New here

[slimebucket]

Hey. I just moved to Calgary from Vernon BC (omg what a horrible horrible place, rated 9th worst in Canada for crime lol!) My name is AJ, otherwise known as slimebucket

When I was a kid, I collected every single generation 1 toy. I had them all. Every single one from 1986. I had the boxes, all manuals and accessories. One day in school, I come home and...

The whole collection was sent to the Philippines by my step mother. Along with my snes with like 30 games, my genesis with like 10 games, my entire TMNT collection, and my half complete HE MAN collection.

For years my parents would yell at me, because they thought I was being dumb and that "junk" was worthless and I was being a big baby about it and I need to drop it.

So one day I opened ebay and looked up everything they gave away. The BIDs, not the prices, THE BIDS, where over 10,000 for a collection that was not in as good shape as the one I had. That was just the transformers. I brought up auctions with bids on them for everything they gave away and it came to over $50,000 they gave away.

Yeah, not even a single apology, just a "oh, who would have known...: comment...

Never thought I would get back into transformer collecting after that. But Vernon BC was so horrible of an experience I developed PTSD. (I was a full time taxi driver and saw lots of really really whack stuff) and as a therapy I decided to start collecting Optimus Prime and Megatron stuff again.

Man, when I have a PTSD moment and get all scared and tight chested, and paranoid and confused, playing with a transformer just totally levels me out and makes me feel like a kid again, care free, and just want to figure out that transformation!

After looking at the price of new stuff, 3rd party stuff, MP stuff I decided to first collect used collections.

When I buy a used collection i like to keep all the Optimus Primes and Megatrons, and anything really cool i like I keep, then the rest (which is usually more than what I keep) I give to my girlfriends kids. You know those giant tupper ware containers that are like 3 feet long and 2 feet wide? I got em one of those FULL TO THE BRIM of transformers I bought 3 used collections and paid less than $200 for it all.

Got me Cybertron Prime, that giant sized cybertron one, 2 primes where hes a gorilla, Classics Prime, Combiner Wars Prime, War Within Prime, Rage over Cybertron prime, Leader Class movie prime from the first movie,

Then I got a used Year of the Horse MP -10 prime for $115. Most I have ever spent on a single toy in my life, but man, well worth it. MP - 10 primes are getting hard to find.

Oh, I got a decepticon tattoo, which I got before the first movie ever was even announced. Everyone I show it to thinks I got it because of the movies ><

I will make a complete list of all the transformers I have, including the ones I gave my girlfriends kids and would totally be down for doing some trading.


a few primes I have an eye out for. Armada prime would be nice, with or without ultra magnus, original GEN1 prime, I dont care if he doesnt have any accessories, box, or anything, just want the main figure to stand with all the rest... RotF Prime, (honestly, I really detest the new movie designs.. I cant stand them what so ever... some decepticons are sick though, but ever all they are too COMPLEX and BUSY for my tastes.)
maybe a gen2 prime,

I only have classics megatron so I am looking for any megs as well

I am a class 4 driver and going to be going to TFCon. If there is people interested in having me rent a large van and take as many people as I can I will do it.

Last note, anyone ever look at the new DIACLONE DA-14 and the black one DA-17?

DAMN COOLEST TOY I have ever seen, I really really want to buy one so my girlfriends kids and I can play with it together, but damn its $279 (289 for black version) US!! too high price for my blood but damn I want em soo bad

[Echotransformer]

Welcome to the boards, and welcome back to collecting hope both the move and getting back into collecting helps.

It really is a golden time for the franchise.

Lots of helpful and nice people on these boards, you will like it here!

I plan to go to TF Con as well...always enjoy it. Hope to see you there I'm coming from Ottawa.

All the best!

[wervenom]

Welcome to the boards. That is quite the introduction and no worries I'm sure a lot of our parents gave away stuff that we would want and go up but different times I guess. Anyway you should enjoy it here and TF Con is definitely worth hitting up. Been there every year since 2008 and it always gets better.

[predahank]

Thanks for sharing and welcome.
My parents gave away my g1s too but they were pretty beat up so its not as tragic as your toy loss

[slimebucket]

thank you for the welcome!

