new collector - any advice anyone?

[pud333]

Originally Posted by Super_Megatron

In order to save $ on shipping I would strongly recommend touching base with other UK collectors. Shipping overseas is expensive.

I agree. If you're buying from Canadian collectors/sellers, Canada post can be pretty expensive. Might want to also check out TFW2005, as there are international collectors that frequent there.

[onecoin]

From my experience inner UK pricing is generally inflated 15-35%. That's why HK sellers have so much success listing there. Sometimes this offsets the cost of international shipping well. The high UK pound works well against the ailing US dollar right now and US internatial shipping is reasonable. Do your best to avoid Canadian Internatinal shipping, the are literally the worst in the world offer the fewest weigh milestones and do not properly discount the cost/weight ratio as package weight increases. So buying bulk to save on shipping is a wash. With the pound and reasonable shipping, markets within Europe, USA, Japan and Singapore might be your best bet.

[GMfan]

Best word of advice always try to get items within your continent! Shipping overseas will kill you and if you want boxed items its even more questionable the condition they will arrive in.

[danaustin1975]

thanks guys,

yes I am finding out how expensive MIB G1 are! And $150 per item is way out of my league. I'm just going to have to scout around for bargains, I've already got 13 loose G1 transformers from the attic, so that's my start lol

I've seen a few boxed items go for what I could afford, I saw a Rodimus Prime boxed with one bid for $40, which I thought was cheap, so hoping I can get the odd one. I might try and get incomplete boxed ones, see if that is less expensive, then complete them.

I'll have a think about getting loose, not sure yet. They seem quite pricey loose too, near $40 for a transformer at times, without a box lol.

I think I'll give the reissues a miss, basically because of price, they go for around $40 - $60 and for a bit more I might pick up something vintage.

I've just contacted a UK collector about an item he's selling, and I've been looking around to buy my first transformer, and he's selling a Autobot City Metroplex boxed complete for a BIN at £42 (around $84) with cheap postage, and when I saw this transformer I was amazed, great item, and compared with £75 for a normal transformer that looks like a good deal. So I'm likely to buy it if I hear back from him.

How do I get in touch with other UK collectors? Maybe I should put up a post on here about it?

Anyway, thanks for the advice guys, appreciated, I'm looking forward to this hobby, even if I don't know where it will take me.

[Super_Megatron]

Originally Posted by danaustin1975

How do I get in touch with other UK collectors? Maybe I should put up a post on here about it?

This is primarily a Canadian collectors message board. All the UK collectors I know are on http://www.tfw2005.com

[GMfan]

I doubt you'll reach many UK members on this forum, and to be honest I don't know anywhere where you may find UK sellers exclusively. If you just want boxed items though the encore and TRU reissues have a nice G1 feel.....they are vintage reissues :P

[Pascal]

If I remember well, there's a UK-only TF site, I just forgot the name or the URL.

[onecoin]

transformer at the moon is one:
http://www.transformertoys.co.uk/

[Dark Rage]

How expensive is collecting Transformers compared to other toy lines like Star Wars? Sorry to digress.

[danaustin1975]

thanks for that, I'll check out the link (I didn't realise this was primarily for Canadian collectors). I'll still come onto the forum though and check out what people think about items etc.

I've been collecting star wars since 2004 and have got quite a big collection since then, loose, carded and boxed - boxed items are roughly from $40 - $100, depending on size usually. Carded are variable, if they are AFA'd, they're expensive, but I've got 24 carded figures for around £20 each, with a few nearer £100, some around £40, so it varies.

Overall, I think star wars is a cheaper hobby though, as you can collect a complete loose collection quite cheaply, and it'll have value, you're looking at under £10 on average for a loose complete figure, whereas a transformer loose (as far as I've seen) is nearer £15 - £20 complete.

I think there's more high end pieces with Transformers on average, as from what I've found out so far, whereas star wars you can pick up small to medium sized MIB for a lot less.

I've also started collecting He Man, and loose and compete in good condition they can go for around £5, carded they're in the $50 upwards range, so again, less expensive than transformers lol.

I got one of the most expensive star wars boxed items, called a Tyderium Shuttle (that shuttle that carries Darth Vadar at the start of return of the jedi) which is massive, and that is loose about £50 and boxed about £100 upwards, and that's not an AFA'd piece.