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Stormrider wrote:Obviously we don't know each other very well; you present a decent arguement but I don't agree 100%. That's fine with me. However I do have a question... are you married, in love with her, or related to her by any chance? I don't mean that in any disrepectful way. I am just trying to understand why you feel that your claims and plausible explanations that seem to stretch just far as mine are dominantly more correct. I am not asking you to accept mine. I am asking because you continue to hound that your explanation is the only correct one. Perhaps you personally know her, which I am perfectly fine with, or perhaps I am too much of a realist with TV.

I'm not related to her in any way. However, what you call "hounding" is me doing research on a person you personally chose to assume upon. And atop of that, I reviewed the topic at hand while speaking up... As in having the actual episode be shown on my television while I was typing out the facts.

And, atop of that, I knew numerous collectors that also sold items related to their collections. I had done first hand business with some of them, with one shop alone ranging from 1991 to today. And another being Mile High Comics, which was when and where I ended my comic collecting and made a brief transition into comic reading (via my local comic shop).

So when it comes to collecting, as I have collected everything from comic books to Transformers, I can vouch for the stuff she says on the show as being valid... And not scripted. Atop of the fact that I have seen every other show she was on, as well as nearly every British auction show that was shown on BBC America.

Plus, also, I will also point out once again that you can disagree all you want. But I did my research. I watched every key point made in the episode. And while you talked about "value"... There is the difference between "emotional value" and "fiscal value."

[And note, if you watched it straight through, she said that the emotional value of a collection is completely fine as long as it does not interfere with anything else in your life.]

So the point is this: What would be the point of him having anything if he kept that Botcon exclusive and became homeless because his business dried up, his parents no longer gave him the money to pay his rent and bills, and his friends/family chose to not be part of his addiction?

That was the point of the entire segment, and I am wondering if you simply chose to not go past the idea that you cannot always stick with the emotional value of a collection when it comes to issues like his.

I wanted to post this because some of you thought I was harping, despite the fact that I was trying to point out the key point of the event - A Transformer fan who was at risk of losing a lot more than a mere Botcon Generation 2 figure.

Some of you probably hate me for sticking to the facts, ignoring the idea that you cannot place a number on anything that is a collection. And a good number of you bad mouthed Elyse for many reasons and one item tied to those reasons.

However... This is just an update on Dahveed, on behalf of his friend (Steve, the guy who is responsible for the intervention):

LINK:http://www.syfy.com/collectionintervention/article/interviews/page/7

Catching Up with Steve wrote:Since the show, would you say that Dahveed's collecting habits have changed for the better or for the worse?
Yes, I really think his collecting habits have changed for the best. He seems to be more focused on our animated series then heading down to the toy district in downtown Los Angeles to buy more toys. Usually I have to stay on him about animating but after the show I haven't which I think is a great positive sign.

Would you say that Dahveed's been more successful at separating his toy business from his pleasure of collecting or does he occasionally still blur the lines ever now and again?
I think before the show, there was a huge blur between collecting and selling for Dahveed. Afterwards, now he sees a definite line between the two.

Did you feel guilty about calling Elyse?
At first I did, Dahveed was very defensive about me calling Elyse. I was really afraid of losing our friendship. I was scared that all our hard work we put together on the animation was gonna fall apart about over toys. Not over a girl or money, but TOYS!

How did Elyse's visit help you? Do you think it was helpful for Dahveed?
Elyse's visit was extremely helpfully. Dahveed has a better understanding between collecting and selling. Our friendship and business is saved thanks to Elyse's help.

If Dahveed's collecting habits ever got out of control again, would you call Elyse back?
I really believe Dahveed has turned a corner…but if it did get out of control again, I would love to call Elyse back.

Do you think Dahveed will ever stop collecting?
No, nor do I think he should stop collecting. He just needed to learn what to collect and what to sell, which he did on the show.

Do you have any collection addictions of your own?
I'm a huge Baltimore Ravens fan and I collect all the player figures. Also collect Marvel's Superhero Squad figures, I have a ton of them. Even make my own toy comic books with them where they wrestle each other in the ring. Its pretty funny stuff.

So there you have it. The bad news is that Dahveed still does not have his Botcon Generation 2 piece that most of you bickered about. The good news is that he turned a corner and still has a home for his complete sets of Action Masters, Return of Convoy, etc.

Oh... And FYI, this guy still needs to update his business page.

