Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

RustyRobotOil wrote:Go to Garage sales.

I see older people selling boxes of their grown childrens old toys for next to nothing all the time. I got a whole box full of G1's (and other 80's toys) for free. I even told the guy that they were worth money and he just said (Oh, well take'em! I was just gonna throw them all out haha...). I wish I'd had a bigger backseet.

I also just got a red Takara G1 Bumblee (see post) for a buck at the Goodwill.

I don't pay full price for NOTHIN.

This is great advice, especially your last sentence.

Out of curiosity, what area do you live near? I've never had luck doing garage sales. Do you have any advice on types of areas to hit? Long established neighborhoods? Do you often get lucky or do you go to a few dozen garage sales before finding something of interest?

Seibertron wrote:
This is great advice, especially your last sentence.

Out of curiosity, what area do you live near? I've never had luck doing garage sales. Do you have any advice on types of areas to hit? Long established neighborhoods? Do you often get lucky or do you go to a few dozen garage sales before finding something of interest?

I live in the North West (US) and yes, it can be many, many sales before you find anything good. I've found the best places to usually be upscale neighborhoods with older residence. They spoiled their kids, they have storage space, they take good care of stuff, and they're usually too old to realize how collectable some of these old toys are. I never try to take advantage of people (like I said, I told an old guy that they were worth money before I let him give me a box of freebee’s, INCLUDING a complete Go-lion/Voltron) but if they’re selling, I’m buying!

Second hand stores like the Goodwill can be great places to look. They clear out whole estates and donation boxes without anyone having ever sorted through what was inside. I’ll find G1’s in various states of repair fairly regularly. They’re usually rough but they add up.

Unfortunatly in the UK your better off going via EBay

I'll usually look for bulk lots on ebay( 20-50 Transformers), and drop £50-£100 on them for the 1-5 figures i want, then resell the rest.

It may be because i'm picky about the ones i want, but i only ever keep complete ones (ie all parts/accessories etc), and ones that i like (in the hope of making them complete if they are not already)

With the rest being resold on ebay as individual lots, it doesn't make alot of profit, if any at all, but does mean that i get to collect the ones i want, for quite cheap, yes non of them (or very few) will still be packaged, but its a far more cost effective (maybe not time effective) way of collecting, and i quite like the thrill fo the auction as well.


If your lucky enough to find good carboot/garage sales in the UK you might be in luck, but otherwise places like ebay are your best bet.


just my 2 pence

in addition to garage sales flea markets are great too. I got a powermaster prime for $5, a optimal optimus for $3, and an alternators sideswipe for $1!

There are some great tips here, especially for a n00b like me! (I only recently realized that now that I'm an adult, I can buy my own toys!)

I see a lot of clothing stores mentioned though, and honestly, I'm a bit skeptical. What's everyone's opinion on stores like Kohls, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Big Lots? I've found next to nothing at all but Kohls, which I never even thought to try. I will say that I recently had a surprising amount of success at Ross, so that will definitely be a store I check frequently. Are these stores to check only because they get such a random collection of stuff?

15 years of chasing mainline Hasbro Transformers has only taught me a few things. I've never had a friend in this hobby, so a lot of this has been hard learned, andmaybe seen as a bit underhanded. Some of it may have already been posted.

1. If you see something you want, buy it. You may never see it again.

2. If you see something you want, but can't afford it, hide it.

3. Kickplates are your friends. If you find something at a Toys R Us, or Target, almost all of them have kickplates that can fairly easily lift up and accomidate almost everything. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. part of the hunt.

4. If you're doing this, keep detailed notes with stores and locations. Come back when you have money.

5. Target exclusives nearly always go on clearance. Resets are done nearly quarterly, so keep an eye out. Those ROTF Bruticus and Superion both went on clearance, as did Ultra Magnus/Skywarp. Wish I would have picked up more.

6. Hide clearance items at Target. Everything in clearance will eventually be marked down to 75%. If you wait until the item is no longer out of their system, it isn't a problem, their Sapphires can bring up last price sold for.

7. Never pay full price, unless it is your last resort. Don't snap up RID Wheeljack or Soundwave at $15 just because they have them at TRU first. Both TRU and Target have sales frequently, take advantage of it.

8. If you don't have a ton of time to hunt, and don't want to waste a ton of gas, plan your route home from work that day as close to stores as possible. I'm lucky enough to have tons of stores on my route home, living off the 95/695 expanse in Maryland.

9. Use Previews. Internets pre-orders are great, but Previews also works. They only solicit in case assortments, in most cases, but if you've got friends you can always work out a split. I've never experienced any trouble with getting things filled.
And you know, I'm sure theres other stuff.