The Energon Pub

How about your ideas?

Maybe it is a common question but who can say you have not considered about ever?

My opinion is to keep fresh mind about Transfomers collection. more toys is not necessary but the feeling of special sharing mind.

I have felt I've wasted money.
I have felt I've wasted time.

I have never once felt I've wasted time collecting. I learning and sharing knowledge and opinions. I have never once felt I've wasted my life on Transformers.

I have also felt I've wasted time and money. It's not cheap, and sometimes I feel like I spend too much time on sites like eBay and BBTS drooling over the toys I want.

But the pure joy I get out of these figures...that is not a waste. I love seeing them all together; I enjoy transforming them; I enjoy learning about the toys, the characters they represent, and I enjoy sharing it with those who can stand to listen. Perhaps one day it'll become a total waste, and I'll end up selling it all. But until then I'm happy making my wallet cry.

most of my impulsive expensive (usually Japanese Import) purchases are made while I am wasted. Does that count?

I don't think that collecting Transformers could be considered a waste. Personally I'd like to think it actualy helps to define me as an individual.

wasted?
ya i've felt like i've wasted my time, money, and life.

why you ask?

well, i was dumb, naive, and should've saved my money.

by now i should've had a car of my own.
my wife and i would have some savings to put on a house.
it makes me sick to the stomach that i've should've put the money to rrsp's.
but at the end of the day i still have a very nice collect of optimus prime figs.

so, my once beautiful collection of everything g1, g2, beast wars, rid, etc got sold.
how much did i make?
close to $15,000 in sales.
and guess what? i still have a boat load to get rid of.

yes transformer collecting is costly, but i love it.

The only waste I feel is that I spent all that time, money and effort collection RID, Armada, Energon, Cybertron, Classics when I could have concentrated on my G1 collection.

Luckily, the Unicron Trilogy stuff seems to sell quite well.

Unluckily, the money is going on the fact I'm unemployed.

it's what makes us who we are. i graduated high school, and all the people in high school are fools. everyone made fun of me cuz i was 16,17, and currently 18 buying toys. but they are the fools because they waste money on gay clothes and fancy cars. my transformers make me happy and have never been considered a waste.

MightyMagnus78 wrote:I don't think that collecting Transformers could be considered a waste. Personally I'd like to think it actualy helps to define me as an individual.

Yeah this is my new approach to my hobby. I was formerly more "self consious" of my collecting, but now I view Transformers as the best toys I own, and I don't really care what people think about me. I do care that people think they're better than me just because I have a freaking hobby, though.

chrisc4 wrote:it's what makes us who we are. i graduated high school, and all the people in high school are fools. everyone made fun of me cuz i was 16,17, and currently 18 buying toys. but they are the fools because they waste money on gay clothes and fancy cars. my transformers make me happy and have never been considered a waste.

Amen buddy. I am right where you were in high school right now. And many of them are fools. FOOLS! FOOOOOLS!!!!

Well, glad I'm not the only one who feels great passion about this hobby

To an extent, I've been irresponsible with my money as of late - especially with all of this new stuff hitting the shelves in the next couple of months. As a collector and an aspiring artist, I buy two of each figure. Yeah, it seems crazy, but I do this to customize one, and keep the other in its original form. I like to bring detail to each figure and add new things that will make them stand out in my collection. Sure, I'm no Sabrina or EnclineDesigns, but I do try to draw some inspiration from the many great customizers that currently contribute to the famdom. Money is always an issue with everyone but as long as we recognize our limits and priorities, I see no problem spending our money. Most of us work hard for a living. Why not treat ourselves every now and then

I have felt that way lately on and off, not that it was a waste of time, but that the size of my collection was too large and didnt represent my interests.

I was collecting every line, which is a habit that sneaks up on you when you are knee deep in the TF subculture

once I started dealing transformers at the conventions, I was so overexposed to the content that it really showed me which lines meant something to me and which do not.

sold off my animated, unicron trilogy, universe, RID, BM and Robot masters to make more room in my display for the lines that actually resonate with me

G1, G2, BW, Classics/Henkei/Generations/United, Masterpiece and Alternators and a sparse collection of the movie line.

Collecting is a slippery slope, if you have the cash and the time, it can swallow up way too much of each.

I also reduced my BW collection severely to only screen appearing characters.
Once all this was done, I felt a lot more happy with my collection, it meant more to me because it was specifically the things I love about bots.

