Collect or Play? Investment or Display?
 

Good morning all,

I have a complete collection of the POTP sub-line, all still new in box. My dilemma is that I wonder if I should open them or not. I figure a complete set of Transformers might be worth something someday, and that is keeping me from opening and enjoying them.

Please help! What's your opinion?

Re: Collect or Play? Investment or Display?
 

Transformers are not an investment. You should be prepared to never see your full money returned. Your enjoyment of them should ideally make up the difference in value.

I collect MP for display, and Generations (incl POTP) for play. Keeping them boxed does not make them display well or make them particularly fun, in my opinion.

Re: Collect or Play? Investment or Display?
 

The only things I have in boxes are those that I don't have the space to display at this time, and I might rotate to them at some point, or they are duplicates as backup should I break my original that's out.

I play with mine all the time, but I never have enough time to play with all of them.. life sucks.

They are toys, meant to play with, but some see them as decorations and never touch them aside cleaning them, never understood that, I don't get why not just get statues or actual display pieces instead?

And as far as investment goes, the market is saturated with "collectibles" and "collectors" which has devalued so much, that and the people that only exist to try and drive prices up (scalpers and the likes).

I have stuff from the 70s that I believed would pick up value.. and none really did. Heck I've considering doing a cleanup and doing a massive sales at some point, and I don't believe that I'll come close to what they are "worth" as it's not just a case of the prices you see on eBay, but to find actual buyers... unless it's sold, it's worth nothing more than what you paid.

Re: Collect or Play? Investment or Display?
 

That's why I don't like to drop a lot on a figure (the new MP Prime). They have value to us as collectors and we understand what we paid for them, but outside of that arena there is no value. At best, you might make back what you paid. Even then, take less in the future and look at it as you got your money's worth out of it like a movie, game, or book.



Open and play. Enjoy your life.

Re: Collect or Play? Investment or Display?
 

Open and play!!!

Re: Collect or Play? Investment or Display?
 

I usually open and play around with them, transform them a couple times, apply any stickers, and then pose them on my self/bookcase for display...but they are readily available should the urge hit to transform them again.

Re: Collect or Play? Investment or Display?
 

Just keep exclusives in boxes but even then they get opened. Meant for both play and display!

Re: Collect or Play? Investment or Display?
 

Toys are not an investment. Financial advisers are for that lol. Toys live to be enjoyed. To each their own, but I gave never understood the po8nt of MIB myself.

Re: Collect or Play? Investment or Display?
 

Yeah, chug these days won't be worth much. You will be lucky to get what you paid. I laugh my ass off when people try and sell a leader class transformer or voyager class from the titans return, combiner wars or power of the primes line for twice as what they paid.

Re: Collect or Play? Investment or Display?
 

I don't consider toys an investment either. I'd be a fool to be putting money into toys instead of into actual investments.

Having said that, my general philosophy re: resale is one of "any value I'm not able to get back in resale is just basically the price I paid to be able to enjoy the figure while I had it."