2 cents from a newbie... i started on lurking for several months on different boards (more often on skullbrain)--patiently reading, browsing all the cool photos of collections, picking up on useful infos, etc (nothing beats an informed choice)exposure to all these helps to have an overview to what is out there. it also helps to ask for an opinion via pm to some of the members, who are willing enough to help newbies (in my case). secondly, it helps if you focus on a particular toy maker/artist, or sculpt that you really like. MAKE A SHORT LIST. sometimes if you like the sculpt, the next level is to look for other color schemes. if you end up not wanting these color schemes, and decided that you were able to get what you like, move on to your next project---which is the next artist/maker..and so on...I CONSIDER TOY COLLECTING FROM THE CONTEXT OF A NEXT PROJECT. i understand the feeling of not wanting to let a new cool realease pass---but for me, since i am a newbie, my priority is to hunt for older stuffs , some of which are cool and sometimes cheaper--this adds to the appeal of collecting for me. lessens the confussion and pressure.
Since I stated posting about when you did I thought I might make a few points that I've discovered. A) Does the toy make you want to handle it or pose it or do you get a shit-eating grin when you see it? If yes, buy; if not, don't buy, or wait. B) Would you want to keep it no matter what it is supposedly "worth"? I lucked out on a Fungus Chaos, and when I saw it go for $160 plus on e-bay, I said, Damn, too bad I want to keep it, or I could have made some money on this baby. And the reverse is true, some of the vintage stuff is way too expensive for my tastes. I could get five or six new Max Toy offerings for the price of one Vintage dino-whatever. And, blasphemy, the re-makes are sometimes way better. C) Why not go for diversity and still keep a theme? Max Toy has offered Cronic, Dream Rockets, Rumble monsters, etc... and in some colorways that stand up or surpass anything else they've made so far. D) Imagine you've either bought an item, or have it and want to sell. Imagine how your feelings change for the toy. Just don't get too frustrated. It seems it all comes around at some time or another, and some times for less money, too. E) Unless you've hyper-competitive, don't compare your collecting to anyone else's. Will anyone ever have as many Real Head as Pogue? Doubt it. Ohhh and Ahhhh at others collections, but then go thru and imagine how much money it would cost. Ouch. Remember they're only toys and you can't take them with oyu. Relax, have fun, and try not to go bug-fuck at every new offering.
me, i don't mind being completist over the things i want to be completeist about. I don't do it with everything, only a few pieces. My first complete was gamagons. and then hazmapos. now it's on to dokugans. i still have and love all my gamas and all of my hazmaps. I love these toys. and i've gone beyond being a completist with them to developing a unique collection, cause after you have them all, there's only two things left: 1) wait for another release or 2) customize! i've got eight custom hazmaps now with more in the works and i'd love to get somepone like lash to do me a custom gamagon someday. but most other toys, i'm content to only get one colorway, depending on the offferings....i gotta really be in love with something to make a commitment to get them all. and while it's true that there may be some colorways i dont like as much, it's more about the mass of them....seeing them all together at once. i get kind of a rush when i see whole groupings of identical figures. they dazzle you. like mssrvalmonts minizag collection....how can you not look on that and go, wow!? and i like what man machine said about considering toy collecting as a next project....i can identify with that.
