I can see where you are coming from. I kind of went hog wild for the past couple of months and was getting boxes in pretty much every other day on average. It's just too much. I find that the more figures I get in, the less I like them. Not due to anything about the figure in particular, but due to the sheer volume. I'm trying to keep it to 1-2 figures at a time now. I think that way each figure comes in on it's own, and not with a group. Sometimes it's hard not to pull the trigger when something new comes out, but in the end I feel better having not done it.
Like a few people have said on here, you'll always be collecting something. If you were able to transcend Earthly goods, you wouldn't be on a message board. I've collected stuff for a long time be it comics, toys, whatever. With Kaiju I didn't want to suffer buyers remorse. Every time I look at something besides Secret base and mini cats, I just talk myself out of it, because I don't want a bunch of random crap. I'll always collect stuff, I like displaying it and seeing it. I've got posters and toys and what have you in my living room, and my wife loves them, so that's just not going to change. Plus there is nothing like displaying them, moving them around and then putting them back to put a smile on your face. That or making them glow in the Dark
Ha, I deal with this often myself (i think its part of a OCD nature). I have days where I just hate the stuff and im like damn, the things I could buy. Then I have days where im driving and i think fuck, how cool is a skullbrain, or this or that and cant wait to get home and look at it. Then there are other times where I just stare at them and im like what now? can I eat them? they look so tasty and colorful.
Yea. I'm at a point where I'm thinking things over. I've got a 3 Detolf limit and I'm almost at that. Plus, do I really need a dozen Fortune Cats and Rangeas? As much as I love them, part of their appeal to me was hunting them down. Now that I've managed to, they're just sitting pretty in my case. We'll see how things go. Also being on vacation and not having constant internet access has given me some time off.
It is similar for me too. I started by just wanting to by Gigan stuff. That graduated into Godzilla stuff too, then Hedorah, then anything Godzilla related, then anything Toho related. I got really into Marmit godzilla vinyls, and they certainly aren't cheap. I stumbled upon this forum looking for some cryptozoology vinyls I had been searching for, and signed up. Boy was that a bad idea lol! That certainly opened the door to Kaiju and 'whatever-else-you-want-to-call-the-pretty-colored-vinyl-monsters'. Being on here has certainly side-tracked me from my original line of collecting, but some of the stuff out there is so damn good. I really have to sit on my hands sometimes seeing some of the good deals that pop up. I have never left my childhood. I knew when I was younger that toys would always be a part of my life in someway. I think any collecting hobby is healthy, until it gets to the point of an obsession, then that naive and childlike compassion starts to dissipate. I have seen some people become real cutthroats over a freakin' toy that they wanted, a toy ffs! Still, harmless fun if your just a big kid about it. The way I look at it, I pay my bills, buy my kid stuff, and my GF, why not enjoy something myself too? One day my kid will get all my stuff, and he can sell it, keep it, add to it, whatever. Where am I going with this? No idea!
you need bigger vinyl challenges and forget about your vacation blues and detolf limitations. rangeas and fortune cats are walk in the park for u. start by making mutant heads, zyurai-asus or the 30 1st run GID Bemons as your focus. that should keep you collecting for the next 5 to 20 years trying to complete them. or an easier way will be to break-up your rangeas and give the white one to me, then start collecting them all over again. i recently traded it away and am looking for it again, this way my interest in rangeas can be sustained
I've felt that way about some of my toys...when the hunt becomes more fun that the toy. it's weird because you still have love, but somehow you got caught up in the fluff. I think if the stuff was easier to get, it wouldn't seem that way--it'd just be fun to have. PM sent
My take on collector's remorse pangs is somehow if you get them, is sometimes "the chase" is more fun than "the kill" if that makes any sense. The strongest aspect of the nostalgia I have for the stuff I collect comes from the experience I had as a kid hunting this stuff down. The magic of running around a new toy store/discount store/drug store and then coming across something cool you never saw before. Actually getting/keeping the toy is a whole other thing but whenever well intentioned relatives/friends got me stuff I wanted as a gift I felt cheated. I wanted the hunt. Not just some thing in a box with the wrapping paper on it. When you collect as an adult, it's almost as if you're building your own little toy store in your home. Almost recreating the experience... But not exactly... So you go out and buy more, and repeat... And repeat. While I wish there were more "magical" stores out there that sell cool stuff so you can see it in person, I still think I would not have the Microman collection I have now if it weren't for the relative ease of buying/selling on eBay and Yahoo! Japan and on boards. And it changes my attitude towards buying and selling since I don't really feel like I am "married" to any particular thing I own. If I have no use for it and I don't want it, it's sold so someone else can enjoy it. Also, I think having a decent way to display/store stuff makes a difference. I used to think basic concepts of interior design were silly and stupid for average folks, but you know... Pay a bit more for a nice way to display things and you can sate yourself in another way.
