What's Your Policy on Packaging?

[Badgertron]

So, I've recently come to the conclusion that packaging is potentially becoming a bigger issue than it has been in the past. The trend seems to be moving towards higher end, premium figures, and that means higher end, premium packaging. It looks great!...but it takes up SO much space.

I know many collectors live in lower cost of living areas than I do, and own houses with lots of storage options to stuff boxes into (I'm in an apartment), but I'm interested in hearing from others who may be running out of space, or had already run out of space some time ago. What is your policy on packaging? Keep, trash, sell, or keep some? Do you base your decisions on aesthetic, or future sellability? How much does packaging make a difference in selling these days?

I decided a couple years ago to purge all of my mainline packaging (sans anything 90's and older), and couldn't be happier about the decision (running out of room again though). Third party packaging I'm keeping. But I'm looking at a small but growing stack of drab brown Selects packaging and wondering if I really need to keep those. What say you?

 

[Andrusi]

I keep Botcon set boxes and a few similar things, and the boxes for my two MPs. Other than that, packaging goes in FIRE*!

*may actually be a recycling bin

 

[CoffeeHorse]

If it comes with too many itty bitty accessories I'll handle once and throw back in the box, I keep the box.

Otherwise, in the recycling bin.

 

[Dekafox]

I've mostly been keeping all the packaging up through now, since it doubles as figure storage. On the other hand, I've recently tossed all my modern Micromaster packaging since the figures are so small and simple it's not worth it, and there's no tech specs or other information worth saving. Not sure if I'll keep that policy in the future since I do have space now, but that's how I'm handling things at the moment.

 

[lastmaximal]

When I was just getting restarted I wanted to keep everything, bubbles and all. That quickly became revealed to be foolish, so I shifted to tossing the bubbles and trays and just keeping cardbacks and the back panel of boxes. That's served decently well over time. When we did a big move, I wound up opening a handful of stuff I hadn't gotten around to for ease of packing... and that's when I had the idea to start scanning packaging. (Unfortunately it turns out the scanner I had at the time was on its last legs and so the bunch of stuff I scanned has scanlines I don't know how to remove.) So, I guess, I am now a hoarder in two ways.

I've kept up those two practices so far -- retain unique and exclusive packaging, break down and toss regular retail stuff, and scan what I can of either. Selects has been a relief in that way, where I don't have to take so much time scanning the boxes. But that's changing too.

But to be honest, even this is getting to be a lot. And even just holding on to exclusives or unique packaging (like the Retro Headmasters), there's been a lot of it. Especially with some stuff just looking great all together (like Lightning Collection boxes), leading to accumulation.

One of these days I may get up the nerve to ditch the cardbacks/boxbacks at least. They do me no real good as time capsules since (1) they're incomplete and (2) they're all either stored away or just visibly cluttering up the place. Besides, they're all already scanned which serves that purpose a bit better.

 

[Exatron]

As a kid, I never kept anything other than the instructions and bio/tech specs that could be cut out of the box. I stopped collecting for several years in my teens. After getting back into it around the late BW/BM era, I started a brief completionist phase during RiD and part of the UT where I collected everything and kept all the packaging. The space requirements for that got overwhelming quickly, so I eventually started keeping just the backs of the boxes and cards where any bio/tech spec info was.

These days, with boxes having no more than a one-sentence blurb about the character, I don't even do that. Most boxes these days go straight into the recycling. I still have all those box backs, and I've reached the point where I'd like to scan and discard those too. Keeping them has just become too much of a hassle.

I do still keep a handful of boxes though. They're either things that are especially dear to me, or things where I want the original packaging for protective purposes. Once we finish our home renovation, I might end up getting rid of some of those too.

 

[repowers]

I scan all packaging and toss it.

The only things I keep are backdrop-type stuff that I might want to use for photography purposes. Even that, I scan with an eye towards pitching out some day.

 

[Stepwise]

I've started throwing away packaging. Used to keep tech specs or card backs or something for each character, but the packaging is too generic now.

I miss tech specs - I think the best thing we had, in lieu of those, was the profiles on the Combiner Wars packaging. I think those had notes from Rung, but I can't get to any of them to check at the moment.

 

[Undead Scottsman]

I didn't keep any packaging from when I was a kid, but when I got back into collecting around 2001, I saved everything, I even used boxcutters to cut open the bubbles rather than tear the packaging open. I even brought all of that crap when I moved apartments until I realized it was a silly thing to be doing and recycled the lot of it. I may have cut out any quotes or tech specs while I was at it, which would be in a box in my closet I probably haven't touched in over a decade.

I did keep my Classics boxes and my boxes for Brave Maximus, Armada Unicron and Cybertron Primus. Are Classics figures worth anything anymore or should I just chuck those?

These days I only keep the box if

-The toy is worth more than $50 (so only Commander and Titan Class figures, aside from a Siege Shockwave box I store my micromasters in)
-The toy is limited edition or otherwise non a mainline release (So any selects, PulseCon Ravage etc. etc.)

I recently trashed my Road Rage box and in retrospect, I probably should have saved that one, given the hoops you had to jump to get her. Ah well.

Probably should go through my closet and chuck some boxes while I'm thinking about it. I won't, but I probably should.

 

[Stepwise]

Not sure if classics figures are worth anything or not, but they're fun. Classics 'Bee is my favorite Bumblebee, and I remember people really liking Mirage from that line, too.

(Or were you just talking about the boxes?)

 

[Undead Scottsman]

The figures. I've replaced most of them at this point.

 

[The Predaking]

I like the direction Hasbro is going with their packaging these days and abandoning the use of plastic. I love the full art boxes that they have done on some of the exclusives, and the upcoming Laser Prime.


As for keeping packaging, I really don't do that anymore. I have hundreds upon hundreds of transformers, so I can't really keep them MISB/MOSC and I stopped trying a long time ago.

I do keep some of the boxes for the rare or expensive toys, like I still have Metroplex's box in the attic.

 

[Sciflyer]

I used to keep all of the packaging, thinking that I needed to retain it for posterity's sake. Recently though, I came across some packaging for Transformers that I'd long since sold off, realizing that it just isn't very important to me.

I do tend to keep packaging from special sets, Titan class figures and G1 stuff. Beyond that though - and especially with most current releases - I just recycle it.

 

[Echowarrior]

I keep the boxes, but I do try to store the smaller ones in the bigger ones when possible.

 

[Daith]

If it’s not something like The Pit of Judgment, Throne of the Primes or such that makes a scene, it gets chucked away pretty fast.