Decisions, Decisions

I've hit upon something of a dilemma recently, which came as a bit of a surprise to me.  Normally, I'm an up for anything kind of guy when it comes to buying figures.  There are very few G1 figures that I don't want or will not purchase.  The exceptions are pretty much the Powerdashers and Mini-Spies.  Now I've run across another subset that is giving me fits - eHobby exclusives.

There are only a few characters that I actually want: Anime Streak, Nucleon Quest Convoy, Road Rage, Crosscut, Roadhauler, Clamp Down, Deep Cover, Ghost Starscream, and Tigertrack.  Not a lot, right?  Those nine figures are ridiculously expensive. 

Deep Cover tfwiki.net

Oh, they aren't priced like Star Saber, or Metal Hawk, but for what they are, they're expensive.  I think that what it boils down to for me is that I'm paying so much for a figure that I know I'm going to open.  Because what's the point in having a figure if it stays in the box, forever locked in a prison?

"I was in one scene!  Don't keep me imprisoned!"  tfwiki.net

Each and every time I look on eBay for one of these guys, my circuits sizzle.  The worst part is that I only have myself to blame.  Whenever I would see a preorder for anything eHobby when they were released, I would just let out a little laugh and scoff at the very idea of spending more money on what was essentially a repaint.  I was ignorant back then.  The history behind the repaints were lost on me.  What's more, I never considered the eHobby figures to be "official", whatever that means. 

My ignorance is going to cost me tfwiki.net

By the time I finally wised up to what I was missing, prices went through the roof.  Of course, as eHobby offers new G1 repaints, I've been getting them now so I don't have to pay through the nose for them later.  So far, eHobby has only offered the black Ironhide repaint and the Shattered Glass Blaster/Soundwave box set.  I was hoping for a Grand Maximus repaint when Fort Max was released last year, but that has yet to happen.

Lonely eHobby Ironhide

While it may seem as though I'm complaining and lamenting my past decisions, I'm not.  Nor am I trying to talk myself out of buying any of them.  Really, I think that I'm using this time to come to peace with future decisions.  Only future knows what it holds, so we'll cover that ground when we get to it.