The Energon Pub

Dr Va'al wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:

Dr Va'al wrote:

Ironhidensh wrote:So I've begun the process of liqudating my collection.

But... will it blend?

For serious though:

It's a good thing. Bittersweet, but a good thing. My tastes as a collector /fanboy have changed, and it's time my collection changed to reflect that.

May I ask what the changes are, how you feel about the toys in general, and where you think you might go from here? I just heard your question being answered on the Twincast, and am curious.

You may answer over here, too, if you want.

Well, basically, I've become a bit of an elitest. I'm an insanely huge fan of Masterpiece/3rd party figures. I know a lot of people can find them to be a bit too fiddly, but that is one of the things I love about them. These figures are simply light years above and beyond mainline, or "traditional" figures.

Now, I know that mainline figures aren't supposed to be at the level of Masterpiece, and I accept that, but I simply do not get much joy out of them. There are a few figures that stand out, and certain characters that I will always want to have representations of. For example, I collect Optimus and Starscream figures, and I will continue that. Ijust picked up TR Chromedome, and I'm very happy with him. I also picked up Mindwipe, but he will be joining the other TR wave one deluxes in the box to go on ebay. See, went Iook at these figures, all Ican see is how much better they could be. It really stands out with Hasbro figures, as Takara can, with just a few small paint changes, make the exact same figure really stand out. Very little joy to be found.

ITs the same with my collection. I look over it nowdays, and just kinda think of it as a huge waste. While I do have some feelings of happy nostalgia from my youth, as soon as my gaze moves to the high end figures, the warm fuzzies go away. If it doesn't bring my joy, why should I keep it? I came to that realization after reading a post by COunterpucnch in the MP Hotrod thread. If it doesn't make me happy, its time for it to go.

Now, I won't be getting rid of everything. Like I said, some figures are exceptions, and awesome enough to keep. A lot of stuff, I'll keep to give to my sons when they are older. Going forward, my collection will be 95% focused on high end figures. I will also continue to consume the comics as well. I still love transformers, but I"m just not so interested in the toys that are actual toys. Make sense?

Ironhidensh wrote:Going forward, my collection will be 95% focused on high end figures. I will also continue to consume the comics as well. I still love transformers, but I'm just not so interested in the toys that are actual toys. Make sense?

Yes. You just described exactly what I have been working towards for the last year and a half. It took a while, but I gained control of my impulses to buy figures when I saw them on shelves. The resulting savings have paid for me IDW collection I have so far, which is growing by the month. I just picked up CW Devastator (again) and I think this will be my last actual "toy" even though I will treat it as a Masterpiece figure. I think I'm done buying figures in general, but if a Masterpiece comes out that looks REALLY good, I'll probably make an exception. Like the reissue of MP Soundwave.

Rodimus Prime wrote:It took a while, but I gained control of my impulses to buy figures when I saw them on shelves.

The struggle is real, very real. I failed it on the first wave of Titans Return toys, but yesterday I managed to suppress the urges when I came across Astrotrain and wave 2 of the small headmaster figures.

For years I've bought figures I didn't like, just because they are there. Hopefully, this is finally coming to a stop.

Kinda reminds me of my situation with Yugioh. I used to love that game, played it since it came out. I went to tourneys, mall tours and all kinds of events. I won a fair amount of cards back in the day.

Over the years I had made many decks and even a lot of friendships though the years. I was on a 'team' of guys where we would buy boxes together, split the cards based on who needed what and even share prizes.

From 2002 to 2013 I played the game and invested a lot of time, money and efforts into it. Around that time I was getting tired of Konami's BS (the company that runs yugioh) They had been doing things like messing up the ban list, events and card prices.

The final nail in the coffin was the new decks that came out were overpowered and "cheap". Players would automatically summon a bunch of monsters in one turn with broken effects. A game could be over in 3 turns if the opponent couldn't do anything. The worst part was that these decks were autopilot and would pretty much tell you what to play so you didn't have to think at all.

After time there weren't any new decks I had interest in and the old decks got boring to play over and over. Me and my friends stopped going to events and made our own banlists and the like but after a while there wasn't anything new or fun so I had to let the game go.

TLDR-

Played yugioh for 11 years and loved it. Couldn't put up with Konami's butchering of the game and had to let go for the sake of a healthy balance. Still sometimes play a game or two with a friend though.

