The Energon Pub

News Credits: 6188 · Wed Apr 04, 2012 5:32 pm

(Mods, feel free to move this around to another forum if inappropriate.)

I was wondering about this the other day, as I notice how much I must have spent in the past couple of years accumulating figures for my collection: where did I get the money?

I keep reading posts such as 'bills will have to wait', 'selling stuff to pay bills', 'my wallet is crying' and so on. And we all know that collecting is an EXPENSIVE hobby.
Especially with the Third Party uprising, and behemoths such as the combiners or Cyclops.

But where do you get the funds for your collection?
Do you budget, do you have a job (part-time or full time), do you use student finance, loans, parents and family presents, make sacrifices on other stuff.. what's your way?

I don't want to get nosy or too much into details, just curious to find out just how far we can go to get that one figure (and then another, and another after that..), money-wise!

News Credits: 402 · Updated Oct 21, 2022

I pay very low rent as I'm living with my brother.
I pay very low food costs since I work at a mine camp and they feed me for free for half a month
I'm paid quite well because I work at a mine camp.
I'm also single and don't have kids.

I'm very lucky to be in the financial situation I'm in right now.

News Credits: 11 · Wed Apr 04, 2012 6:58 pm

I'm sharing the rent/bills with my girlfriend, I try to be cheap wherever possible, I'm very selective about my purchases, I try to look for good deals (sales, loose figures, etc), and I save up for the expensive items or ask for them for Christmas. I also sell off old TFs I no longer want and it helps soften the blow. Lately I've had to eliminate almost all import purchases and haven't bought a 3rd Party TF since the FP Insecticons.

News Credits: 4 · Wed Apr 04, 2012 7:51 pm

I have a job. Full-time, and other than rent and normal bills, I've no financial responsibilities. Even so, Transformers are one of a number of hobbies I have, plus I like to eat every now and then, so I don't spend loads on TFs. I find myself going through fazes of buying a lot, then nothing for ages. I've a rough idea of my "spending money" budget for each month, but other things than TFs can take up some of that.

I haven't yet sold anything to make more money for new stuff, but space is an issue, as well as me buying new things which make old thing s surplus, so I probably should get around to having a clear out. Am especially tempted sometimes when I see the prices for small g1 accessories or parts of figures. Some crazy prices. Course, new stuff isn't always cheap either. I try to shop around, and there's a lot of stuff I've missed out on because I couldn't justify the pricing. Mostly 3rd party stuff, but there's been a fair amount of Hasbro stuff I'd have bought at half the price. Takara prices are usually way too much. Have only spent the extra once or twice for special stuff (Henkei Megs, for example, was a must when the alternative was Nerfatron).

Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:22 pm

I am very choosy about what goes in my collection. I have one third party item. I stick to Hasbro stuff, almost entirely.
Luckily for me, I have a good job and don't have any problems paying my bills.

News Credits: 1 · Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:49 pm

I have a full time job and live at home. So my bills, at the moment, come down to commuting fee's. Every now and then I buy food (or snatch restaurant bills from my folks) and when I need to go to the doctor or send my car to the doctor, I pay for those, but, generally speaking, we're both doing pretty OK *knocks on wood*

I only own one 3rd party product (iGear Kup Heads) which was a birthday gift and I rarely buy Takara. Their price tags, more so the 3rd party figures, turn me off.

There's a part of me that's rather frugal. So toys over $50 bug the heck out of me (as in, I may drool but I can't actually bring myself to buy it 99% of the time). Even then, if the $50 toy doesn't fully grab my attention I pass. I'm much more comfortable spending $10-30 on a single figure. Generally speaking once I spend about $60 on toys for a month my frugal side begins to feel battered and abused. So I back off... if I don't I drive myself nuts and feel guilty when I buy things I don't need.

Because of all that nonsense I haven't had to sell anything to buy more. I know once i move out I'm going to have to buckle down and place strict limits on how much I can spend, but for now I'm enjoying what liberties, however small, I have.

News Credits: 226 · Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:14 pm

I have a full time job, I live on my own, and I have a mortgage.

So these days it's a case of tight budgeting. There's maybe one week a month where I don't have any bills to pay (other than general living expenses) so I will look around to see if there's any deals on vintage figures.

Otherwise, i'm mostly waiting until big sales are on to pick up figures. Whatever I do though, I always hunt around for the best deal unless it's a figure I absoloutely must have (e.g. Year of the Dragon Ultimate Optimus Prime) in which case ... the electricity bill can wait a week. :lol:

News Credits: 1 · Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:44 pm

After 15 yrs in the Navy I do alright. Bills are all under control and I also have other hobbies I pursue. During ROTF and DOTM it got a little crazy money wise. My collecting only covers Generations/classics/universe and the Movie lines. Now that the movie line is all but dead it's not as hard.

I only collect the cyberverse prime stuff instead of everything, which is a huge cash saver. But back when ROTF/HFTD/DOTM came out I did do little things here and there to save some cash.

