First Gen wrote:The argument that buying something that's overpriced is both pointless and irrelevant to a collector.
Mkall, thank you for including us little guys who own only a handful of TF's in the Collector category, but I don't think we truly are.
I aspire to be a collector. Yes I have a few Japanese figures like Henkei Skywarp and Thundercracker. Sure I preordered Thrust and Dirge when they were announced. Yeah I forked out the 80 bucks to get a City Commander upgrade set for my Classics Ultra Magnus figure and (thanks to Mkall) will be getting the Powered Commander set. And aside from Botcon figures, thats about the extent of "exclusive" or "expensive" figures that I own. I own most of the Classics line, a few Movie figures, only two authentic G1 figs. All in all my collection doesn't break 50 TF's and I hesitate on alot of purchases causing me to miss out on them. Thats not a collector.
The collector will find the means to get the figure he/she desires. Price is not an issue for most cases and the rarer the figure, the more its desired.
Don't look down on someone just because they're willing to fork over 50 dollars for a minicon. For one its there prerogative and two, if you could see just how sweet those minicons are in the eyes of that collector, you'd be forking over 60 so you can get them before the other guy.
I'd love to be considered a collector but so many of you guys here put me to complete shame not only in TF count but in quality, displaying and rarity.
In this life there are so many things that are designed to bring us nothing but pain and anguish. Get what brings you joy in piece, I say.
First Gen, the way I see it, you definitely are a collector. I think it's silly when people say if you collect "YOU MUST HAVE" this figure or that figure. The beauty of collecting is that everyone can make their own rules.
For instance, I've been in the vaunted "Transformer room" at Counterpunch's house and he has a lot of figures I will never have, both in terms of total count and exclusivity. Ironically though I ended up trading him something that he had never seen before, a Yellow Cliffjumper that came with a cassette tape called Sun Raid, which was never opened before.
The point here is that unless you buy every single Trasnformer ever made, no two collections will ever be the same, and they don't have to be. As long as you're having fun, that's all that counts, man.