It was hard to do but I wasn't enjoying myself anymore and forcing myself was a waste. I feel like I did the right thing. Of course I did keep an old deck or two for when the mood strikes me.

I'd encourage you do the same and not sell any TF's until you are 100% sure you are ready. And maybe keep a few that are important to you. Maybe if you don't collect or watch every show, read every comic you can come back on occasion to check up on things without it being a big part in your life all the time.

Resurrection time. (Yes, Burn, I know that necrobumping is frowned upon, but I was planning on making another thread similar to this, so I thought why not just bring this back up. )

Recently I have been contemplating my involvement in the franchise as a whole, much like I did when I originally posted this thread. It seems that after a short resurgence of interest, due to my liking the CW, TR and PotP lines as well as the first 3/4 of MTMTE and (to my surprise) all of the Transformers comic run, including TAAO, up to but not including Optimus Prime, I'm once again feeling the fatigue of taking an active part in collecting and staying on top of all things Transformers.

After having read Va'al's thread about why he's happy with the ending of the IDW books and the complete restart of the books, combined with my nearly total lack of interest in the new toy line as well as my lack of understanding as to why people think PotP Nemesis Prime is a good figure (and why most people here lost their damn minds over acquiring him ASAP), I'm once again finding it hard to care about the near future of the franchise.

I am looking forward to the Bumblebee movie, though with not as much enthusiasm as I did with the first few Bay films. So far the only figures from the upcoming line that interest me are Magnus and Rumble. The possible revelation of the Cons at NYCC might change that. I'm also a bit burned out on the comics, though I won't punish IDW's new attempt for that, as long as the new universe is coherent and limited to no more than 2 concurrently running titles. And holy crap, please no more miniseries! If there are stories to be told, just include them in the ongoing books!

So here I am, once again contemplating turning away from the franchise, if only to take an extended break, and perhaps return with renewed vigor by the time War For Cybertron comes out, IDW relaunches it's Transformer comics, and Bumblebee hits theaters. But once again, I'm faced with the same dilemma as before: what if I miss out on some pretty good stuff in the next 6 months or so? Before, I ended up staying involved because PrimeWars turned out to be a pretty good line, and I had plenty of reading material from going back and getting all the TPBs if MTMTE and the other ongoing. (Until Roberts totally went off his rocker and the last 1/4 of MTMTE became toilet paper, as well as the disappointment that was Titans Return. Once again, I hope the 2nd half of Lost Light will redeem him, in my opinion only, of course.)

This time, however, I have 1 more thing that is pushing me toward a hiatus: my growing frustration with horrible distribution of current figures. There are figures from TR and PotP that have been released, yet I haven't seen any of them anywhere around here. I know online shopping is supposed to be more convenient, but I still prefer shopping at B&M stores. That way I avoid shipping fees and scalpers. The way distribution was screwed up for the 2nd half of TR and pretty much all of PotP, I'm very skeptical of the availability of the new WFC line, whenever it hits the streets. I'm also only mildly interested in IDW's relaunch, so all these things added up make me seriously question whether or not it's worth investing time and money in this hobby for the next few years.

The above was more of a rant than anything else. I just needed to vent and get some stuff out. I'm serious about what I said, but this has been brewing in the back of my head for a couple of months now.

Rodimus Prime wrote:my lack of understanding as to why people think PotP Nemesis Prime is a good figure (and why most people here lost their damn minds over acquiring him ASAP)

Oh good, I'm not the only one.

I don't get it either. It's just a black repaint of Optimus Prime. Because that's ground breaking ... no really, it isn't. The only character that looks good in black and purple or teal or whatever you want to call it, regardless, Skywarp. Skywarp looks good in black.

Rodimus Prime wrote:This time, however, I have 1 more thing that is pushing me toward a hiatus: my growing frustration with horrible distribution of current figures.

This has been a thing for me for a while. I won't lie, seeing everyone enjoying new figures while I have no idea whether I'll see them locally or not. For the Prime Wars Trilogy I ended up resorting to importing the last waves of each line from Japan.

Seems to be improving, but I really do get where you're coming from. How can you collect something when it's not even available near you?

