Why Should Expensive Macross Toys Be Transformable At All?

[big F]

I think our era is really the first one to get the buy it and keep it in the box thing really down. How many of you ever kept SW figures from the 70's and 80's either in box or in anything near mint. Back in the 80's there was this kid in my school who bought two of every SW figure he had one for playing and one for packing in a box for the future. Back then we though he was mad, now almost 30 years later he's the one with every SW figure mint in box and 99% of every Matchbox car ever made mint in box. Along with this and other similar collections he did while we went through school and college they are now housed in a purpose build extension at his house, that he built a few years ago.

What I'm saying now is all those in Mint boxed Takas that fetch good money, will not be surpassed by Yammies in 20 years as everyone is well aware of the Mint in box potential of nearly everything nowadays. Still they wont be cheap as chips but your not gonna lose money on em.

Edited April 16, 2009 by big F

[logos]

Personally I can't stand to let a toy sit inside a box and never be let out. It's a toy, if you don't handle it AT LEAST ONCE to admire and tinker with it and then put it on display what's the point? Otherwise you are just making what will mostly likely turn into a shitty investment.

I don't really play with my valks but I do have the urge to transform and repose them every couple of weeks. Then I sit and stare at them and think how great Valks are and how work sucks.........

Keeping the boxes is just the excuse I tell myself that I am making an investment when I spend $200 plus on a Valk........ ....... one of these days some one is going to notice that huge collection of boxes in the corner and make me throw them out.

I also collect some Mcfarlan dragons and Halo toys. My real hobby is my collection of SF/Fantasy novels and when I was a kid my collection was a room full of GI Joes and Magic Cards.

Oh and to answer the question: It ain't a VF if it don't transform!

Edited April 16, 2009 by logos

[Cent]

If you buy toys to collect and then sell later and never take them out of the box... Why not just spend your time and money investing instead? There's really no difference in collecting toys as opposed to something like stamps in this case. There are other collectibles that appreciate in value faster than toys, and would fetch a greater sum overall... To collect toys purely for monetary gain seems pretty futile, and to keep it in the box, you're really not getting any other form of utility out of it by purchasing it. You mind as well sit at a store and fondle the box for free.

[ff95gj]

This is not a new topic... Very often, someone who loves their toys in mint condition would be sneered at and regarded as freaks. I always wonder why people cannot enjoy their own purchases in their own ways.

I kind of fall between group 1 and group 2; I open the toys, but I keep the boxes too. Not merely for transportation purpose, but that the box is part of the package. The toy itself is still the main dish; yet a nice package, retained in good condition, adds to my overall enjoyment. Also when I was young and toys were bought by my parents, I learnt to treat my toys with utmost care. Many of my old toys weren't cheap, and my parents loved me enough to pay for them. Handling them as nicely as I could was a way to show my appreciation ("I know how precious they are").

Someone says toys are toys and they are meant to be played. IMHO, as things evolved, this doesn't have to be a rule. It is typical for toys to be displayed 90%+ of the time, and the owner only poses it several times in its (or his) life time. This doesn't seem to bring in critisms and sarcastic comments.

But if someone who prefers to keep his goods in the boxes and feels good about that, now he is either a freak, he is wasting his money, or he is planning to sell them (and thus he is no true toy lover). What's wrong with collecting? We do not laugh at people who collect antiques or paintings, do we?

You are a diamond collector and have a fist-size diamond and never plan to sell it: it is too big to actually don it. You don't plan to sell it. You keep it in a safe. "Why do you care how big and how refractive it is?" "I'll sell you a rock cuz it is the same to you anyways." Do we still ask these questions/ say these things?

To be more on topic, as someone has already pointed out, even if someone gets a transformable valk for collection purpose (will never open it), it would add to the collector's satisfaction with more features and capabilities (more values).

[Cyclone Trooper]

This is not a new topic... Very often, someone who loves their toys in mint condition would be sneered at and regarded as freaks. I always wonder why people cannot enjoy their own purchases in their own ways.

Honestly, I'm not sneering or regarding anyone as a freak here. I'm more or less peeking into the minds of collectors who DO fall into the other two catagories so I can better understand the motivations behind, say, keeping something MSIB, or purchasing multiples of the same item, etc. And on a side note, one of the reason why I started this thread is so that when my wife asks me questions like "Why would someone spend that much money on 3 of the same thing when it equals a whole car payment?" I can give her an educated answer as to why. The more legitimate the answers, the more legitimate our collecting is to someone who "just doesn't get it."

