I think we all have some guide lines we use to collect toys. My "rules" seem to change over time but I want to know what other people's guidlines are? In a world full of cool toys how do you decide what to buy?

I buy what i like-unfortunately i seem to have very expensive tastes..Thats it..

Because of the inability to spend copious(sp) amounts of cash, I like to collect one artist/toyline at a time.SB is a good example, I was buying everything that was coming out, but eventually focused my collection on my absolute favorite scuplt,GF, and sold my other stuff to help complete the collection.

My main rule is that I only buy things made by Pushead. (I'm compulsive, completist & elitist!)

I pick up other random jp toys like booska and matango cause they are totemo kawaii ne.

For western stuff, I buy toys by artists I like (Flores, Monroe, etc,), not designer toys (hazmapos, muttpop etc). There are some exceptions like the tokyoplastic set. And there is the set of toys we won't talk about here .

I have a dollar limit per toy so as much as I want 99 companions, it's not happening. I also try to imagine wanting the toy 10 years from now, as well as being ok with owning it if the value totally tanks. (which is where I get nervous about the you know whats.)

For Japanese stuff, it seems to be all about transparent vinyl and smooth, not too monstery sculpts.

The toy money and the art money come from the same budget, so it's often also about what canvas or custom I could buy instead.

I used to have one rule: no single toy over $100. Now I have no rules.

I buy what I like... but at the same time, TRY to limit myself to what I preceive as "rare and desirable" ... so if there is something else I want more (whether it be toys or shoes or comics or whatever) I have an easier time unloading it (at least sell it off at cost) to raise funds. the "rare and desirable" ones are more fun to get and gives me a false sense that I have accomplished something.

you may thing this mentality is all that is wrong with collecting... but i'm being honest, and I know alot of other people do this whether they think they are or not.

I see... I like... I buy... (as long as there is money in my PayPal account - the rule is that the PayPal account has to be self-funding from selling other toys).

If I could do that I wouldn't have gone thru two re-fi's to pay off my Heloc's - its a great idea, but I find it pretty hard to part with stuff - which is why my recent sale had so much stuff in it - I never get around to selling stuff along the way.

I totally feel this way. Every time I tell my wife what a figure is worth she says "yeah but you'll never sell it".
Sure I buy what I like, but if it's mass produced I wouldn't feel that way. Toys R Us has some cool figures every once in a while, but I'm not going to collect them. I have two old Spawn figures, but I don't care to display them with figures that I know have value to them.
I love collecting Secret Base figures. I don't know I'd feel the same if they made 1000 of each figure or started selling them at Toys R Us.
I use to like the [expletive deleted] when they had the Halloween set, the 666 Bear and the Toyers, but once they go to the happy, cute and gay theme. I loose interest in them.

So I'd say I like to collect figures that have a limited run, with a death or skull type theme.
Still one of my favorite figures I own is a True Ogre figure from Tekken.

The only rule I try to adhere to (and this makes me stand out like a sore thumb around here) is The Highlander Rule: "There can be only one".

Multiple colorways of the same toy cause me to lose interest quickly. I mean, what is this? Pokemon? "Y'gotta catch 'em all!" Barf.

Obvious exceptions to this rule for me being when a killer glowie variant is released. I mean, c'mon - glowie's a gawdamn gimmick fer chrissakes.

Otherwise:

If I like it and can afford it, I buy it.

If I like it and can't afford it, I steal it.

If I get it and hate it, I sell it.

If I get it, hate it, and can't sell it boy do I look stupid.

1. I want to look at at it. a lot.

2. the purchase price doesnt compromise me financially. 1 dollar or 10000 dollars the money for it has to be 'extra' money that can be safely blown.

my only rule is that it's not made by Kozik


JUST KIDDING!!!

I don't really have rules, I just have to like it, and in order for me to like it it's most likely got to be horrory/monsterish in nature

Jeez, with a OCD type of mind this is another world I shouldn't have gotten into. A few years ago I got into this with BxH but couldn't really afford many then and were hard to find. Plus TT.com hadn't launched but was on it's way, so in the meantime I slowly slipped over to KR and watched it grow and the Western world etc..

