One of my first clear memories was my 5th birthday in 1984.  My parents game me my first Transformer, the original Optimus Prime.  Apparently my mom went to the store and saw that everyone in the checkout line was carrying the same toy, so she simply followed suit.
At the time I was really upset that my dad was putting all the stickers on himself and not letting me do it, but in hindsight I  was glad he prevented me from sticking them in all the wrong places and ruining the figure's future value.

My Transformers obsession took full force in my younger years, between 5 and 12. I was a huge fan because Transformers had so many levels of playability. They were Robots, cars, planes, and puzzles all in one package.

But one day tragedy struck, my Optimus Prime broke and they were no longer selling the classics anymore.  The early Transformer collectors typically are fans of the first four years of figures (1984 to 1988) because after that the figures became cheap, over simplified and geared toward very young kids.  By the time the 1990's arrived I sunk into a Transformers purgatory, trying to put the obsession behind me.

Then in my adult years I was making money as a designer, designing among other things, robots for Television and DVD movies. I've attacked a couple of my drawings of my favorite characters.  It was then that I discovered the holy grail of all collectors, eBay.  I immediately set out to reclaim those lost childhood memories and collected all the original classic figures from the 80's including Starscream, Omega Supreme, Soundwave and others.  I even got a new Optimus Prime as great as the one I had when I was 5.

From then on there was no stopping me and I had to have ALL the figures produced from 1984 to 1988.  Unfortunately the collector market on these is akin to Star Wars figures and many are extremely difficult to find. But over 25 years of collecting it was the best investment I could've make. I estimate I have more than 300 and the current value of the collection is roughly $16,000 US and growing.  If the popularity of the new movies remains strong, so to does the value of my collection.  I've already got my ticket.

Shaun Martens (Male, 30)

Currently living in Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Originally from Lethbridge Alberta