How much are Transformers worth to you?

I promise that with the dwindling publicity the movie gets, I'll stop posting so much about them, but Transformers are one of the hot things right now. And what better way to capitalize on that buzz then by selling your entire collection of Transformers on ebay for $1,000,000? That's exactly what I was thinking. But first, a little backstory.

"Back in 1984, my husband, Anthony, was recovering from a serious motorcycle accident, which mostly meant spending his days in front of the television. Being like most 26-year-old men I know, cartoons were among his favorite form of television entertainment, so when Transformers was introduced that year it instantly became his favorite show.

It just so happened we were walking around the La Mesa, California Toys r Us one fine day that year, shopping for a gift, when, lo and behold, we ended up in the action figure aisle, right smack in front of the Transformers section (which didn't take up an entire aisle back in the day.)

"I promise, I just want one," Anthony pleaded, as he slipped Starscream into the shopping cart. (He knew I felt sympathy for Starscream because Megatron was always picking on him.)

Of course, one Transformer turned into five, then ten, then almost too many to keep track of as each shiny new box revealed a growing checklist that hounded us to 'COLLECT THEM ALL.'

And collect them all, we did! This collection includes every single Transformer produced in 1984, 1985, 1986, and all but a handful of pieces from 1987 (according to Hasbro's web site, we missed a set of five Targetmaster Autobots and three Decepticons.) There are even a few pieces from 1988 and 1989 for good measure.

So what happened in 1987 that thwarted our efforts to 'collect them all?' Well it turns out that Anthony never would totally recover from that motorcycle accident. He suffered from the genetic bleeding disorder hemophilia and a test done in August of 1987 showed that he had been infected with HIV by the anti-hemophilia treatment he was given while hospitalized for the accident in 1983.

HIV not only brought our Transformer collecting to an end, it also ended our dream of a family: the kids we thought would play with these toys one day; the toddler I thought would wear the t-shirt that is part of this collection. Anthony and I would not even get to grow old together; he died of AIDS in 1998 at the age of forty."

It really is a story filled with happiness and sadness at the same time, but ultimately, the collection went for $1,000,000. And the first Transformer he got was Starscream, who's the best in my book.

ebay Transforms $1,000,000

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