Now, im back to JP land and have learned to discipline and really think about whats worth looking at for a long time versus whats cool at that moment without thought. Making sure I am not just freaking out at first site and knowing what I truly find aesthetically pleasing in the long run. That and never buy into hype which I usually don't. I can say the OF KvP and SDCC Obake Dog have been the first that I put on a shelf and never think twice about selling (as well as a few BxH pieces).

If I had access to all the handpaint versions of KvP, Pirates, and Skullwings. I could end my collection at that point, (save for new BxH releases ). The discovery of SB and RxH is just a road to my destruction that im pacing myself on....help

( and Paul Kaiju's pic posts are opening my eyes up to yet another world of weird vinyl, rehab is next)

1. Buy what you like and enjoy, that way if it doesn't retain it's value you still have something you enjoy. Want an investment? Play the stock market - it's a safer bet.

2. Buy it when you see it 'cause it ain't gonna be there when you think about it and return to purchase it.

I try very hard to find details I don't like about something I have an interest in. I let even the most minor detail/flaw dissuade me from buying.

Buying what you like is a nice idea, but it's a problem when you like everything.

My collecting is character driven, so the fight stuff and patchi-kaiju hold zero interest for me. I only collect things that are related to movies/manga I grew up on.

Originally I only collected Gamera stuff, and of course all of his enemies. Then I decided I would start buying stuff related to Daimajin. Then Yokai Monsters. Things really got nuts in the late 90's when I decided to start getting some Godzilla stuff, then his foes, especially Hedorah. Then Yog, Gargantuas, and Matango got thrown in the mix.

Now I'm pretty much fucked.

I buy what I like . . . as long as it 'fits-in' with the rest of my collection!

Even though my tastes have shifted over the years and I have bounced from Lau to SB and everything in between I like to view my collection as a cohesive unit.

Space limitations and layout also dictate to a large extent. Some gotta go to make way for other pieces (bye bye Sours . . . hello Dissected Kaws )

It does get hard when cool single pieces get released but it's a good 'reason' not to buy (my completist mentality easily gets outta control).

Luckily the Kaiju section has some 'flexibility'

My obsession sets it's own toy collecting rules.
Rule 1: Must Glow in the dark
Rule 2: Must have no paint, but in some cases a little paint is acceptable
Rule 3: Must be the nice off white to yellowish vinyl (only have a few pieces that are the green vinyl and it pisses me off that they are green.
Rule 4: The sculpt must appeal to me at some level

Having those limitations on my toy budget have saved me form spending insane amounts of money on every single toy I want.
But on the other hand, most unpainted glow items are limited edition to ultra rare and I end up paying a premium price for a lot of it.
Until several very cool people taught me how to use YJA I paid a hefty price for a lot of my glow Kaiju. I have spent a small fortune since learning YJA, but saved a fortune at the same time. Paid half or way less than half of what I would have paid on ebay for a whole bunch of Kaiju, that is if those characters even showed up on ebay!

My rules...

1) Figures that fit into my Halloween collection take priority over random figures.

2) Random monsters and aliens are not considered Halloween figures unless they have a Halloween theme (ie "Pumpkin Guts" Blobpus).

3) A random figure must be loved, not simply liked, in order to be purchased.

4) The presence of mainstream characters must be minimized. The vast majority of figures in my collection should be designer figures.

5) If space for a figure is not available, the figure cannot be purchased.

6) If money for a figure is not available, the figure cannot be purchased.

no rules just consuption,and sometimes buyers remorse.

I've made a new rule the last month. No more buying vynil. I haven't really bought that much anyway. I'm trading for art and that's it. I've noticed my art constantly improving with the constant work of commissions. The toys i've accumulated will never be sold because of the sentimental value of work to achieve them...besides, i'll never get the money back for the time put in anyway. The toys are the inspiration and insentive for my art. ( mumbo jumbo philosophy ).
Of course if the demand of my art wanes....then I'm fucked
Spending money for vynil just doesn't feel the same as opposed to creating something for it. (More fotune cookie babble).