Hi all! This topic might range from comical to serious depending on the take on it, and everyone might not be comfortable talking about it, but participation is of course voluntary...

It has struck me since I got into collecting Transformers toys that this hobby offers plenty of opportunities for developing/triggering latent, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Syndrome) or at least, OCD-like behavior.

First it´s the aspect of collecting the toys that is admittedly slightly addiction-inducing, and can become compulsive in the sense that one starts to buy figures one really doesn´t like that much, simply to complete some kind of group of characters or some other kind of concept. And that´s not even mentioning the addictiveness of at least online shopping itself, the easiness of purchasing even from home...

The next step is about the figures themselves. They invite the collector to study them closely due to their intricate design (this could even be said to be the core of this hobby, admiration of intricate design). In doing so, it´s easy to become aware of small defects on the figures in terms of inaccurate paint jobs, molding artifacts etc. Which I guess can be a source of frustration?

The last thing is keeping your collection in neat condition, i.e. protect it from dirt, dust, the hands of curious but unmindful guests, and also, finding the ultimate arrangement for your figures...

I guess where I´m heading at is that while my Transformers collection indeed brings me a lot of joy and satisfaction, it is also a source of worry and dissatisfaction at times. OCD-wise, if you want to call it that, I am for example adamant about my figures having flawless faces, even a small scratch in the face paint will upset me to some extent. I further definitely recognize a degree of addictiveness in my buying behavior, and I also don´t like people with oily/dirty hands playing around with at least my favorite figures when visiting.

There, I confessed   Having broken the ice I now invite you to share your own Transformers-related OCD. What are your Transformers-quirks?  

 

One rule I try to keep to myself is not buying toys from lines I don't know anything about. As an example: I haven't seen Cybertron yet, so that means I won't buy any toys from that line. I don't know why I do this, I guess it just bothers me not knowing who the character is or I want to have motivation to buy the toy other than "it looks cool." Then again I have broken this rule several times, I bought like 7 Cybertron basics and an Insectron from Beast Wars II so maybe I'm just full of hot air.

Another thing is that I don't like it when other people touch my toys, it makes me nervous and anxious. As for cleanliness, I'm aware the dust makes them look bad, but dammit they're my toys and if I want them dusty they'll be dusty.

 

I had been buying every available cover of MTMTE and RID, up to issue 11. I stopped it since I couldn't afford the shipping fee, though.

 

"It has struck me since I got into collecting Transformers toys that this hobby offers plenty of opportunities for developing/triggering latent, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Syndrome) or at least, OCD-like behavior."

OCS?

You let people touch your toys? That's a problem right there.  

 

Oh, man...you're missing out. Cybertron (despite a few stinkers) is my favorite line since G1.

To answer the question, though...I find my OCD-like tendencies surfacing the most when I'm setting up and arranging my display shelves. It's a constant struggle of trying to balance the Autobot shelves on the right side of the room with the Decepticon shelves on the left. I like symmetry, and unfortunately, the franchise doesn't lend itself to symmetrical arrangements.

Also, the dust drives me freaking NUTS. I have Detolfs, so the dust is somewhat mitigated by the closed doors, but at the same time, they're not airtight, so dust gets in regardless. I hate seeing dust covering my figures and the glass shelves themselves, but the thought of taking everything out and dusting just the shelves, never mind the hundreds of figures, makes me want to lay down and take a nap.

I also hate having holes in my collection. Up to this point, I have a Classics/Generations representation of every member of the original cast of 28 Autobots and Decepticons, but I still have G1 Huffer, Brawn, and Gears chilling with their newer-model team mates. I know we have a Legends Gears coming soon (thank God), but that still leaves Brawn and Huffer, and I refuse to pay exorbitant prices for the admittedly awesome 3rd party offerings. I also don't have any version of G1 Buzzsaw at all. I could have bought FOC Soundblaster, but I already had Soundwave, so that seemed wasteful.

And another thing!   It irritates me when Hasbro releases one member of a team, or two of three. How long did it take us to get Generations Thundercracker? I have Legends "Skrapnel", but Bombshell doesn't come out for months, and there's no sign of Kickback for the foreseeable future (and FOC Kickback doesn't fit). Brainstorm is coming, and looks glorious, but what about Hardhead, Chromedome, and Highbrow? Not to mention the Decepticon Headmasters. Ugh.

Despite this overly-long rant, I do get a lot of enjoyment out of my collection.  

 

I can totally relate to carefully studying the figure and finding defects. Mostly, I don't really study it until the initial excitement of obtaining it wears off. And it's usually after I've had it for almost two weeks that I do notice something (that isn't easily visible in the package, mind you) and it totally bums the figure out for me.

