because I don't think they'll really be that sought after.

I dunno. Curious to hear your thoughts.

 

Be very careful. You can buy new toys, but you'll never be able to buy YOUR toys back.

 

A very good point which is why I wanted to hear what other people's experiences were with selling their old toys. I haven't touched mine in years but I know they're still mine. They don't do a whole lot for me anyways though since I played really rough with some of them. My Armada Optimus Prime doesn't have his ears and the electronics stopped working after two intense "battles" when I was 5. They are MY childhood toys but if they're just taking up space and I don't necessarily want to have them in my display, not sure if it's worth holding onto them.

 

This exactly.

I grew up in the G1 era and still have all my original Transformers from when I was a kid. I don't think I could ever part with them. There's way too much sentimental value to even think of letting them go.

 

I get it. I lost all my G1 toys in a fire as a child. I would kill to have even one of those in my display right now. Just think it through. It may seem like a ratty toy now and not be very aesthetically pleasing. But once it's gone...it's gone. Hell you can buy another Prime with broken electronics, but it wasn't broken during your battle. Just give it some thought first before you make the decision. No backsies on this one.

 

I guess I'm just being cautious on the other side of the spectrum and making sure I'm holding onto the figures for the right reasons. In the past year my grandma passed away and my dad took it really hard and kept a lot of her stuff from his childhood home. I get that it holds sentimental value but it's just taking up space and it's not ever going to be put to good use.

I want to make sure my Transformers don't turn into that for me. They obvious are part of my childhood and I can't get them back when they're gone. I guess I could start with some of the figures that I didn't really connect with and didn't play with as much as a kid and see how I feel.

I just never knew I'd have this conundrum. There's nostalgia and then there's hoarding and I'm not sure where I'm falling on the spectrum  

Not to mention all of the card backings of all of my more recent collecting. Starting from about the 2007 movie to now I have a drawer full of packaging that I've kept and I'm not even sure why. They don't hold any real value.

 

I always held on to my childhood G1 toys and they still hold a very special place for me. There have been times where their value would have been useful to me, but I now do not them for the sake of having G1 toys. Once upon a time it was great to have vintage G1 figures which were rare to find in good condition like TM Scourge, especially back when G1 was all there was to collect aside from the Beast Era toys. Mainly though, I kept them because I remember where every single one came from, who bought it and why, where I received it etc. They remind me of my childhood and my parents, my family and special occasions when I was young. That can never be bought back if you sell them, and seeing my daughter play with my vintage G1 really makes me happy.

All the best
Maz

 

All my toys were thrown out by my parents when I reached my teens. I had to pretend not to be sad about that. I distinctly remember looking at an old Star Wars AT-AT while my dad's friend nudged me and said "bet you're glad to see the back of those...".
I wish I could have kept everyone pictured below.

 

Watch Retroblasting. They often focus on childhood or personal copies of toys and even restore other people's childhood figures while sharing the thought process of what is done while still preserving that copies identity.

After watching and enjoying the channel I was surprised to find myself purging a lot of childhood toys. I guess I took it in in my own context and it helped me make some decisions. I still have a few child hood TFs that where still nice enough to display along side a little reissue collection but 99% of my old stuff is gone.

 

Absolutely. Even if you replace the figure with another one, it's not yours. I made that mistake with a Action Force (as GIJoe was called in the UK) Night Attack Stinger which I sold and regretted hugely afterward. But it's gone now. So even though I see brand new reissues in TRU or Forbidden Planet or where ever I don't want those I want mine back.

Because of that I'd be loathe to sell my childhood toys, the G1 toys up to Action Master Grimlock. Everything else, reissues, CR/RID, Armada and even the other Vintage G1 I bought since then are all more expendable than my toys.

 

I never kept any of my old G1 toys as a kid. I played rough with them, but I loved them and now wish I had kept them. I think you'll regret it if you sell them off. If they aren't in the way and can safely remain stored, I say hold on to them.

 

Well I have none of my things from when I was a kid from any franchise, so maybe I can't really give the best advice on the subject. Heck I didn't even get into Transformers when I was younger.

However I can never forget all the fun I had with my old stuff. So many Digimon, Medabots, Beyblades & Power Rangers toys. Not having them around hasn't made me ignore my childhood. I still remember the many great times I had with them. I even tell friends & family stories from back in those days because they were so fun to me.

Ultimately, the thought of getting rid of your old stuff came into your mind for a reason. Space is clearly a concern for ya & that should be taken into account as it is important. If you do decide to either give away or sell your old toys just know that you aren't getting rid of your memories. They're always gonna be with you. Nothing can make you forget your childhood. It'll stay in your head forever, no matter what you do or don't keep in your home.

Hope this helps. ^^;

 

I sold about half of my G1 TF, MASK and similar toys when I was a teenager, the rest ended up in my parents' loft. A few years ago, my dad asked me to go through them to see what could be thrown out or sold and what I wanted to keep.

As I'd recently take-up collecting again, I was quite pleased to find my childhood Optimus Prime (severely bashed and broken), Galactic Man / Shackwave (broken and repaired) and Menasor. I was partly pleased because I'd been able to add them back into my collection, but also because they were relics from my childhood that held specific memories for me.

 

My first two Transformers were Armada Smokescreen and Armada "Bendy" Prime. My Aunt and Uncle got those for me for Christmas and it led me to fall in love with this franchise. Year after year my collection grew and they do hold a huge value to me just because so many of them were presents or random figures that my Mom would get me on a shopping trip. I guess in a way I just feel guilty because I haven't touched them in years. Why hold onto them if they're just sitting in their boxes? That's the only reason I feel like I should let some go, but I know I need to think a lot more about the ramifications. No matter how much space they take up, their sentimental value is much more important.