Two of each figure can be a little much. As a customizer myself, I can tell you I've spent $50 or more on a figure just to get its thighs to put into something else. Earlier this year I was making a Jazz from a Chevy Aveo Swerve and the head of a Botcon SG Ricochet only to find out that the head won't fit into the opening in the hood. That was more than $250 wasted on making a Deluxe that Hasbro's topping early next year. On the other hand, I've made simple repaints for Trailbreaker, Tracks, the Fallen, a small army of Swindles, Roadbuster, Impactor, WfC Galvatron, Classics Barricade, Classics Bulkhead, Animated Springer, the list goes on and on. All for only the cost of one or 2 figures. I'm getting Perceptor, Grapple, Tomahawk and a bunch of others solely to make other figures.

Customizing and kitbashing are expensive hobbies but when you make something that fills the gap on your shelf and people don't even realize you made it yourself, it is so worth it.

If I had invested as much time in learning a profitable skill as I have on TFs I'd probably be better off financially. In that sense I do feel somewhat wasted on TFs.

I only feel like I wasted time or money if the figure I bought turned out to be crap. Other than that, I have no regrets. I think it beats the heck out of collecting stamps. It is also cheaper than collecting guitars which is what I used to do.

chrisc4 wrote:it's what makes us who we are. i graduated high school, and all the people in high school are fools. everyone made fun of me cuz i was 16,17, and currently 18 buying toys. but they are the fools because they waste money on gay clothes and fancy cars. my transformers make me happy and have never been considered a waste.

Right, THEY are the fools because obviously plastic cars that turn into robots are far superior to an actual, functional vehicle, and toys provide more use in day-to-day life than clothing. Toys are fun, but some things have higher priority.

Congrats on graduating high school.

Tytus wrote:

chrisc4 wrote:it's what makes us who we are. i graduated high school, and all the people in high school are fools. everyone made fun of me cuz i was 16,17, and currently 18 buying toys. but they are the fools because they waste money on gay clothes and fancy cars. my transformers make me happy and have never been considered a waste.

Right, THEY are the fools because obviously plastic cars that turn into robots are far superior to an actual, functional vehicle, and toys provide more use in day-to-day life than clothing. Toys are fun, but some things have higher priority.

Congrats on graduating high school.

I know things have more priority than buying toys, i'm not an idiot. But when was the last time you were in high school? it has changed a lot. People literally made fun of me, and they still do. And Kids don't get a car because they NEED it, they get it because mommy and daddy give it to them. Buying a 16 year old a bmw doesn't make anyone truely happy. buying a plastic corvette stingray for ten bucks makes me very happy. but hey that's my two cents, and I'm not trying to argue.

chrisc4 wrote:

Tytus wrote:

chrisc4 wrote:it's what makes us who we are. i graduated high school, and all the people in high school are fools. everyone made fun of me cuz i was 16,17, and currently 18 buying toys. but they are the fools because they waste money on gay clothes and fancy cars. my transformers make me happy and have never been considered a waste.

Right, THEY are the fools because obviously plastic cars that turn into robots are far superior to an actual, functional vehicle, and toys provide more use in day-to-day life than clothing. Toys are fun, but some things have higher priority.

Congrats on graduating high school.

I know things have more priority than buying toys, i'm not an idiot. But when was the last time you were in high school? it has changed a lot. People literally made fun of me, and they still do. And Kids don't get a car because they NEED it, they get it because mommy and daddy give it to them. Buying a 16 year old a bmw doesn't make anyone truely happy. buying a plastic corvette stingray for ten bucks makes me very happy. but hey that's my two cents, and I'm not trying to argue.

Atomatron wrote:most of my impulsive expensive (usually Japanese Import) purchases are made while I am wasted. Does that count?

As for me, I sometimes do feel like I've wasted a lot of money on this hobby, but never time. Every single day I walk into my living room and admire my collection. It makes me happy. When I was a kid I always wanted more Transformers, now I finally have the ability to get the ones I want. Why not? We only live once. It's not getting in the way of my life or preventing me from doing things. It gives me something to be proud of, not because I can show it off to others (well, that's nice too ), but because I was able to collect all of this.

chrisc4 wrote:I know things have more priority than buying toys, i'm not an idiot. But when was the last time you were in high school? it has changed a lot. People literally made fun of me, and they still do. And Kids don't get a car because they NEED it, they get it because mommy and daddy give it to them. Buying a 16 year old a bmw doesn't make anyone truely happy. buying a plastic corvette stingray for ten bucks makes me very happy. but hey that's my two cents, and I'm not trying to argue.

Less than five years ago. I was collecting Bionicle sets back then and playing Pokemon, but I kind of expected people to make fun of me for that. I mean it's not cool to tease people about what they enjoy, and the people doing that are acting out of their own insecurity. But I knew better than to broadcast my interests, because they *are* things aimed at young children.

But my point was people aren't "fools" for getting enjoyment from clothes and cars. Those are things that people generally view as not being a waste of money. But the common idea here is that money spent on something that makes you happy is never a waste, regardless of what it is, unless the absence of that money negatively impacts your quality of life.