Rodimus Prime wrote:The above was more of a rant than anything else. I just needed to vent and get some stuff out. I'm serious about what I said, but this has been brewing in the back of my head for a couple of months now.

Getting it out helps (hopefully). But if you do decide to bugger off, let me know so I can make someone else a Mod.

Me personally, I still love Transformers, but I'm behind on the comics and haven't watched anything past the first few episodes of RID15. I think IDW really jacked things up with their multiple ongoing titles and the whole shared Hasbro universe. I bought all of Revolution in floppies but I haven't read Rom: Shining Armor, First Strike, Revolutionaries, or Visionaries. I might pick these up in trades but before they announced the end of the IDW universe it had honestly seemed like it was going to just be one crossover after another and I couldn't be bothered anymore. When you look at the cartoons, it feels like it's gotten distinctly more childish from what I had gotten used to over the years. Series like Animated and Prime were enjoyable for all ages. I feel like if I went back to Cybertron it wouldn't hold up, but I remember enjoying the hell out of it when it aired and I was in high school back then so I wasn't THAT young. The movies still generally get me excited.

The toys still do a lot for me, though, but maybe not to the same degree as they did during DOTM and earlier. I've purchased the hell out of Prime Wars but that's probably just due to the necessity of finishing combiner teams and the release of big ticket characters like Overlord and Six Shot. Siege looks fantastic but I feel like I may slow down there depending on what characters they release down the line. Getting older I just feel myself having more and more figures and it's a tad overwhelming. Moving into my own place and streamlining my displays has helped a lot with that but I really just don't want to get carried away. And I feel like MP/3P really helps keep things interesting.

I don't think Transformers is disappointing by any means but it does feel like the golden age has passed us and we're mostly retreading old material at this point. I've noticed myself gravitating towards new characters (something which RID15 excelled at) and I think that's really what we need to see more of. Just reinvigorate things the way Armada did back in the day. Original designs and concepts and maybe some crazy gimmick.

RESURRECTION?! Days later, I respond.

I completely get the frustration with distribution, and the fear of missing out factor on things you are generally interested in but may never see at a reasonable price. Drives me nuts. I love shopping brick and mortar, I get the thing in my hands, pick the best one on the shelf, look it over and ASSURE myself it is something I ACTUALLY want and then feel satisfied with the purchase.

It's total luck of the draw when you order a new figure from online. Questions I'm asking myself all the time: does the seller/shipper have the same discerning taste? How's the packaging? Are there visible defects they could've grabbed another figure for? All interesting queries.

Over the last year or so, I've DEFINITELY slowed my purchasing WAY down. I think I got to the point where I was over-crowding what I had, buying things to buy them and not necessarily what I wanted. I think a moment to take stock of what you have, see where you want to go, and move forward by passing things off or buying other items (new and old) is needed every few years. I'm sort of going through that now, and sold some things your way!

Currently, I'm getting excited for War for Cybertron. It feels new and fresh but at the same time familiar and steady, and I like it.

Burn wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:The bottom line is, I really feel like I have nowhere to go with Transformers as of now, and it just doesn't seem worth it anymore. If you have any advice, I would appreciate it. My true dilemma is the choice I have to make between either completely quitting the franchise from here on out, and just enjoying what I have acquired until now, or re-immersing myself in it to where I get into the comics, the cartoons, the figures, and even the BotCons and other fan-fueled aspects. The latter would be really difficult, as I have no real interest in 99% of anything upcoming, but if I quit, then I'm afraid I might miss out on a few good things. The question I have to ask myself is, would it be worth it, regardless of which way I chose. The answer is, I don't know. That's why I am having a problem.

First and foremost, I don't think any of us should be giving you advice on what to do.

This is the sort of thing you need to figure out yourself.

You and I have spoken about this and I'm in a similar position. Only a few things interest me these days and the few things that do, I often have to import because I live in what they consider a "remote" part of Australia (despite it being a big tourist destination)

Like you, it's hard to find things to enjoy.

