[Reigner]

I'm in the same boat. I now only purchase occasional Transformers and shitloads of Japan imports. There's just so much out there that it's pointless to waste time and money hunting for subpar toys around town. Figuarts, Monster Arts, SRC, Robot Damashii, D-arts, SIC, etc all have so much to offer in terms of showing off what a toy can actually do.

I've collected a bit of just about everything domestic too. DCUC, Marvel Universe, MotUC, Neca, Marvel Legends, and even an occaisional Minimate. I can't understand anymore how someone will adamantly sit back and claim Mattel to be the kings of the toy world, when something like a Figuart is sitting RIGHT THERE! (but the MotuC fanboy rant is something for another time)

I'll never drop Transformers though, I may start cherry picking a bit more as time passes, but they're what got me back into toy collecting, so after all this time I'd feel bad kicking them to the curb.

With that in mind, who wants to buy some DCUC and MU

edit: oh and Glyos, can't forget the wonderful Glyos

[kidnicky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComicGuy89

I agree with all your sentiments about Japanese versus American toys, but my reasons may differ slightly.

Articulation and accessories are not as appealing for me. I'm not really good at posing and I often worry about losing accessories. Instead, I want my toys to be durable, solid and most importantly, playable. I'm not so sure I can explain it right. For example, attractive as the SRC Sentai bots are, I still prefer the DX figures because of transformation, ratcheting joints and stability. Limited articulation? I don't mind as there are less joints to worry about wearing out. I also enjoy fancy but non-intrusive electronics and gimmicks. I guess you can say I like my toys to be more...toy-like.

In the past, Transformers has largely fulfilled this role. Excellent engineering with decent production values at killer prices made them very attractive. However in recent times, I have been more often disappointed with Transformers than pleased. Figures with loose joints right out of the package, cheap and brittle plastic and transformations that don't lock in tight, Transformers had become steadily boring, which troubled me greatly.

I used to justify my Transformers purchases by saying that they were cheap, which was true. But when I looked at my filled shelfs of figures I barely play with or look at, I start to wonder if it was worth it even if they were cheap. I wanted to buy less, but I wanted more substantial toys. In the end, I realized that Super Sentai DX toys currently fulfill this role. As for Transformers, I'll discriminate more, even at their cheap prices.

This. I never buy TF's anymore. I hardly ever buy ANY figure these days,as the average cost is 10 bucks for a not great 3 3/4 figure.

[Crown Athlete]

For me it was a big distraction. I blew so much money on GI Joe, Marvel Legends, DC Universe and Transformers which could have went to anime and toku toys, especially when the Yen was so weak. When the Transformer movies came out I took a look at my room and made the decision this wasn't me. So it all went up for sale. A decision I've never regretted.

My collection that I have now is exactly what I want. It's smaller, but it's truer to myself. I can't apologize for being an otaku. It's what I am. Call me a weaboo, poser, or whatever. I'm too old to lie to myself or give a shit what other people think.

[Sentai Tamashii]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crown Athlete

For me it was a big distraction. I blew so much money on GI Joe, Marvel Legends, DC Universe and Transformers which could have went to anime and toku toys, especially when the Yen was so weak. When the Transformer movies came out I took a look at my room and made the decision this wasn't me. So it all went up for sale. A decision I've never regretted.

My collection that I have now is exactly what I want. It's smaller, but it's truer to myself. I can't apologize for being an otaku. It's what I am. Call me a weaboo, poser, or whatever. I'm too old to lie to myself or give a shit what other people think.

Best answer!

[Den-O]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crown Athlete

For me it was a big distraction. I blew so much money on GI Joe, Marvel Legends, DC Universe and Transformers which could have went to anime and toku toys, especially when the Yen was so weak. When the Transformer movies came out I took a look at my room and made the decision this wasn't me. So it all went up for sale. A decision I've never regretted.

My collection that I have now is exactly what I want. It's smaller, but it's truer to myself. I can't apologize for being an otaku. It's what I am. Call me a weaboo, poser, or whatever. I'm too old to lie to myself or give a shit what other people think.

QFT . I need to do some serious searching and purging of my Transformers and DCUC/DC Direct collection to refocus on the things I love most. I've definitely paired my collecting down to balance my three main collecting habits to even numbers. But when im honest with my self Toku is the passion I grew up on. Power Rangers came out when I was 4. As much I like saying I was raised on Beast Wars its even more accurate to say that im a child of the American Toku era. I could give up my Transformers easily and miss them but not need them. Now that I've finally reacquired the Toku toys of my childhood I don't think I could part with them again. And now that Figuarts has become my personal standard for 6" scale figures I can easily let go of my DC figures.

[Brainchild]

Well, going by sheer numbers, I'm primarily a Transformers collector. But you have to take into account that I'm not at the age where I can get a constant, steady income which is enough to frequently spend $35 on a single toy, no matter how great it is. So the only reason I haven't sold off most of my other figures and started collecting solely Toku toys is because that option isn't quite yet available to me. But I'm getting there.

[ZeoRangerV]

The last Transformer I bought was DOTM Megatron, before that it was ROTF Lockdown. Ever since I bought Revoltech Gurren Lagann (which was probably the turning point in my collection) my interest in Western toys has gone down while importing has skyrocketed. I could blame UK distribution (I probably would have bought some Generations toys had I actually SEEN the ones I wanted here) but truth me told I just don't enjoy them like I used to. I'll always be a Transformers fan, but the days of me collecting the toys are pretty much over.

Japanese toys on the other hand, one thing always seems to lead to another. I started off with Revoltech, then moved on to Figma and now I've finally landed in the Figuarts camp (where I'll be staying for the foreseeable future). All three lines give me much more quality for my money in terms of sculpt, articulation and accessories.

[ComicGuy89]

I know it's weird discussing Transformers here rather than on TFW, but I thought that what I wanted to ask was more appropriate for this particular topic.

Are Takara toys better than Hasbro toys quality wise? The only Takara toys I've gotten are Beast Wars, and those, while good, haven't reached Bandai-level of plastic quality. I was just wondering if Takara follows the rule of "Japanese toys are of higher quality due to less cost-cutting".

[Sentai Tamashii]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComicGuy89

I know it's weird discussing Transformers here rather than on TFW, but I thought that what I wanted to ask was more appropriate for this particular topic.

Are Takara toys better than Hasbro toys quality wise? The only Takara toys I've gotten are Beast Wars, and those, while good, haven't reached Bandai-level of plastic quality. I was just wondering if Takara follows the rule of "Japanese toys are of higher quality due to less cost-cutting".

I don't think that's necessary true, most of the manufactures produces the toys for both US and Japanese side, but the Japanese ones might feel better simply because of the extra paint apps, or it's all in your head because you paid more

[Denshin48]

id much rather buy a Japanese toy than american. they get all the good shit over there be it packaging wise or far superior paint apps

case in point during Ryukis run Bandai made these

instead of just bringing those here for Dragon Knight we instead got these


it was one helluva step backwards too as the R&Ms had a ton more articulation than the DK figures ever had but were quite a few years older. it really does suck that manufacturers here are so concentrated on the kinds more than collectors everything is dumned down so badly here