Buying Transformers collections - the ups & downs!

[10incher]

A guy that sold me a bunch of G1 transformers over a year ago, called me back over the weekend to say he was ready to sell the rest. I guess his wife was making him sell them. The only ones he kept (for sentimental reasons) was a MIB Jetfire, Rumble & Super Gobot Cy-Kill. He wouldn't part with the jetfire no matter what I offered him. Here is what i got for $160:

MIB Astrotrain complete
MIB Blitzwing missing 2 missles
MIB Hot Rod complete
MIB Perceptor missing launcher & 3 missiles
Optimus Prime missing fist (2), blaster, nozzle, hose, rocket (4) Trailer door latch broken
Beachcomber
Jazz no accessories
Whirl no accessories
Reflector missing guns & missiles
Hoist missing left fist, radar panel (2), missile (1), sensor
Starscream missing missile (4)
Thrust missing missle (4), launcher (1)
Dirge missing missile (2)
Ramjet complete
Frenzy complete
Laserbeak no weapons
Ravage complete
Slugfest complete
Dinobot Grimlock no accessories
Dinobot Snarl no accessories
Dinobot Swoop no accessories
Ransack no accessories
Most of the Constructicons with 3/4s of the accs.
Motormaster no accessories
Air Raid complete
Protectobot Hot Spot missing rifle (1), repair bay arm (2)
Protectobot Streetwise no accessories
Protectobot Groove no accessories
Protoectobot First Aid no accessories
Protectobot Blades no accessories
Blaster missing rifle
Ramhorn no weapons
Steeljaw no weapons
Grandslam no weapons
Raindance no weapons
Wingspan complete
Slugslinger no targetmaster
Soundwave no accessories & broken door
Kickback & Shrapnel both with broken parts
A small handfull of spare G1 weapons.
G2 Consructicons - 2 figures and a bunch of accessories
G2 Bruticus complete
G2 Sideswipe complete
G2 Silverbolt mostly complete
G2 Air Raid
3 Super Gobots
2 regular Gobots

To top it all off, on my way home i stopped by a garage sale in that area and picked up for $0.10 each Gnaw (no weapons & some damage), Cosmos, Rocklord Marbles, 2 Sectaurs spiders, Star Wars Hammerhead, MOTU Triclops, Skelly & Rokkon, WWF Hasbro Ultimate Warrior & Lex Luger. Not to bad of a haul for the day ;D

[THE KNOCK-OFF MESSIAH]

awesome deal!!!!! im jealous

[10incher]

Most of it will be used for trading for other Transformers I need (I will be keeping Whirl & Reflector . I have been trying to get these 2 guys (along with Roadbuster) forever now at a decent price on Ebay. Before I got to the guys house I was thinking how cool it would be if he had all 3 of these, and sure enough... Now I have to find their weapons which will probably be harder than finding the figures complete

Gnaw is also one of the few guys I needed, to bad he is in kinda rough shape. I will still be looking for another one with his tail, but this one can sit on my shelf until then.

[10incher]

Does anyone know of a good Website with pics of all the G2 Transformers? I went to www.transformerland.com but they are missing pics for allot of them.

[THE KNOCK-OFF MESSIAH]

what do you need to know. i help best i can

[10incher]

I have some extra G2 weapons that i don't know what figures they go to. I will have to post a pic tonight.

[claw]

have you looked up the rework transformer site, i think there is a link there to a g2 part site.

[10incher]

Yep, they have some stuff as does Transformerland. Still a few figures missing on the sites though. I think I have sorted it all out now.

[catgut]

this site is great for info (got pics 2 ),ive been using for the gobots ids.
www.tfu.info/series/index.htm

its got all types of transformers lines on

[10incher]

Went to one of the local flea markets this Saturday, usually not much there for older action figures, but I was walking by one of the tables when I noticed 4 huge boxes of Transformers sitting under them!

I started to reach for a box and take a look to see what was there, then the lady at the table said "Sorry those have already been sold". I was kicking myself for not cming an hour earlier, but thought oh well, and asked how much she had sold it for. The lady said $500, which made me feel better as at least it dodn't go super cheap. I left and kept on checking out a few other tables.

On my way back around, I decided to see if they would mind if i looked through the lot to see what was there. Thats when I noticed that the ladies husband was there, who I recognized as the guy I talked to many times over the last year. He kept telling me he had all these Transformers for sale over and over again but would never bring them in. I had given him my number and everything many times over, but he had never called me, so Iwas kinda ticked.

The guy then said if I had $500, they were mine, so I started going through them. Lets just say that the lot was NOT worth $500, half of the figures were from the newer lines, and many were wrn or missing parts. Also not a single weapon to be found. I asled the guy how long ago the guy who made the original offer left (to get money) and they said over an hour ago. First thing i thought was that this guy wasn't coming back as I am sure he had a change of heart after re-thinking what was in the lot.

I don't think the lot was even worth $100, so I said i could never match the $500 offer, and they would be very lucky to get that if the guy ever comes back. I then asked if he would sell any figures individually and he said no, he would just take them back home.

