i've only been collecting kaiju for just under 2yrs which is no amunt of time really. basically ever since i got back from japan at the start of june i've been totally burnt out on collecting. i dunno if i lost interest or i just got bummed seeing so much stuff come out and not being able to afford/get 95% of it. that on top of other life expenses and getting my hours cut at work alot didn't help. this is the first time i've came on here in about 5 weeks now. dudes who have been into collecting for a long time, has this happened to you? if so, what did you do? just sold all your shit or it came back in time? i got some stuff in the mail about a month ago and haven't even checked it out properly. my cabinet hasn't even been looked at. a similar thing happened to me with vinyl (records) but it only took about a week before i was into it again. i'm hoping something sparks again. maybe a bemon will do it...
Everyone gets burnt out once in awhile. It's all part of collecting anything. Sometimes you just need to take a step back from it and reorganize priorities. I told myself awhile back that once the detolfs became full I'd stop. Then that came an went. Now that's it's sprawled out on top of them and onto another shelf I keep saying "ok after this I'll stop for bit". BUT I know it will have to come to a break sometime. You'll get back into it. Just don't make the mistake of selling hard to find things you'll just want again thinking you were done.
I recently had a similar experience. I got SO bummed on the RxH minis. I was so close to staying complete and after SDCC they released all these new ones and I just said fuck it! So I started selling a few here and there. I'm only keeping the ones I really like and my shelf is pretty much full. I've learned lately that you have to get only what you like, being a completest is way to hard. My goal now is to make my two detolfs full of the sickest shit I can find. All stuff that I get so stoked on when I look at them. Getting new risers really got me stoked yesterday because I was able to organize what stuff I have and it looks so much better. In short, everyone has the lows and highs of collecting, but I agree whatever you get rid of make sure it's not really rare and really hard to track down, you'll regret it BIG TIME. I already have screwed that one up.
Collecting is never easy but that makes it fun too. Don't be too worried when you take time off your hobby. You never know the stuff you really like might not be so hot when you get back in. Then you can buy what you like for a good price. Changing priorities now and then is always a good thing. It shows you are being responsible for yourself and your family.
I think this is key in staying excited over this. If you try and complete then the reason why you started collecting goes out the window. Pace yourself or think of it as a taster's diet. It's sad, but alot of cool people that used to be on this board are no longer on here because of burnout. They woke up one day and realized they were collecting for all the wrong reasons or the obsessive compulsive buying habits took over their lives. These are toys we buy. If we're not playing with them once in a while then what's the point? When we were kids, we bought Star Wars figures. We got a Han-solo and we were happy to get one to play with. Did we even care that there was a variant with a large head floating around?
Whilst I fully understand the completism buzz I agree that it is also the biggest pain in the ass in this game! S'funny you should mention about not selling the rare shit though Hank . . . after selling you the Ubiq I immediately realised it was the coolest production Damaged available and that my collection (whilst in noway 'complete') looked kinda 'lacking' without it . . . just glad another happened by a few months later . . . What was the item that you screwed up on?
Well if it makes you feel any better, at least it went to me, the DAMAGE MASTER. haha. Dare I even mention the item I fucked up on? I think we both know.
personally, i don't think longtime collectors of toy stuff (like 15-20 years) can really relate to what we collect. they can give you advise such as "slow and steady wins the race" but that doesn't really work if you take a break from collecting for a month and then find out you're 10 figures behind (and maybe some are stupid rare and unattainable near retail price) with more and more coming out. part of the fun is trying to be complete on certain lines.. it's too bad these companies don't really take that into consideration. I mean.. i guess you could try, but for that to be possible for someone like me, i'd have to concentrate on probably 1 or 2 sculpts max (like darth hank's damage brains)
ok maybe i'm full of shit.. there's a few things i try to stay complete, but i like so many things! it's hard!
Being a completist is still a fool's game in my mind. Just make sure that you are collecting what interests you and not to keep up with a certain internet crowd. I'm still fascinated by vintage and some of the unique sculpts coming out from smaller companies. The relentless colourways from some companies has gotten really old for me though I still pick up certain pieces. And there is alot of crap being released these days that I just ignore. I am also trying to spend less time on the boards as there is more to life and I am trying to grow in other areas. Have more balance in my life. Obsess less about the scene. etc. Not saying that I don't continue to pick stuff up. Not saying that I'm selling stuff off. But I feel that I've hit a wall as far as toy discussion goes. At the end of the day, I like being surrounded by my books and my random collection of figures. And I am still fascinated by even the early pieces that I have. Nothing has worn off in that area.
taking breaks is good. i went from buying (almost) every DC comic book released for a steady 5-6 years straight, to all of a sudden not buying one for 9 months. It worked out perfect for me, because when i decided to catch back up, it gave me the chance to find some online stores that sell back issues pretty damn cheap, as aposed to constantly spending cover price. The fun part was getting 9 months worth of books within a few weeks! Now I won't run out of reading material for quite along time. same can go for toys. you get to a point where your just waiting for people to sell stuff, and everything that is up for sale you already have. or, you find yourself looking forward to next week or so for some toy to be released. I like looking forward to the next 24 hours, not wasting 7 days thinking about when the next figure i need will come out. if you take a break, and when you come back, the options are endless. granted, this doesn't work well with obtain rare pieces that sell out in your "down time", but there will be more rare pieces to obtain at the next startup...
Getting burnt out on collecting is the brain's natural way of taking a heavy burden off the ol' wallet.
I agree also. I've only been in the kaiju game for a year now but sometimes it great to just sit back and look at what you have rather than what you don't have. Thinking about all the time spent online, the late nights, the narrow auction wins, and scrambling to find the funds, it makes it all worth it when you look through your collection and find some pieces you thought you'd never own.
I've been a collector of toys, LPs and comics for decades now. I've learned my lesson on burn-out the hard way. I'd be so sure I was finished collecting one particular thing or another, only to sell it and then feel some serious regret once I rekindled my collector flame. When I feel boredom or frustration of a particular hobby coming on, I just stop buying. Sometimes I'll even box up the collection, whatever it may be, so that I don't see it day to day and perpetuate the feelings of burn-out. The bug always bites me again soon enough. Then it's time to bring out the collection again, and everything looks new and fresh. Besides, I know myself well enough to realize that if I'm not collecting one thing, I'm collecting another. Moral here, never sell your collections. Trim a few loose ends here and there, sure, but never hock it all. Regret sucks. I agree 100% about not being a completist. There are only a few of toys that I even care to collect multiple colorways of. Buying repeat toys with only slight variations on color or accessories is a sure way to lead to burn out; for myself anyway. Variation is good. Having a dozen of the same/similar toy would defeat the purpose of collecting for me. Nothing looks better than a shelf full of random toys. Toys that you enjoy, not that toys that you feel obligated to buy because this one is a slight variation of the other. Buying toys out of obligation is another way to lead to burn-out. For me. Just my $.02.
thanks for the replies dudes. maybe i need to walk down nakano broadway again in feb to get the spark back or something. darth hank: what's new with the band? i'm obviously on the other side of the world so i'll probably never get to see you play but along with LOJ, TUI and shook ones you guys are the only current USHC bands i give a shit about at the moment. keep it up!