My most notable waste of money: ROTF Scalpel. Upon removing it from its packaging it exploded, sending the legs flying everywhere. Now literally every one of them is cracked at the socket, and the figure can't stand. I never got to play with it.

Best hobby ever Never a waste of time sometimes a waste of money (when i get ahold of crappy tfs like universe galvatron) i dont care what others say this makes me happy so f them was here when it started and wont stop intell all tfs are like the movies(2007,Rotf )

chrisc4 wrote:

Tytus wrote:

chrisc4 wrote:it's what makes us who we are. i graduated high school, and all the people in high school are fools. everyone made fun of me cuz i was 16,17, and currently 18 buying toys. but they are the fools because they waste money on gay clothes and fancy cars. my transformers make me happy and have never been considered a waste.

Right, THEY are the fools because obviously plastic cars that turn into robots are far superior to an actual, functional vehicle, and toys provide more use in day-to-day life than clothing. Toys are fun, but some things have higher priority.

Congrats on graduating high school.

I know things have more priority than buying toys, i'm not an idiot. But when was the last time you were in high school? it has changed a lot. People literally made fun of me, and they still do. And Kids don't get a car because they NEED it, they get it because mommy and daddy give it to them. Buying a 16 year old a bmw doesn't make anyone truely happy. buying a plastic corvette stingray for ten bucks makes me very happy. but hey that's my two cents, and I'm not trying to argue.

First off, I can't help but argue on Tytus's response. Tytus, your use of extreme sarcasm tells me you have a lot of class (indended sarcasm). And why the hell are you here if you think Transformers toys are such a waste? The only thing you really needed to say was the second to last sentence.
And I agree with chrisc4 about the car situation, because his story kind of adds up with my life. Most kids at my high school do get a brand new BMW or Hummer for their sweet sixteen, or even worse, just for getting their license or even their temps. I mean, yeah, it would be a blessing to get a new Camaro, but I don't need one. I want something like a Pontiac Vibe, nice and practical. I can't call myself an idiot for buying toys either, but maybe if I was so obsessed that I wore an Optimus Prime t-shirt and spent all the money I had on Transformers toys and comics, to the point where they took over my house while I sit around in my parents' basement at 30 playing Transformers video games, then yeah I could call myself an idiot.

Collecting anything should always be a supplement to a stable lifestyle in my opinion.
Since I have been dealing bots at the cons, I am always surprised when people tell me that they are spending their rent, food, car payment, tuition money on toys at my booth.

I would imagine that once those bills come due, they are going to feel pretty underwhelmed by the skywarp/magnus two pack they just blew their grocery money on (as an example).

but if you are stable, and collecting is a hobby financed by disposable income, THAT is when it really shines. That is when you can look at an expensive bot and enjoy it rather than cursing it as your stomach growls, or you pack up your belongings, or watch large men repo your car etc etc.

OptiMagnus10 wrote:Tytus, your use of extreme sarcasm tells me you have a lot of class (indended sarcasm). And why the hell are you here if you think Transformers toys are such a waste?

this is a reoccurring question on TF collector's boards, some people just need something to **** on apparently.

I have talked to collector's online that you would swear hate transformers, but they still buy them all. These are the guys at the cons with a sarcastic comment about all figures, something is always wrong, something is always lame, and then they hand me their last $20 for a deluxe they just crapped on.

these people love the misery, not worth the effort to turn them around.

Please point out where I insinuated I thought Transformers are a waste of money, or that I "hate" them. I'm no long-time fan, but I can appreciate a well-crafted toy, and I think the ingenuity that goes into designing these recent Transformers is unbelievable.

This is specifically what I was responding to:

...and all the people in high school are fools. everyone made fun of me cuz i was 16,17, and currently 18 buying toys. but they are the fools because they waste money on gay clothes and fancy cars...

"I get picked on so everyone else is dumb."
It goes with the territory. Deal with it

Sid Burn wrote:

OptiMagnus10 wrote:

Sid Burn wrote:I have talked to collector's online that you would swear hate transformers, but they still buy them all. These are the guys at the cons with a sarcastic comment about all figures, something is always wrong, something is always lame, and then they hand me their last $20 for a deluxe they just crapped on.

these people love the misery, not worth the effort to turn them around.

Wow. That's pretty sad that you've actually met people like that. Although I do occasionally run across a few who sit around the forums until something new that's movie or Animated related comes up so they can make their best attempts at tearing down the continuities and their corresponding fans, or just complain to us about how horrible and destructive to the entire franchise they are. Then sometimes you run across the Classicshaters that complain about quality and how they aren't G1 identical constantly. It even seems that some new members come just to do this. These, my friends, are the Negatrons of the world.