Meh, I didn't think you're harping, and I really wasn't making any point other than I feel fans know the true value since they are the ones who define the value due to how much they would pay/not pay for an item. With ebay and amazon and whatever, its easier to figure out how much your figure is worth. If someone appraises it for 50 dollars more than what is sold on ebay, who is really right and wrong? Or vice versa. Its such a constantly changing world of values, and that is why I said a fan would have the best idea, since they are tottaly immersed in the trends of upcoming shows, new releases, etc. Someone might have appraised the FE figures at a high amount without knowing they are getting a re-release. Thats a pretty weak example since the prices aren't shifting in the hundreds, but still.

If an appraiser is able to keep so up to date with the information, kudos to them. I just feel it's not likely since they have to be well-rounded with a million and one other things people collect.

Hey guys, I appreciate everyone who watched my episode of Collection Intervention. Although I haven't had time to read through all the comments left, from what I've seen I'm glad they are not overly negative. Some of the tweets my friend Steve showed me made me cringe. It's a pretty crazy intense experience opening your home and collection up for a crew to shoot and then having your life story put up on TV. I actually removed my MISB Grand Max from the box and almost cried... looks like that didn't make. The experience was eye-opening in many ways. Also I mean, the show was "structured reality" so obviously pretty much everything was fake...well, I guess not so obviously I'm sworn to secrecy of course so don't bother asking details. I hope my friend Scott Zilner comes off a bit better on his episode on 9/11.

Now, the real reason I did the show was to bring some attention to a couple projects I've been hard at work on for many, many years. One of them is the documentary "Transform Me!" which will give the full account of my collecting, ToyHell.com as well as the full story of Mr. Optimus Prime, the origin of the BotCon and the Transformers toy line. Anybody who knows me will vouch for the fact that I was heavily involved putting together the first BotCon as well as one of the few filmmakers who has been documenting the show from the start. Honestly, the documentary ended up being too big a story for me to handle myself and my funding ran out (as Collection Intervention made clear, I am broke). I have actually been selling toys thru http://www.ToyHell.com to fund it. Yeah, an overhaul of the site is being discussed. It was built in early 90's and hasn't been updated since. Right now I am selling at Kelly's Toy Stop in Anaheim as well and may be setting up at a couple shows. Anyway, as far as my documentary, I am going to now shamelessly plug my indiegogo campaign, where I am offering up some great perks and advance copies of the film to anyone who backs it. http://www.indiegogo.com/transformmemovie?a=438384

The other project I was plugging was the cartoon show I do with Steve http://www.SupaPirateBootyHunt.com Although the shirts with the logos made the cut, none of the scenes of us talking about the show made the cut. Hopefully we will fair better on our "90210" appearance next week.

As long as I'm shamelessly plugging my stuff, please be on the look out for another Transformers related project that will premier at the BotCon film festival in 2013. It's a project that is by fans, for fans and will need fan support to succeed. Thx for listening to me blab.

Dahveed!
P.S. I don't go on forums much so if you want to reach me, send an email.

@MINDVVIPE: I meant the others that may feel that way. Because I have learned that after 12 years of being in forums, people will find terms and ways to continue dismissing valid points others may have... And could have been used as discussion pieces. But yeah... Thanks for not being one of those people.

As for your reason, I can understand that as the collector I used to be. But my point, as poorly worded as it was, is that when you sell these pieces at a professional level, that side needs to be ignored. Mostly because you need to make a profit, not satisfy the needs of a fan. And that is where good professionally made prices help. They are there to help you set up your prices, and help you not go with what you find on Amazon.com or eBay.

@toyhell: Gotta love the producers, eh? And besides... I remember when Heroic Decepticon talked about opening his MISB Grand Max, I wept a bit as well. Then again, his wife claimed his Fort Max as her own. :p

But with my past experiences, I have to say that I related with your event on the series. But, then again, I also can see Elyse telling me to get some vintage pieces. Which I want to do once I get my big pieces submitted to AFA. Mostly because there are certain characters I want that will never be reissued.

But even then, I'll email you when I can because I need help trying to figure out a direction for my collection. That, and some other stuff... If that is okay with you.

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:As for your reason, I can understand that as the collector I used to be. But my point, as poorly worded as it was, is that when you sell these pieces at a professional level, that side needs to be ignored. Mostly because you need to make a profit, not satisfy the needs of a fan. And that is where good professionally made prices help. They are there to help you set up your prices, and help you not go with what you find on Amazon.com or eBay.

