Greeting all,

I've always been fascinated with Transformers but never had a chance to collect until now due to various reasons. I think i'm ready to collect my first. When I was 9 or 10 I had a few insecticons and autobots. Since then ive moved around often and misplaced them all along with 40-50 GI joes. I'd like to collect G1 originals only that were sold in the 80's. Please point me to the right directions as to where i can find some. And I also need help with the Transformers lingo/terminologies. Such as reissue, Takara, ect.

Thanks

 

A good place to find G1 figures, besides ebay, is in the junkion exchange forum on this very site.
Reissues are just that, reissues of the old toys released recently. The current reissue line from Japan is called Encore, but there were old book-style Japanese reissues called "Transformers collection" or TFC reissues for short. There were American Hasbro reissues as well, that were Toys R Us exclusives, sometimes called "TRU reissues" but most often called 'Commemorative series."
Takara is the Japanese toy company that makes Transformers for the Japanese market. Due to different safety standards in Japan, they can do some things Hasbro can't, like reissue Megatron, or reissue figures unaltered. Their Encore reissues, however, have alterations made to most of them in the form of added paint aps.
Takara was recently bought by Tomy, and the company is now called Takara Tomy.
Hope this helped you some.

 

As for the G1s, it kind of depends on where you live. The dream is finding them at yard-sales and flea-markets where the sellers have no clue what they're worth. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on it if you want to save the money. I think most people's moms have cleaned out the G1 TFs and sold them by now, if they are going to. if you live in a big city, there may be collectibles shops nearby or toy-stores that cater to the collectible crowd. The obvious place for G1s is ebay. they're all there, you just have to be prepared to pay. Be careful if buying MISB, as there are some knock-offs out there. A google search will get you guides to identifying them. spend some time seeing what things are actually worth before blindly bidding. Remember: except for the really rare "grails", you will see it again on there. If anyone knows better places for G1s, I'd love to hear about them.

As for the terminology, Tfwiki.net is a great place to learn about all that stuff. If you see terms on the boards or in ebay auctions that you don't recognize, go there first. Oh, "encore" refers to new releases of (mostly) G1 toys. If you want toys that look like the ones you had as a kid, but don't want to spend as much, SOME of those are a good option (though many of them are getting pretty pricey now too). For stuff that may be out in japan but not here, try Bigbadtoystore.com (hope I don't get in trouble for the web page reference, I'm pretty new here too).

 

Lots of G1 info here on our site.

 

I would start with the more common G1 figures first (the mini cars, Prime, Magnus) before going after the grails ('84 to '87 cars, Jetfire, Seekers, Megatron, City Formers/ Fort Max) Also look out for eBay sellers who have lots that sometimes don't have real Transformers at all, just similar lines like Convertors, Go Bots, Robotech, Voltron, Diaclone/ Kronoform, etc

 

eBay has insane prices sometimes.

 

Don't limit yourself to just G1 figures. Look up some TF: Classics and Universe 2.0 figures. About 90% of those are G1 characters with much better articulation and looks. And mostly all of them blend in with G1 just as well. (the only ones standing out IMO are Ratchet and Ironhide).

 

I realized the authentic G1 line are extremely hard to find which makes it even more challenging and rewarding to collect. At this time I just want to get the originals only because they bring back my childhood memories. I did google but didn't find a whole lot of the 80's figure.

 

My other hobby is keeping saltwater fish and corals plus i have a girlfriend so i'm used to blood sucking right out of my vein and an empty wallet  

 

good place for some info is tfwiki.net

and welcome to the boards :]

-rikuluverx2

 

You may want to consider the Encore line - they may be reissues of the original G1 figures but they are pretty close if not exact in their representation, are sometimes way easier to find, and would probably bring back those memories just as well :-D

Takara's G1 TFC reissues are actually what got me into collecting all those years ago .. I don't think you'd be disappointed in them or other authentic reissues.

 

definitely check the junkion here and ebay for authentic figures, for good info on g1 figures as well check Cobra Island Toys - The Ultimate Toy Archive! they have a detailed list of all accessories and scans of all instruction books