Most Regrettable Purchase?

[Transbot90210]

TFC Hercules. Paid full pop for each fig as they were released. I dislike the final product and the price I paid for it.



I also paid too much for SDCC FOC Bruticus.

[imfallenangel]

I would have to say Generation Jetfire was the biggest regret, as:


1) I drove to many stores, wasting gas to finally find it.
2) Got home and for the 50$ I had paid, I found myself with a very cheap thing (it also lead to a stupid situation on this forum)
3) That it ended up showing up in spades at all the Walmarts for half the price barely a month or two later. (funny to see a scalper running in the store with his cart loaded with as many as he was able to fit)


I still have it, and I will say that it is a great looking figure and I do love my Jetfire figures and it's a fine addition to my collection, but seen many posts about the center tiny part breaking, the red "chrome" peeling. Mine is still fine, but I still feel cheated to have had to run around and paid double what I feel it's worth.


Second one is POTP Optimus (the one with the Orion Pax "evolution"):


Got it because of the trailer thing, found that Orion Pax is just bad and the truck mode even worse. The transformation of the trailer is not a fun thing to do, and the plastic is the harder cheap stuff that ends up with stress marks and loose articulation. For the 50$ at the time, I felt that it should have been much better. In Optimus mode, it does look great, but still, considering that after all, he doesn't work or scale with anything anyways.

[evenstaves]

I can't think of any regrettable purchases, maybe (hurm)
I guess when we get duped into buying a figure and then a better one is released right away?

Siege Megatron -> Netflix Megatron -> Netflix Megatron (again)
ER Cliffjumper -> BWBB SS86 Cliffjumper
ER AutoAlliance Ironhide -> SS86 voyager Ironhide
ER ParadronMedic Ratchet -> SS86 voyager Ratchet
ER Starscream -> SS86 Coronation Starscream

For that matter, maybe when they shoehorn unwanted figures into 2-packs

earthmode Sideswipe! ... and an Airrazor retool
earthmode Mirage! ... and a Dinobot retool
purple fossilizer! ... and another NF Megatron

Actually typing this up, I CAN say I regret the IDW Pax/Shockwave 2-pack, I don't really like either figure - but one could say you had to get em to defeat Amazon's misidentification boondoggle re: the Ratbat/MinerMegs 2-pack

One thing I regret missing out on, is when BBTS clearanced out their GrandMax stock in 2019
https://www.seibertron.com/transform...on-bbts/43664/

Also I guess missing out on Haslab Unicron

Originally Posted by Skorpulator

The Primo Vitalis upgrade kit for CW Prime

I never got this thing, but it looked just terrible

Originally Posted by imfallenangel

POTP Optimus (the one with the Orion Pax "evolution")

Holy sh*t, yes - all the "Evolution" POTP leader molds had issues
OP mold, ya the big bot mode was passable, but lil bot & alt modes suffered - I passed on StarConvoy as a result (the Nemesis one was kinda OK tho)
Roddy mold, lil bot was passable at best (SS86 crushed it tho), big bot & alt modes suffered
Honestly I ended up liking the OpOp mold the best, was fun to play with, and his worst issues could be fixed (surgically removing the lil bot off his back, DNA kits to trick him out, etc)

[Yonoid]

You nailed it with the re-release of the same character in such a short time frame. Add siege ultra magnus to that. Netflix, kingdom and then ss86.

The other issue with the recent lines of wfc, ss86 and shattered glass has been all the yellowing plastic.

[Omegatron]

I don't know I think this is sort of the price you pay for being a collector. I've certainly overpaid for stuff in the past but in the end it all sort of evens out. In addition to things I've overpaid for there are things I've gotten great deals on too. There are also things I regret not buying when I had the chance and refuse to pay insane after market prices for.

If you want a regret though there are a couple. In retrospect I regret (a bit) buying the whole Power Core Combiners line as they fit with nothing and I don't have space fore them. I probably also regret going whole hog on Bot Shots. However, to this day I love my Titaniums (yes really) and my Kreons so again it all sort of evens out.

Basically as long as I stay true to myself I'll be O.K.

[CyberDragon10K]

I've been irritated by Victory Saber for this last while, mostly from the rigamarole of Hasbro CS/packaging not putting the plastic chest shields on my 2nd copy/redo and the lack of double boxing on their crowd-funded made-to-order toy beating the hell out of the slip cover and the inside cardboard poster thingy. Star Saber's right antenna is floppy too, although the issues from my first copy aren't present otherwise from what I've seen so far (haven't checked plain old Saber or the brain master yet).

As for the rapid re-release spam, I've been more judicious than most about avoiding it. Takara's decoes of the BW cast make for great first-buys of most of the moulds (although Grimlock and Silverbolt/Skywarp have spoiled the Dinobot/Airrazor ones in my case).

I suppose I still overpaid for those Kingdom 2-packs considering how long they've been loitering with Amazon trying to clearance their stock over and over.

[Soundwaves]

Originally Posted by optimusb39

I've been pretty lucky. If it's something I really really wanted I waited for reviews first before spending obhorent amounts on it. If it checks out I'll usually go with it. Otherwise I can wait patiently for years and then snag it at a fraction of the price from another collector.
Picked up tw devastator 2 years ago after watching out for it for ages, seeing it sell for 600- 700 even 800 bucks. I found it on kijiji for 250. Complete with boxes and upgrades. Same with zeta bruticus, 200 flat
Recently found fantoys Thomas 100 bucks. Not the ko. And fanstoys power glide 150.
My advice, unless it's something you absolutely must have at any price right away, is to just sit back and wait. It'll show back up to fill the gap eventually and save a great deal of hard earned money.

Thanks for the tips but this is kinda the antithesis of what this post is about.

I was looking for boardies to share regrettable purchases, already understanding the transaction was poorly handled or timed.

Understanding it was a mistake in retrospect is the point.

I think we all get more patient and have a better understanding of how the market for this stuff shifts with time.


Adversely, I been lucky to acquire several great pick ups for cheap (like cleaning out MP-10 at TRU on clearance for example) but again, that's not what I was hoping to commiserate with you all about.

[RansakWORK]

My regrets are going outside my normal collecting rules. For transformers its just the 1984 animated show cast and beast wars... but there were lulls in figures coming out where i bought figures like Bugbite, Hubcap, Tarn, and the G2 Sandstorm but i dont have space to display them nor do they fit in and i cant seem to sell them.

[Nocturn]

Pretty much all CHUG's, at least of core characters (OP, Megs, BB, SS, SW...). Any figure you buy, there will be a better one in a couple of years. And then if you do decide to upgrade, the old one becomes impossible to re-sell as nobody wants the inferior old version. They don't retain value they might have had if they were 80's originals, nor are they as attractive as the newer, better versions. The Ugly Middle Children, if you will.

And the same is true of MP's, to a lesser extent. Nobody but the most diehard of collectors is going to want MP-01 when MP-10 and MP-44 exist.

[Skorpulator]

The purchase I regret NOT doing: a complete G1 Grandus for a mere 110 US on Ebay about 20 years ago. Auction was oddly titled, explaining why it went under the radar. Tried to outbid the winner during the last minute, but sure enough my computer froze. Still having nightmares about that one.