sitting in office trying to figure out my packing situation for moving, and a thought pops into my head that i've had at least 2 other times. "what if i just sold all of this, or almost all of it. would i regret it, or could i just not look back at what i had and observe from a distance".

so my question is, has anyone ever contemplated just giving up collecting?

my new place is going to be a lot smaller so my unfortunate choice of dokugan collecting is not looking so good right now. i'd like to try and save as much space as possible by not having to buy detolfs and cabinets for toys, so cutting ties with a lot of my stuff is a tempting options unfortunately.

yeah, i contemplate this often.. sometimes i look at all my toys and think about how much shit i consume. i also feel guilty sometimes thinking about people in the world who can't even put food on the table and that makes all this shit seem so pointless and excessive. i clearly never feel guilty enough to give up this hobby completely, and i think that's because i've been a collector in one for or another since birth.. i am, however, constantly evaluating what i can live without, scaling back, or shifting focus..

Reminds me of this thread from a couple years ago:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22250

almost like i should have just dug the thread back up, because it seems to capture exactly what i'm going through right now

Never got as far as giving up, just trimming the fat and focussing more.

Unfortunately, from where I'm sitting, most of the fat has been trimmed, the freezer is full and I'm still hungry . . . I'm on fire with the food metaphors tonight!

This is just so weird. I just finished off a blog entry {just for myself, as I don't really care who else reads it..} on how I began.

I think over the years, there have been many musings like these and for me it comes down this: I am forever enamored with the artistic catharsis I get from looking at or hopefully even touching a particularly well sculpted kaiju. Its painting scheme, its touch of yokai folklore I'm learning about only now...

I have come to realize that multiple hundred of dollars spent on a Bemon or Anraku is not reasonable for me, but for some, it is perfectly ok. I don't envy them, I don't resent them. I know how they feel and I can identify with that feeling.

So, as such, I'll never quit, as this is simply about another thing that is me. I own up to it, I identify with it. It is me.

Die Hard Never Sell (my collection)
Just some trimming from time to time like Andy said.

^ By the look of it, it seems that some of 'em did quit - the board at least.
I always tell myself that I'll slow down, even if I consider that I'm more
a enthusiast than a collector. I don't think it works.

So Tofu, I notice your posts still have your "wants list" linked

i never said was done the idea was just there, and in reality i'd never sell everything anyway. just 80% or so. i have a couple pieces i refuse to get rid of unless a desperate situation. i'd rather they sat in storage then sold.

all the time.

I've cut back quite a bit on collecting, but I'm still not at the pace I want to be.

I think about how much money I've spent on this stuff in the last three years and it floors me sometimes. I think about other things I could of done with the money, but what's done is done. Sometimes they do a great job cheering me up when I'm in a rut--so long as they're not the reason I'm in one.

I dig my toys from Japan in the end, and it was fun while it lasted, but I feel like I'm mentally and financially gearing up to move on. I think I'll keep most of my junk, but I'm not too thrilled about the idea of starting another display cabinet at all. One is enough for me--another would just get kind of silly, I mean they just sit there...how many hundreds/thousands of dollars just sitting there! I guess if I made a lot more money than I do now, had a bigger place, and time and money to go full-on into other things I'm into, then I maybe I wouldn't feel the same way...but I dunno. It's still a lot of stuff just sitting around. I feel like it's an anchor of sorts.

I'm seeking my own sense of balance these days. there's so much more stuff to be into that doesn't cost a lot of money, and so much stuff I could be doing instead of just consuming. ...and so much in my life I need to invest more of myself into.

Before all this, I remember being more involved in relationships/connections and things I can do rather than things I can have. I mean, I don't think being 100% into this hobby makes you shallow or some kind of prick--I only speak for myself and I just feel like I'm going against my nature sometimes. I love seeing collection shots and show pics and seeing how stoked everyone is to find something they think is cool or meet someone they look up to. Nothing like it!

so yeah.

