Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

Get ready for the latest Seibertron.com Twincast episode, where host Counterpunch, along with Razorclaw0000, Tigertracks24, Jon 3.0, and Seibertron bare their hearts and souls in a discussion about buying habits, selling parts of collections, and what it means to be a collector.

As always, the episode is available directly and in our RSS Feed and should appear on iTunes in 24 to 48 hours.

Topics include:

• New Beast Hunters figures at retail
• New Bot Shots at retail
• TFCC Shattered Glass Cassette set
• Asian Exclusive Premium Brawl
• Upcoming Arms Micron
• Roundtable Discussion: What are your collecting boundaries? How do you decide what to buy or not buy? What does it mean to be a completionist?

Seibertron.com is your ultimate Transformers resource!

The link to download directly goes to episode #59.

bruticus1978 wrote:The link to download directly goes to episode #59.

Thanks, fixed! And welcome to the site!

Thanks! I was getting a bit antsy for the next episode yesterday, hoping a new one was on its way. Yeah!! You guys are great! Keep it up.

I collect many lines, but Beast Wars is BY FAR my favorite, and if I had to give up all but a single type of figure, the beasties would stay on the shelf and everything else would go.

I love the fiction, I love the figures, I love the designs and articulation and I love the creativity and diversity of the Beast Wars lines.

I have Classics, MP, 3rd party and tons of odds and ends in between, but nothing in my collection matters as much to me as my Beast Wars figures. Hell, I paid $1250 for the green Ramulus and I'm not even willing to shell out $350 for Fort Max, what does that tell you?

I grew up with G1, but Beast Wars is my favorite thing from the TF universe of all time.

Although I grew up with the Unicron Trilogy, I'm a sucker for figures that homage either Generation 1, Beast Wars, and the Unicron Trilogy characters. So pretty much, the entirety of Classics/Universe/Generations are like candy to me. Really expensive candy, the older the line is. Never did get the Classics Voyager Optimus....

I'm also a sucker for television-based lines. If the characters are cool enough, I'll happily fork out some cash to afford the toy that represents said character. Also, I normally stay away from simplistic Transformers (namely Bot Shots ).

I thought the show was really interesting when you guys started talking about buying habits, rules and the likes. It's something I'm having to deal with right now. Due to my limited shelf space, all the stuff I'm buying is having trouble finding a home. It makes me think when I end up having to either reorganize a shelf completely (something I'm not prone to do because I'm way lazy ) or squeeze in some new figure I love behind several that I'm just kinda 'meh' about.

For me though, as time passes it's hard to say what figures I'll love and which ones I will feel indifferent about. Seeing pictures and reviews is one thing, but actually getting a figure in hand is something totally different. Sadly, if I'm honest, most figures disappoint when it comes to that. They are often not quite as cool or fun as they seemed to be in those nice pics on BBTS or TFU or Seibertron. There are exceptions, but more often than not, they end up being so fidgety and delicate that it makes me long for the days when these toys felt more solid. Nowadays they're like little Beast Wars skeletons (but with cheaper plastic) with panels from car parts strapped to their limbs and their torsos.

Transforming them is a pain in the ass instead of being enjoyable and fun like they once were.

I've been thinking long and hard lately about my collecting habits, and while I'm still within my budget, I keep thinking that there are more and more figures coming out that I can do without. There are hard choices ahead, that's for sure. But nobody better touch my Beast Wars ! TF:Prime and Generations on the other hand, may end up getting the axe eventually. So much space used for toys that, for the most part, I only marginally enjoy.

I felt like this was a way cool episode.

Great podcast!

I just wanted to comment on the state of mid to late 90s Transformers at US retail.

Personally Beast Wars is what got me back into the fandom, and while there were fewer options it wasn't as dire as Seibertron made it sound. Having one focused line and four size classes may have limited the shelf space to half of a four foot section, but it was by no means uninteresting.

Resets were fewer and far between at Targets and Walmarts so the chances of stumbling upon an older mold or something that nowadays would be clearanced out after a quarter was far greater. And that made it EXCITING.

Also Beast Wars may have had fewer figures per capita but the case assortments and rate in which the molds were released was much more effective. Figures were evenly packed and peg warmers were infrequent (hello Injector) so entire cases sold through at rapid rates. Which led to a higher refresh rate.

Collecting in the 90s was unpredictible which made it cool. Each visit to a store was exciting. So despite having fewer choices, I feel the fandom was actually FAR healthier in terms of quality product at retail.

I would much rather have what we had then, as compared to the glut of passable knick knacks available now.

Just my two cents.

I think most of us Beast Wars guys collect a lot of lines. Most of us that grew up with Beast Wars are still in our 20's and haven't hit the wall in which we decide to limit ourselves to one line.

That said, I have cut down my collection to make room for Beast Wars expansion. If it ever comes down to it, Beast Wars comes down to being priority for me. I plan on always keeping my Beast Wars, Beast Machines and Animated figures though.

Though I do like about everything that is a beast former, and want most beast formers from G1 to present.