I started collecting TF toys after the Dark of the moon movie. And for the next 3-4 years I wasted money on movie figures, fall of Cybertron figures, TF Prime and Beast hunter cartoon figures and some obscure generations figures. Many of which I sold off at loss or threw away or donated at Goodwill.

Now Hasbro is releasing all these a-list characters in their G1 looks and I just wish I had not spent so much money earlier. Now I can't even think of splurging on the figures any more without getting a stink eye from the wife.

 

If you are worried about the cost of your toys, maybe you shouldn't throw them away?

 

Worthless junk is worthless whether it sits in my collection or in the trash. At least I put them in the recycle bin, so it's probably transformed into something useful 

 

You should've sold the stuff

 

That said, I kind of get what he means. Don't miss the forest for the trees.

If I got into collecting right around then, I would've definitely wasted money on figures I'd seriously regret.

I mean, I'd seriously be bitter if I built up my collection during the DOTM/FOC/Prime/Beast Hunters era only for my collection to be pretty much obsolete a few years later (with Combiner Wars and Titans Return making FOC look even more like crap and Prime/BH not really having staying power).

It's an interesting perspective, but I get it.

I mean, come on. I can't imagine getting FOC Bruticus at retail and then a few years later you could've gotten one that's roughly infinitely better for $10 more.

 

Of course the toys from today will probably suck when looked at in 2022.

 

You might feel the same thing again in another 5 years time depending on what is available then compared to now and what your tastes are.

 

I think at some point you might as well just toss the darn things. Like, nobody is going to want FoC Bruticus now that there's the CW version (not even the G2 repaint has any novelty), everybody's going to be looking for the "First Edition" Bulkhead and not the regular release, RotF molds were better than the DotM ones, Beast Hunters is far too much of a niche market...

 

I totally agree with what you're saying. theres so much Unicron trilogy stuff I had that i sold at a huge loss or donated to good will because i just couldn't sell it. During the unicron trilogy, my Rodimus PRime was Energon Rodimus, now it is FP Protector. In armada, i probably would've gotten maybe 5-7 figures. Energon, even less. Cybertron i actually like a lot of the figures and didn't have them the first go round so i am getting some now. I was apprehensive to get into the original classics because i was wondering how far and extensive it would go, so when i started again because of Combiner Wars, i had to get everything either on this board or ebay.

 

I'm glad I started when I did, which was basically the time I joined TFW   I think if you keep up to date with what's going on, you should have time to off load the older stuff you have if you really don't want to keep it. I quite enjoyed Prime so having those figures doesn't bother me at all. I did offload most of my sealed doubles though and fortunately didn't take any loss of $. But yeah if anything you should have just sold it off as a lot and make back some vs nothing at all.

 

I'm glad I started when I did, but I kinda wish that I could go back and mentally skip lines.

There's literally nothing in Beast Hunters I still want, and while I don't regret Thrilling 30 as a whole, it's shocking how soon after new versions of the characters came out (I thought that Blitzwing would be a big deal, now it's just a huge waste now that there's a better one coming out, there's a new Brainstorm, a new/improved Windblade...).

Yet there are figures I got when I started collecting that are still, in my opinion, unparalleled (I started at the tail-end of Classics/Alternators, just before the first movie).

 

I didn't start collecting till Revenge of the Fallen came out, sure I had a few Movie and Animated toys but I still wish I had started back when Classics started so I didn't miss key guys I'm missing from my current CHUG shelf like Ramjet, or didn't get as few Animated and Movie figures as I did. (I'm slowly getting around to filling holes when I went to Botcon 2011 & 2013)

Of course I was like in late elementary or something around there but still, sometimes I wish I had discovered Transformers sooner then later.

 

Well, FoC was always crap and prior to that I liked and still like the PRiD stuff.

Movie toys will sell.

I guess all I can say is don't buy it just because it's out. Buy it because you like it and think your tweet good.

 

You should take a gander at what going prices are for some of that stuff. You'd be surprised.