I was just talking to someone else about this the other day. Before japanese toys, it was other action figures and anime toys. But it was mostly DVD's! I thoroughly enjoy art(all aspects) but mostly visual. I would consider most of the board to be of like mind and enjoy art as much as i do. Whether it be visual, literature, or performing etc. Although most of the toys here aren't considered to be art and are "toys" it's still up to the individuals perception. If I didn't collect toys, i'd probably still collect other forms of art like movies or music. In one way or another, you're still supporting artists.

I think this has passed through all our heads for one reason or another. For me it's been all of them listed above, but I'm the same as Andy and Mark and just trim the fat when I need to(though my collection is a lot newer and probably smaller than both of theirs).

That said, what if you had to get rid of most of it. What 5, 3, or even just 1 toy would you keep? Anyone know off the top of your head? Maybe this is a topic for another thread.

Pushead stuff! And the cats, I've come way too far with the cats to let go now.

I think if you do decide to quit you should keep it RFSO and sell everything for 5% of what you paid for it in the BST, keep your one favorite piece and go out of the hobby in a blaze of awesome RFSO glory. RFSO!

My thoughts exactly.

No kidding. I've just about pared down to RxH cats, several Balzac releases and the S7 Stomps, Squirms and Mongolions. That's a hell of a lot more refined than I was several years ago.

It takes a huge leap to say "fuck it" to entire lines of toys one has been collecting for several years, but it's totally doable. I started my purge when it looked like we were going to move as well. Now if I can just figure out an easy way to move 30,000 music CDs and 62,000 comic books, I'll be "mobile."

I collected Japanese toys very heavily from 1990 or so up until about five years ago. At that point, the loft in my studio was filled with toys both on display and in storage, as well of boxes of stuff in storage at the house. At some point, I just stopped - maybe it was after I sent an huge stack of postal money orders to Masato, and realized i was spending too much. Sometime in 2008, I started looking for a likely sucker to take everything off my hands, lock stock and Barugon. Some other stuff happened in the meantime, like breaking up with my wife, and all that got put on the back burner.

Then at the beginning of this year, I was looking for something to do as work avoidance on a commercial project that was driving me crazy. i started digging out boxes of toys to photograph, stuff I hadn't touched or looked at in years. I spent several weeks cleaning, cataloging and photographing toys. It really cleared out the cobwebs creatively, and helped me get a get over my depression about my impending divorce. I even started collecting toys again, mainly after seeing a NagNagNag vinyl on Lamour Supreme's flickr stream.

I'm really glad I didn't get rid of my collection.

I think anyone looking at their collection and thinking where all that money could have gone (could still go!) will hear a little voice saying: "what's the point?" Sometimes it's quiet, sometimes it's loud.

I'm thinking about quitting constantly these days, like I always do following a heavy bout of buying. But for now, collecting gives me pleasure, and I haven't cut back on anything else to buy toys, so I suppose I will continue for a while.

The great thing with this hobby is that if you ever decide to get rid of everything, you can probably get all the money you put into it back - maybe a bit less if you sell it here, maybe a bit more if you go on the bay... Or so I tell myself to justify every penny spent!

The thought has crossed my mind a couple times, but what usually happens is that that I sell off some stuff that no longer interests me, pick up some stuff I missed or have grown to like and then I'm back into it again...

Should we just rename this thread the Kaijuholics Anonymous? Or that's like the subtitle of this forum to begin with? Kinda redundant..

OK, I must be in the beginning stage of this with some Gargamel I'm hunting. I hope I don't do the 180--right back into it.

Highly likely . . . 2-3 years back I sold off the dozen or so Zags I had to fund getting up to date on Pirates & Captains . . . I'm now back chasing virtually the same Zags!

It's just a vicious cycle for me...If I wasn't collecting Kaiju it would be something else..

I can honestly say I have found more joy in what I'm collecting now than ever before, there's just a certain appeal to it that I have never gotten out of anything else I've collected...

There might be a month or two that I get bored and stay away from the board awhile and not buy any toy's, but then when that feeling passes I'm back in the saddle again!

One thing I do know is that "completism" will drive you CRAZY, that's why I stay far away from that shit now!!!

oh fuck--we'll somebody sell me the GID walking Hedo so I can call it a day!