Do I enjoy the comics? To an extent. They could be better, they could be drawn by Rob Liefeld! (Got one in, suck it Va'al!)
Do I enjoy the TV series? Rescue Bots yes, Prime was good, I hated Animated's aesthetics, I don't have much hope for Robots in Disguise as I feel it's just going to be a re-hash of everything that's already been done before.
Do I enjoy the movies? As they've progressed I've enjoyed them less and less. I took the day off from work to go and see AoE, I even stayed in the city (nearest cinema is an hour drive away) overnight so I could go first thing in the morning. I was hyped up for it. But after nearly three hours I couldn't wait to get out of there! Then I downloaded it when it got a digital release, but I never watched it, then when it was released on blu-ray, I bought it ... but have yet to watch it. That's how little interest I have in it now.
Do I enjoy the toys? Some ... a lot of the movie figures have been a miss for me. (Dinobots have been a stand out though)

I think the big thing though is, and I'm not saying this in an insulting way (*gasp*) but ... you're getting older. We all are. Priorities change, tastes change, in fact, our tastes tend to lock in. I've observed that your memory starts to go at 25, by 35 your musical taste is locked in (the bulk of music I listen to is 80's) and most importantly, we end up having to deal with more stress in our lives as we have to take on that horrid thing known as "responsibility". Best way to relieve stress? (Other than weekly massages ) You retreat back to a time in your life when things were happier.

So what do you do? You do whatever you have to do, take a break, ease back, get stuck in the 80's with duragrip and 1980sForever, whichever way you go, just know that others have been in a similar situation.

This

you will come back

take some time.

see you on the other side.
i'll be here.

Hi,

I don't know if it really matters, but I too also fell off with Transformers. I took a 4- year hiatus where I just wasn't interested. This was around the time AOE came out. The movie was weird and the toys were weird. I was overall bored and uninterested with Transformers as a whole. What I did was continue with my life. I found other hobbies and activities that kept me interested. Almost 5 years later(this year, 2019), I was reflecting on my childhood(im 18) and I realized how big of an influence Transformers has had on my life, especially the Bayverse movies. In addition to joining the Transformers subreddit on Reddit, a desire to relive the younger, better days is kinda what compelled me to check out Transformers again. With the release of the Studio Series line, I made the decision to start actually collecting Transformers and I feel like that was a great decision. It has helped me deal with many things(boredom, depression, etc.) and it keeps me busy.

Bottom line is, If you feel like you're getting bored of Transformers, just go with the flow of life. Hobbies change, interests change, and people change. Maybe a little break will be beneficial for you.

Good luck!

I know that this reply to your thread is most likely extremely outdated, however I wanted to let you know that I understand you mindset 200%.

I grew up with Generation 1. Did not pay too much attention to Beast Wars. Started noticing the figures again right about midway through Armada. And ultimately bought back in at the very beginning of the Binaltech/Alternators line. BT-01 Smokescreen was the catalyst (after seeing the figure on a co-worker's desk). Shortly after, MP-01 Convoy was released and I was hooked.

My biggest issue is not with buying figures, comics, etc. My biggest issue is that I am a completionist. It will literally drive me insane if I miss a character. So, for that reason alone I totally get the all-in/all-out aspect.

After the Unicron Trilogy of figures, I promised my wife that I would get out of the toy collecting business - with the exception of the Masterpiece figures. Unfortunately for me, this was before I saw any of the Siege line. I have had to break my promise, though I have managed to keep myself from jumping back in with both feet, as I fight with myself over whether or not I "should" spend the money.

I know that if I start getting the characters it'll go something like this...
- Gonna just pick up Optimus Prime
- Well, I gotta have the number one bad guy to go with Prime
- I guess a few of the Autobots won't be too much of a big deal
- Ugh... Gotta have some Decepticons to go with my Autobots
- ...
- ...
- ...
- Wait, I don't think I have this one, better pick it up.

I honestly figured that I would be able to give up buying the figures. After all, with POTP, the figures/molds were getting stale and, with the exception of a few, were nothing special. I had read about the expected price point hike and if the quality of the figures was going to be the same as POTP, getting out was the thing to do. After all, now that the Trilogy was over would there have been a better time to get out? Everything was lining up for me to start saving some money

Then Siege comes along. The pictures looked great, but they were just artistic renderings. Then comes the actual pictures from the shows. I was blown away...

It is literally taking everything I have to keep from jumping back in 100%. Just last night, I put Ultra Magnus and Shockwave back onto the shelf at Walmart (knowing full well that I might not find them again).

At any rate, I understand what you were going through. Quitting something you love is so much harder than anyone would think. To me, they are more than just toys. They are memories of when things were (and life was) so much simpler.

