New Collector Seeking Advice

[MEGATRONOPTIMUS]

Hi guys, new to the boards and just got back into collecting about a month ago, so I am missing a whole lot of the previous releases. Kind of glad that hastak is rereleasing some of their more popular figures for people like me. Just wanted some opinions on some of the figures you guys have and what you think is the best one. I want to add a WFC Megatron, Optimus Prime, Soundwave and Bumblebee to my collection. This will be a mostly Netflix vs WFC mainline discussion.

So I decided to pull the trigger on the new Netflix spoiler Megatron/Skelivore bundle. Crazy price considering they are only repaints of a voyager ($40) and a deluxe ($33). Should I wait for a mass release and hope that it shelf warms for a while to get it on sale? I don’t have any of the previous WFC Megatrons so this might be my last chance to get one at retail, although I have a strong feeling the older megatrons will probably drop in value (via scalpers) now considering this rerelease, so that is also an option if I wanted to just add a Megatron to my collection.

So if I do get the Netflix Megatron, is Netflix Optimus Prime the best displayed next to it. I’ve seen the Netflix OP about 4 times now and skipped on it due to the colours being a little off (darker) and it didn’t have a trailer. But now that they can no longer be found in stores (in the lower mainland, at least), I feel a little bit that I missed out. The new discounted price at $45 is more palatable, but I kind of think the ER/Kingdom one is still going to be the better buy. I can already buy it now for $63, and it might go further down as it shelf warms considering most people probably have the ER one, and it has the trailer and the colours seem more toon accurate too. So I’m leaning towards the Kingdom one. Anyone think I should get the Netflix one instead?

As for Soundwave and Bumblebee, I assume the Netflix one is the best rendition, am I SOL getting either other than paying scalper prices for them? Kind of sad that scalpers have to ruin it for those of us who just want one for collection purposes.

Thanks in advance for any responses. Also sorry if this is the wrong place for a post like this.

[The Nemesis]

The Netflix stuff has terrible distribution for the most part, so your chances of getting anything from there at retail price or less is probably not great if you don't luck into a bunch of them sitting on a Walmart shelf. But that's not a given either. Out of all the Wave 2 Netflix releases the only one I've ever seen in person on a shelf (at the Langley Walmart) is Optimus.

Also I would go for the Earthrise/Kingdom Optimus over the Netflix one for the trailer. Unless you're big on the pee yellow battlemasters (Personally I'm not. I thought the battlemaster concept would be great but I only rarely ever display any of them as weapons for bigger bots outside of times where one of them is a Targetmaster partner for an established character released like Crosshairs or Spinister.) The Netflix figures don't really have any issues integrating in a collection with mainline WFC ones (I prominently display my wave 1 Netflix Megatron and Hotlink with the ER Optimus and other Siege/ER seekers and while they do have a bit more verve in their paint applications it's not enough to make the difference stand out)

You're probably SUUUUUPER SOL on Soundwave and Bumblebee. Bumblebee especially was practically a unicorn in the wild when it was a fresh release. Now here we are months later and they mostly go for inflated scalper prices or cause huge frustration spikes when they show up for sale on walmart.ca and are gone in less than 20 minutes because of panic demand and scalpers.

Honestly I also probably wouldn't wait too long on shelf-warmers and price drops unless it's something you're not terribly concerned about missing out on. Because whether it's scalpers or Covid impacting distribution, just finding stuff on first run has felt (to me at least) tougher than normal since the early stages of Earthrise. Especially here in BC. It does seem better in Ontario, somewhat, but since you indicate you're in BC like me then you're in the same boat.

If you're looking for fun stuff to get in on that 's not super crazy difficult to get, I'd go all-in on the Studio Series 86 releases. I have most of them so far (except Hot Rod) and they're pretty uniformly great. Plus you can pair them up just fine with any of the WFC bots and Kingdom right now is offering fresh re-releases/do-overs of the Deluxe Arcee and Leader Ultra Magnus along with a pretty great Cyclonus. It doesn't get you a full movie cast, but it gets a lot of the big ones with Galvatron and Rodimus Prime forthcoming along with allegedly a Sharkticon/Gnaw. The big bots you'd be missing would mostly be Springer (Siege Springer is a mixed bag, tbh) and the two Earthrise Quintesson bots (the judge and the Allicon guard. Both of which are pretty good if you're forgiving of the judge's transformation being there only to justify calling it a Transformer)

[wrx78]

Hi I already was in this boat starting in January. Lapsed collector, only found out by chance seeing the WFC cartoon on Netflix. Had to go back and get prior releases. It's been hit and miss.

The short version is distribution is terrible and anything that is retailer exclusive will get scalped if it's an in-demand item.

Check out the boards here for folks offloading their WFC collections for deals.

If you're looking for stuff like the Earthrise coneheads, Ratchet (any version), or even more recent stuff like Thrust and Runabout you're paying the markup premium.

If there's anything you want that's upcoming. Pre-order it for the safest bet.

I have a large preference for the G1 Cartoon so all my decisions are based around that.

Got Earthrise Megatron and swapped heads with Siege version. Got Netflix Prime for the painted inner legs, and swapped the blue windows from Kingdom Prime to it, plus used the trailer of course.

