3rd Party: Expensive choice

[herooftheday316]

I love the 3rd party stuff, I really do but this seems to be moving so fast, you can’t even recover from the last pretty over priced thing you bought before the seems to be a whole line of new ones.
Collecting is an expensive hobby.
We all know that we decide how much to put in. We all have our limits and own personal budgets I understand that, but it is getting to be insane.
The worst part is, all the stuff is freaking awesome! I just recently pre-ordered the FansProject Insecticons and though it felt expensive, I know it is worth every penny. That said, since then I have been looking at Exgraver and considering that… but then you get into the 600$ investment territory. Now we also have Ratchet and Ironhide coming from iGear for a whopping 110$ a piece…
Not to mention all the AMAZING stuff we saw that was on its way from 3rd party companies at TFCon.
This topic begs for discussion. I want to know, how are you guys dealing with the infinite amount of new (expensive) stuff coming out? Are you jumping in? Do you feel inundated with choice? Is it hard for you to decide what to buy and what to ignore? What are you most looking forward to?
-Mike

[Pascal]

Yes, it's getting out of control. Between Transformers, 3rd party items, Soul of Chogokin, Brave Gokin, Macross and what not, it's getting worse and worse. Thank God I'm not THAT into vintage Transformers. Already way too many $100+ toys on my want list.

[sarmick01]

I myself would love to get the Hercules, but the price tag is what turns me away from it. I am however going to get the insecticons one by one...at least if you only get one or 2 it's not like you need them all to do the main guy.

[UltraMarknus]

Mike...I hear you. I am slowly losing interest just because it is overload and expensive. I find myself feeling guilty with some purchases now. The way I have always justified things to myself is that unlike a lot of things we spend our money on, we can get the money back (or a little less or a little more) with re-sale.

I find Hasbro items boring now and then I pay a premium for 3rd party items that are AMAZING.

Things will even out eventually. We only have so much disposable income and when people start not buying 3rd party items, it will only attract the collecting "elite". Forcing it either to the background or prices to go down. We're pretty close to a breaking point here.

As much as I love Transformers, I can see myself walking away from collecting soon.

[Akroyer]

It does seem to be out of control..

Up until now I have been picking up what I like. But, with so much coming out so soon. And more 3rd party popping up it seems every day. I may have to focus my collection more.

Maybe start limiting myself to official Hasbro / Takara only. Or to only one 3rd party company. Probably Fansproject since everything I have of theirs has been awesome. And their pricing has usually been good.

But for right now, I'm waiting on Maketoys for their Devastator and G2 Prime Trailer. And I've passed on the iGear Seekers and all of the TFC stuff.

[Dragon Knight]

It sucks when you have intersts that explands multiple lines:
S.H.Figuarts, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Figma, Revoltech, Gunpla, there's always going to be SOMETHING coming out that you want...

But I agree...collecting third party items can HURT sometimes.

[Pascal]

Originally Posted by UltraMarknus

As much as I love Transformers, I can see myself walking away from collecting soon.

Now review the exosuits.

[Akroyer]

Originally Posted by UltraMarknus

Mike...I hear you. I am slowly losing interest just because it is overload and expensive. I find myself feeling guilty with some purchases now. The way I have always justified things to myself is that unlike a lot of things we spend our money on, we can get the money back (or a little less or a little more) with re-sale.

This strikes a chord with me. I used to collect a lot of DVDs, Books. And keep my PC fully upgraded every year. All things that depreciate quickly.

I know toys aren't a good investment, but they retain a lot more value than turning over PC stuff or DVDs and Books I only used to watch or read once.

So I got a lot more enjoyment out of having a Transformer collection. And felt better about what it cost. And its kind of a connection to when I was a kid. And we have this community to share with.

But things do seem to be really skyrocketing lately..


As much as I love Transformers, I can see myself walking away from collecting soon.

I can understand this, and I've felt a little frustration since I can't keep up with everything I would like to have. And have had to make some decisions on what to get or not.

I'm hoping that I don't burn out because of it. But at least I know I could recover a lot more out of this than I ever could with stuff I used to spend it on.

I put my thoughts above in Red..

[Alexander Quinn]

I just don't. I love this hobby; it's one of the few things that keep me sane, but we just do not have the income to be picking up $50 Scouts and $100+ Voyagers. Hasbro puts enough variety out in their lines that there is always something of interest for me sitting on the shelves, so I don't feel the need to go the 3rd Party route.

I also, in a way, think 3rd Party items are stealing. Figures like the Hercules Not-Constructicons and the Medical Whateveritscalled Not-Ratchet and Not-Ironhide are pricey items netting huge profits for companies that aren't paying Hasbro or Takara a cent for their trademarked/copyrighted characters. That's stealing, straight up. I can accept it when it's an upgrade for an existing toy, like the Fansproject trailers, but when these companies make toys clearly based off TF characters and sell them at these high price points they're ripping off the companies that have been providing us with the core of this hobby for nearly three decades, and to me that is just wrong. I know I'd be pissed if someone took characters based off of the stories that I write and made $100 toys off of them without paying up for royalties. But that's just a personal opinion.

[Goaliebot]

I can barely afford to keep up with *some* of what Hasbro puts out at retail... I can't even touch the 3rd party stuff and I don't collect MISB G1 stuff or anything like that. I'm a deal and bargain hunter - I loathe paying full retail price for things, but love getting them on sale.

And it isn't that I don't make a good salary - I do, but Wife, 3 kids (and kids are insanely expensive to raise), a house, 2 cars, occasional family vacations, all the bills, taxes, etc... those things eat up 99% of my salary easily, leaving very little to spend on plastic crack.

So I hold to three lines in the sand to make collecting barely affordable:

1) No completist-ism.
2) No MISB
2) No 3rd Party

So far these lines hold my collecting at "OUCH" rather than "Oh God we're going to lose the house".

So no $600 Devy for me, sadly. I'd love one, but $600 is almost a mortgage payment!