Drove to work a little slower which made the gas last a little more.
Got food from the store instead of eating out so much.
Drank more water instead of so much soda as I was surprised how much even one per day can rack up in a month.

Wed Apr 04, 2012 11:27 pm

I work from home and make decent money. Low rent and low car payment means more $$ for figures, yay!

News Credits: 5 · Wed Apr 04, 2012 11:45 pm

I've been collecting seriously since Beast Machine/RiD came out back when I lived at home so I have a lot. I rarely feel that burning need to have anything anymore so I focus on Classics (which I was lucky enough to start with at the beginning) and I've avoided the DOTM for the most part and Prime entirely which is saving me a ton of money. I'm unemployed right now so what I sell goes towards bills. Right now, most of the stuff I want is just to make other stuff out of or 3rd party. I'm hopefully getting a job tomorrow so I can get myself out of this little hole I'm in. I have an apartment with my girlfriend (who somehow manages to spend almost exactly what she little brings in) and no credit cards or anything like that so it won't take me too long to get back on my feet and into collecting again. It's weird, I'm 32 and the person I owe the most money to is my mom and I'm doing some work for her by assembling her new kitchen cabinets.

Please buy my awesome Transformers so I don't have to move back in with my mother.

News Credits: 22 · Thu Apr 05, 2012 1:36 am

My main solution for being able to afford this crazy hobby: ramen.

Seriously, I do have a variety in my diet, but getting cheap food does help. I work at Walmart, which is good and bad, as I know most of the deals on foods and other stuff, as well as getting a discount, but then again, they don't shower me with money.

My finances are finally in order after a decade of turbulence, I pay the few bills I have on time, I basically live in a house for free, though I do have to clean it and maintain it, as well as buy supplies and take care of 2 large dogs, 3 cats, and 4 rodents for the friend who lets me live here. Besides gas and food, I have no general expenses, and I have no children to pay for and I also drive a Prius, so I spend about $50 a month on gas, even with these prices.

Also, recently (probably because the big 3-0 is coming at me like a runaway freight train) I went through a phase where I sold off about 1/3 of my collection, as well as converted from Leader Class figures to their Voyager and Deluxe counterparts. Saved money and saved space. I own very few Leaders anymore, and I'm OK with that.

I also decided to stop collecting actively, so I just cruise eBay ad other places (like Carbombya) once or twice a week, looking for vintage or rare pieces. They cost more, but now that I don't have to have every piece of every line, my TF budget it much larger. Matter of fact, I don't even need a TF budget anymore. Because of being selective, I can just buy it if I really want it. Key is to not let it get out of control.

Bottom line is, if you have your financial priorities in order, collecting won't mess with it. Remember, it's a hobby, not a job or a lifeline.

News Credits: 1 · Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:44 am

I should be paying my bills, instead I feed my hobbies and vices. Not that I have an expensive lifestyle, it's just that I am a student and earn about half of what normal people do. Next year I'm done and THEN the Geewun will grow! Untill then... Buy sparingly and sell unwanteds!

Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:57 am

Affluent white gated community drug dealer by day, down low man-whore by night. God bless the USA >:oP

News Credits: 9 · Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:19 am

I don't make that much money from my self-employment but as I have a mortgage I can rent out the two spare bedrooms which covers a lot of expenses. I do a small amount of work for an overseas company which pays a lot for what it is and I set aside a small portion of that purely for plastic crack. My TF budget is 100 per month but I usually don't spend it all so it gets spent on other things as well. I'm very fussy about what I buy: only well articulated good looking figures and no duplicate molds.

News Credits: 12 · Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:50 am

After paying all the bills, I can afford to buy a couple figures per month. I don't have a calculated budget, just a sense of what I can afford.

News Credits: 273 · Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:58 am

My wife and I work full-time jobs and both enjoy buying Transformers. We're not Razorclaws (my personal word for obsessive completionists) but we like buying things we think are cool, especially at retail stores. When money's tight, we buy less and when money is better we buy more.

We don't have a massive collection but we have one that we like (and can afford)

News Credits: 3 · Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:29 pm

I haven't owned a transformer since I was 12 or 13 years or age. I'm 37 now and just six months ago I walk into a local retail store and just happened to walk by the TF toy section and what catches my eye? Leader class Ironhide and Human Aliance Barricade! I was amazed how far Transformers have come! Where was I? How did I miss all the advancement through the years? I guess the 50 hour work weeks, The ladies and my love for cars and racing blinded me. I last owned a little more than a dozen G1 Transformers before I turned teen. I'm not sure what else I purchased that day but both of these Transformers went home with me that day. Present day, just six months from that flashback purchase, $5000.00 plus dollars later, I have an incredible Transformers collection that runs across the vast generations of Transformers toys, that I have enjoyed collecting, transforming, working on those epic poses and just the simple excitement of coming home to the surprise packages. But I have to cut it short fast due to my drained play funds. With the exception of a few missing here and there I'm content with my new found collection. I might pick up where I left off when the new TF movie line begins to release. By then my play funds will be replenished. I hope...

