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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.

I always try to wait and do my hunting at TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Ross, you always find nice figures for half the price of regular stores like TRU, Wal, and Target..., but unless it's a very nice figure that I know it probably will not make it to the TMR's stores I'll snatch it! hehe

maybe I should start hitting up some garage/yard sales and see what pops up, I'm lucky enough to have buddy here in VA that's a toy hunter as well, so sometimes we team up! haha

Just a quick question I had about collecting.

I'm trying to get the whole fall of cybertron toyline (minus sdcc Bruticus... 300$ I'll pass haha) and I've been browsing and it seems like Hasbrotoyshop has the combaticons priced lower than anywhere else.

Should I order them through Hasbrotoyshop? Or is there a chance that I could get them cheaper when they hit the shelves?

Just kind of worried because this is the first time I'm trying to collect the whole set of figures from a toyline.

thanks

bonesy91 wrote:Just a quick question I had about collecting.

I'm trying to get the whole fall of cybertron toyline (minus sdcc Bruticus... 300$ I'll pass haha) and I've been browsing and it seems like Hasbrotoyshop has the combaticons priced lower than anywhere else.

Should I order them through Hasbrotoyshop? Or is there a chance that I could get them cheaper when they hit the shelves?

Just kind of worried because this is the first time I'm trying to collect the whole set of figures from a toyline.

thanks

I'll give you my opinion. If you really want these, then I would go ahead and buy them all off of HTS now. HTS is offering free shipping on orders over $50 for the time being. You'll still be charged tax but no shipping.

Pros to buying off HTS:
-No driving/gas for the hunt
-If they are all available, you can complete your Bruticus set (save gas $ again)
-HTS prices are the lowest you will see retail wise given the recent price increase ($14.99 compared with $15.89 or even $17 plus...see this thread http://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/wal-mart-price-hike-more-than-target-now-t88802.php

Cons:
-Possibility of finding them cheaper at a later date (how much later, who knows)
-Waiting (patience usually pays off, but you never know)

However, if you check BBTS or TFSource right now you can get FOC Optimus and Jazz for less than HTS ($8.99 on BBTS).

As an earlier post stated, if you see something you really want and can afford it, go ahead and buy it because you may not have the chance again. This is very true and has happened to me too many times. So, I would just ask yourself if you want these or if you really want these and go from there. Hope that helps.

Hi guys, I wonder if anybody see Masterpiece optimus prime around Los Angeles lately?

Thanks and happy new year!

Always check your local 5Below for discount deals. Just found a wheelbarrow full of early wave Bot Shots and tail end wave of Prime Legion class for 3 dollars. Picked up a Hyperspeed Wheeljack; the Marlboro redeco; for myself. They also have the Bot Shots launchers for 5 bucks as well as the Avengers flip changers.

Question for anyone that hunts for toys at Local TRU, Target and Walmart. When do they restock the shelves? Do they do so in the mornings? Whenever I visit a TRU I would see a new wave less the figure I'm looking for. I usually go at night after work.

Anybody have the numbers for Springer and Blitzwing?

Anyone have those DCPIs for Springer and Blitzwing? Please. I cannot find them on Target.com and noone in the stores have them. But someone on the forums has them because they've mentioned locating their's through them. Please share with the rest of us.

I always keep a pretty tight watch on the Hasbro online shopping site, Smokescreen Prime Beast Hunters Deluxe just popped back in stock. He has been sold out for a while and been hard to find. Get him if you have been looking before they disappear again.

Mooncake623 asked when TRU, Target, and WalMart restock. It has been my experience that in the Daytona Beach, Fl area TRU and Target restock the morning after the truck arrives. All the WalMarts in my area are 24 hr and they restock around 2am. All you have to do is figure out what day of the week the truck comes in. Sometimes the staff will be helpful and tell you. Sometimes they will tell you they are not allowed to give that information out.

I am very interested in hunting and i want to collect hunting information from different sites and forums. I join this forum recently and i am very happy to join this forum because it is very informatic forum for every one. Anyways please share some thing archery equipment like broadhead, Mechanical Broadhead, Grim Reaper Mechanical Broadheads, Best Mechanical Broadhead and many others hunting accessories.
Thanks

I see the guy above this post only ever wrote that one post, guess this was not the site for him.

