TFCON any good for G1 MISB purchases?

[killer_tofu]

Hi folks,

First-time poster!

I've never been to TFCON (or any conferences ever for that matter). What's there to do at TFCON?

More specifically, I'm looking to start building a G1 MISB collection. Is the TFCON a good place to acquire authentic (i.e. no knockoff) pieces?

I'm tired of sifting through eBay and it's 200 postings selling knock-offs of Swoop, Grimlock, and Devastator.

Does anyone know of any website/article that talks about collecting G1 Transformers?

Thanks!

killer_tofu

[Aernaroth]

TFCon is a GREAT place to pick up G1 MISB items. There's tons of dealers that sell them, and a couple that, from the looks of it, specialized in MISB stuff. There was tons of other great stuff for sale too, if you're interested in expanding your TF collection beyond MISB and/or G1.

What's there to do? Well, besides the huge transformers dealer room (the largest of its kind in Canada), there's panels, guest voice actors and comic personalities, trivia contests, an art contest, and an opportunity to meet a bunch of great new people with the same hobby as you.

There are a lot of websites that talk about transformers, and this includes a lot of people who collect, from G1 to the movie toys. Each collector is different, some focus on G1, some are completionists, some are only interested in really rare ones. As far as I know, Cybertron.ca is the best site with a Canadian focus, but check out other sites like www.tfw2005.com as well.

Also, don't knock knockoffs and bootlegs. You can find some really interesting stuff, like a micromaster scale bruticus, or japanese exclusive stuff like star saber. They're also great for kitbashing.

[killer_tofu]

Great! Thanks for the advice. I'm in Montreal, so it would make a great roadtrip next year come TFCon time. How long does it last anyway?

Are prices of MISB dealers typically inflated, or are they at least reasonable? By reasonable, I mean between $1-2K for MISB.

I'm pretty much a TF G1 snob (hate to admit it). I grew up on the classics, tore up all my G1 toys, regretted it for the past 10 years, and want to start up again (only G1's).

I have nothing against knockoffs... in fact, my friend has a great Devastator knockoff set that transformers great! For collectibility though, I would only be willing to buy authentic MISB. It just got frustrating shopping on eBay for MISB Swoop's that look great, but deep inside I knew weren't made in 1984 (or 85... forgot the year Swoop was manufactured. :P)

Maybe I'll buy a loose knockoff to complement an authentic MISB.

Thanks again,

killer_tofu

[Dave-astator]

All that I have left is a MISB Splashdown.

I also have MOSC Action Masters Inferno, Skyfall, and Jazz.

[Autovolt 127]

I got to next year.

[JLvatron]

Great answer Aernaroth.

Originally Posted by killer_tofu

Great! Thanks for the advice. I'm in Montreal, so it would make a great roadtrip next year come TFCon time. How long does it last anyway?

I'm pretty much a TF G1 snob (hate to admit it). I grew up on the classics, tore up all my G1 toys,

I'm from Montreal and it takes about 5.5 hours driving there, including time to stop in Belleville for gas, food court, and Toys R Us at the mall.

Recent TFcons have lasted 1.5 days, which equals a TOTAL Blast! :
Friday evening from 6 to 11 pm, and Saturday from 7:30 am to about 6 pm.

You tore up your G1 toys?
Er, you may need to find dealers without moral clauses preventing them from selling to Transformers tear-uppers.

[Paradigm-Shift Prime]

From my one experience this year it is a great place for mib, and to some degree misb. There wasn't a ton of stuff misb. One guy had the original season cars c9-10 for $650-800 each. I found mib (and everything) to be a bit expensive from the 'dealers' (about 30-40% more than what they should cost), but some of the other tables had people selling personal collections, with better deals to be found there. The benefit of going is that you can see and examine your item before unloading a ton of cash on it, so that alone might be worth a bit more $ for mib and misb.

And to each their own, but there's no reason you have to like knockoffs.

[Dave-astator]

And at TFCON, like previously mentioned that you can examine the merchandise for yourself, you also save a fortune on shipping costs!!

[Mega_Zarak]

I agree that it's good thing to examine the items before buying, but I strongly believe Ebay is still the best option. You just have to be patient and have a little bit of luck. I owned a few MISB g1 transformers over the past years, all Ebay purchases and without question all steals. Believe or not my last MISB G1 transformer was a MISB red cross pre-rub Ratchet, no flap crease for 20$ (+10 shipping). Only at Ebay you'll find those kinds of deals

[JLvatron]

Originally Posted by Mega_Zarak

You just have to be patient and have a little bit of luck.

Sounds like you had a little Energon cubes, and ALOT of luck!