hi!

i'm an old transformer fan (since the g1 cartoons) but a newbie transformers toy collector (since the 2007 movie), and i limit myself to a maximum of about 100 dollars a month for toys just so i can maintain this very fun hobby and never sell a single toy in my life.

i'm just wondering if anyone here got into money troubles (not sure if that extends to losing your car) because of TFs.

tips about not getting in that situation could be helpful too, if any.

thanks!

 

I don't encounter any excessive money troubles due to Transformers, but that's partly because I don't spend money on gas for a car, or liquor, or all the other vices out there. Also, I'm not a completionist beyond wanting the figures I want, so I generally go through bursts of spending with month-long dry spells in between. So I probably wind up spending roughly less than $100 a month on average on Transformers.

I have wracked up a little bit of dept on my credit card partly due to the figures, however. Nothing unmanageable, and most of it is from school-related stuff, but I don't help myself by ordering things from time to time. But that's really about it, the occasional use of my CC for things other than necessities.

Advice for not getting into dire straits? Buy domestic and be patient. The occasional Japanese figure is a nice treat to yourself, but collecting stuff like Henkei could get pretty pricey fast. I try and remain happy with the Hasbro versions of things, and if that means suffering through a purple Dinobot for ten bucks, it's not so bad.

As for me, I'm dreading the summer. Either I'm going to miss out on a lot of cool RotF figures, or they'll bankrupt me.

 

Luckily for me, I had my money troubles before I got into TFs full swing, right around the time the Classics line first came out. So at the time, I had only picked up a few of them (Prime, BB, Hot Rod, SS, & Ramjet). Wasn't until the line came back as Universe did I start to pick the old ones up (as well as join this board).

But yeah. I take my money troubles as a good and bad thing. Living off of $20 a week isn't fun, but I've become far more independent since. I learned a lot. What I need, what I don't, etc.

Keeping things in line with toy spending is much easier than anyone makes it out to be. Yes we all love our toys, plastic crack and all. But really, take care of what you need to take care of first- rent, bills, groceries... then with what you've got left, figure out what toys you can afford. Easy.

Sure you miss out on having some figures (I still can't afford to pick up the Henkei Coneheads yet, on top of that I seem to be the only one who doesn't own the Ultra Magnus armor trailer). But you come out much happier. I get enough stress from work, family, and my girlfriend. No reason I should be getting stressed out because of a hobby. Kind of defeats the purpose.

 

Having money troubles should have nothing to do with transformersas much as it is self control. If you're good with a budget you know to alot yourself with only so much money, no matter what your hobby is. If you can't say no when buying a tf, you might want to do a little soul searching and see if you have an addiction. Addictions come in all different kinds of ways. We all joke around about being addicted to plastic, but sometime it can be the truth. I don't buy masterpeices or stuff that's over 50 bucks to stay away from having money troubles.

 

I know where this is stemming from and thankfully its never gotten completely out of hand for me. Another one of the reasons my collection is made up of played with toys (some missing) accessories vs NIB. My collection is for my own benefit so the figures don't have to be mint plus tracking down the missing parts is (for me) half the fun of collecting.

 

umm...self control?

 

Just as anything though, some people collect just to say "HEY, look what i got!" And when they don't get the response they want, they spend more money to find more obscure things. And pretty soon the money your spending gets out of hand just because you need gratification of people saying, "WOW".

As Katch26 stated, your collection should be for your own benefit.

 

money

I have been not buying anything in a while, I realized sometimes I do just buy things because they are new, I have passed on a couple of things I really wanted, but hopefully I will find them soon, the 2 biggest things I wanted were Robot Heroes Optimus Primal initially was not interested in Tarantulus still iffy but want Primal and Ironhide with Kickback to finish off my Insecticons.

Also, seeing some of the newer Universe HotShot and Smokescreen, I realized I ought some of the newer universe cars because they were new, after I got Ironhide, it was super exciting before I got him out of the package, then I realized it is really a horrible transformation that I really have never transformed again.

I Know I like the 2 Universe triple changers more then alot of other figures I have.

There are also something I would not mind selling but I know I would not get that much and that no one is looking to pay out money for things right now.

E-bay is also a lot less cheap then it used to be, it is more about stores and buy it now then deals and individuals.

Getting people on boards to buy items is sometimes a painful procedure, and sometimes people just disappear on a deal.

 

It just matters if anything is out. I can spend alot of money at once but go for a couple weeks without buying anything.
Have no set limit, my gf says as long as i get the bills paid she doesnt care how much i spend on them 
I say just self control really if you cant take care of the bills and cant afford food because of buying toys then you probally need
to stop buying toys. IMO

 

I don't have any of the coneheads either, nor UM's trailor, but then again i just started and damn, indeed, this is an expensive hobby, especially if your tastes run along the henkei line.

yup, am with ya on the "set-a-limit" kinda thing. I disobeyed my own rule a couple times, but for good reason. Definitely wanted an Omega Supreme encore and the bruticus set as those kinda were must-haves. And in the combiner, i break it down in that i'm getting multiple toys for the ~$100 price tag.

 

I don't limit myself, I just steer clear of buying things for the sake of completeness. There's a lot of things I don't pick up now because they're on my "nice" list rather than my "want" list. I still get the stuff I want - and I think I enjoy it more because I'm not getting new toys as often as when I was buying everything out there.

I'm not entirely sure how much of RotF I'll get - it's a big line but there's a few things that don't quite "wow" me like most of Animated, Universe and Cybertron did. But on the other hand there's some nice designs there too. So I'll get the ones I like the look of most first, and if I enjoy them, then I'll get the rest.

 

A carefully monitored monthly budget is the key. If self-control isn't enough, the let the numbers decide for you.

 

Didn't one of the YouTube reviewers pretty much bankrupt himself buying stolen Chinese toys?

 

Yea. Massive facepalm.

 

I've never had TF related money troubles. I usually balance my budget to suit my needs before my wants. Not only that, but I buy only the bots I like, I don't strive to complete a whole line. I also never set apart transformer money, like 100 dollars a month for TF's would be amazing, but that would be too much for my taste, since I only buy the ones I like every now and then. Sometimes it is like plastic crap, you just need a fixing, so you buy whichever looks the coolest.

 

I think if Transformers are at the base of your money issues you need to stop cold turkey.

I don't need to limit myself (Hasbro UK's iffy distribution does that for me) but I only get 2 deluxes a month and even then I have to earn them in some way and look at them as a reward rather then something I just buy like food.

 

I have a debt of US$10.306, a big part of it is because of tf's.

 

ten (comma)or ten (period)

 

thousands ='(