The Energon Pub

When you guys get a new figure (by new I mean one you didn't have before, could be from the 80's or this year), how do you decide on weather or not to keep it in the package? I mean, when I get a new figure the first thing I do is crack it open, I wanna get my hands on the thing! I could never understand why you would want to keep something like that in the package. Of course, if it's a never been opened Bluestreak from 1984 and the factory had accidentally given him Prowl's back windows, then I can understand that, but if you pick something up like RID Scourge, Beast Wars Buzzsaw, or Classics NERF gun Megatron, why would you keep that in it's box?

Personally, the only figures I figure I should keep in the box are any doubles I get as gifts for Christmas or as a birthday thing. I know I have 2007 Leader Prime in the box, along with Blackout, BW Drillbit, A couple of RID Spychangers, and 2007 Barricade and Bonecrusher, but that's because I already own those figures and got them as gifts or got them cheap (in the case of Drillbit who was $3 from Sears). If it was something I didn't have then that bastard's opening faster than (your momma joke).

If it's the first one I buy, I typically open it. If it's a double or a triple, I'll keep them MISB.

Occasionally there will be one where I'm kinda on the fence about buying in the first place, and at times I'll keep those sealed as well just in case I decide to sell it down the road.

I open my figures out of the boxes, but I actually keep them sometimes. The thing is, it's all a money game. A contest to make the price of the figure higher. If it's MISB (Mint in Sealed Box) then it could be double what you payed for, maybe triple, in maybe 10 years. Thats why, usually, if you find a MISB Cyclonus or Starscream, it'll be 100-200 bucks.

Plus, the boxes themselves, after aging, can go high in price as well.

Like I said, it's all a money game. I think it's quite funny to see G1 figures MISB, even if the person bought it from someone and is currently selling it, it all had to start with one kid. And whoever that kid was (since this person would've assumingly been a kid in the 80s) would've been pretty smart, knowing what the TF fans in the market would pay for an MISB figure...

Anything G1 from the 80's/90's stays MIB or MOSC. I don't own a lot of G2's, but what I get, stays boxed. That's currently only Dirtbag.

Dirtbag is lonely.

Hmmm, interesting question.
I bought quite a few of the Takara United Transformers MOSC, like Jazz, Tracks, Kup and Rumble and Frenzy. On the one hand, I'd really like to crack them open, considering how nice they all look, but on the other hand, there's certainly the price appreciation aspect; if any TF's are going to keep their value, it's these. Then again, I know I'm not really wanting to sell these anyhow. Some I have the RtS / Generations versions too. This makes keeping the United versions MOSC easy, as the Hasbro versions are often good enough or better. This however leads me to the specific problem I have with Tracks and Jazz, considering I bought them in their RtS versions as well, and they are still MOSC as well. I'd like to open THOSE, but the fact is that they are a lot less nice looking than their United versions, and if I was to sell something, it would definitely be the RtS versions, in which case they would of course keep better value when kept MOSC.

If you are really just talking MIB (i.e. opened and then put back), that mostly goes for the TF's that end up being to big to put on display. This goes for a lot of my Beast Wars TF's, like BW Neo Magmatron, Big Convoy and Longrack, to name but a few. Also, some get bought MIB but are just too valuable and vulnerable to put on display (like Star Saber, Overlord and original issue God Ginrai).

My MISB G1 Transformers stay MISB, although some are tempting to open, like a yellowed-in-box Battletrap, or a damaged box Octane.

i like to buy mine MIB so i can be the first to open that transformer, but if im really desperate and i need it that badly, then i will buy it...............loose. but it has to be complete and in good condition!

Whenever I can I try to purchase double of a figure to open one and keep one sealed. However now with all these ones that have the battery pre-installed it make no sense to keep it MISB since it run the risk of battery acid damage in the long run. The most you can do is keep the item MIB (Mint in Box) after you open the package to remove the battery. I do still keep the boxes of the ones that I open to use it for storage later.