The Energon Pub

Wed May 09, 2012 12:16 pm

I started "collecting" Transformers about 2 years ago. I put collecting in quotes because I didn't really know how to collect or what to focus on collecting. After going to BotCon, I made a decision. Since I first watched Transformers in the Armada-Energon-Cybertron era, I wanted to pay tribute to the Unicron Trilogy by almost exclusively collecting that era's toys. However, this raises a few problems, chief among them the fact that those three lines have been out of circulation for nearly 3 years. I also need to find a place for all my other TFs, but that's for another time. As I'm still in High School and don't have a pay pal, I can't rely on eBay for my supply. So does anyone have any advice for collecting these three lines? I don't plan to get any Japanese exclusives, or anything like that.

News Credits: 2 · Wed May 09, 2012 12:28 pm

Maybe you can try craiglist and garage sales. These may require some time, patience, and luck. I also found some of the used kids stuff stores are quite useful. Don't know if you have those stores around your area but in my case, they are call "Once Upon A Child". Many times I can find Unicron trilogy line over there and they are dirt cheap. And since they require resale values, the qualities are much better than Goodwill or garage sale. And of course, another option is from collectors. Good luck.

News Credits: 11 · Thu May 10, 2012 10:02 am

If eBay or buying online is not an option, then your best bet is to get in touch with local collectors or find out if there are some collectible shops in your area that sell used transformers. As long as you don't mind them out of the package. In my area there are at least 3 shops that deal in used Transformers and you'll usually see a pretty good selection of Unicron Trilogy toys in their display cases.

If you find a sizeable group of Transformer fans in the sightings thread for your area they might be able to help you out, both in finding stores and also potentially selling figures. Some collectors decide to sell off entire lines at a time because they no longer want them, and often sell for better prices than you would ever find on eBay.

You could try craigslist too but that's a bit more risky especially because you're still in high school. If you ever decide to meet up with a seller on craigslist make sure it is in a very public place, never agree to go to someone's home. I've heard horror stories of craigslist transactions gone wrong, so you should always be careful when dealing with people you don't really know. This pretty much applies with anyone you've met online I guess.

Anyway, good luck! It may be a difficult goal to collect the Unicron Trilogy after so much time has passed, but at least it should be fun.

News Credits: 60 · Thu May 10, 2012 11:38 am

Another place to try looking is if there are any flea markets near you.. I got into to hobby in high school and flea markets and botcon were the only places that I got my vintage pieces...

Thu May 10, 2012 1:23 pm

Thanks for the advice. Another question I have is about Mini-Con partners. Is there any simple way to get just the Mini-Con without having to buy it's Bulk figure?

News Credits: 4 · Thu May 10, 2012 1:34 pm

AEC might be a good bet to go for right now. A lot of the characters that were homaged in those lines are getting newly designed figures, so folks might be clearing out their stand-in Classics.

News Credits: 11 · Fri May 11, 2012 1:36 am

Flea markets are a good idea, I forgot about that. Sometimes awesome things show up at garage sales too.

JetOptimus23 wrote:Thanks for the advice. Another question I have is about Mini-Con partners. Is there any simple way to get just the Mini-Con without having to buy it's Bulk figure?

Usually only if the seller doesn't know which figure it goes to or they're just mixed in with a pile of random minicons. Most collectors like to keep their figures complete with accessories and minicons count as accessories, so it may be harder to find them on their own. However, if you just want minicons in general there were a lot that were sold in 3-packs or multi-packs.

Fri May 11, 2012 9:53 pm

If online ordering is a problem, you might want to resort to what I did back in the day before I had internet. Back then I would check out the adds in ToyFare and Action Figure and Toy Review magazines. A lot of independent dealers would advertise there. I would call them up directly and do business that way, whether by credit card, or by sending a money order.

Action Toys was one of them, and I believe they are still in business. The other was a really nice guy in Redondo Beach CA who ran a business called Mad About Toys. Don't know if he's still at it, but he was always very helpful and accommodating when I called. He even allowed me to send payments on more expensive items, sort of like layaway. That's how I got my MIB vintage Star Saber and Victory Leo.

Just a thought...

News Credits: 4 · Sat May 12, 2012 4:48 pm

Toyfare is dead.

Sun May 13, 2012 1:29 am

craggy wrote:Toyfare is dead.

Is it REALLY?!

Wow. I have been getting my info online for so long that I never noticed! It seems I skimmed a copy at Borders (before they died!) just a year or so ago.

When did Toyfare go South, and why?

News Credits: 4 · Sun May 13, 2012 7:27 am

AFAIK, Toyfare and Wizard gave a few weeks notice that they weren't publishing magazines any more and that was it. And...from some reports, didn't refund subscribers.

I used to quite enjoy the magazine myself, although admittedly, both publications were very poorly edited, if at all, and had been going downhill for a while. I can see why they stopped, since most of everything they featured had already been seen on the internet, but that's why I think they should have changed tack, rather than just throwing in the towel. Oh well.

AEC toys might be good finds at 2nd hand stores or garage sale types of things. Most kids that had them will have grown up and honestly, most will have left those things behind. The majority of the toys were fairly sturdy too, so barring some missing accessories, they should be mostly intact.