The Energon Pub

I am a new member, but I have visited this site often for the past year and a half. I've noticed on many of the sightings threads and toy news posts a split in opinion about opening new figures.

I personally believe that a Transformer figure cannot be fully enjoyed unless they are actually transformed. However, I have seen many post comments of the opposite opinion: to not open them and display them in their original packaging.

I just wanted to get some additional feedback as to the opinions of other Seibertronians. I guess in a perfect world I would get 2 of each figure; one to display MISB and another to transform. Thanks for your thoughts/comments/feedback!

P.S. I do keep all packaging, so I understand both sides!

1) welcome to the site.
2) open them.

its no fun keeping them in the box. when i get a new figure i open it, experience it, enjoy it, then display it. if i get an extra then ill keep that msib, otherwise out of the box it comes.

I'm all about MISB and if I can afford a 2nd of a figure, then I'll open one... Check out my Collection and see how ya feel about starting a MISB collection

viewtopic.php?f=206&t=18265&start=125

.

Welcome to the board, Rhinox23!

IMO, it's all a matter of tastes and opinion, and there's no accounting for either. Keeping them MIB (mint in box) is probably the best of both worlds.

If you're careful about opening the blister packs of your deluxe figs, you can actually keep them MIB. Just carefully slip the blade of a sufficiently sharp knife (preferably scalpel or Swiss Army) between the cardboard and the glued edge of the plastic bubble, and cut along the bottom, left, and right sides except the top--make sure to cut the paper surface precisely along the plastic edge. If done correctly, the glued paper surface should adhere to the edges of the bubble, and it should as if it was never opened before if aligned correctly with the cardboard.

DISCLAIMER: This takes a bit of skill and practice, and the blister packs will NOT stand up to close inspection.

Open them. Free them from their plastic and cardboard prisons. Let them loose, let them be awesome.

Let them rock hard, and let them rob you blind, repeatedly, because they've earned it with their awesome.

FREE THEM, SIR!

FREE THEM, I SAY!

By my calculations, only an opened Transformer is being enjoyed to its fullest potential. On average, a Transformer is enjoyed through:

25% = Robot mode
25% = Altmode
25% = Transformation process
25% = Play features/Posing

Thus, a boxed Transformer, trapped in a single mode, and not even able to be touched and fully experienced in that mode, is only operating at approximately 12.5% of its full enjoyment potential.

I open them.

"Open damnit! Open!!!" I had 2 Animated Arcees, and I kept one in the box and played with the other. And then, it was still hard to keep the second one in a box! Unfortunately the first one broke, and I had no other option but to open the other.

Toy Story 2 is responsible for MANY people realizing what a crime it is to leave a toy in its box, lonely forever...

With rare exceptions, my figures are rarely still in package by the time I get home. The only one recently was War for Cybertron Optimus Prime. It looked so awesome in package I had to show my wife.

Although I do keep the boxes of some special figures, I open all my figures.

Buying transformers to keep them in the box means you aren't really collecting transformers, you're collecting boxes.I don't see the fun in boxes. No offense intended to anybody who likes MISB collecting, I just don't see the point.

It would be kind of like buying a Car you don't drive, or a TV you won't watch, or heck, a Hamburger you won't eat.

However MISB collectors are a necessity, because it means that when we want to buy an old a figure we can find it MISB thanks to them. So while I don't really understand this, I can certainly appreciate it.

Unless you enjoy having a collection that looks like the coolest toy store ever, there's not much point in MISB collecting these days. There are better investments that don't take up all the space if you plan to sell them someday and most figs probably aren't going to gain a whole lot of value at this point in the game anyhow. So my opinion is you may as well enjoy them to their fullest and open them...at least the majority of them.

I had similar feelings about this as many of you have stated. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't alone! I definitely feel that much of the enjoyment comes from opening them and transforming each figure...otherwise it's not really a transformer! Many thanks and it looks like my MP Grimlock that will get here this week will soon be free from plastic prison and on my display shelf!

Personally, I am a toy collector, not a box collector. I buy a toy to play with and admire. While there are those who chose to keep them MISB, which is okay if it suits them...I just cannot understand the thought process to it. To each their own, I guess.

Toys need to be free. Toys are meant to be played with. A cardboard and twistie-tie prison is no place for a magnificent Transformer!

I admit, when I 1st started my MISB collection, it was for financial gain or hopes of it... I did in fact makes lots of money re-selling Transformers in the beginning. But then I decided that I would like to be a completionist, though a lil' voice in the back of my head was thinking I could sell an entire series to a single collector.

My 1st attempt was at R.I.D. I was able to obtain most the figures but not a complete series. My 2nd & 3rd attempts were with Armada and Energon... yet I failed again... and I ended up having so many MISB Transformers, that I thought it would look cool to display them in hopes of one day completing them...