The sad thing is that now this guy probably thinks he has a $500 lot of TFs when he really doesn't just because 1 person was going to buy it. It really kinda made me shake my head at people trying to sell something they really know nothing about. I even explained to him that without the weapons and in their condition they weren't worth very much. Oh well.

[Megatron]

Youn know that's why I don't go to many of the bigger shows anymore because too many people charge WAY too much for crap and especially crap that is incomplete...just because one retard is clueless about how much things are worth it's sad how things have come to this but alot of these "Vendors" are a-holes why really shouldn't be selling anything before looking it up to see how much the item actually goes for....

[80s Action Figures]

One thing I hate is "Price Guide" people. This is because I see alot of items that I would buy at flea markets and so on but people pull out their guide or say this item 'guides' at X amount of dollars. I often reply if it is worth that much why do you still have it, or why has it not sold. To me the open market place determines the 'real' value of toys and so on. So if sits for awhile then its priced to high...especially for a flea market.

So if it was me I would go back to the flea market next week and tell the people again that they got a really good price for their TF's and that really they are really just good for parts.

This brings up another pet peeve of mine...the guys who bring the same old junk time after time to flea markets. Some people have their whole retirement plan sitting right in front of them...if they could just sell it. Just for fun I ask what this or that is worth and make a point of asking ever time I see them and their junk sitting there.

[aeutlutian]

I have run into so many people like this , I had once found a vendor in a flea market doing the same thing with a huge lot of Action fleet Star wars vehicles, I had wanted just a few of them , First off the vehicles were strewn across his space, not all together . so I had gathered up the ones I wanted and took them over to him , he said I had to buy them all they were in a lot, I was like huh,, Okay how much,he said 1500 dollars...be in mind they were Loose not MIB , so I laughed I thought he was joking ,He wasn't so I decided not to do the deal, never went back but my brother said that he went back a few months later and most of them had been broken from kids playing with them, and he still wanted 1500 for them ,

[proteus]

me too i remember going to a toy fair about 10 years ago, when the mc farlane kiss figures had just come out, this was a designated toy fair and many many dealers had the kiss figures at £10 each thats $20, they were imports at the time, all were selling well except for one lady in the middle of the room who had hundreds of them and was shout ing they are £25 each to anyone who showed an interest,despite everyone else in the room having them at less than half of her price she had not changed her price.people were laughing out loud when ahe told them the price and were telling her the stall 3 feet away had them at £10,

i know what people are saying about stall holders who think they are experts, that a toy with no weapon or cape or whatever is still mint,its just part of the whole experience

[Captainamerica]

Ohyesohyesohyes, I hates me some guide-whores.

Three quick examples: Local toy show, twice a year, same guy, two years running, has some loose 5" Shogun Warriors. We've had the same conversation 4 times (and counting..)
"How much are your Shoguns?"
-pulls out guide-
"$75 each, but I'll cut you a deal if you buy them all."
"Yeah, man, these are loose, third versions, $20-30 is what I pick these up for."
"Well, the guide says $75 and it doesn't list any 2nd or 3rd versions, so it must be rare."
"OK, see ya next year.."

A more recent stupid-stunner was at a year-round flea market. Dedicated toy booth, poorly stocked (lots of current 'variants' but hardly anything more than a couple years old). Older guy working, I asked him about the army of loose 8" Power Ranger Villains (10-20 of them). The last three I grabbed were less than $5 together, so I was floored at the price of $15 each, but, of course "I'll cut you a deal if you get a bunch of them". You're trying to cut me, alright.

Another favorite is one of those Flea market 'experts' in my area. One day he was real excited (he knows I'm a serious collector) and wanted to show me this little robot he had. Kind of copper colored, with a slot machine like chest. He was going on and on about it being this rare vintage casino promotion piece, but he wasn't sure if it went to a Las vegas or atlantic city casino. I asked to see/inspect it, and immediately flipped it to see the late 90s Bandai copyright on his feet. I pointed this out and tried explaining it was a Power Rangers Villain, closer to .50 than the $250 he was boasting. No good. He's still got it in his booth, a friend told me he saw him sanding the feet down one day.

[snipertoys]

I hear what all of you are saying, BUT we have all had our treasures at these events too. Like my Wonderbread He-man out of the $3 box of He-man, MOC Rocky figures for $5 each, Bumblejumper for $10.........there are a lot of people that have stuff mismarked.

What I find funny about people, is that we are quick to say when something is over-priced but when it's underprice the only thing we do quickly is pay for it.

[Meatybat]

My friend at my indoor flea market gave me my first Sunman for FREE.

[sanfords2]

snipertoys said:

...but when it's underprice they only thing we do quickly is pay for it.

I disagree. When things are underpriced, I still try to get the seller to knock a few bucks off. Otherwise he might get suspicious.

[toyboxraider]

I love that the price guides these people use are also from years ranging from 1992 to 1996 LOL. As if nothing ever changes in value. I have had some excellent deals too, but they are becoming few and far between as 07 continues at the markets and sales.