This might be an unpopular suggestion but we are in the 3P threads which are supposed to be more tolerant so...

Have you considered adding one or more options to cover the case of KO products?

For me I primarily collect 3P MP but rarely buy official MP anymore due to their increased price and decreased quality. But if I like a figure, and a KO is made, I may bite.
And love them or hate hem, KO’s are a part of both this industry and the collectors marketplace.

 

I buy mainly 3rd party Masterpiece and more recently, 3rd party Legends now a days. And boy has the Legends bug bit me hard. I went from owning none to just over 20 scarily fast. IF, MS, and NA all have excellent offerings and I've messed with them more in a few weeks than I have a lot of my MPs.

I do still occasionally pick up official MPs but I haven't in a while, so I don't know if I can be counted as "actively" collecting them. There's still a few officials I want to pick up, so it's not completely dead to me. My main issues are the QC problems and the hyper toon accuracy resulting in too plain a figure. It's just not my jam anymore. I liked the added details on the older MPs. I don't think I would have minded losing some of it, but I think they went a bit too far for my tastes. I'm happy for the people who want that look, but fortunately we live in a period of time where we have multiple choices for just about everything. (Though if a 3rd party wants to try their hand at Wheeljack and Perceptor (besides FT)... color me VERY interested!)

 

3P and Official MPs are kinda outta my price range to actively collect.

I’ve very happy with 3P Legends as my cost and space-effective collecting option.

 

TT Masterpiece and Third party MP (Mainly FT) but these statements below sum up my collecting habits succinctly:

Same here, but like yourself I realized the ones that meant a lot to me were the ones I had as a kid and the ones I really, really, really wanted in the show that I couldn't get as a kid and ones I was just curious about....after they were obtained.....they just lost their appeal to me. I appreciate, respect and cherish what they did for me as a kid but just not enough to spend on them, Grapple was the last one I purchased way back in 2013!

I'm almost at this point with TT...something I wouldn't have thought was even remotely possible a year ago. Like yourself between their overpriced and over engineered figures which seem to be coming out at snail's pace I'm beginning to lose my patience with them. In fact I've put them on notice. Their last three bots since the imperious MP-36 have been middling to MEH, I'm looking at Hound to restore my faith in them and if this isn't the case I can see Rodimus, Galvatron, Jazz and possibly the V3 Starscream being the only figures I would be remotely interested in purchasing whenever they get here. Crazily enough I've listed only four figures but that's about a £1000 pounds worth of robots with the way things have gotten out of hand with TT!? Ludicrous!?

 

 

My main display consists of Reformatted figures, a few third party MPs, CHUG figures of all generations, and Siege stuff. I'm not interested in the modern first party MPs because the price is too high for what I feel they're worth but have the Seekers, Star Saber, and Soundwave. Legends, Cyberverse, Movieverse, etc. just don't interest me. I also have a huge collection of older Unicron Trilogy, CHUG, and Beast Wars figures that live in my closet. The Movie/CHUG figures from 2011 or so like ROTF Lockdown and Lugnut are favorites of mine, I plan to pick up some more from that time, like HFTD Seaspray and Generations Warpath.

 

Thats not a bad suggestion. There are KO’s for all of those lines, so I would have to double the options. For now, I’m going to leave it. I’ll probably re-run this in 6 months to see how attitudes change, and I might add them then.

 

Mainly Iron Factory. But also Maketoys Cross Dimension, MMC, old Takara Chug/Legends and the prettier WFC like Barricade. MP Beast Wars. Otherwise only MP if it’s an exceptional figure like UT Challenger. Non-transforming currently at one, but I’m going down that path, if at snails pace because of the prices.

I actively collect KO and Chinese originals as well, so seconded on a KO option.

 

Most of my collection is 3rd party MP, followed by official MP. Other than that I've picked up the random item that interests me from pretty much every other category listed. I still have a couple of my old G1 pieces, too. I will say that I'm buying less and less official MP items though.

 

G1 and MP/3PMP for me!

Not sure what I’ll do once I finish off those lines, but it’s looking like I have a few years to figure that out still  



Crazy to think how close I am at this point! Some head/target/power masters, a couple triple changers and finish the main combiners!

And with G1, I’ve only got a small number of Japanese exclusives to add to the shelf before I’m finished there too.

Then what? Existential mid life crisis?