And trust me...you don't tell a wife or girlfriend that its none of their business why we collect high-end items; and we DEFINITELY don't tell them its none of their business as to how much it costs!

*all of the married MW members and members in relationships are nodding in agreement as they read this last statement*

[ff95gj]

And trust me...you don't tell a wife or girlfriend that its none of their business why we collect high-end items; and we DEFINITELY don't tell them its none of their business as to how much it costs!

I simply do not let her know how much they cost!

I lied from day 1. Everything sounds cheaper by 50%-70% from then.

Now talk about foresights!

[eugimon]

I simply do not let her know how much they cost!

I lied from day 1. Everything sounds cheaper by 50%-70% from then.

Now talk about foresights!

HAHAHAHA, there was a reef store I shopped at that offered two receipts, one for VISA and one for the GF...

[kanedaestes]

I want to shop at that place

[MacrossMan]

I'm not sure what the median age of the members here is; I'm 34 soon to be 35. I "played" with toys as a kid. As an adult, I'd be somewhat embarrassed to be swooshing a toy around or "pretending" to act out battles with my toys as I did as a kid. I just don’t have the desire and really don't have time for that kind of thing. I consider myself a collector. I can not justify spending $100+ for something as frivolous as a “toy” to “play” with.

I cringe each time my son earns a Transformer and rips the box open. I want to say something, but I don’t want to take away from his excitement as a kid when the “collector” in me is thinking 20 years from now you’re gonna wish you hadn’t done that. He’s a kid and should be able to enjoy his toys as a kid should, just as I did.

That being said, I’m an adult now and I don’t have a boatload of cash. If I spend money on a toy, it better damn well have some sort value other than playability. My collector toys are displayed in a case in my office. When friends or family come by and they see them, I go into my spill about how crude the toys were back in the mid 80’s in comparison to these collector items. They take a closer look and soon realize they’re not looking at toys, but something far more advanced.

I have to ask this though for those who say they trash their boxes and play with their Yamato Valks: When you’re finished playing with your “toys” do you just toss them in a toy box without fear of them being broken or do you put them away with great care?

Come on guys, are these toys? Yes! Are they meant to be played with? I don’t think so. They’re collector grade toys in my opinion and not meant to be displayed and not played with, but whatever floats your boat.

[Cyclone Trooper]

Come on guys, are these toys? Yes! Are they meant to be played with? I don’t think so. They’re collector grade toys in my opinion and not meant to be displayed and not played with, but whatever floats your boat.

Then that brings us back to my initial question...

Why bother making these "adult collectibles" transformable when a static statue version would suffice? I'm around the same age as you, MacrossMan (I'm 36, and grew up on "old school" Macross), and you're correct in that I, personally, don't "swoosh" my Valkyries around reenacting battle scenes from SDFM or DYRL. But like a lot of others on here, I DO tend to transform them every so often. As we age, recreating those battle scenes evolves into the fine art of diorama building. Active play turns into recreating what amounts to 3D snapshots of battle scenes, iconic poses, and launch preparations.

And honestly, like someone else has stated, so many people are collecting nowadays that nothing is really going to be as valuable as we hope it'll be. The Golden Age of collectibles for our generation was 1977 through 1994 with the original Star Wars and GI Joe lines, respectively. I don't really count McFarlane figures as true collectibles because they've been churned out ad nauseam for nearly 17 years. And Marvel Legends figures will one day flood the market so prolifically by collectors trying to sell them for a small mint that they won't move very well. It reminds me of a line from Pixar's The Incredibles when Syndrome says, "...and when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can be a superhero. And when EVERYONE is a 'super,' NO ONE will be." An off the wall analogy, I admit, but a fitting one.

So when your son rips into that new Transformers box, don't cringe. The old Generation 1 stuff in mint condition? Yes, it'll be worth a fortune(some of it already is), provided you can find a buyer willing to pay what its worth. But the modern Transformer lines? Not so much...

Edited April 17, 2009 by Cyclone Trooper

[eugimon]

Then that brings us back to my initial question...

Why bother making these "adult collectibles" transformable when a static statue version would suffice? I'm around the same age as you, MacrossMan (I'm 36, and grew up on "old school" Macross), and you're correct in that I, personally, don't "swoosh" my Valkyries around reenacting battle scenes from SDFM or DYRL. But like a lot of others on here, I DO tend to transform them every so often. As we age, recreating those battle scenes evolves into the fine art of diorama building. Active play turns into recreating what amounts to 3D snapshots of battle scenes, iconic poses, and launch preparations.

