Questions About Collecting...

I think this would be the appropriate section so here it goes:

Ok I have been having a hard time dealing with this question. So Im coming to all of you for insight. There are so many cool pieces and sought after toys out there, but getting them all is impossible. What is a good method or collecting strategy?

I try narrowing myself down to a couple artists and figures (sculpts) that I like. Then I tend to buy anything and everything I can by them. It seems to be way overwhelming (financial and economically). I really need to narrow down the collection, but without losing bad ass pieces and opportunities for them.

Many times I find myself with the opportunity to score a figure that is highly sought after. I buy it with practically no hesitation. The thought of being able to get it now and not ever again would suck. So I buy it cause I dont want to lose that chance. This also gets me in trouble cause the price I get it for might not exactly be retail or fair.

Well those are some of the things that bounce around in my head and if you could make out what Im mumbling, please feel free to comment.

Food for thought:
Shy away from being a completest cause its not possible?
Stick to one or two artists?
Only buy colorways really really liked?
Save cash to buy that rarity when the time comes?

Here my collection if ya wanna see it
http://www.skullbrain.org/bb/viewtopic.php?p=182278#182278

 

Here's my two cents.

You can either try to get everything from a line but always know that it's only a matter of time before A. you miss something really hard to get or B. you get something you didn't really want.

I have learned that trying to get everything is personally not the road to happiness. I have pieces that honestly I only bought because I could and now just seeing them in my collection kind of cheapens the rest of it.

Collect only what you really, truly want and you'll never be unhappy.

 

i was actualy thinking about this this morning and breaking it down to collectors who collect by:
brand
artist
color
toy
mix the above


Personaly I just go for what I like and now I'm seeing a color scheme working out. My collection is just about to hit the one year mark with some [expletive deleted], [expletive deleted], rxh, gargamel and misc. others with glows, blues, pinks, and greens. I think I even want a Blythe, especialy if I could get someone like Lash to customize it (hint hint).

i think in the end its all about what pleases you. If you want to have every single mutant evil ever made then go for it. if its about randomness with some color schematic then get the flow going.

Collecting is a self pleasure so please yourself.

ps, considering how rocking your collection is i think your just posting to post. damn, i want some of your stuff.

 

I would also add by character.

 

My advice would be to just go with what you really want. there are many things out there that we like; I'm finding out that much of it I can do without.

I don't have tons of cash to blow on this stuff, so I try to keep it down to what I know I really want to have. There are plenty of pieces out there that I see and want to pick up right away; sometimes losing out on them is OK--in a couple months I'll find out if it's something I still would go after. I dunno...

I've sold some stuff recently that I really liked, but after it's gone, I don't miss it too much. Some of the pieces I wouldn't have sold if the money wasn't needed--but with the exception of one, I've forgotten about the rest already. Kind of opened my eyes a bit.

I guess what I'm saying is that you should sell your stuff. to me.

 

I think that sums it up. A lot of people will say "buy what you like" but that's a little vague. This is a bit more descriptive.

 

I cherrypick the best (IMO) from about twelve (or more) different toy lines. If I miss something with one, there's always something else around the corner. I also really like a varied mashup of colour and sculpts. Makes it much more interesting than row after row of the same sculpt in different colourways.

Being a completist would be too frustrating to me. It doesn't make any sense to buy a lame release just to stay complete when it also means passing on some incredible sculpt by someone else.

 

This is real easy for me.
If it doesn't glow, I don't allow myself to even think about buying it.
That was how I got started on this insane collecting journey.

 

simple...

try to understand what makes you collect. Are you collecting due to rareness or collecting because you love it ?
Understand yourself, and stop the extra desire. Cut it. And you would know you are just being trapped by the marketing stragtegy of those endless variations of releases.

 

I collect what I love, but I am a toy slut, so it's not helping

 

I'm tending to start collecting by color now, since the monochrome shelves have just floored me lately. Although I still only collect what I really like, and if there's something that (heaven forbid) doesn't fit into the color scheme and I can afford it then I'll be on it.

 

Once you have been collecting for a while you will just know what it is you collect. And all the rest will not be an issue. I started out like everyone else grabbing everything. Thats good because you can find what you like. Now all I colelct is RxH. And at that not everything. I grab what I like and keep moving. Right now I'm in a more colorful stage

 

Great advice LASH,I've done tha same thing myself,thank god I have found something that keeps me content and happy(RxH) and just a very few other kaiju piece's...

