The Energon Pub

WolfDawg wrote:It's also a pretty good outlet for my OCD...I've sometimes spent hours just reorganizing my collection and it provides me with an immense amount of relaxation and tranquility. Not to mention the sense of accomplishment when I finally finish, step back, crack open a beer, and stare at my wonderful collection.

At least i'm not the only one who does this!

Also, my fixation with scale makes it even more interesting...

I've personally never encountered an elitist/judgmental TF fan who is over opinionated. I find that really pathetic that someone would be that way.

It's honestly never occured to me to be that way about TF's. Why would you? It takes so much fun out of it...don't ya think? Doesn't sound like fun at all.

Which is what TF collecting is for me!!FUN!... I love the variety that TF's offer, and for me, as an older fella, 33. I collect for the nostalgia plus i like vintage. True G1 figures give me a rush when i get them. I love the history that a 20 plus year old figure can have to it and the memories of simpler days that comes with that.

I like to collect G1 vintage almost exclusively but EVERY TF line has had more than a few figures that i think are exciting,brilliant,unique or fascinating. SO i have, what i find to be choice figures, from almost every line.

Now that i think about it...it's a bit of a paradox that i'm so stoked on collecting vintage TF's but can't wait to see what's coming next that's fresh and new and what designs the next line will have and how they'll look. Maybe that's what makes it fun for me to collect. Liking Tf's in their entirety and it being a constantly stimulating hobby that reinvents itself.

monstergrotusque wrote:I've personally never encountered an elitist/judgmental TF fan who is over opinionated. I find that really pathetic that someone would be that way.

It's honestly never occured to me to be that way about TF's. Why would you? It takes so much fun out of it...don't ya think? Doesn't sound like fun at all.

elitism is an odd thing to associate with toys as you said, I really cant imagine why or how someone would use a TF collection as a status symbol here in north america.

I do know that is the case for many adult collector's in China and Japan, having sealed american G1 items is a status symbol there due to the expense and difficulty obtaining them.

Can someone give an example or link to a forum discussion where elitism has actually done something offensive?

Curious here...

I did say it doesn't generally happen here

Places like 4chan and tfw2005 I stopped visiting, as well as bwtf's forums, due to that sort of thing and the amount of trolling and flaming that went on there. I actually stopped using BWTF due to 2 specific users, a guy called Walkertron and another who used to call himself Onslaught87 I think, could be wrong on the last ones name.

Your mods here are usually pretty hot on that sort of thing and the community here is normally pretty civil and not too cleaquey.

agreed, I used to post on another site (TFarchive) and I was very discouraged by how rude and snobby some of the posters are. It was the first forum I had visited, and was severely turned off by the experience.

Seibertron is much more civil, not completely as internet anonymity will always produce jerks, but much better.

question: what makes a TF collector?

answer: when Hasbro / Takara / the brand is periodically and steadily collecting your money.

I love these threads!
What makes a collector?

-I collect because I enjoy toys. Transformers was only one of the toys I enjoyed as a kid. I had way more MOTU and GI Joes. But, they don't keep my attention like Tf's do. I don't collect those at all. TF's are just more fun and interesting to me. I love cars and giant robots. Every time you buy a TF, you get both.

-I collect becasue it reminds me of being a kid. It reminds me of spending hours playing with my little brother coming up with stories for our figures to act out. It reminds me of making sure we were in front of the TV when Transformers was on, never missing an episode. It reminds me of the anticipation for Christmas and birthdays to see if I would get a new Transformer. Every time I am in the toy department of a store or waiting for the UPS guy, or go to one of my display shelves, I get that feeling.

-I collect because there are other people out there that have the same hobby. Honestly, if I weren't on this website, I probably would be as much of a collector. I would have no one to talk about it with. I went to my first convention this past weekend, and it was awesome to see and talk to people that have the same hobby. (As and aside, I don't post on other forums. Just this one. Posters on other sites sometimes seem snippy with each other. Sometimes they come off as down-right rude.)

-I collect because the hobby is monetarily easily accessible. You can go to any store and buy a Transformer for under $10. Or, you can go online and spend hundreds of dollars on a figure. Everyone has their own personal preferences, which leads to diversity among collections. Which, in turn, makes it great to discuss with other collectors.