Ultimately, I know that I will pick up a few of the Siege figures. Simple fact is that I love the franchise too much to stop. I love the characters, I love the engineering, and I love the idea that some object could just out of the blue turn into a giant robot (okay not really but I am sure you get the gist).

Hopefully with the new Siege line you have some renewed love in the line. Either way, I am interested in knowing what you ultimately decided.

Cheers!

I lost almost all interest in TF since the end of G1, then again I am 44 years old and fondly remember the golden years of my youth in the 1980's.

Happy Meal Tankor wrote:I lost almost all interest in TF since the end of G1, then again I am 44 years old and fondly remember the golden years of my youth in the 1980's.

You have an awesome name.

I haven't quit but it's become more of a casual interest now.

I haven't bought any figures in years, the big old plastic bricks knows as RID 2015 hold no interest to me, they are for a lot younger fans so they are what they are - it's to be expected. (No hate on 'em). PoTP do nothing for me although there's a few nice figures and I won't be able to afford MP or 3rd party figures/availability. Though MP Beast Wars Megs is a really nice figure. I only have a few figures on display that hold some sentimental value but the rest are packed away. It got to a point where they just became things, objects; and not much more unfortunately.

I haven't kept up with the comics and after Prime and Rescue bots lost interest in anything animated whether that's RID 2015 (Watched several episodes felt very generic) or those "short" PotP/Titans Returns. I liked the first three live movies (Not so much the second) and nothing after that - haven't gotten round to seeing Bumblebee yet.

I'm not gonna stick to G1 stuff just because that's what I grew up with, things should change but keep moving forward. I'd actually rather see less G1 going forward and rather it evolve, I hold no bitterness but like I said it's more of a casual interest now than anything else.

NEVER!!...

Sorry I have that '86 Movie Ultra Magnus/Galvatron face off moment flash through my head every time I casually scroll around the boards and see this forum title.

Never give up. Victory through courage. Here's hoping the road never ends.

Well, since this thread's been getting some life, I might as well give an update.

No, the road hasn't ended. As a matter of fact, the new Siege line got me so hooked with its G1-ness, I jumped in with both feet, and so far have gotten everything except a few of the smallest releases, the weaponizers. And I won't get Ravage and Laserbeak because I don't like them. But otherwise, so far everything's been bought. And I have no regrets.

On the comic front, I have just finished up reading the IDW TPBs, and I will have a retrospective review up in the comics forum soon. Bottom line is, I got the whole story, with the exception of the crossovers. They never appealed to me much, except Megatron's appearance in the G. I. Joe comic leading up to the G2 TF comics.

As for other media, I'm kinda bummed that we might never get another sequel in Bayverse, as The Last Knight ended on a Unicron cliffhanger. I want to see that story finished, even if it ends up being weak, like much of Bayverse. The Bumblebee movie was alright, it had the same flaws as the others. Too much humans, not enough Transformers.

The last TV show I saw was Prime, and I liked it for the most part.

So I guess I'm still into it on all fronts, the only thing I don't do is go to conventions, mainly for 2 reasons: they're usually far away from me (seriously, what's wrong with coming to the Southeast once in a while, huh?) and the registration is too complicated.

I do have to say that I just moved from a house to an apartment, and have less room, and it made me realize just how many TF figures I have. I'm considering getting rid of some.

Last year it was IDW ending, it was the last toy trilogy ending, then Stan Lee died - there was like this wave of finality and conclusion crashing repeatedly on me and honestly it got me pretty down.

Then I read the IDW TPBs and also jumped feet first into Siege. Maybe to over compensate, maybe some emotional lashing out on par with trying to get a rebound relationship started after a break up, you know?

But Transformers has always been there for me, carried some thread of undeniable interest and joy. And the IDW TPBs didn’t disappoint.

After I got through the TPBs I had a hole in my heart and decided to be bold and jump into the forums here. And I love it. I love all these guys and gals from all walks loving TFs in their own way.

Seems I always manage to renew my vows with Transformers - my love cools but never dies. It just goes through phases like life.

I’m so thrilled you’re where you’re at with the hobby I wish you nothing but fun and good times with it
Here’s to the next phase of Siege! Till all are fun!

Never give up hope.