Happy New Year! Not exactly new year resolutions, but could be. Curious if others have plans. I have a few. Wire up lighting in my display cabinets. (Already started! Made some sketches, took measurements, and ordered components.) Dust my toys Go to GamJam in October and score some sick plastic dolls and weird arts. DONE! Commission some painting for the box full of blanks I bought over the last year. Stop hunting for toys every day. Maybe just look once a week and see how lucky I get.
Great goals, Blake. I don't do 'resolutions' but I can totally see setting some goals like this for myself, I'll have to give it some thought. Mostly my immediate impulse would be to knock off one of the main toys on my hunt list, but to be frank, with what is going on with vintage right now, I honestly think more and more each day that might never happen. GamJam looked SO absolutely amazing this past year, I wish this for everyone. The place to be, for sure. Rad toys, cool dudes, fun atmosphere; being there just for the experience, not to score any exclusive or get access to some hyped new thing - this is toy collecting as I like it.
I need to go to a meetup/show this year on the west coast, likely either Gam Jam as well or Summer Slime. DCON would be a dream
I haven't been to a show in years. it would be nice to go to one. This year, i think i'd feel pretty good about just sticking to my list of go-afters.
#5 sounds like one I’d like to also attempt, frankly. I spend way too much time window shopping online.
I’d like to be more adamant about displaying. I have maybe 1/4 of my collection out. I hate where I live, and have since I moved in over a year ago, and it’s stifled any desire to make the spot my own. Once I move somewhere I’d actually *like* to be, hopefully soon, I’m goin’ all out on displays. I want to be able to show off to myself every time I come home. I also really, really want to get back to photographing toys regularly. Not even just in my usual “infinity glass style studio shot”, but also out and about in various times and landscapes. I miss it, but have suffered immense lack of creative drive. I can feel it lighting up again and hopefully I expel some rad images this year. This is a great thread idea.
I need to buy less toys and sell some of the ones i've hoarded over the years. I'm not going to sell any Japanese toys, just a lot of the stuff i've picked up at boot sales and in charity shops. I also need to get rid of a lot of books too. I've finally become sick of all my clutter and need to get my shit together.
I have a similar issue. Although I like where I live, I'm nervous that the rent will increase too much each year or the owner will sell to a developer that plans to scape the lot and put up condos (I'm renting a house). I like not having the worries of a homeowner, but the tradeoff is the worry of housing instability and having to pack up and move. Makes it feel a bit like a chumps game investing time and energy settling in. What I've been trying to remind myself is that even if I only have a few months to enjoy a setup I really like, the good vibes will be worth it.
Really want to try parting with some toys + other belongings this year and take the family on a trip to Taiwan & Japan. That would be a dream.
Dude--the house we lived in before now was a nightmare--but carving out your space does make it that much better. i remember still stressing about it--but it was still much nicer than with everything packed away. i figured, i'm there--i'm just going to own the space until i leave.
: Continue with the Swedish Death Cleaning. : Get all the prints/artwork framed and up on the walls! : Buy less random crap. : Set aside time for more dumb lemon nonsense. : Build a spray booth and f*ck shit up. : Dust. : Travel (ideally toy related, but not essential). : Don’t die.
similar to last year. focus on buying less, getting rid of the unnecessary, and work on paying off debt/saving. With the price of toys soaring up the way they have, i'll likely only pick up a few pieces throughout the year that are under the $300 mark. last year finally came to the conclusion that more is not always better and i actually appreciate my collection much more now that it is much smaller.
Really enjoy your studio shots; they show a level of expertise and professionalism, which really allow the toys to shine. They remind me of the sort of photos you'd see in a catalogue for an expensive art auction - perfect and allow the item to be examined and appreciated without distraction. With that said, your impromptu, candid photos, of people and toys always show your skill and creativity. I enjoy seeing them and the outcome is no less professional but your personality, imho, tends to come through. Both are great but I look forward to seeing more photos 'in the wild'. As for me, one simple goal - last year I focused on not buying because I felt I 'needed' to complete, had fomo or thought 'that would be a fun piece to own' - I refined my collection and did my best to keep focused. For the most part I felt better for it - less spent and when a toy did arrive, I really did appreciate it, rather than it being one of a few that arrived in the month. In 2021/22 I felt that more often than not, once they'd arrived, they ended up in a storage box rather than a shelf, where they should be. I guess it is all part of collecting and how you view it; personally, the this approach works for me. I also want to continue to support artists I respect; namely artists who approach the industry with respect and not simply to milk the gravy train.
Real struggle here for me. I think I'm at like 20+ framing projects pending. I got to the point I can't justifying any more artwork until more stuff gets framed. But if I spending money on framing that's money I don't spend on toys! haha. My big toy goal for the year is to pare down the collection to only what I can display (this is more so for action figures than vinyl). If it would need to be in a box it probably needs to find a new home. Other big goal is lighting. Got the nice cabinets and acrylic stands and all that, but nothing is lighted. Need to fix that this year for sure.
My missus and I have very different tastes, so we buy stuff but can never agree on 'the perfect frame' or 'the perfect location' or 'the perfect combination', but we've decided to say f*ck it, there is no 'perfect', and whatever/wherever/however stuff gets hung will work - it'll be crazy eclectic, but all stuff we dig - regardless whether it sits together in a conventional way or not!
Yeah, this all over. As much as two people can have different tastes in things but still get along, it seems to me that few things can be as polarising as 'what gets to go on the wall.' (and where)
My goal is to work on the compulsive aspect of being a collector. I know what I love but sometimes I get distracted and excited by something that if I looked at more I wouldn't be so into (after it arrives). I need to slow down and realize before I spend money that the item in question is questionable. Stay in my lane. I would rather have less while having more of what is true to my liking.
I put a moducase into a cart everyday and then I look at my space to display and think "oh cool more cramped area display". Patience to find the right area to display is difficult.
i SHOULD do this...but i don't want to start the year fuqing up, haha. plus it feels so shitty to check (after not checking for a few days) just to see EXACTLY what i was looking for for exactly the price i was hoping for sold out. At least 3 figures slipped through a very narrow "break period" this year doing dumb shit like "not looking". i collect. i look. the internet is like a deep ever-changing bin of toys i can look through anytime...i can't help it. my list is relatively small and of older things, so i look so that one day, i don't have to. ...but. i ought to. so i feel you guys.
I think I missed out on at least 10 toys over 2023 exactly like that, but then hit a couple toward the end of the year that were real surprises. Especially the greenbeard Koji Rokuron I picked up. Although I may miss out on more by looking less, I am hoping I come up with more surprising finds.
Ahh I don’t think I’ve looked at mandarake for a month, then read this thread and took a look. Added two things to the cart then remembered I’m unemployed and closed out lol.
As a collector of anything, it's very difficult to say, "I have enough." We've been at this for 17 years and I know many of you for even much longer. That need for acquisition is like an unquenchable thirst. Nate and I are older now and are experiencing wanting more from our collection. We want to be able to enjoy them, so displaying what we have chased and worked so hard for is a priority this year. I miss taking pics of our stuff too. I have my setup all ready. I really need to make the time. My workload this year has been insane. Nate's department has staffing issues. They went on strike. The time to enjoy our hobbies was pushed aside as we were in survival mode. I believe a lot of people have been and still are in this mode. So I am hoping we can all get back to where we can enjoy our time again with our hobbies, each other, family and friends. So starting with DISPLAY and going from there and hoping for a better 2024.