Can't even imagine having to watch my toys be thrown out as a teen. Even if I didn't play with them it certainly would have hurt to see them being chucked into the garbage. Your photo with your G1 toys brought back memories of me spending out all of my figures and setting them up for a big group photo. I have that picture somewhere, maybe it would help me figure out which figures were really significant to me as a child. I'm truly sorry that you never had the opportunity to willingly sell off your collection and that it was forced upon you. Definitely makes me feel like I'm in a fortunate situation to even be contemplating selling.

I may have to check it out. Might give me some perspective on what's really important to me. Might even make my dad watch it, give him an idea of what he really wants to hold on to. Thanks for the recommendation.

It's funny how the figures that you find "expendable" are the ones that I want to hold on to. Totally different generation for sure but that's why I'm glad that I came here and asked the TFW community about selling because you guys have been going through these decisions longer than I have and I like having input from other collectors.

I definitely played rough with my toys. It didn't matter how expensive they were, I would toss them across the room to simulate an explosion   That's why my Prime lost his ears and why so many of my other toys have spring loaded features that just don't work like they used to. I know that it's those memories that I need to keep in mind when/if selling of my collection. They are my toys and they made up my childhood. For right now they're in an upstairs closet, many of the bigger bots in their original boxes, albeit a little smashed and caved in, but in relatively good condition. Maybe what would help is going through all of them and transferring them into plastic containers. That would save on space and keep them even a little more protected.

I guess that's another question I have. Do you guys like to keep the packaging of figures? I used to keep all of the cards and compacted boxes from my childhood figures but threw them out a couple of years ago for space. I can't say I miss them, but I'm still holding on to the boxes from the 2007 movie figures onward. Deluxe card backings I keep, and voyager and leader size figures I cut off the front and back "walls" of the box. They're all sitting in a drawer (overflowing by now) and I'm not really sure if it's worth keeping them.

I definitively think going through my boxes and seeing all that I have will help me decide what needs to go. If I do decide to get rid of anything I'd want to sell it on here to make sure they go to a good home. I've bought numerous figures from TFW members and I'm sure they're happy they went to a fellow collector.

I'd definitely make sure to keep some of my relics and some of my most favorite figures. I'd get rid of anything that was too difficult for me to Transformer or figures that I didn't play with as much as a kid, as I was slowly starting to play less and less with my toys. It'll be hard going through and deciding but I'm sure they are a few that are worth getting rid of.

Just thankful I have you guys to give me your personal experiences with sellers remorse and keeping me from purging everything are regretting it days later. Really appreciate it. Please give me any tips you have on storage or "downsizing" if you have any. I like the input and since I'm still on Christmas break I will have time to look through some stuff. I'll post back and say how it's going.

 

My parents tossed out virtually everything I had. I have less than 10 of my original childhood toys. I wish I still had them all. When it comes to collecting 80's toys, toys I had as a kid are top priority over stuff I didn't have.

 

I wouldn't keep toys that you truly don't care about, but be careful because you can't get them back. I came across some of my old He-man toys this year and ended up selling most of them because I didn't have nostalgia for them. Somehow the ones that I feel nostalgia for are the ones my parents sold at garage sales.

 

I treated my G1 TF's pretty well as a child, and most of them are still in nice condition will all parts, so they are in my display today. I've picked up a few replacements for those characters more worn, but still have my childhood originals in my hobby storage closet. All of my original childhood G1's would fit neatly into a modest Rubbermaid tote or two, so I cannot see myself getting rid of them since space is not an issue, and many are good enough to be out on display.

A gradeschool classmate gave me his G1 Ramjet because it was missing a fist and he wasn't all that into TF's, and knew that I loved them. This was when I was in 4th grade. When I was finally able to purchase the missing first on Ebay as an adult, it was a wonderful completion moment! Same thing when I used a junker G1 Sludge part to repair the broken leg on my childhood figure. I had to wait until I was an adult to fix that childhood show-and-tell mistake. But I was elated that the figure my grandmother bought for me as a child was finally in good working order!

OP, perhaps you'd like to keep a few favorite figures from your childhood and work on reconditioning them? That may be a better option for you than keeping them in storage and doing nothing with them, or purging them all entirely.

 

When I hit early teens, I boxed up a portion of my toys for storage. The rest were either given to younger neighbors or sold in yard sales. Years later, after hauling around my box of memories (mostly TFs) my kids got old enough to be interested in transformers. That's when I got back into it, and became a collector. Looking back, I really wish ALL of my TFs had made it into the keep box, because re-buying them on Ebay is expensive.

My recommendation is to hold onto them until you can't, or until you decide that they hold no personal value to you.

 

I still have my G1 Optimus Prime, Astrotrain, and Devastator; all complete except for Devy's drill attachments. All have seen some TLC from Reprolabels. The Prime trailer decals, inside and outside, look factory fresh after 3 decades.

I sold the rest off about 10 years ago, not too many, they just weren't in good condition. A few had to be trashed because of some mold, mildew, and deterioration issues.

 

I kept key toys over the years, ones that family memebers had got me there wasnt many but what ones there where i felt like holding onto, now a long time ago now there was a small fire in a house i was living in and basicly every transformer that had chrome was done for, so i replaced them, i can tell you now those toys do not hold the same sentamental value that the ones that didnt get damaged have