And honestly, like someone else has stated, so many people are collecting nowadays that nothing is really going to be as valuable as we hope it'll be. The Golden Age of collectibles for our generation was 1977 through 1994 with the original Star Wars and GI Joe lines, respectively. I don't really count McFarlane figures as true collectibles because they've been churned out ad nauseam for nearly 17 years. And Marvel Legends figures will one day flood the market so prolifically by collectors trying to sell them for a small mint that they won't move very well. It reminds me of a line from Pixar's The Incredibles when Syndrome says, "...and when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can be a superhero. And when EVERYONE is a 'super,' NO ONE will be." An off the wall analogy, I admit, but a fitting one.

So when your son rips into that new Transformers box, don't cringe. The old Generation 1 stuff in mint condition? Yes, it'll be worth a fortune(some of it already is), provided you can find a buyer willing to pay what its worth. But the modern Transformer lines? Not so much...

for me, I prefer the transformable toys because part of the appeal of the design is that it transforms. The mechanical design is just as important to me as the aesthetic of the overall toy. It's why I prefer slightly wonky transforming toys over 100% anime accurate statuettes.

[CF18]

Then that brings us back to my initial question...

Why bother making these "adult collectibles" transformable when a static statue version would suffice?

It certainly wouldn't suffice. The non-transform GNU VF are not as popular as the much more expensive 1:60. It is the tranforming feature that make those VF interesting, or "cool".

[takatoys]

"Why bother making these "adult collectibles" transformable when a static statue version would suffice?"

As someone said it, the fact that your toys can transform or imitate what you have seen on TV is a plus. It also gives the feeling of extra value as you are buying two, three toys in one.

I am the one that get the toys from the mail, admire the mint package, open and play with them and see what they do and then put them on my display cabinet where I can't have easy access (completely sealed to avoid dust)

When I like the toy too much, I buy another one to display it in a different mode. Sometimes I try to fix imperfections and customize it a little bit.

Golden age of collectibles of our generation was without doubt in the 70s and 80s. Toys were much cheaper but with an excellent quality and they were meant to be treated as toys. Nowadays cheap toys are junk and the expensive ones are considered pieces of art.

[MacrossMan]

Then that brings us back to my initial question...

Why bother making these "adult collectibles" transformable when a static statue version would suffice?

I believe that's what models are for. Those who have developed their modeling skills are soooo lucky! I would love to have the time to develop some modeling skills. I would certainly build the models because they are so much nicer in my opinion. Not only that, but they are cheaper and you get the satisfaction of having built something.

I'm around the same age as you, MacrossMan (I'm 36, and grew up on "old school" Macross), and you're correct in that I, personally, don't "swoosh" my Valkyries around reenacting battle scenes from SDFM or DYRL. But like a lot of others on here, I DO tend to transform them every so often. As we age, recreating those battle scenes evolves into the fine art of diorama building. Active play turns into recreating what amounts to 3D snapshots of battle scenes, iconic poses, and launch preparations.

You hit it on the nose for most of us here probably. I love transforming mine from time to time while looking at a picture trying to get the exact pose! I wouldn't really consider that playing though. I love when some looks at a one of the fighter jets thinking it is a model. Their mouths hit the floor when they realize it can change its configuration.

So many people are collecting nowadays that nothing is really going to be as valuable as we hope it'll be. The Golden Age of collectibles for our generation was 1977 through 1994 with the original Star Wars and GI Joe lines, respectively. Reminds me of a line from Pixar's The Incredibles when Syndrome says, "...and when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can be a superhero. And when EVERYONE is a 'super,' NO ONE will be." An off the wall analogy, I admit, but a fitting one.

These are valid points and a good analogy from The Incredibles. I think if you're collecting in hopes the toys will one day be worth a fortune, that it might not happen in this life time. Rest assured though, if you hold on to them long enough, their value may go up. Keep in mind that as more time passes, collections will come and go. Some will remain in pristine condition as others will falter. There will eventually be a Robotech or Macross movie. I'm hoping they use Robotech for the sake of our Macross stuff. If the movie is ever made the market will be flooded with cheap toys depending on who gets the license to produce them. Macross stuff, especially Yamato Macross stuff will then become more elite I think; or will be the prestigous "Robotech" toy to have.

So if you're collecting for value alone, meh. Whatever. I'd be lying if I said a small part of me hopes my Yamato stuff increases in value. Even if it doesn't I will be happy with them no matter what. It's kind of like the house that are being built in my neighborhood. Some are bordering mansions, but I no matter what I am overly satisfied with my home.