News Credits: 3 · Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:41 pm

Another bonus is that I discovered my brother in law is also a TF collector and since then we have come to be much more social. The downside is I need to put together massive amounts of display area.

Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:25 am

I'm a Carpenter ,whom as of late, works in the film industry building movie sets and whatnot for a very decent wage. Not all the time mind you. 6 to 8 months of the year if i'm lucky. Nevertheless it is fiscally/monetarily lucrative.

With that income i've been able to buy 90% of the holy grails that are pertinent to my style of collecting. Which is mainly G1 and displayed and handled in a "curator" fashion. Much like collecting art and displaying it as such.

I have gone waaaay out of my normal boundaries (money wise) to attain some figures under the pretense that if i have the money and plenty of it. I justify this financial hit of a 100-200 dollar purchase as long as i keep working. It's worked very well thus far.
I'm lucky to have worked so hard at my trade, insofar that, now my wages match my lifestyle. Which offers me the luxury to pursue such frivolous flights of fancy as collecting art/pop culture i.e transformers and the like.

But in all honesty this is a very expensive hobby that can drain a dude dry if your an impulse buyer/collector that doesn't know what style of collector you actually are. I feel bad for those that are 'completionists' and needs to buy every figure from every line including repaints. That style of collecting will KILL YOU in my opinion.

I'm very selective and can walk away from a lot of what is splashed on the front page weather it be third party, re-issue or new release. But i also know the value of a dollar and weigh that greatly on a purchase of a TF. Retail TF's are pricey these days. But if that one mold is solid in all sense of the word.....then i'll buy it.

Here in Canada a deluxe fig is 15 to 20 bucks. I'm not a miser by any means but i think to myself "instead of buying a classic Tracks figure, would that money be better spent on a Monzo for my WeirdWolf?".
But the moral of this wall of text/rant is to not get caught up in the hype of a figure and don't blow your wad impulsively on a flavour of the month figure and put yourself in the hole. Take a deep breath/step back and be objective. Don't spend that rent money! The ladies don't like broke ass nerds.

Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:40 am

Transformers Hoarder wrote:I haven't owned a transformer since I was 12 or 13 years or age. I'm 37 now and just six months ago I walk into a local retail store and just happened to walk by the TF toy section and what catches my eye? Leader class Ironhide and Human Aliance Barricade! I was amazed how far Transformers have come! Where was I? How did I miss all the advancement through the years? I guess the 50 hour work weeks, The ladies and my love for cars and racing blinded me. I last owned a little more than a dozen G1 Transformers before I turned teen. I'm not sure what else I purchased that day but both of these Transformers went home with me that day. Present day, just six months from that flashback purchase, $5000.00 plus dollars later, I have an incredible Transformers collection that runs across the vast generations of Transformers toys, that I have enjoyed collecting, transforming, working on those epic poses and just the simple excitement of coming home to the surprise packages. But I have to cut it short fast due to my drained play funds. With the exception of a few missing here and there I'm content with my new found collection. I might pick up where I left off when the new TF movie line begins to release. By then my play funds will be replenished. I hope...

BTW new guy.....welcome to the fold.

News Credits: 767 · Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:48 am

Birthday, Christmas and Easter money plus "pocket money" plus I live at home.

I'm also choosy about what I buy, I don't mindlessly buy everything with Transformers written on it like completionists.

News Credits: 3 · Fri Apr 06, 2012 8:13 am

Thanks

Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:05 am

I avoid certain lines (Prime, Animated, Movie-verse) and concentrate on being happy with the ones that I already have. When I can, I try to sell off robots I don't need anymore so that I may get what I truely want. It's a balance.

Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:29 am

Well, I'm a full time teacher, and my wife works full time at a bank. We both make pretty good money (she actually makes more than I do). Even when I first started collecting, I was in school working 2-3 jobs that gave me money the equivalent of working a full time job, so money was never really an issue. We live in an apartment that doesn't cost much (despite being in one of the best areas in the city...go figure). We don't have kids or any other high end expenses. Only responsibility we really have is a dog... My only other vice is going out with friends, which is REALLY cheap in a place like New Orleans since they practically GIVE alcohol away here (there are ALWAYS beer/well drink specials) and parking/admission is pretty much always free. I rarely buy new clothes because my friends and family always give me a ton of clothes for holidays and my birthday.

Honestly, I don't have much else to do with my money but buy Transformers. Every now and then I'll buy a video game...but really, that's about it.

Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:48 am

Full-time job and rent, utilities etc does eat into the budget, but i don't have the NEED to buy every figure with the Transformers logo attached to it. No point.
I choose to eat well (no cheapo noodles so I can afford the next 3rd party combiner) and enjoy life. If I can afford to buy the MP Whatever, then I will, if not, at least I can go to bed with a full belly. What more is there? I refuse to sacrifice my comfort for an inanimate object, whatever it may be.