The Energon Pub

So here I am, buying animated toys off Ebay at inflated prices like a sucker. Why? Because I waited too long to put my money where my heart is and commit! Glad to know that TRU is still getting the last two molds for animated, Ironhide & Rodimus Minor (realllly hoping they get Blackout too... I mean, its already made?!). However, I still haven't seem them anywhere in my area, and I thought they'd come when MP Grimlock was in stock. I see Grimlock, but no new Animated figures...

So my question is, when do you guys think they stop having these out for sale from the time they first start shipping? I'm sure its all varied by popularity, but whats a good average? I also wonder about this for future purchases, because I don't like buying em all at once then waiting for the next wave... I like to take my time, but don't want to wait too long.

I think they just stock up and leave the stuff out until it sells. Depending on the sales volume of the piece they either restock or they don't.

At Wal Mart we got the HFTD stuff in, but there are still tuner Mudflaps and Mixmasters around...

Good luck, dude. I started my Animated collection last August, which was already pushing it, and it's only through incredible luck and a few bought online that I managed an almost-complete set of characters. Still no luck with Wreck-Gar.

Other than the last wave, and droves of Tuner Mudflap, RotF is pretty much gone, and now replaced by the single first waves of HftD and Generations. Wave 2 is scheduled for September, and depending on popularity, wave 1 will probably start to slow down when wave 3 comes out. Stores will only keep so much stock on hand, for financial reasons, and as the older waves sell less, they'll stop ordering them. Then it's just whatever's on the shelves or in storage, until that's gone.

Here's hoping for Animated Voyager Thundercracker seeing the light of day in ANY country...

while I'm at, may as well make Dirge and the rest of clones in Animated too! I'll buy them all!

I'm a seeker freak-errr

dude, if your gonna pay the high prices anyway, go for the takara versions from bbts or tfsource, Animated only kicked off recently in japan it seems so you may as well get the chromy shiny versions of the figures

grimdragon2001 wrote:dude, if your gonna pay the high prices anyway, go for the takara versions from bbts or tfsource, Animated only kicked off recently in japan it seems so you may as well get the chromy shiny versions of the figures

I agree. It'll be cheaper in the long run. By the time you do all the driving to stores, all the worrying about auctions and online sellers and pay for shipping and bloated prices, you might as well just buy 'em from BBTS and be done with it.

The chrome tends to suck, yes, but the figures themselves are amazing. Well worth it.

Yeah... I'm actually near finished with my Animated collection, I'm just wanting Rodimus, Ironhide, Ultra Magnus, Safeguard, Samurai Prowl, Waspinator... and the rest are repaints. I'm actually more concerned about when Generations Wave 1 will probably start to ween out. I'm concentrating on PCC right now, and don't want to go overboard and buy too many.

grimdragon2001 wrote:dude, if your gonna pay the high prices anyway, go for the takara versions from bbts or tfsource, Animated only kicked off recently in japan it seems so you may as well get the chromy shiny versions of the figures

For the record, I disagree with this. The new colors are on the gaudy side, and the arbitrary metallic paint really clashes with the show-accurate, cel-painted look of the Hasbro toys. This is a series that should be matte painted.

The main rule with TF's is that if you see it, and you like it, buy it. Worst case you keep it MISB and sell it later, almost always for a decent profit.

I picked up RotF Bruticus Maximus cause it was "OK" but never opened it. Guess how that turned out!

--B-- wrote:The main rule with TF's is that if you see it, and you like it, buy it. Worst case you keep it MISB and sell it later, almost always for a decent profit.

I picked up RotF Bruticus Maximus cause it was "OK" but never opened it. Guess how that turned out!

This is totally right. If you like it and see it, go ahead and grab it while you can.

Also, I agree with Autobot032 in that it is sometimes easier and cheaper to buy online when you factor in the time and gas involved in going out searching for figures.

Prime Riblet wrote:

--B-- wrote:The main rule with TF's is that if you see it, and you like it, buy it. Worst case you keep it MISB and sell it later, almost always for a decent profit.

I picked up RotF Bruticus Maximus cause it was "OK" but never opened it. Guess how that turned out!

This is totally right. If you like it and see it, go ahead and grab it while you can.

Also, I agree with Autobot032 in that it is sometimes easier and cheaper to buy online when you factor in the time and gas involved in going out searching for figures.

NO! Don't buy from scalpers, that's an evil I'd like to see eradicated from the world. One of them bought all the MP Grimlocks today. I know it was a scalper because the manager there told me one guy bought five of them.

im just a sucker for every figure that comes out in a line. i just have to have everyone in the line. i usually dont go for repaints except for the seekers, cliffjumper, or unless the retool the mold. the line i missed out on when i was in the 8th grade was the 2006 classics line, and i regret it! so my advice is, if you really want it just buy it, or you'll regret it.

sure wish I wasn't poor... At least I'm only collecting cheap plastic toys instead of vintage cars though.

grimdragon2001 wrote:dude, if your gonna pay the high prices anyway, go for the takara versions from bbts or tfsource, Animated only kicked off recently in japan it seems so you may as well get the chromy shiny versions of the figures

Why? For the most part they are inaccurate to the show.


Also, because I don't know...what Animated figures are moving up in price? Seems too early for any of them to do so.

Arcee?

Generally, I try to heavily research a TF line and it's waves when the information starts to come out to see what I can expect to see on the shelf together and get an idea of what I might want.

In a case where I want every figure in a particular line/wave, when I see them in-store, I judge the stores stock based on what's on the shelf. Case in point: Generations Wave 1. I walked into Wal-Mart last week and they had about 8 Primes, 10 Bumblebees, 2 Thrusts, and 1 Drift. I picked up Drift and Thrust first, knowing they would likely be in shorter supply and not stay on the shelf that long.

As far as when its too late to buy goes, I personally would never pay twice retail value for a figure, just because I don't have that kind of money to spend on one figure. But ultimately its up to you to put a cap on what you're willing to spend.