Since I blogged about the great G.I.Joe The Rise of Cobra (ROC) toys clearance sale in local departmental stores some months ago, I still get some queries on where to find this and that particular ROC figure or vehicle, or playset at the rock bottom prices. 

Well you have to understand the pattern of stock clearance at retail stores, especially for fad items such as toys that are based on movies.  When the toys are collectibles popular with fans and collectors, a clearance sale would wipe out the most sought after pieces from the departmental stores very quickly. 

The next “big things” for the local toys scene are the Iron Man 2 movie toys, as well as those from Disney’s Toy Story 3 movie.  Hence inevitably, passe toylines like the 2009 G.I.Joe movie and 2009 Wolverine movie toys have been on clearance sale for the past several months to make shelf and peg space for the latest toys from other upcoming 2010 movies.

Nonetheless, some great gems from the ROC toyline are still found at very good prices, but in only very few departmental stores and some selected collector’s toy shops.  The local departmental stores that still carry the ROC toyline as of this week are: OG, Metro, and Toys “R” Us.  I don’t know what exact pieces they still have in their stores.  You’ve got to go there and find out yourself.

G.I.Joe The Rise of Cobra Pit Mobile Headquarters playset

For harder to find ROC figures, vehicles and playsets, most of them have been cleared from the departmental stores.  Your best bet now would be collector’s toy shops like Simply Toys, and the Sunday Toy Market at China Square Central (CSC).  The ROC toys still available there may or may not be at the rock bottom prices you prefer.  Well good luck to you, since we’re now at the tail end of this toyline.  It’s kind of like take it or leave it.

Here is a video review of the ROC Pit Mobile Headquarters.  This massive playset can still be found at Simply Toys at SGD 49.90, or at SGD 45.00 for their members.  You can call them to check for the stock availability before going there.  The box itself is very bulky and rather heavy, so preferably arrange your own private transport to bring it home!  Happy last minute ROC toys shopping, while stocks last!

While surfing YouTube, I bookmarked a couple of interesting video reviews of custom plastic display cases made for the popular 80’s Masters of the Universe (MOTU) figures.  The display cases can also fit in the sister toyline of MOTU - the Princess of Power (POP) dolls, as these are smaller than the MOTU figures.  

If you collect the more recent “re-issued” Masters of the Universe Classics (MOTUC) figures, you’ll be pleased to note that there are also custom display cases made to store and display them!  You can remove your MOTUC toys from their packaging to play and display, and then store them in an aesthetic manner, almost like they are still mint-on-card (MOC)!

Hope you like this toy storage tip.  Happy MOTU and MOTUC toys collecting!

I chanced upon this article on Seibertron.com some time ago and found it interesting.  It covers money matters, where to buy toys, discusses the emotions behind buying and collecting toys, more ultimate levels like toy fairs, methods of collecting, and coming to an understanding with your family members about your toy hobby. 

These are all topics I had covered  before in some way or another on my blog.  Now you get to read them from the perspective of collecting Transformers toys!  

Do you like to read more of such articles about toy collecting?  You see, most toy collectors go online to search for information of where to buy the latest toys they want, or to view photos of other people’s toy collections. 

If you want to read more articles about how to collect toys, or how other collectors manage their massive toy collections, do let me know.  I’ll post their links here to share with you whenever I come across them! 

Happy toy collecting!

As a follow up to yesterday’s blog post on how to quit your toy hobby, here are some tips on managing your toys population and keeping you happy with your toy hobby:

Toy population control tips

Most toy collectors I know, do not collect just one toyline.  They tend to ‘jump’ from toyline to toyline due to fads and effective marketing gimmicks by the media, especially for movie toys.  Hence they end up with lots of toys over the years.  ideally, older and “out of season” fad toys should give way to “new fads”.

So it’s best to periodically cull your older toylines that you no longer like.  You’ve got to treat them something like old clothes.  They’ve served their purpose in your life and they should be passed on to others who appreciate them.  This will free up some space for new toylines into your life.  

Toy storage tips

If proper toy storage is a big issue for you and you don’t wish to cull so many toys, and that you are very sure you still want to keep on collecting toys, then you can consider investing in some creative and fun ways to display and store them.

Some toy collectors have literally customised their homes to suit their toy hobbies.  Here is an example from Singapore:

@lex Gen X 1:6 Hardcore and his Toy Haven!

You don’t have to revamp the entire interior deco of your home for your toy hobby, but just dedicate a section of it to store and display your toys aesthetically would be good enough!