Anyway, one of the best tips I can give collectors is to check their local thrift shops and salvation army outlets. You will almost never find a complete transformer there (I never did) but its a great place to find parts and placeholders. There is a junk market not too far from where I am which I visit once a month, and its made up of a bunch of small stalls where people sell the junk they find. I was able to find a nearly complete ROTF Leader Megatron for 5$ and a 90% complete Leader Deep Dessert Brawl for 10$.

william-james88 wrote:Anyway, one of the best tips I can give collectors is to check their local thrift shops and salvation army outlets. You will almost never find a complete transformer there (I never did) but its a great place to find parts and placeholders. There is a junk market not too far from where I am which I visit once a month, and its made up of a bunch of small stalls where people sell the junk they find. I was able to find a nearly complete ROTF Leader Megatron for 5$ and a 90% complete Leader Deep Dessert Brawl for 10$.

I took some pictures of said junk market above. If anyone is in the montreal or quebec area, and is a toy collector, or is into any vintage collectable, it should be on your radar.
Adresss: Marché aux Puces St.-Michel
3250 boul Cremazie E, Montréal H2A 3N9
coin: St. Michel
Tel: 514 691-1062

There might be an action master in here somewhere but I would have no clue where to start looking and if it would be worth it:

Look behind the back of the shelves, I found a Masterpiece Bumblebee hiding there!

Also I found a Generations Jetfire in the store today as a 30th anniversary special, if anyone still needs it...

Rainmakers wrote:Look behind the back of the shelves, I found a Masterpiece Bumblebee hiding there!

Also I found a Generations Jetfire in the store today as a 30th anniversary special, if anyone still needs it...

Ha! That's maybe someone hiding it to find it later. That brings up a good point and tip. A few fans hide toys away for getting them later (either for friends, because they dont have the money or because they want to validate some info before purchasing it).They usually hide them nearby but not in a evident way, so, like Rainmakers said, look behind the shelves, or on the opposite wall behind some other toys.

william-james88 wrote:

Rainmakers wrote:Look behind the back of the shelves, I found a Masterpiece Bumblebee hiding there!

Also I found a Generations Jetfire in the store today as a 30th anniversary special, if anyone still needs it...

Ha! That's maybe someone hiding it to find it later. That brings up a good point and tip. A few fans hide toys away for getting them later (either for friends, because they dont have the money or because they want to validate some info before purchasing it).They usually hide them nearby but not in a evident way, so, like Rainmakers said, look behind the shelves, or on the opposite wall behind some other toys.

There are a lot of Masterpiece Bumblebees here at Toys R Us though now.

I found a Masterpiece Prowl but it was damaged. But I did manage to find a Masterpiece Ultra Magnus, the boxes are huge.

I really need some tips, I am usually out of luck finding the transformers toys I want, since I live in Australia and the catalogs aren't helping me. Target said they had something, they didn't.

For Australian collectors- Don't forget major supermarket toy sections I have found energon combiner limbs that never appeared at other shops as well as Generation legends. Also if your after a knock off set don't just think discount shops try your local Chemist during Christmas. I got an excellent knock off Star Saber and Victory Leo from a chemist with their combining ability and colours all intact and correct. On the knock off topic try the stores own budget line section I got the knock-offs of the G1 Aerialbots, Combaticons, Terrorcons and Constructicons through K-Marts budget toys section.

Make use of the stores ability to get figures from their other stores. I have used this to get figures that didn't appear at my local store and it doesn't cost any extra.

Have a toyshop in your town? talk with the manager and let him know what you want a lot of my classic figures came from speaking with the manager of one of the smaller toy shops and letting him know I would buy figures from the line if he would order it.

Does anyone know the best time to visit TRU? When do they stock?

mooncake623 wrote:Question for anyone that hunts for toys at Local TRU, Target and Walmart. When do they restock the shelves? Do they do so in the mornings? Whenever I visit a TRU I would see a new wave less the figure I'm looking for. I usually go at night after work.

Rainmaker wrote:Does anyone know the best time to visit TRU? When do they stock?

Hello! Just signed up for the forums today. I work at a TRU and (I can only speak for my store, YMMV with other stores) while the store does restock overnight, it is likely that there are one or two people who are slated during the day to re-stock the shelves. We try to get as much product as we can from the stock room onto the store floor as it reflects badly on the store (when corporate does an inspection) if product just stockpiles.

Also, if an employee says that they don't know what is coming in on the trucks, that is pretty much accurate. It is corporate that determines what store gets what product. We only know when the trucks come in, and in the case of my store that is either Tuesday or Thursday afternoon.