 

Hasbro/Takara Masterpiece

I don't buy very many Official Masterpieces, for a variety of reasons, such as not often being over bothered by the characters they make, Or there being a KO with better paint, or cost (Dinobot & Seven 11 Prime, I'm looking at you) I'm just kinda bored with the endless MP-10 repaints too.
I'm so lazy about it I didn't even bother to buy a Wheeljack yet - and I like wheeljack.

3rd Party Masterpiece
I'm a bit lazy about this too - No premium Dinobots in my gaff. I suppose I have somethings that classify under this banner Like my Springer Collection, or My DX-9 Galvatron and Rodimus, but it's perhaps often more by accident than intent. I buy a lot of 3rd Party Movie toys too.

Hasbro/Takara CHUG
Yes.

3rd Party CHUG
Does Mastermind Creations / Make toys count for this - as yeah I buy lots of their stuff.

3rd Party Legends
I don't buy much 'Legends' (is there even much bit DX-9 perhaps?) most of it is Legends Plus like MFT (and associated brands) or Legends Minus like New Age.

But I buy MS (a lot), MFT (pretty much all of it), NA ( a modest amount - most of the moulds but not every colour of each mould) a little bit of Iron Factory from time to time and very occasionally DX-9 as well as some of the one off an niche items like KBB things.

MFT is what I give a high priority too as to be honest it's what I enjoy playing with most (that and Siege)

Cyberverse
Yes I buy Cyberverse - put that rotten fruit down.
I like the scouts as an example of modern Actionmasters of a sort. the new ones with the silly armour are actually rather good figures over all - (other than the lack of paint anyway). I do buy the Warrior Class (when I can find them which isn't often) to be honest I kinda buy them in part as a painting project in some cases as they are so lacking in paint compared to their cartoon models it's fun to paint them up.
I have pretty good luck finding them cheaply so That is also part of the reason - as well as it's about the only line one can actually buy in a store around here other than the odd Botbots or Rescue Bots toy too. ( I have to buy Generations/Studio Series entirely online)

Movie / Studio Series
I don't buy a huge amount - but I get the odd bit now and again - no special reason other than I like KO Movie toys that are larger more than I like the Hasbro scale for them. For example not bothered buying any Constructicons or an SS Movie Beetle Bee yet.
I did buy some Bumblebee Movie toys though. & I buy OSKO Movie toys all the time.

Vintage / Reissues
Not really a top priority- but mostly because I only have a modest number of gaps to fill. I do like Diaclone/Diakron & repaint minibots but it's not something I actively chase. I really must get around to buying a Punch/Counterpunch, Shockwave, & Swoop one of these days.
If Takara reissue Raiden I will buy that - and I do intend to buy some more Cassettes when I get around to it. They are toward the upper part of my wants list anyway. Maybe one day I'll get around to buying all the various colours of Constructicons and that G2 Bruticus I need.
I did buy a G2 Ransack just recently though & I bought a G2 Jazz last year. I didn't bother as yet with the Trailerless Optimus - I might get him as a MISB item though if I can find one without putting myself out to much.

Other
I'm still chasing some GT-series/Alternity toys, (as much for the Micro-sisters as the robots), I have a couple more Alternators to get still.
I regularly and enthusiastically buy Botbots, I buy all the new Rescue Bots as they are released - and Rescue-Minibots are one of my most favorite things Transformers wise. I buy the occasional Campaign Minicon/Micron i've missed. I buy the odd toy from older lines like nu-RID, or Transformers Go, Or Universe that I missed. I don't have many Unicron Trilogy gaps - but I do still try to fill them.


Overall i'm currently most engaged with Movie KO's, Siege and Botbots at the moment.

 

daaaaaammmmnnnnn. Very nice.

 

...i was really into my masterpiece collection for a few years, but since takara moved away from realistic design and engineering sensibilities, i'm no longer interested in what they offer; unfortunately very few third-party masterpiece alternatives measure up to the very high standard takara once set...

...surprisingly, these days i'm most interested in older CHUG figures: thrilling 30 i feel was a high-water-mark for modern toylines and a lot of the toys produced before then are fiercely charming in their own way...i supplement those with more-recent updates to G1 toys and related third-party upgrade kits, among which i consider legends figures essential accessories to my CHUG combiners...

...i also have a healthy IDW-based CHUG+ side collection, unfortunately so many of the third-party toys are just a bit to large to mix freely with the hasbro/takara figures...

...my studio series collection is modest; mostly figures from the bumblebee movie plus a few exceptions i made for exceptionally well-designed figures...

 

I chose other. I pick figures from any line that appeal.