Will you over pay to make sure you get something?

[Shockwave 75]

Basically, I don't make a lot of money. I'm a stay at home dad, and for now I have a once a wekk, maybe twice occasionally, job taking tickets for Junior A hockey where I get paid $40 a night. So mostly I have $40 for a week to do with as I please.

Right now I am focused on the CW Combatacons and most of the websites (Canadian) have them up for pre-order, but they are in US funds and therefore hella expensive. It'll cost me about $160 to get all 5 of them, vs about $130 at regular retail.

Now it'll take me about 4 weeks to save up for either option, and the only reason I am considering ordering them is because, as we all know, if they don't show up in stores between now and Xmas, there is a very real chance that they might not show up at all, as is often the case with end of line figures.

I really want these guys. I have loved the CW line, warts and all, and I think the Combatacons look great, but I find it galling that I might have to pay almost double per figure just to get them.

How does everyone else feel? How have you dealt with this situation either now or in the past?
Do you just leave it up to fate and hope that the figure(s) you seek will show up in store or at least on a regular retail store's website, or will you pull the trigger and pay more to guarantee that you will get your figures and have no regrets doing so if/when they do show up at retail? Or will you do it and regret it?

[Tekkamanraiden]

No, I refuse to pay more than retail price. I have missed out on a few figures initially, but usually find them eventually.

As much as I do enjoy collecting, in the end they're just toys.

[CAF]

Might have to eventually over pay for Soundwave. But it's already a case of missed the boat so I can and will wait for having enough to get it. One day. But there is no sense of desperation or urgency. Imo, if a sense of urgency is driving why I buy a toy, it's time to rethink my priorities. I would love to have everything but I'm not rich and part of what makes collecting fun for me is when things are a bit out of reach. It's nice to have things to look forward to.

[Tonestar]

I think the Combaticons will make it to regular Canadian retail. It's usually Waves of 1 or 2 figures that we don't get. Plus we still have the Skylynx Wave after that with more retooled limbs to follow. Bruticus should show up and I have enough faith that they'll come that I am not gonna pre-order them. I also wanna save some extra bucks for Christmas.

[Xtreme987]

For me it really depends how bad I want the figure. If it's something like Generations Leader Jetfire, which I immediately fell in love with the first time I laid eyes on it, then yes. However, if it's a basic legends class figure or a deluxe repaint, then no. I usually try to get those on a TRU/Walmart sale.

[Einstein]

I try to always pay retail, sometimes that means online retail, but I don't pay the over priced versions on ebay or amazon.ca

[elburrito]

I agree with those who tie their answer to "ho bad do I want the figure". That said, I recommend patience. CW stuff is mainline widely-distributed. If you are patient, you could probably get them for far less down the road.

When I collected Binaltech, they were selling for sometimes as much as $200 online per toy. Now, I am lucky if I could sell one for $65. Had I waited 4 years, I could have got pretty much all of the ones I did for about 1/2 the cost.

Lastly, since you are a stay at home dad, I'm guessing your significant other works. It is close to Christmas! Make darn sure they know what you want!

[Pascal]

Too often in the past, but those days are over.

[Chigimus]

CW Combaticons are just run of the mill mass retail items that you can find at any big box store. You will eventually find them all in the wild at regular retail. You may not see them all at once, or in very limited quantities initially upon release, but all big box stores will eventually have reach saturated levels of overstock in a few months shortly after.

So no, I would not pay US prices for something that can eventually be obtained locally. You just have to have the patience for the hunt and don't get discouraged just because you couldn't get to a store in time before someone else bought them before you. There will be other chances.

Paying US for mass retail items should only be a last resort if the wave of figures seem to be getting phased out as the next wave is starting to appear; that's a sign that you really did miss out on the wave you were hunting for. I only pay USD for 3rd-party items because of course you can't get them at big box retail stores....that's more a matter of limited accessibility which all of us have grief about with the state of our crappy dollar. It's a tough time to be a collector.

[Dangard Ace]

Only on stuff I buy from overseas and alot of the times those toys are superior in detail and are cheaper then when they finally get here.

Local stuff, nope.