Pah! ”Winners never quit, Quitters never win” - David Brent (wise sage, guru and prophet, for those who are yet to discover his wisdom)
i love this thread because i think about the life ive built underneath piles of shit ive collected over my lifetime, and living in a one bedroom apartment with my girlfriend. not too long ago i sold some toys from "my favorite toy line" that had been sitting in a box in my closet for nearly three years, as ive kept putting off a custom display and had nowhere else to put them. sold nearly half of them, and it felt really good with zero regret. now i have a handful that i can actually enjoy, and they arent buried in my closet. it got me to go through my bookshelf and get rid of stuff i havent cracked in ages, and that then moved onto my cassettes and records. a mild winter cleaning before the spring, but i feel like i can keep up the momentum of rarely buying new toys, and being able to make room and/or sell stuff that is getting less attention with ease.
For me, this feeling has increased as printed books become more rare, thanks in no small part to ebooks and the push towards digital media. Growing up, books never felt like they were hard to replace but scroll forward three decades and I now have books that would be nearly impossible to find again. I would suggest this parallels with one off/low run soft vinyl toys and supply vs demand. I cannot help but feel that the world without: ‘coffee table’ books, sitting waiting to be browsed, rooms lined with shelves of old books (a smell that is both unique and evocative for many) and even a small shelf, above a desk, which clearly shows the desk owners tastes and interests, will be a far less interesting, and certainly far worse read, world.
This! I've spoken to at least 4-5 more seasoned collectors this year who took a long break, dropped a lot of the old stuff that has become super hype, and returned to find old favourites like Bemon, Anraku and rare fight figures at strangely affordable prices when they do surface. It's cool to see. I'm planning another big clearout soon, maybe the size of last year's sale. Just life and responsibilities taking over. It's cool, doubling down on a few things you really love and letting the rest go to more appreciative homes.
lately, i've been less about quitting and more about slowing...to a stop. when i die, and if i die an old man, i'd like to not leave behind too much stuff for loved ones to have to deal with. i don't want so much stuff that i'm not able to enjoy it (goes in boxes, storage, etc). Can't take it with me, might as well have it out and seen--or pass it on.
Once I started doing this with my main focuses it brought so much fun and WAY less stress back to collecting for me. Finding old Bounty Hunter, Headlock and early street figures and Secret Base/Gargamel fighters and Obake Dogs at crazy low prices and high availability was so rad. But I still shoot for occasional current artists like Splurrt and Paul Kaiju and Slingshot, etc. when I can swing it. More than anything I’d just like to have the energy and care to get out and photograph toys like I used to again.
Have been cutting down on everything for a couple of years now. I'm not quitting, I'm just simplifying and slowing down. I'll have a few nice books, tunes and art pieces to cheer me while I slide further into post-adult decline. I'm not sure whether I'm horrified or amused if Mrs. M takes all my stuff to Goodwill; personally I'd like it all gorilla glued to the cardboard box before they slide me into the flames. Urban Vintage Viking Funeral, yeah! Besides, "Swedish Death Cleaning" sounds like a northern metal band with no followers...
As of October 2023 I’m not quitting. Just more focus. New stuff is neat to look at but I don’t feel I need it, new stuff is expensive for many different reasons and I’ve got to draw the line somewhere. Like a lot of the old guard here I’m having more fun finding old gems for nice prices when they pop up.
I don't think I'll quit collecting any time soon, though I admit, it's difficult to find the magic in newer toys. Doesn't help that prices have blown up while the usd deflates by the second. It's not easy to be optimistic in 2023, but I try, and I prioritize certain purchases in hopes that things will turn out OK and I can buy those secondary pieces in the future. Just gotta keep buying those lottery tickets.
I am on my way out of this hobby for 3 reasons: first of all, after more than 16 years in the hobby, I think I have seen it all. I don't see many new releases that get me crazy about. I'm probably not the only one in that case. Secondly, this hobby is an environmental disaster: made out of fossil fuel, painted with chemical paints, shipped accross the world multiple time, meant to be reduced to plastic crumbles over the year... the joy I have of owning those toys really has a cost on the environment, a cost I'm ready to not pay anymore. At last, since I don't have kids, I want to make my niece and nephew life as easy as possible when I won't be around anymore. My father died years ago from a surgery, I cannot tell you how much time we had to spend looking through his stuff to get rid of them while not living in the same city. I will probably keep one or two figures, but that is. No more boxes filled with toys in my flat or in my basement.
Definitely not cheap, but those prices have dipped a little I think! New colour blanks on YJA in particular are not bad. I would say if one were hungry for a blank/clear 2HB, Space Monster, and even Kougai although they are still very inflated, now is a good time. Paints are a different story, but at least they have not gone up. I say this and then the new giant Zagora head he's producing just went for close to $1500 last auction. Go figure.
I was worried that I'd have to quit buying because most partners just don't "get it." (There is no way I would sell my collection for someone else, I like my toys way too much) Thank goodness I found a guy who not only has zero issue with my collecting, but also thinks they're pretty neat. So no quitting for me! These toys make me happy. But I also feel like the key to enjoying your collection the most is to only collect stuff you're sure you'll want to keep.
I'll be offloading a large majority of my collection around next year and keeping some select favourites. While the toys are amazing and bring such personality to the room, personally I feel hit by record inflation and trying to sustain a family. Pretty much a doompost but times are rough and even with working 6 days a week, the idea of owning a house in the current climate feels impossible and I can't justify to myself squandering what remaining funds I have after the weekly budget on expensive toys as family comes first. I will miss the toys but I've been considering that it is important to spend as much as you can on your family as you do yourself.
I found these 3 pcs. last week when I was cleaning shelves and packing up. I thought that I'd gotten rid of them long ago, which is my point about not getting nuts about collecting. They were toys that I really liked and I just gapped when I stored them. Taking things in a slower and simpler way now, sort of like a drippy faucet that isn't quite off.
I’m almost 6 months late to this conversation.* But that’s because I just got back. Until recently, I had “quit” this hobby. Twice actually. Mine involved two major life pivots. It’s also because I was too exhausted with the sordid side of things; the hustlers, the gatekeepers, the secrets. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s actually quite wonderful. It doesn’t really seem to be prevalent anymore, and I’m so thankful for that. (The only arguably negative I see are what the high-rollers are doing with only a certain handful of artists. They aren’t really shady, they just have more money than sense). I never really quit though. I spent 7 years following along with my favorite artists while, just, not collecting. Some talk in this thread is about bequeathing collections to others (how old are all of you, anyway??). I personally feel it would be super rad to leave behind a valuable and rare collection of anything to anyone who might benefit. We’re not talking about Annalee dolls, here. Anyway, not going to go on a diatribe. Just wanted to say that you can always come back. If you want to. *Maybe too late; no offense, some are making noble efforts, but it’s kind of a ghost town here.
