So, you want to start collecting Transformers figures and don’t know where you should begin? Well, I collected Transformers for about ten years, and I still buy new figures off and on, so I guess you could say I have some experience in this area. One thing you probably already know about Transformers is that the franchise has been around for a long time—there have been numerous TV shows, movies, comic books, and, of course, toy lines. So how should you, as a newcomer to the hobby, get started? Let me run through some of your options.
Starting with the Figures That Are Currently Out Now
Probably the easiest way to start your Transformers collection is to just start buying the figures that are currently out and on the shelves of Wal-Mart, Target, and on Amazon’s marketplace. In this case, you would be looking at the Transformers: War for Cybertron Siege and Earthrise line. Here are some figures you might interested in starting off with:
- Transformers: War for Cybertron Siege Optimus Prime (Amazon)
- Transformers: War for Cybertron Siege Starscream (Amazon)
- Transformers: War for Cybertron Siege Shockwave (Amazon)
- Transformers: War for Cybertron Siege Springer (Amazon)
- Transformers: War for Cybertron Earthrise Hoist (Amazon)
- Transformers: War for Cybertron Earthrise Apeface (Amazon)
This is the simplest way to get started with the hobby, because it requires the least amount of upfront research on your part. You can kind of just easily jump right in, and get to collecting. Now, over time, you may decide to explore some of the older toy lines, but starting with the current figures, is a great gateway.
Starting with an Older Line
Maybe you’re not interested in what is currently being sold. Maybe you have your eye on some of the older lines. When it comes to Transformers there is a lot of history, and many different toy lines to dive into. Transformers Armada offers figures that are blocky and 
gimmick oriented, figures from the Beast Wars era transformer into various types of animals, Transformers Animated has a much more cartoonish aesthetic to it, Beast Machines tackles designs that are more alien looking than anything else in the Transformers Universe, Transformers Alternators will give you high quality figures that transform into fancy cars from the mid-2000s—the list goes on and on.
If I were to lose my collection somehow and had to start all over again, I’d probably start with Transformers Energon or Cybertron. There is a quality to the Energon figures that is really unmatched by any other Transformers toy line, in my opinion; and Cybertron offers so much fun variety in its figures while keeping a consistent aesthetic. This is just me though, you pick the Transformers era that you think is the coolest looking and go with that.
The thing about picking any previous Transformers line, is that the figures are not going to be as easy to get. You’ll likely need to go to eBay to find them. There is also a possibly that you can find some figures on the Facebook Marketplace as well. Regardless, it’s not going to be as simple as going to your local Wal-Mart.
Collecting a Specific Character or Type of Figure
When it comes to Transformers, there are certain characters that have seen many reincarnations over the years. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, and Starscream are probably the characters that have the most figures with their names attached to them; and you could build a sizable Transformers collection only collecting one of those characters.
There are other characters that have been made many times over the years like Ironhide, Ratchet, Soundwave, and Shockwave. You could also collect certain teams of characters like the Insecticons. You could also collect certain figures that have been repainted multiple times over the years, for example, a number of the figures from Transformers Cybertron were repainted multiple times during the years after their initial release.
Collect Whatever Figures You Want from Any Line
The final option for you is to just buy whatever figures you think look cool from whatever toy line. Maybe you’re not a completionist, and it does not matter to you if you don’t have every version of a specific character or every figure from a particular Transformers toy line. Maybe you just want to buy the figures you really like and that’s it. There is certainly nothing wrong with this, and if that’s how you want to build your Transformers collection, then good on you!
Storage and Display
Once you start collecting, you’re going to want to start thinking about how you’re going to display the figures that you have, and then later on down the road, you will need to know how you’re going to store them. I have articles on action figure display and storage that should help you out in those areas, along with a number of other articles related to action figures in general in case you’re interested.
Conclusion
Collecting Transformers can be a very fun and rewarding hobby. There has been so much variety over the last 30+ years of history with Transformers, and there are so many places on the timeline that you can jump into and start collecting. There have also been a number of characters who have been reimagined again and again over the years, so you could easily start a collection of one character and still have a variety of different figures. However, you decide to get started on your Transformers collecting journey is up to you, I can only promise that you’ll have loads of fun along the way.