Ah, ya. Of course. I used to head up the local comic book/action figure store with hopes that I could satisfy my nerdy needs at regular prics, but no. RID figures for 15-18 dollars just to make up for the lack of sales on the BB figures. DAMN YOU BUMBLEBEE! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!

MINDVVIPE wrote:

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:As for your reason, I can understand that as the collector I used to be. But my point, as poorly worded as it was, is that when you sell these pieces at a professional level, that side needs to be ignored. Mostly because you need to make a profit, not satisfy the needs of a fan. And that is where good professionally made prices help. They are there to help you set up your prices, and help you not go with what you find on Amazon.com or eBay.

Ah, ya. Of course. I used to head up the local comic book/action figure store with hopes that I could satisfy my nerdy needs at regular prics, but no. RID figures for 15-18 dollars just to make up for the lack of sales on the BB figures. DAMN YOU BUMBLEBEE! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!

MINDVVIPE wrote:Ah, ya. Of course. I used to head up the local comic book/action figure store with hopes that I could satisfy my nerdy needs at regular prics, but no. RID figures for 15-18 dollars just to make up for the lack of sales on the BB figures. DAMN YOU BUMBLEBEE! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!

Wait... You live in an area that have stores (other than Walmart, Target, and Toys"R"Us) that sells Transformers?! Where I live, you cannot find any of the good pieces, much less anything that is not from a new series or set.

Besides that, and the fact that I will never own a Bumble/Bumblebee figure (with what you said being added to the list of reasons ), I remember that the last (and only) Transformers related item I had bought was at Anime Expo 2011... And that was a complete box of SCF: Act 5 (November, 2001) figures. But I sold them later on because it did not fit what I was aiming for. That, and I had the clear BlackZarak that my friend needed for her collection.

That, and my collection (as it stands) has two pieces drop in price since I bought them at TFsource: $4 for C-05 Hot Rodimus (reissue) and $15 for A-01D Dai Atlas. So while I had a change of attitude, the decrese in price kind of bothered me. But I guess, for me, that is where my philosophy on collecting kicked in. But even then, I currently picture some expert telling me the importance of adding vintage pieces before finding me a vintage Bumble... Ignoring the fact that he is the only character I do not want.

KUMA-NIN Maximus wrote:

MINDVVIPE wrote:Ah, ya. Of course. I used to head up the local comic book/action figure store with hopes that I could satisfy my nerdy needs at regular prics, but no. RID figures for 15-18 dollars just to make up for the lack of sales on the BB figures. DAMN YOU BUMBLEBEE! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!

Wait... You live in an area that have stores (other than Walmart, Target, and Toys"R"Us) that sells Transformers?! Where I live, you cannot find any of the good pieces, much less anything that is not from a new series or set.

Besides that, and the fact that I will never own a Bumble/Bumblebee figure (with what you said being added to the list of reasons ), I remember that the last (and only) Transformers related item I had bought was at Anime Expo 2011... And that was a complete box of SCF: Act 5 (November, 2001) figures. But I sold them later on because it did not fit what I was aiming for. That, and I had the clear BlackZarak that my friend needed for her collection.

That, and my collection (as it stands) has two pieces drop in price since I bought them at TFsource: $4 for C-05 Hot Rodimus (reissue) and $15 for A-01D Dai Atlas. So while I had a change of attitude, the decrese in price kind of bothered me. But I guess, for me, that is where my philosophy on collecting kicked in. But even then, I currently picture some expert telling me the importance of adding vintage pieces before finding me a vintage Bumble... Ignoring the fact that he is the only character I do not want.

There are quite a few "nerd stores" around the world that sell Transformers figs. But sadly, I have yet to find one in my own area.

PrymeStriker wrote:There are quite a few "nerd stores" around the world that sell Transformers figs. But sadly, I have yet to find one in my own area.

Seriously? That sucks. Because you were one of those guys I thought would have a nice shop that sold some kind of Transformers collectibles.

But besides that, I looked for some kind of "nerd shop" that might sell the type of Transformers you might want is an estimated 56 miles from where you generally reside. For me, that is a drive to Los Angeles.

LINK: http://www.tatescomics.com/

I really do hope this helps you. Because you (along with MINDVVIPE, Sabrblade, Bubbah, and others) deserve to have a fun place that may add to the fun of being a Transformers collector. I just think mine is in Osaka.