How to Open Carded Figures without Destroying Packaging

[sdmacleod]

If you leave the figure unopened in a warm place a while, an awful lot of them separate on their own... hence the extra tape, I think.

[imfallenangel]

I use a knife/exacto to get the shell completely off, but most times, I do lose that "ring" of the image, but it's more so to have the backing with the images and such for later references. Keeping the bubble just takes way too much space. I will keep some boxes (unfolded) but not the plastic innards. Some I'll just cut the images sections. The robots take enough space already that I have to manage for the extras such as the cardboard otherwise I'd already have a filled room just for those... right now I have a full drawer and my Fortress Maximus box that's getting pretty full.. dang it, and I can't believe that I am getting that many... but this is a way to confirm that I do have a problem.

[SleeplessKnight]

Buy two, one to open. One to open, and one to leave MOSC. And then buy another one to have them displayed in both modes. And then weep tears for your bank account when you have to buy several cases of Sixshot in order to display every mode.

[Shockwave 75]

Originally Posted by alternatorfan

Why?? Lol
Recycle man

Originally Posted by Xtreme987

I'm with you alternatorfan, I buy it for the figure not the cheap clam-shell packaging. Also keeping the packaging takes up excess space.

I do however keep my 3rd party boxes & Hasbro Titan boxes tho in case I ever resell them at a later date.

I've found that this is usually a concern of people who don't have a large collection.

I used to have this concern, then my collection reached over 500 (now creeping up on 1300) figures and the reality of space requirements set in, and I scrapped 90% of the packaging I've saved. Keeping only G1, G2, some BW, Japanese, and exclusives/box sets.


Most modern figures won't be worth shit in the future because everybody is a "collector" now, and there is just so much of it floating around. Could it be worth more with the card, should you choose to sell at a later date? Sure. But because, as I said, there is so much if it out there, it might literally be only a difference of 5 - 10 bucks more than a loose figure without the card.


Save your space and recycle it.

[OldOfflineMan]

My collection only has about 20 figures (I count combiner gift sets as 1 figure) and I'm a hoarder, so yeah I don't think I'll run into a space problem any time soon.

[GotBot]

Originally Posted by Xtreme987

I'm with you alternatorfan, I buy it for the figure not the cheap clam-shell packaging. Also keeping the packaging takes up excess space.

I do however keep my 3rd party boxes & Hasbro Titan boxes tho in case I ever resell them at a later date.

Literally word for word, what I was about to say.

[Sun Swipe Prime]

Originally Posted by alternatorfan

Why?? Lol
Recycle man

I think saving packaging sometimes speaks to the psyche of that collector.

For me, when I was a kid, my parents couldn't spend a lot of money on toys for me. Almost every transformer I got I got because I saved up my lunch money bit-by-bit for it. So each Transformer I had, I took care of it as best as a kid could, and that care extended to the packaging. I didn't get to open a lot of Transformers fresh from the box, but I could open the same one over and over like it was brand new each time I took it out to play.

This is not a brag, but it's why my childhood G1 collection has a lot of figures that have everything that came with it, paperwork, box, ads, etc.

This sort of childhood attitude has extended into my adult collecting habits. It's hard for me to throw stuff out, because part of me thinks of the packaging as part of the product, not just what the product came in.

I wish I could be carefree about the packaging but I can't. It always has to be a conscious and calculated effort on what to get rid of and what to keep, but fortunately, I'm very self aware about not becoming one of those hoarders like you see on those TV shows. Last thing I want is to be the guy on the news that died because they became buried under a pile of Transformers boxes.

Right now I'm in the process of dealing with my Voyager boxes. Going to toss the inserts and flatten the boxes. It's too bad the inserts can't be collapsed, too.

[evenstaves]

I usually make painstaking effort to peel the tape off the edges of the clamshell, except for the bottom
Then carefully lift one corner, and try to detach the clamshell with minimal damage (best case the glue has already dried out and assists w/ easy detach)
There's always a ring in the image, but I keep the clamshells attached by the bottom edge, so it folds back up

I always planned to re-use all of them for storage, like my Animated collection, though last time I moved I just put all my Prime Wars things individually insulated into a couple boxes, and they're all OK, so now don't know why I keep them
They're all in a couple of tubs in the basement

Side note, I really appreciate Takara's "full" clamshells inside their boxes, no need for zip ties, everything nice and clean, really useful for re-storage

[Zenith27]

Originally Posted by Shockwave 75

I've found that this is usually a concern of people who don't have a large collection.

I used to have this concern, then my collection reached over 500 (now creeping up on 1300) figures and the reality of space requirements set in, and I scrapped 90% of the packaging I've saved. Keeping only G1, G2, some BW, Japanese, and exclusives/box sets.


Most modern figures won't be worth shit in the future because everybody is a "collector" now, and there is just so much of it floating around. Could it be worth more with the card, should you choose to sell at a later date? Sure. But because, as I said, there is so much if it out there, it might literally be only a difference of 5 - 10 bucks more than a loose figure without the card.


Save your space and recycle it.

I agree about the future prospects of selling a bunch of carded figs for 1985 carded Snake-Eyes prices. Back then very few people were "collecting" and to be honest, most of the carded figs still intact from back then came from ungiven gifts found in gramma's attic or duplicates that were received and never opened.

I don't have anywhere near 1300(!) figs but I tossed all the plastic from my Commemorative figs about a year after I got them. I only keep the Titan and giftset boxes along with my MP stuff these days. If I run out of space the cardboard inserts will get tossed and the boxes will get broken down for storage.

I expect the only figs that might be worth a bit in the future are the harder to find or most expensive ones, as it's always been. MISB or not.