 

I started collecting TF's in earnest right before the first R.I.D. came out back in ~2000, and I was only filling in gaps in my G1 collection at that time. Once R.I.D. came out, I dove right in. I loved R.I.D. (and still do), but jumped into Armada and Energon hoping for the same, but ended up just being let down. Cybertron was better, but not all that for me. I still need to sell most of these figures. I dig Generations and still have some love for Animated, but I've been much more selective with purchases since being burned by the Unicron Trilogy days.

I've had some definite wins and losses during my collecting years, and some of those have been dictated by new and better TF figs coming out later. I can say with 100% certainty that I am glad I largely skipped the movie figs. I think I have maybe 6 total, and will probably sell those. I skipped FOC and Prime Beast Hunters entirely, with no regrets. My biggest collecting regret is getting all of those Unicron Trilogy figures in 2002-2004 instead of finishing my G1 collection, but at least I still made a ton of progress on G1 during that time, and got my first taste of Masterpiece with MP-01.

At this point, I'll do my best, but am willing to sell some of my figs at a loss to clear out space. I'll throw some boxes and packaging into recycling, but I don't see myself throwing away any figs just yet. I also need to remember that selling at $0.50 on the $1 makes more money than $0.00 on the $1, unless it takes a ton of my time to sell them. I may just give away certain figs to needy children if it's easier.

With TR Fort Max coming now, I'm definitely feeling the space pinch.

 

I wouldn't call them obsolete. And I don't feel bitter about going all in for the Prime, FOC, & Beast Hunters line. I've said it many times now but that has to be my favorite era of Transformers figures besides the Prime Wars. I had a blast with those figure, fun to transform, and the figures look so nice on my shelf. That and around the time Fun Pub was hitting it out of the park with the Subscription Service 1 & 2.

Heck right now I think DOTM & AOE are my favorite movie lines, I have every deluxe and voyager AOE put out cause I really liked them. That and I wanted Movie Dinobots. I ended up with every FOC figure except the Autobot Data Discs cause I never saw them. And Prime & BH I almost got a complete run of except I missed a few figures like the Vehicons, Rumble, BH Knock Out, etc cause I never saw them in stores.

 

Hindsight is always 20/20.

I got into collecting as an adult ~2008, sticking to more G1-esque stuff in the form of reissues/CHUG/MP and very occasionally dabbling in other lines (Prime, WFC/FoC, a few Animated or movies figs here and there). So while my own personal collecting may differ from OP, I get what he means. It's so easy to tell him "you should just sell the stuff you don't want" but even at pennies on the dollar most times people don't want those older, inferior toys (for the very same reason you're selling).
At TFCon I had a big list of stuff for sale, that I'll be marking down even more soon, where there was little to no interest. Sometimes you win for getting in early (still love my voyager Henkei Prime, non-combiner CHUG cars, deluxe seekers) other times new is better (couldn't give away the useless Universe Onslaught, Silverbolt, FP Defender & City Commander, etc).

It's all a crapshoot really. Doesn't help when via rumours and heresay we get "Hasbro won't do combiners/don't want Headmasters because if a kids loses the head then the entire toy is useless" but ultimately in the end: Hasbro can change their mind anytime.

 

I can't imagine going through life being this bothered by the release of "new and improved" things. Everything you buy will eventually have something that will be a better color, have added feature, look better, be more durable...

Why did you buy those figures if you didn't like the look of them or care for the characters?

 

i'm glad i started when i did, i got to experience good mainline toys, and the excitement that came with searching for them. Now the collecting part is almost all online, so it's kind of boring in that way, thrill of the hunt is gone. So is my mainline collection lol

 

okay the beast hunters stuff seen some uniqe toys that are good as toys, the dragons are worth keeping in your collection.

Foc i would think twice espelly the data discs wait and see what these tape bots are like in hand as i have 3 versons of the new tape molds in hand i can say this with out a doubt only the robots are better animal bots are done poorly and soundwave and blaster shouldnt tower over all the others but thats just me being a classics collector from the start.

its upto you what you do with your collection but if g1 looks is what your going for then STOP with the main line all togther, look at the MP line and dont turn back