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You missing the point and someone is bitter here.
Toys can be art. Maybe not for you bu don't say toys are not art.

BTW I like your sig. Jesus is awesome!

Art, as is opinion, is in the eye of the beholder.

I can see the art and beauty in the package art and in the awesome gold figures, However I am happy with the standard releases and I usually keep any packaging I really like, (thou i normally cut them down for easier storage.) But for me the true art in these figures is their ability and possibility both I find incredibly limited when confined to packing.

But a good point was raised. If you are only collecting special and/or rare items which most likely aren't going to be opened, there is a intrinsic difference between that collection and say CounterPunch's linked to above which is made up with large numbers of regular store acquired items.

But if you are going to use a museum analogy, 1) Is that actually a shot taken within a museum or your collection? 2) If it is your private collection, is it set up for people to see or only your enjoyment.

If it is yours, then do whatever you like with them, but please don't call a room where you live a museum. That would like myself calling where the majority of my collection is housed a Gallery, when it fact the proper name would be either "Computer Room" or "Den".

I was joking about the museum part but I guess no one can take a joke now and days.

Lets move on. Collect how you want to collect and have fun with it

Well now...
I didn't expect anger or bitterness to manifest over my question, but it is nice to see the impassioned responses that came.
I am 32.
Playing with these toys is not something in my nature at this point in life. My fledgling collection of Transformers (around 60 Asian toys; mostly Transformers) sit in their boxes, on shelves, in my home office. To me they are part collection/part of a juvenile sense of home decor.
I do look at them as works of art to a degree, but more specifically, as nostalgia from my youth; "holy-grails" from my child-hood that I am now able to possess.
My question was about whether people opened their Transformers or not. My question was not about "playing" with these toys.
My son is in infancy, many years from toys of this nature. Playing with your children is one thing, however, I was addressing adult collectors; and whether they displayed their collections in the box or out of the box.
I certainly didn't mean to spark such "controversy".
Let me reiterate: Transformers ARE NOT something that I will be able to make money on, nor am I looking at them as such.
So if inadvertently offended anyone: I apologize. I was simply looking for an answer as to why people display "open" predominantly as opposed to those who display "in-the-box". (I say this from what I noticed browser several different forums)
If it's cost, or personal preference; that is an acceptable answer, and I appreciate those who coolly and calmly expressed those sentiments.

--Steve

Hey MR1

No need to apologize. We all cool here
Just so many different ways to collect but some people need to understand that there is no wrong way to collect unless you looking to get a buck from it.... which is not bad if you are a dealer but each to is own.

I am a MISB collector and not because I am looking to sale but to preserve a bit of my childhood. Even as a kid(8 years old if I recall) I kept some toys sealed because they were just cool to have.

BTw When can we see some pics???

here is a peek of my Ikea cases.... plan to do a video once I fill 2 more slots

monkeyradio1 wrote:Well now...
I didn't expect anger or bitterness to manifest over my question, but it is nice to see the impassioned responses that came.My question was not about "playing" with these toys.

Here's the problem, you didn't intend it, but you came across as abrasive in some parts of your post, so it's expected that some would be riled up over it. I include myself in that list of people.

And here's the problem with your question..."playing" is a form of collecting, because some of us collectors buy them for the chance TO play with them.

Saying that they're separate is untrue. Some can have one without the other, but not all people do.

monkeyradio1 wrote:My son is in infancy, many years from toys of this nature. Playing with your children is one thing, however, I was addressing adult collectors; and whether they displayed their collections in the box or out of the box.

Wow... I'm not sure you took a good look around but the majority of us ARE adult collectors! Even the ones who play with the figures! Like me!

Just because we don't collect the way you do, doesn't change the fact that we are adults, just the same as you. Perhaps we're a bit immature because of it, but so what?

Adult collectors? Wow.

monkeyradio1 wrote:I certainly didn't mean to spark such "controversy".
So if inadvertently offended anyone: I apologize. I was simply looking for an answer as to why people display "open" predominantly as opposed to those who display "in-the-box". (I say this from what I noticed browser several different forums)
If it's cost, or personal preference; that is an acceptable answer, and I appreciate those who coolly and calmly expressed those sentiments.

--Steve

You know? I'm not entirely sure that's heartfelt. You say it's inadvertent, and not intentional, and so on.

Well, if that is the honest truth, if that's really the case, then you sir, have bad luck when it comes to choosing words to get your point across. I say rude and crude things, but I make it clear that that's my point and intention. Every once in a while I'll make a post that's unintentionally offensive, we all do, but you've had two posts in this thread that have struck a nerve. And people may not be voicing it, but I can't be the only one. Out of all the members on this board, lurkers, or people just passing by, I can't be the only person who saw all of this and said "Yeesh, that's...harsh."

I'm willing to say it's possible that this was unintentional, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but can you blame me for seeing it this way? I mean some of the comments have a... "tone" to them.

And some of us see it simply as a topic of discussion. Which is the whole point.

For the record, I'm 35. I just don't see the appeal in something that should be dynamic (posed and in character) than static (trapped in plastic).

Editor wrote:
I collect transformers because as a kid the idea of a robot that changed into other things was incredible

As a kid? Hell, I STILL think it's incredible.

I play with them now and think about the engineering that went in to designing them. Then that part of me that had me in Engineering for a year kicks in, and I try to figure out what else I can do with them other than what the instructions say.

Fair enough, Autobot32.
I've no need to make further appeasements; it wasn't my intention to angry up the blood, hurt anybody's feelings, nor was I asking anybody to defend how they collect.
I stated my opinions about collecting, and what appeals to me. I was asking for other peoples' opinions, not a discussion of semantics.
What I gather, is that those who collect Transformers display their collections opened due to the uniqueness of their design. Yes, I know there is redundancy in that statement, but I feel that this choice exists in Transformer collecting, where as other fanatics of collecting toys would predominantly choose to leave them closed. I certainly think this speaks very highly of the innovation of Transformers as not just a toy; but as a cultural phenomenon.
Many years ago, I collected Star Wars toys, and displayed those encapsulated as well. I was associated with a few related collector forums, and the predominant consensus was to keep those toys MISB and MOC whenever possible. When I was collecting Star Wars, however, I was collecting them to flip them for a profit.
Transformers (aside from human skulls) are the first thing I've collected as an adult, unless you count Blu-Rays, DVD & video game accumulation as collecting, and have spent some decent money thus far.
I personally cannot, in good conscious, pay $250 for a 1986 Takara Ultra Convoy, wait two weeks for it to arrive from Hong Kong, and then remove it from the box. So, yes; as I stated before: there is a coldness about how I collect, but I certainly am not having less fun doing it.
So; enough of all this.
Thank you for your responses, and hopefully we can all agree to disagree.

--Steve

PS: Hoping to take and post some pics of my humble collection this evening, Ultra...thanks for the posts!

monkeyradio1 wrote:Transformers (aside from human skulls) are the first thing I've collected as an adult

....Please tell me that's actually a joke.