My next attempt was with the Cybertron figures... I was able to secure every single figure in that line except for Wing Saber... I only found 2 and both were smashed, so I never completed it (this was before I discover online retailers) Fortunately, the Cybertron line appealed to most all T-fans and were in high demand... I sold nearly all of them individually making a ton of profit. What few I didn't sell then became part of my display collection.

I ended up using the money from the Cybertron figures to start purchasing Encore, Masterpiece, and rare Japanese figures. Hasbro also started the Classics line which was all kinds of awesome. At this point I had decided that my Transformer room was looking quite awesome and the idea of buying strictly to make profit had pretty much disappeared. I decided that I wanted to have the most awesome MISB collection ever LOL. I collected the TFC and Encore figures to try and relive my childhood happiness of having the most awesome toys ever invented (at least in the 80's they were, but still kick ass today). Majority of my purchases are now Japanese figures and in my opinion, seem a lil' bit superior to our Hasbro figures.

I'm currently not sure what my objective is anymore. Possibly to try and one day sell the whole thing to a single collector. Maybe save it in hopes that I have a son one day and can share it with him, I dunno. Over the last year I've only sold a few and that was because I needed money for car parts or medical bills. I can't even explain the coolness of walking into my Transformer room and taking it all in! All I know is that right now, I am getting enjoyment out of having a huge collection and it is nice to be able to help someone out who cannot find a complete figure or who shares the MISB idea and wants to add to their collection.

Like I said in my 1st post, if I really want one to transform, I buy a 2nd figure... which is what I'm doing with the Classics/Henkei figures right now... they are so awesome! In the meantime, I really enjoy sharing my collection with you guys and I've really appreciated all the nice comments from you on my collection. I've really enjoyed being a part of this community...

As soon as I saw the topic I knew David would be commenting on it! He has without a doubt the best MISB collection ive ever seen!

My personal opinion on MISB is this..I leave collectors items MISB..High dollar stuff or rare items stay in the box, mostly exclusives( SDCC stuff, Botcon, Luckydraw) stay MISB as well..Stuff I get at wal mart/target get opened, with the exception of the HA series..For some reason I'm keeping them MISB..

While some of the stuff kills me to keep MISB I'm looking at them as a investment and I keep them Minty fresh

LiKwid wrote:As soon as I saw the topic I knew David would be commenting on it! He has without a doubt the best MISB collection ive ever seen!

Thanks so much LiKwid!... I appreciate that!

.

i'd say open them man.
what's the point of buying something just to have it sit in a box.
i'm almost 21 and i still play around with the figures i'm like why not.

The answer to this question no matter what the subject is will always be to open it.

Honestly, hasn't anyone seen Toy Story 2?

A Transformer is a figure who's selling point is that it is several toys in one. At the very least you get a robot and a vehicle (or plane, ape, whatever). With some you get another vehicle mode as well. With the more complex ones you also get a puzzle! How much time can you stare at a box for? Compare that to the amount of time you can spend trying to transform ROTF leader Prime.

If you spend 40+ on a leader figure and open it you get a cool vehicle, a cool robot, loads of fun transforming it and loads of fun posing it with other TFs. If you spend 40+ on a leader figure and keep it MISB you've spent 40+ on a box.

I don't buy as many TFs as I used to (or would like to) but very rarely would I ever entertain leaving them in the box. Maybe, if it was something I was planning on selling on very soon, but even if it was a high-priced item I'd probably just keep the box for storing it. As it is now, I've got the boxes for Armada Prime and Unicron (and maybe one other, I can't remember) with the inserts removed, holding all of my modern TFs, bar Henkei Megs who's on display. As a boy I used to keep the card backs, but that was mainly out of wanting to see pictures of all the other toys I didn't have than anything else.

If someone wants to pay all that money to keep something in the box, fair play to them. If people didn't do this, I wouldn't have the option of going and buying still-boxed G1 and later TFs to open now. It's like comics though. As much as it's possible to sometimes make money on them, for the most part, you'll get more enjoyment out of them using them as intended. I keep my stuff in good condition, but like to get my money's worth. In the end though, it's your money you've paid, it's your property, treat it how you like.

Open them. Even the Toyfare guys admit, opening and playing with toys is half the fun of collecting them.

No offense intended to the MISB guys, but looking at a nice collection of figures is more interesting than looking at a nice collection of boxes.

Open those guys up!!!

I have a collection of 700 plus Transformers. In that collection there are the better part of 30 MISB items. Some are rarities, hard to find, expensive and the like and I'm building up to it. Most I simply haven't found room for yet. Two are items signed by Peter Cullen. Those will stay sealed. I can appreciate a sealed collection as an observer. It doesn't do it for me though. I don't feel like I can enjoy them closed up in packages.