So when your son rips into that new Transformers box, don't cringe. The old Generation 1 stuff in mint condition? Yes, it'll be worth a fortune(some of it already is), provided you can find a buyer willing to pay what its worth. But the modern Transformer lines? Not so much...

I believe where 20 years gave the G1 toys enough time to become collectible, I'd say 40 years from now the current stuff will probably become just as valuable. I buy Transformers for this sole purpose. I have several in boxes that I plan on keeping just to see what happens. When they're under $7-$15 each it's worth the roll of the dice in my opinion.

for me, I prefer the transformable toys because part of the appeal of the design is that it transforms. The mechanical design is just as important to me as the aesthetic of the overall toy. It's why I prefer slightly wonky transforming toys over 100% anime accurate statuettes.

What eugimon said.

Edited April 17, 2009 by MacrossMan

[Valkyrie addict]

I don't collect stuff, I buy the things that I want, I don't need to own every valk that's out or the rarest and hardest to find, just the ones I like

for the moment I'm keeping the boxes cause I will be moving to another country in a few years cause of work and it's best to keep the valks safe during transit, but I really hate those yamato oversized useless boxes and the first moment I get I will burn them into oblivion for taking so much space, stupid boxes...

Edited April 17, 2009 by Valkyrie addict

[eriku]

Then that brings us back to my initial question...

Why bother making these "adult collectibles" transformable when a static statue version would suffice?

Because not everyone is like you and because a lot of people do like to transform and play with their toys. I'm not sure why that seems to be a difficult idea to grasp.

To be perfectly honest if these things didn't transform I wouldn't be interested in buying them. I have no interest in statues of pop culture icons.

[EXO]

An expensive non-transforming toy based on something that transforms? That's like an expensive toy car that has wheels that dont turn... kinda frustrating.

[sharky]

If you buy toys to collect and then sell later and never take them out of the box... Why not just spend your time and money investing instead? There's really no difference in collecting toys as opposed to something like stamps in this case. There are other collectibles that appreciate in value faster than toys, and would fetch a greater sum overall... To collect toys purely for monetary gain seems pretty futile, and to keep it in the box, you're really not getting any other form of utility out of it by purchasing it. You mind as well sit at a store and fondle the box for free.

I don't think it's about trying to increase the value of the toy as much as not letting it depreciate and saving/preserving it for the future (i.e collecting). The collector takes pride in the fact that they have something that is more valuable today than it was years ago. But, it's not like they are trying to create a retirement nest egg. They also enjoy the fact that this very old item is in the same brand new condition as when it was first made years before Honestly, I think a "collector" in the classic sense is a MISB person. People that open boxes are also collectors, but they also find it fun to "play" even if "play" simply means displaying the item or posing it in different ways from time to time.

More to your point; however, is that it's sort of like asking why does someone decide to open a comic shop as opposed to another business. Or, perhaps why someone collects antique furniture or high art. Sure there are other types of businesses or things to collect, but it's what that person enjoys in life. And, that's really the whole point. Doing something you enjoy.

[eriku]

An expensive non-transforming toy based on something that transforms? That's like an expensive toy car that has wheels that dont turn... kinda frustrating.

I just thought of something: why do Hot Wheels need moving wheels? I mean, most of the people who buy them are adults who don't even take them out of the package, right? So why does Mattell waste their time and money by making the wheels spin when nobody is going to take them out and zoom them around on the floor?

[eugimon]

I just thought of something: why do Hot Wheels need moving wheels? I mean, most of the people who buy them are adults who don't even take them out of the package, right? So why does Mattell waste their time and money by making the wheels spin when nobody is going to take them out and zoom them around on the floor?

For that matter, why paint both sides? since the stay in the blister pack you only see one half anyways.

[logos]

If you want to keep the box and store it in the box more power to you, I was just stating that "I" can't stand to let them sit in a box, it ruins my fun. I didn't buy them to sell them 10 years from now (at least I hope) or to just stare at the toy in a box and go to my friends uuoohhhh....drool look at those cool graphics and fonts oh and there's a toy in there too!

For me it's like buying a corvette and letting it sit in your garage and polishing it with a diaper. I JUST CAN"T DO IT. Also being like a corvette I never let my friends touch them. The first thing they ask is "How do I transform this?" while waving it around......

Like I said I only keep the boxes because I lie to myself and others saying I am saving some of the toys value by not tossing it cause I might want to sell that $150 toy someday and make a mint ....... maybe 5 years from now I'll just sell the boxes to all those people who tossed theirs! I might get rid of the boxes but I'll never get rid of my valks.....hmmm will they cremate you with a bunch of plastic toys?

