What toys have you come across that speak to you so intensely that you break some collecting rule that you try to abide by? I try to only collect one of any sculpt, with no translucent vinyl unless it is an outer layer of a multi-pour. Anraku Ansaku, specifically Guerilla Punch, just destroys my resolve in this regard. I have been thinking about the concept of this thread since I've been back, and haven't seen another like it. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I've always been a "no multiples of any sculpt" guy but whenever the chance to grab a Kumon comes along it's very hard to pass up. I also had a gang of Kappa Shonens but I've found new homes for most of them. Both toys are sublime - as close to perfect as I've seen in execution and style.
I've got 60 Obake Dogs, 16 Cinema Monsters, 30 Skull Bees, 30 Skullbrains, etc. Clearly my rule to be broken would be having multiples of the same sculpt! Obake Dogs and Cinema Monsters just completely take the cake for me, though I do have two or more of a handful of other toys.
I don't employ any rules collecting, basically I'm fucked. And don't even get me started on Anraku John. Believe me I understand your quandary. My rule with Anraku is: collect every version of every sculpt I can get my grubby little hands on. EDIT: As someone who has completionist tendencies and who already collects too many toy lines, I try to refrain from collecting any new lines of toys I am already not collecting. With the exception of Utsugiyo this has been fairly easy to do the past couple of years because I haven't really enjoyed many of the newer makers coming out.
Umm, don't know what this says about me, but though I am far from a completionist, I have broken every one of those rules above. Not sure I really set any rules for myself, for certainly they would quickly be broken. I generally just buy what I like, that is the only rule I stick to. If there is one 'guide' that haunts me though, it is the amount of money spent on any toy. There is no hard and fast rule, but it is more of a 'toy intuition' thing I have always had. But damn has it gotten me in some jams and caused me a lot of regrets over missed toys. PS - those rules are all very admirable, and I respect anyone that is able to stick with them. In the end, your collection only has to please you, that is the #1 rule. Anything beyond this, and you are overthinking it or buying for the wrong reasons.
I'm definitely an all-painted, one-of-each-sculpt kind of collector. I did break that rule on one occasion, though... with the Gargamel fighter, Gameppa. I have two different versions, both GID, and I love them so much. There's no way I could choose between them and sell one, so I guess I'm stuck with both! Also, I think I'm going to break that rule again if I get a repeat Gargamel sculpt in this years LB that has a really nice paint scheme. They're just so much fun that I think I can break my rule again.
All broken heh ^^;; Pretty much just collect/buy what speaks to me. The only rule I really implement on myself, and have only occasionally broken, is don't buy or enter a lotto for a sculpt I love, in a color I'm not as big on. Generally speaking I'm not super big on dark colors (vastly prefer bright, neon, or pastel colors), so even though I really liked, say, the PK Kraken, the Hyper Kraken color wasn't what I would normally go for, so I skipped entering the lottery in lieu of waiting on a colorway that suits my tastes more. I don't want to end up winning something that someone else would love more *wholly* for both sculpt and color, while I would love it largely for sculpt but a shade less for the darkness of the coloring. I have one Nekomata/wolf set, and it's the black version, and I LOVE LOVE the sculpts and I surprised myself with how much I do like the paint, but in rank terms, since bright colors are crack for me, the recent lemon yellow or upcoming hot pink probably would trump it for me. That was one example of when I broke my rule!
My general rules to collecting are: no unpainted vinyl (unless GID), no clear vinyl (unless it's darkly colored), no 4-legged toys (don't display very well), no toy with beaks (weird rule?) , no cutesey toys, no lamé vinyl (unless it's black vinyl). That's it Well said.
When I first started collecting I would buy what ever I liked, didn't matter what it was or who made it. Now I've learned to focus and buy only certain pieces. My main rule is, Only Gargamel. When I see something that I really like(anything with bears) or a figure with the Tokyo colorway, I admit I will break my rule.
Not even for last years Gargamel Lucky Bag Garuden? Ill admit beaks arn't my thing ether but having the toy in person it looks pretty badass.
Well i respect your standards for collecting i was just curious for the most part. Ill pretty much like any toy as long as the colors gel well with me. I try to find the best qualities in pieces no matter what they are super detailed or not.
I started collecting with no rules but now I have to set some : focus my collection on classic kaiju sofubi and Yokai and more specifically on some makers : USTOYS, Buta no Hana, Bear Model and Sunguts and trying to collect only one version of each character. But I'm weak and I break every rules all the time.
Did not know that there were certain rules to collect, is something like the ten commandments of the collector? Mea culpa; I have noticed that whenever I see a bootleg figure of Ninja Arashi, I feel the compulsion to buy it.
The only rule I tend to stick by is to never purchase something that won't be able to be displayed with the collection. One of my biggest gripes with anything is not being able to display it or have it fit in with the collection as a whole. All the rules listed above would be ideal but I could never follow any rules in general so it would never work for me. I'm in a constant battle between blank and painted vinyls. But my collection. Has a fair share of both and probably will for some time to come. But if I don't think I can display it or know when it'll fit in I tend not to purchase or hunt down.
Don't really use any of those rules & not a "one-per-X" collector. If I'm in love with a sculpt, the more the merrier. Have tried to implement a "only toys painted by the original artist/maker" rule (sorry to all the customizers out there), but there's always room for exceptions (Medicom Glutamine being a recent example). Most applicable from the above list would be the "size range", due to ever-diminishing shelf space. But again, if the toy is too good to pass up, space will be made.
I try to stop myself from buying things that are blind bagged/blind boxed. I never seem to have very good luck when it comes to lucky bag contents.. We have a shelf full of unpainted/blank GID toys in our bedroom and I try real hard to keep it to unpainted and blank GID toys, but sometimes I find one that has a few little paints apps and I can't resist!