My ex used to make me feel bad about collecting the toys that I collect. Sure, they are expensive. But I pay my bills. I save money when I need to. I feel that my disposable income is for me to spend how I see fit. When I first got into collecting these toys, I would buy anything that interested me in the slightest. I was getting packages nearly every single day, if not more than one a day. At one point, I looked at my Chaos collection of around 25, and thought 'I'm not into these anymore.' I recently sold / traded most of them off (right now there are three stragglers left behind). He's a very cool character, and I'll always remember that Chaos was the sculpt that got me into RxH, but I am way more interested in Hone Borg now (and have also recently become interested in Ichibanboshi's Ryusei Ninja). Limitation is key -- I think going balls out for a long period of time makes you not appreciate what you have purchased. You get the package, open it, and just place it on the shelf. Just another toy, no excitement. Like others have said, if it wasn't this, it would be something else. I have been a collector of various things since I was little, and I'm sure a vast majority of others here have been as well. This is great advice. I used to have stuff kind of mish-mashed together on my detolf shelves. I am still in desperate need of risers for a few spots, but the last time I rearranged my collection, I thought it looked 10x better than it did before. I almost feel like I need to buy risers before I buy anymore toys. Almost.
this is true for me. I would beg my mom to drive me to Japantown in LA Traffic and I would just pace the aisles staring at all the die-cast robots in the glass cases. I'm trying to replicate the sense of awe at home with detolfs...lol... I recently saw the giant Kamen Rider that was outside the toy store in LA. It's been saved by the dudes at Anime Jungle only a few doors down from where the original store was. Anyone remember the name of that original toy store?
FWIW, I realized that visiting art galleries and museums make me feel the same way in a way. Cool things nicely displayed. Too bad here in the U.S. the classic "door to door" salesman is gone so all you're faced with is chain store after chain store with little variety.
I've had those evenings, where you think maybe you're thinking a little too much about toys.... I used to collected G1 Transformer toys and the original Diaclone/microchange toys they were based on, I once spent $600 on a single toy... and I thought what am I doing? I sold it and I don't regret it. Like others have said, you have to post boundaries for yourself. Unfortunately each persons boundary is different. I've collected so many toys, I've got so much stuff in storage... One day I'd like to have a setup like Frank Kozik's studio with toys everywhere... (I can dream right?) Right now I'm thoroughly enjoying Kaiju Toys- but I'm limiting myself. I stick as closely as I can to just Secret Base. I also find that I enjoy creating more then collecting. So I paint, and thats what keeps this hobby really fresh for me. It's also good because I don't have to hunt down anything too specific/expensive... I just wait till I see a good deal and pick it up to paint. Right now I only own 7 production piece figures. (For the record- DBM Mask Skullbrain, White Horror Skullwing, FC small Skullmerry, B-Man Skullbrain, S7 anniversary GF, clear grey Ika Gilas, and Midnight Marauder Squirm) But I've painted many more- I think I have about 10 hand-painted figures I've done in my collection and I am proud of them. Plus, its a bonus to know other people appreciate my work, and sometimes people like them enough to want to own them, and I can trade for stuff, or get some money to buy more toys to paint. Another way I'm trying to limit myself while sticking to my personal tastes is that I'm starting a collection of just custom handpainted pieces- it will be unique, a collection from many different artists in a media I enjoy and it will never be a torrent of things I need to pickup. I can collect at a leisurely pace. I've just started it with a mean custom Chaos by Motorbot from the Chaos Swap some of us participated in, and I can't wait until the Secret Base one is done because that means I'll get another awesome piece like no other! The zag contest was awesome because so many people took part, and we got to see so many different takes on a single idea. Pickle, your Bizarro Zag was my personal favorite. Well yeah so thats my rant on this. Its like Ben Franklin said- "moderation in all things, including moderation." phil
