Well...given all the previous comments, I'm definitely feeling like it's not such a big deal. And even when I do encounter judgemental people, it's not like I'm going to end up seeing them more than once in my lifetime. Idk...reading everything in here has just made my temptation to visit TRU even stronger.

if your a collector, you have no reason not to go to toysrus.

Im 18 and in really good shape (training for the Army) and have a pretty good social life. I get embarrased about collecting and feel weird walking into comic shops and buying toys but after a while I just started not giving a shit and smile the whole time. You shouldnt care what they think and if it matters to them so much that you buy toys theyre a shitty person.

I'm 22. I embrace it. My girlfriend of 4years does as well. All my friends that come over are in aw at everything. It's pretty awesome. I meet some other pretty cool collectors. They always have so much to say. Nothing to be ashamed of. We usually know way more than the people working at the stores too. I help people in the toy section all the time

Today when I checked out at TRU, the guy was also an MU collector. He recommended another store for me to try and we talked for a bit. First time I've talked to another collector like that in person. Fun experience.

I work in TRU also if that helps and its beyond embarrasing buying toys from your fellow employees. Though not once has anyone of them ever made a snarky comment. One of my managers knows tons about Batman and we always discuss it. Its like the thing we have in common to make talking easier

The same happened to me at a TRU yesterday. It's fun to talk to other collectors in our natural habitat.

There are a lot of nerds roaming aroud (myself included). I don't think it's as big a social stigma as it once was thanks to shows like BBT, Chuck, etc. I can understand being embarassed from time to time though. Like a lot of the guys have already said, if you enjoy it and it's not harming anyone, embrace it. I usually let kids get the first pick then browse. I've run into a lot of fellow collectors and helped out my share of clueless parents.

I'm pretty much amazing at everything. I go into a store to buy awesome figures and proudly do so. I'm never ashamed of it. If you feel akward about getting toys around people you know or anybody asks, say its for a little nephew or donation or anything that might shift suspicion away from you. My father doesn't think action figures are a good investment. so I just tell him its all shit from when I was a kid. Either way you win :)

I plan on taking a trip to town sometime this week specifically to buy figures. For this little trip I'm thinking about buying a few Star Wars Episode 1 figures from the Vintage Collection...where would be the best place to look, and which store would have the best prices for those figures? Every figure I've come across on eBay is roughly $9 and I'm not interested in paying that if I can go to a store and get a better price.

all figures are up in price these days. 9 bucks is average now...your not really gonna find another price unless someone decides to have a 30% off sale.

I really miss MU being 7 dollars....

Do buy figures in public. Heck, I make a good show of it. Seriously, who cares. Most people won't notice or say anything. It's usually all in your head.

I wear a disguise.

Bmorr is correct. Save for Transformers Legends/Legion class, pretty much everything is above the $8 mark.
Walmart usually has the better prices. Target will be above Walmart, unless they're directly trying to compete, or undersell. And Toys R Us is usually two to five dollars more than the others.

toysrus has awful prices for transformers. 14 dollars is a terrible price for deluxes. On a different note, i do find more and more older people in toystores, and they are most definitly collectors/wierdos. Ive seen the hot wheels collectors.

TRU has gotten worse. The Transformers Prime deluxes are now $16. ($15.99 specifically. Same difference)

i can't wait till they start sending all those 20% off coupons again. got 3-4 one month and grabbed random figures i'd been thinking about for a whiles. i like those random buys.

Exactly. I go there like every week even if I'm not planning on buying shit, and I've never encountered an issue. If anything, the only harassment I've gotten for this hobby comes from my parents, and they make it a point to find something to shit on me for regardless, so it's not even about the toys, let alone something I care to let affect me or change myself because of it.