I could keep going with this all day.

Counterpunch wrote:Sometimes, I open toys up in the car.

Other times, I try to undo twisty ties while I'm driving.

Terrible!

Sid Burn wrote:
I like your response about it firing your imagination, that was and is a big one for me.

I was going to be silly and say "all of the above!" for your original list of reasons, or "addiction?", but that probably falls in under insanity. Anyway, imagination, yes. I am innately fascinated by things that change or transform, things that have multiple functions, things with gadgets. This doesn't apply only to Transformers. Swiss army knives, multi-function card readers, folding reading lights, remote control vehicles where the case is also the controller...the list goes on and on. I don't know why, but things that do more than one thing are just so interesting to me. The engineering, the ingenuity...magic, if you will. I suppose as a kid, it was near-magical how these cars transformed into robots. Plus they had cool, gripping stories. So the main draw for me originally was simply the transforming. Unless Transformers made me like transforming things since they were a part of my life very early on?! Now there's a mind bender.

What made me into a collector later on was of course that original interest, nostalgia, information, and the ability to get into the hobby. Nostalgia never fully went away, but when I saw those new toys (Alternators at the time), it came back strong. Information in the form of the internet (this site! ) showed me that there are tons of people out there who collect and there are ways of getting all the stuff you missed out on (eBay, etc). Having people to discuss TFs with drew me in too. And the ability being knowledge about when/where to get things, plus the available income to do it.

Sid Burn wrote:

Neurie wrote:For me its a element of nostalgia and a connection to a time in my life when I could say I was genuinely happy and things were simple

Another big one, this probably is actually the #1 reason that keeps people involved in the subculture. As I mentioned, childhood impressions are SO powerful, sating those childhood wants feels great.

I am always saddened when I meet a person who has detached from his inner child. They are missing out on so much, same goes for couples where one partner craps on the others hobbies because they are 'childish.' Why is that even a bad thing?

Same. What's so wrong with loving the same things you liked when you were a kid? Leaving that behind is like letting a part of you die. I think part of what makes a person good is not letting go of that childhood innocence, even if other parts of their lives may not be the most innocent.

On the topic of elitism in the hobby, it happens, and it's more 'this figure/series/version is better than that figure', 'therefore you suck if you like it', etc etc. But that doesn't happen much here, because we have clear rules and good mods that stay on top of these things. I think that all comes down to the attitude of Ryan. He sets the precedent for this entire site as a professional, friendly, welcoming place for all ages. Because of that, he chooses people who share the same ideals to run this place, and it all filters down into everything. If bad people show up, they generally don't stay long, and that's good. I can definitely say that Ryan, his attitudes towards the hobby, all his hard work for this site, and his influence, not to forget the mod team we have, are more reasons I'm a collector. If things weren't so good like some of the other communities with people constantly arguing and belittling each other, I might have become jaded and turned away from the hobby by now, but I'm still going strong.

WolfDawg wrote:Whenever I go into my man-cave and am surrounded by little plastic robots, I'm instantly transported to my childhood.

I just wanted to say that made me smile. Awesome.

WolfDawg wrote:It's also a pretty good outlet for my OCD. I constantly have an urge to redecorate the entire apartment (much to my wife's dismay). However, I've learned to curb that constant need for redecoration into just reorganizing my entire collection. I've sometimes spent hours just reorganizing my collection and it provides me with an immense amount of relaxation and tranquility. Not to mention the sense of accomplishment when I finally finish, step back, crack open a beer, and stare at my wonderful collection.

While I don't have OCD, I do share the same sense of relaxation and accomplishment whenever I spend time on my collection. It's a great feeling.

More money than shelf space.

Sid Burn wrote:agreed, I used to post on another site (TFarchive) and I was very discouraged by how rude and snobby some of the posters are. It was the first forum I had visited, and was severely turned off by the experience.

Think I have to take a little bit defense here. True, couple (or few) of the people there are that way but don't we always have those kind of people around our lives? Once you get used to their style and find a way to get around or avoid or ignore, you will enjoy. Most of the people there are nice and still enthusiastic about TFs. I still post there and have the same user name there. Hope to see you back there sometimes.