 

i'm of the buy-stuff-you-LIKE-if-you-have-money camp

 

That's my approach.

I only collect vinyls based on my favorite characters from Toho and Daiei movies. Everything else is strictly off limits.

Keeps things somewhat under control.

 

I have always had kind of a mix and match approach...however I do have a focused part of my collection that's pink vinyl...so there's a lot of solo pieces in there that I display in thematic groups or just in ways that look good...and then the pink collection all together...

Josh said it best. I've always kept away from being a completist as it increases the pressure of something that is supposed to be fun. Also, why buy something you don't like the look/sculpt/color of it...

I just got the Rainbow Kinokeruge (Mushroom Demon)...and I frickin' love it...but the others Demons don't do much for me and are really expensive. I like a few others, but am not going to sacrifice something else I would rather have so I can have the Rainbow set...but I really love that Mushroom guy and had to have it...

collecting is about what you want to own...not what you should own, eh?

lalon

 

Right now, I'm at the stage of buying a little bit of everything. Trying out different tastes and being honest about myself, do I like it? (aesthetically).
I can see, in the future, being at a point similar to what lash said. Maybe not to such an extreme, but getting to a point of narrowing down the focus a bit. Getting to a point of balance and a certain zen with your toys is fun, being anxious and never content with what you have is never fun. I can totally understand wanting (very badly), specific toys, but learning to let go, knowing that a better price will come around, if you really want it it will come, etc. Is, I believe, exceptionally important to finding that inner peace when collecting. Be it toys or anything else in life, enjoy the ride.

 

I think you can do a little bit of everything.

For one company, I go complete on all the characters. For others, I go complete on certain characters (since I like to see all the different techniques/styles an artist uses, and it's easiest to do that across one figure), but I'll also buy this and that of other characters. For a couple of other companies, I just make the odd purchase now and then.

I think collecting has to go beyond "liking" something. When you see how much cool stuff is out there, you pretty much have to say, "I like it, but don't need to own it" for the majority of what you see.

So then collecting (ownership) becomes (for me, anyway) more about the road, process, quest...whatever...For me that includes learning new things (and even a new language), wandering/traveling "in search of," writing about all that (blog, magazine articles, etc) and most importantly, making new friends and visiting them during my travels.

For example, I don't collect Star Wars anymore, but when I did I made a couple of good Aussie friends in Japan. Neither of them collect anymore either, but we still meet up when I'm in town, shoot the shit...never would have happened if we hadn't been chasing Watto's Box with the holo commtech or SS/LT Vaders back in the day.

 

Wow some good insight here. Thanks for the comments. This is really answering some of my questions

I think some of you guys are right when you say that its easy to get sucked in by marketing. Im a sucker for exclusivity and with the ploy of marketing, sometimes I get drawn too much over my head. Evaluating and re-evaluating before making decisions and questioning whether the piece is what your collection is about, is a good strategy before pulling the trigger.

Also, experience definitely helps. Ive turned down and sold plenty of things that I lost interest for and now dont even think twice about buying those types of pieces.

 

Collecting can also be fluid. Meaning, you wake up one day and realize that you no longer care for "X". Or it can be that you no longer care for "A" but you really like "B".

In the end, collect what you truly love and ignore the hype and the scene.
Be pure of heart, as some might say.

 

Well, given all that was available this weekend, I have to retract my previous statement. I was disciplined & turned down some very nice stuff.

But now I feel dirty. Go figure.

 

Buy only from RFSO.

I've got some smoking great deals and I'm not left with that "why did I pay so much for that" feeling. The only thing that sucks is when there are too many good deals here at one time.

 

Great thread! What I have to say has been pretty much covered. This hobby/passion/obsession can go from zero to 60 in a blink of an eye. So deff keep focused and be realistic. I can see being in debt and get into alot of financial trouble if you don't keep yourself grounded.

 

Yeah, I think it does kinda work that way. I'm very limited in what I collect, but that doesn't mean I'm limited in what I like (I believe Vombie made the distinction between buying what you WANT rather than what you LIKE).
I've done the completism thing before, and it's not a path I ever want to wander down again.