Anyway back on topic, like I said before it's not a Valk unless it transforms so it loses that coolness factor. Like takatoys said transforming makes it like 2-3 toys in one. If they released a really cool and detailed version of one mode maybe but then why don't I just pay some modeler to put a kit together or do it myself?

Edited April 17, 2009 by logos

[Cyclone Trooper]

I don't collect stuff, I buy the things that I want, I don't need to own every valk that's out or the rarest and hardest to find, just the ones I like

for the moment I'm keeping the boxes cause I will be moving to another country in a few years cause of work and it's best to keep the valks safe during transit, but I really hate those yamato oversized useless boxes and the first moment I get I will burn them into oblivion for taking so much space, stupid boxes...

Everything you just said is incredibly ironic based on your user name!

[Vifam7]

I just thought of something: why do Hot Wheels need moving wheels? I mean, most of the people who buy them are adults who don't even take them out of the package, right? So why does Mattell waste their time and money by making the wheels spin when nobody is going to take them out and zoom them around on the floor?

I did not know that there was such a thing as adult Hot Wheels collectors...

[eriku]

I did not know that there was such a thing as adult Hot Wheels collectors...

Sorry, I meant "adult" in a purely technical sense, behaviour notwithstanding.

[SVF-Gerwalk]

[m0n5t3r]

LOL at both the 30-something-guys-that-still-like-to-play-w/-toys (i'm here) camp and the MISB collectors camp for both thinking that they're the one's being looked down on and misunderstood...

[anime52k8]

I did not know that there was such a thing as adult Hot Wheels collectors...

I wasn't aware there were adult hot wheels, I'm intrigued though

[ruskiiVFaussie]

I'm a first groupy

[mpchi]

There is no way I would buy a non-articulated non-transforming statue of a valk. Simple as that.

[bb_f1]

I love to take them out to play. But so far yamato or bandai DX dun last, I mean after playing a while either they got paint chips or broken parts.

[SchizophrenicMC]

Welcome, bb f1. (Am I a bit late? Yes. Is his post count still Single Digits? Yes.)

I play with all of my toys.

That's too often used for that's what she said.

[Javabean]

I belong to the 1st group but will keep the packagings of all my Macross, some of my transformers like MP & Encore series, in case I need to sell them in future. I don't sell for profit, just need to recover some costs back as much possible. In the case of the recent sale of all my 1/48s, the purpose is to make way for storage space & to help finance for the new v2. 1/60 line.

To me, toys are meant to be opened, played & enjoyed. Otherwise I hate the agony of seeing the toys inside packaging & not able to touch or handle it. I wud love to keep a 2nd set as spare but obviously finance is a prblm for me, esp for pricey Macross

Edited April 19, 2009 by Javabean

[doodler7]

I'm a 3rd group person here, but I buy just 1 item, not the double-open-one-and-keep-the-other-MIP. I store the unopened figures until I feel like opening them. I like to look at the box, gawk at the box. Each time I walk into our computer room, I feel like I'm walking inside a toy store or a comic book store. I like it, and it makes me feel like a young boy.

Some action figures are open, some are still in the box. And no non-articulated items for me. I like action figures, the more points of articulation the better for me. The figures are displayed through out the room, but there is one spot I call the gallery, and every several weeks, a figure stands on that podium as my figure of the week, the special one...the one where I look at it and it's relative theme song plays in the background from my workstation. And I say to myself, "***k yah, dope @$$ s**t!"

I know they're expensive, but they're cool. I am very careful with them, and they sure don't stay static because the fun is inposing these figures in different action positions...that is my satisfaction, from the television and onto the palm of my hands!

Unfortunately I'm a graphic designer, and most of the toy packaging sucks. I'm planning on encasing them on better, more space friendly packages...and more presentable...kinda shows off their true worth...and their badarse-ness!

[novaflo]

'misb' does'nt apply too yamato...because the items are often broken bfore they leave the factory.

this is very dissapointing, and if i buy MISB toy from yamato...i pretty much assume there is somthing wrong with it

>>>like the MISB proto-garland i just bought with broken handelbars..ohhh, what a flawless collectors item

SUCKS!

[Radd]

I don't know about that. As I said, I regularly play with my toys. I do not treat them like museum pieces. Despite that, none of the 18 Yamato toys I've bought has broken. The only one to come with any sort of QC flaw was my 1/72 YF-21 FP edition, which has one of the gunpods glued shut.