I have done tons of buy and sell.. I mean a lot, I used to make rent off doing so, selling retro games, new games, toys, collectables, coins, anything and everything,

And I have to say, dealing with transformers collectors and sellers, its like 100x easier, nicer and comfortable.

I find people who are into transformers just my kind of people. Never bully like, or out to bother people, genuinely wanting others to have a good time and enjoy things, giving and wanting to include people.

Well, im off to go... uggg... watch transformers The Last Knight.... i really don't want to, I just cannot stand micheal bay's version of transformers, but i have nothing else to watch

[GotBot]

Welcome, brother. That was quite a story and it is amazing how many find transformers peaceful and therapeutic. It is a shame you lost your collection and that there were those around you who couldn't see how important they were to you. On the good side, it is never too late to come back to the franchise and the community. As was stated above, this really is a golden tome to get back into collecting.

[Mega Truck]

Welcome and OUCH on the childhood collection. We've all be there. Sometimes we do it to ourselves.... I hung on to my Joe collection forever... then sold 300 figures & vehicles for $300 about 10 years ago - without knowing their real value to a collector ! Aaaaahhhhh !
Feel free to send your extra g1 guys my way !

[Longshot]

Welcome to the board! Reading about your mass toy loss made me wince and cry a bit.

[Scowly Prowl]

Welcome to the board!

[slimebucket]

yeah, i have transitioned a few times in my life we're I basically sold EVERYTHING I owned and went down to owning literally NOTHING and just moved away and started over from the ground up about 3 times in my life so far.

A few of those times I either sold or got rid of stuff that thinking back I shouldn't have, or I wish I didn't have to, but nothing stung as much as my toys. It literally felt like having my childhood ripped away from me.

I had a crazy child hood (parents divorced in early 80's and i spent much time in courts talking to lawyers and shit, then the courts didnt want to give me to my dad or my mom so they gave me to my, not abusive, but extremely strict JW grandparents.

So no xmas, no birthdays, no holidays at all. JWs believe in treating children like adults and all treating kids get you is weak kids.

But they where loving and bought me transformers because I loved them. I never should have left them and moved in with my dad and step mom when i was 16. Now I see why the courts didn't give me to him. Chances are they didnt even get to the phillipines now that I think of it, they probably sold em knowing they worth. They ONLY shipped my stuff that was actually work something, they left everything else.


It is weird though. I am glad it happened. It taught me very clearly a few good lessons. 1) lock your god damn door if you live with people and go out. even your mom or dad can take your shit, clean your room and throw out old stuff. 2)Don't be mad when you lose youre stuff. You can get it back. Health is what is important. 3) Some people JUST CANNOT understand collecting. I have proved my father wrong over 20 times about how something is going to be worth money, and HE STILL thinks every time I go and buy something and go "this IS going to be worth more in just a few years when you cannot buy em from stores!" that I'm wrong, and that toys and comics WILL NEVER BE WORTH ANYTHING... then 5 years later I show him how much its worth, and hes always like "oh, it was just luck, chances are most stuff doesnt go up in price"

Like one time in highschool I bought 3 McFarlene Toys for $55 (they where rare limited run ones too) and he got SO angry at me for wasting my money and NOT EVEN OPENING THE TOYS. So while I was at school HE FRICKIN OPENED THEM because it bothered him I wasent going to.

thinking back, its not the money or value I miss though. Its my childhood.

Here is a real kicker though, kinda makes you think about karma, and life. If I didn't lose my collection the way I did, I feel I would have out grown transformers and grew away from it. But because my collection was taken from me, my feelings towards transformers specifically triggered something inside me when I was at my worst, and It is almost like they came and saved me Thats why I love and collect Optimus Prime. When I had ptsd, went through family problems, had to cut out most of my friends because they choose drugs and life of crime, the only thing that held me together was the comfort of being warped back to my childhood before my toys where takin from me by holding an Optimus Prime.

It gave the the strength to endure hell, save money, move to calgary, and totally flip my life around.

If i had those toys the whole time it wouldnt have meant as much as it did. I had to hunt for them toys. The effort of finding the toys, getting they toys was part of the therapy. Something about having them ripped away from me, causing trauma, made it extremely easy for me to feel exactly how I did when I was a kid when I now play with transformers.