Netflix Bee and Soundwave are long gone, paid the ebay premium.

[RNSrobot]

My advice is, run while you still can ��

[Echotransformer]

For Soundwave, get the Walmart mobile app and make it favorite...it won't notify you but if you get in the habit of checkng every coupld days you may just land one at retail price. Also keep an eye on Hasbro Pulse. Shipping isn't cheap, but it may still be better than ePay.

https://hasbropulse.com/products/tra...-battle-3-pack

BB is another story, as the others have said the distribution in Canada was unbelievably bad. That said, last I looked ePay prices weren't horrific...IMHO it's worth trying to find.

EDIT--Most importantly, welcome to the hobby!

[The 12th Prime]

Welcome to the boards.

I find in Ontario here that stores along the main corridors through the province seem to be best at getting in demand Items. I saw Nutflix BB once but I left him. I also saw OP and SW too a few times in my travels along the same route.

[ManitobaMando]

I got re-hooked on the hobby in July after a decades long absence from Transformers. Enjoyed the cartoons as a kid in the 80's but grew out of it as time went by, then got hooked again after catching the Prime Wars trilogy, and started my collecting there.

Most of my collection is second hand, snagging characters that I was familiar with and liked, and got eventually swept up into the WFC lines. Hunting these has been hit or miss, with mostly misses in my area due to incredibly poor distribution, but have been lucky enough to make a few friends who all keep an eye out for one another. Your hunts may be better in BC than here in central Canada, but sooner or later youre gonna get bit by the inflated costs on those items you mentioned if you want them bad enough. Netflix sightings here have been dismal for all waves to date, and our own TRUs are still unloading Siege shelfwarmers. (One day we will get wave 2 Earthrise) so like most posters above, your best bet may well be preorders from online retailers (which are a little more than walmart or TRU prices). I have had some good luck with preorders from EB Games, save for ER Sunstreaker which never showed, but for the most part they are pretty good to deal with. TFTToys.ca is also a good source (online) as well and never have had a bad order with them.

At the end of the day, collecting is what you make of it. You will go through phases of tossing the whole hobby out due to scalpers, lack of product, cancelled orders from retail ect, but those shining moments of finding something you wanted in the wild do make up for it. The character figures you choose will ultimately be your decision, based on your aesthetics, and really, no choice is right or wrong. (I try not to have duplicates of characters, but..hey, different lines have somewhat different looks, so its all good.. ) There really is no "best" or "worst" figure, they all have some kind of charm that come with them for what they are worth. As design and engineering keeps improving, so will the items, as evident in some of the new revamps of some of the Beast Wars characters.

So welcome back! Enjoy the hunt and may luck be ever in your favor.

[MEGATRONOPTIMUS]

Appreciate all of the insightful responses so far. Thank you! I think every province has their issues with distribution, with the exception of, maybe, Ontario from what I’ve been reading. Most stores in BC are completely empty when it comes to any WFC, and anything new or interesting is also immediately sold out. I wouldn’t mind picking up some of these older Siege figures you guys still see if I ever encounter them in the wild here.

I’ve spent wayyyy too much money already this past month playing catch up. Based on the leaks we’ve got, I can tell my wallet is not going to like seeing the next few waves of releases either. Everything looks awesome! I just hope I can catch some deals here and there to offset some of these more expensive scalper buys I’ll be making along the way.

[RNSrobot]

Originally Posted by MEGATRONOPTIMUS

Appreciate all of the insightful responses so far. Thank you! I think every province has their issues with distribution, with the exception of, maybe, Ontario from what I’ve been reading. Most stores in BC are completely empty when it comes to any WFC, and anything new or interesting is also immediately sold out. I wouldn’t mind picking up some of these older Siege figures you guys still see if I ever encounter them in the wild here.

I’ve spent wayyyy too much money already this past month playing catch up. Based on the leaks we’ve got, I can tell my wallet is not going to like seeing the next few waves of releases either. Everything looks awesome! I just hope I can catch some deals here and there to offset some of these more expensive scalper buys I’ll be making along the way.

I largely "detoxed" from "needing" to buy it all so a few suggestions:

Be choosy. Are you looking for g1? Beast wars? What theme or crew or era is most important to you?

Consider getting older versions of some of the same characters used from various Cybertron.ca sales posts, or locally on marketplace or Kijiji. Not all new toys are by default "better," and when you factor in the price increase and shitty distribution it can be the simpler and cheaper route.

On that, patience. Inevitably, somebody will dump a huge chunk for cheap.

For new stuff, regrettably, preorder if you can from trusted and reputable sources. Ages 3 and up is good. Flat rate shipping, don't pay til it's in, free shipping over 250, good customer service. Toy snowman has been great. Ebgames has been good with some issues; if you preorder from.them make SURE it is ship to home, don't do in-store pickup. Amazon preorders have become WHO THE HELL KNOWS.

Toys r us unfortunately has become suck. Walmart's site is totally hit or miss.

the online sightings threads here on Cybertronian are awesome. But you have to be on top of it as shit sells out fast.


The days of dependable sales at TRU appear to be gone so it is what it is. My big advice is figure out what you really want and focus, and preorder.