Do let me know if these tips have been useful to you.  If you have more to share, feel free to add them here.  I’d love see your contributions!

Have a monthly budget for buying toys - If toy collecting is a big part of your personal life, you can set aside about 10-20% of your monthly income to indulge in this hobby.  A budget will help to keep your monthly toy expenditures in check, and not let your home be so overrun by your toy purchases that you can’t cope.  If you can, keep a record book or an Excel sheet record of your toy accounts.  I know it’s a bit tedious but trust me, it’s a good habit to cultivate when you collect toys.  It’ll come in more handy when you decide to sell off your toys in future.

For e.g. the Transformers toys, video reviews allow you to see all the transformation steps, plus you get a better and 360 degrees view of the Transformers toys in their vehicle and robot modes.  For typical action figures like Marvel Universe and G.I.Joe, the toy video reviews tend to show the various points of articulations in the action figures, plus they also demonstrate how the weapons and accessories ‘work’. 

So how do you do a search on YouTube for let’s say, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) Leader Optimus Prime?  You can simply type “ROTF Leader Optimus Prime” in the search box on YouTube!  Over time, it helps to narrow the search if you know the Transformers class size (Leader, Voyager, Deluxe, Scout, Legends etc.) and the Transformers toyline series (ROTF, Transformers Universe etc.).  Remember, more practice will make your online toy research perfect!

Dedicate a fixed space in your home for your toy collections.  This is very important because every object that goes into your home must have its properly allocated space to ‘dwell’ in.  Just like the cooking utensils belong in the kitchen, our clean clothes belong to our bedroom wardrobes etc, the same goes for your toy collections.  The bare minimum is to have at least a cupboard that is dedicated to your toys.

if you share your home with other people, your toys ought to be stored and displayed in your own bedroom (aka your personal space).  If you have a major say in your home or you’re the head of your household, then you can allocate your toys to a specially dedicated hobby room, or even in the living room, provided the toy display there is very presentable to guests who visit your home.  

For the ultimate “customization” of your home to integrate your toy hobby, take a look at Toy Haven! 

Avoid jumping from toyline to toyline.  This tends to happen when toy collectors “chase” the trends and collect whatever toys that are “hot” at the moment due to the related movie or cartoon releases then. 

Basically don’t buy on hype if you can help it.  You’ll tend to feel so hurt when you see the same ”ex-hot” toys go on clearance sales, and you paid much more for them just a few months ago. 

It’s feels worse when you realise that you don’t really like those toylines as you used to, after the hype has died down.  By then, you’re stuck with those toys that can be difficult to sell off because almost everyone else also gets tired of them like you have.

Focus on collecting the toylines that you really like and stick to them only.  I know this is easier said than done.  If you want to have a better organised toy hobby and a much happier time collecting and managing your toy collections, then this is golden rule number 1 to adhere to!  It will help you to minimize the inevitable common challenges of toy collecting, such as insufficient display and storage space later on.

During a sale of course!  And when are the sales?  In the US, a major sale day called Black Friday is coming soon.  It falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday of November) each year.  On Black Friday, some US retail stores open their doors as early as midnight, and close only on midnight the following Saturday to accommodate the massive crowds that come!

In Singapore, the major sales we have are the Great Singapore Sale (around June to mid-July each year), and the year end Christmas and post Christmas sales.  In between there are the shorter period ad-hoc sales by the various departmental stores.

Here in Singapore, there are shopping malls and departmental stores that occasionally decide to open till around midnight during certain festive periods, but this practice of extended shopping hours is not fixed each year.  I’d rather have more short period sales spread out throughout the year.  Many collectible toys are released and sold in the departmental stores at different times of the year.

We may not have Black Friday here in Singapore, but we still have Christmas turning round the corner.  Our main shopping belt at Orchard Road is already lighted up with Christmas decorations.  They started earlier this year to dress up the street for the APEC meeting taking place in the coming week.  Locally, shoppers to Orchard Road get to immense themselves in the Christmas mood for a longer period!

If you have plans to buy some toys, whether for yourself or as gifts, now you can start looking out for the Christmas sale advertisements in the newspapers everyday.  The major retailers have definitely prepared some great offers for shoppers to enjoy, incuding on toys!  So start saving up to splurge during the year end sales, after which in Singapore, will be followed by the New Year and Chinese New sales early next year!

Happy toy shopping in the coming weeks and months!