One example is Dark of the Moon Murder Bee. I had ordered him from HTS and was excited to get him. I opened him up, transformed him, paint and joints were nice. Then two weeks later, I notice that a small bit of his front bumper had been missing. I know it wasn't a break since the black area was completely devoid of any kind of stress or fracture marks.

It was a bummer, but I eventually ended up picking up another one.  

Paint defects aren't usually too much of an issue unless it sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

For me the worst is getting a display I'm fine with. I always find myself making so many micro adjustments here and there to have only an elbow moved inward at an angle after 30 miniutes of repositioning. I only have 2 sets displayed at the moment but they happen to be among the worst when it comes to display options: DotM Amazon Prime fully loaded with UFO adds on (full annular weapons array) and a small MP Convoy.

Fortunately MPs look utterly amazing in alt mode though so to save a headache they're displayed like my sig currently.

 

My ODC revolves mostly around paint aps., especially for my MP. For instance, I just ordered a third Bluestreak becuase I can't seem to get one with a decent paint job on the face. It seems like Hasbro and Takara have been getting worse in this dept., which is only making my OCD worse. The worst part; most people wouldn't care about the paint issues that truly bother me and that bothers me even more lol. My MPs should be Masterpieces! Sadly, I have gotten to the point where I expect issues with my Generations figures.

 

I'm pretty damn OCD with mine....really need to dust them....

 

Dust is an issue. Most of my Masterpieces and mainline CHUGs are housed in a completely enclosed wood and glass display cabinet (the seams of the sliding door even have a layer of brush bristles to help keep out dust). The other half of my collection is on open air shelves and subject to dust and getting knocked over by the wife (when she's dusting or vacuuming) or the dog (when she's playing or otherwise running around the house). I always know when figures are moved around as a result. My wife just rolls her eyes whenever I point out something that looks out of place.  

 

I have two shelves with the larger Transformers. Top shelf is Autobots, lower shelf is Decepticons. Left side is tending more to season 1-2 and right side is tending more to season 3. But I might soon re-arrange it to a shelf more to WFC and the others more themed to season 3 and IDW. I don't know yet. I'm running out of space as of lately, as they have to be visible, but I won't let my Transformers outside of a cabinet. Because of dust. So there is only one cabinet in which everything has to go, the one with windows in it's doors.

I did not open the last purchases until everything I ordered will have arrived. My head already goes busy because I'm thinking about the possibilities how I can re-arrange everything so that everyone is still in a cool pose, nothing looks crowded, everyone is well visible, the composition of every shelf part looks good and the scales fit so that it pleases my needs.

I don't want it to look like a bunch of toys like you might find it arranged in a children's room (like I had as child), it should really evoke that it's a collection. Something to please the eyes, nothing to be played with. Although in reality it's still toys.

 

Me, too! Mine don't get tampered with much, but I always know when something is off. It reminds me of how Scrooge McDuck would go swimming in his money bin and instantly know when he's missing even a penny.  

 

  "A sea monster ate mah ice cream!"

 

I am pretty picky about how I want my toys. I am normally very forgiving with vintage toys. But I usually sell the ones I don't like for cheap.

 

Very.

I have everything posed the way I like.

Clean it all once a week.

Don't like people (sisters kids especially) getting to close.

As they have a habit of knocking things over.

 

My "Transformers-OCD" revolves around Hasbro and their lack of completeness when it comes to the sub-groups...l hate having one member of a sub-group without the others...FOC Grimlock w/o Dinobots, FOC Kickback w/o Insecticons, GEN Skrapnel w/o Insecticons, etc....also l have issue with the minibots being in different size classes...l'm find with either deluxe, legends or cyberverse but just choose one and give me all my minibots...Hubcap and Bumper too...

 

This thread must piss off people with actual OCD.

You people don't have OCD; you're just really anal and particular.

 

Classic!  

 

same here  

My "OCD" tendency is if there's a small core group of charters I have to get their figures the autobots from TF1 for example.

 

Add me to the list of people who get nervous when people touch my toys. More modern stuff I'm usually ok with since it's designed to be more durable. But G1 stuff is just so damn fragile, I don't want anyone touching them.

I also can tell if something's out of place. Sometimes my wife messes with me by moving something slightly to see if I'll notice.

I'm also OCD about toon accuracy for my G1s. As a kid I would place their faction sigils where they were in the toon, as opposed to what the instructions said. I also made crude mods to make them more toon accurate, like altering Jazz's doors so they could fold behind him or cutting bits off of Hot Rod's spoiler.