I haven't really made significant changes to my collecting mentality compared to my post on page 1 (more is more), though I have gotten better about being able to take breaks and not have #FOMO. There will always be a steady stream of stuff coming and going in the usual places. When I am active, I am always on the hunt, checking all over many times a day in hopes of a long sought after gem turning up, but having legitimate compulsive spending issues and recognizing that taking a step back is good for my mental health, getting to the point where I am able to do so is nice. Also, after a certain point of not looking at others' pics, what's hot, what I can't afford (all the ego stuff) I am able to see what I have with a new objectivity and appreciation that I can't see when I am buried in thinking lustfully about collecting all the time and what I don't have instead of what I do.

I somehow thought I'd replied in this thread way back... But I also think the Habs will win the Cup, so what do I know!

Futility is pretty much something I think about whenever I look at my toys (yeah, so dark). Collecting is purely irrational. It can provide happiness/satisfaction, but there is a very fine line that, when crossed, turns a harmless hobby into an addiction. I, like many of you, know of my weakness and have set some boundaries: never borrow/use credit for toys; don't sacrifice anything that would have been for the kids (without spoiling them!); basically only use whatever meager "hobby funds" I have left at the end of the month. That being said, I can't escape making decisions that are definitely OCD-related, completism chief among them.

Several of my complete or near-complete sculpt series include several versions I truly do not like. The Krokus Sleeping Killer or clear with purple Hok Smogun, for example, I actively dislike. Many other models leave me rather indifferent. But I know (I've tried!) selling them would leave an empty hole, a nagging dissatisfaction, indeed a feeling of incompleteness... So I try and accept this irrationality to plug that hole without going crazy. I know I may never own some of my grails (GID Sleeping Killer set, I'm looking at you). So be it.

As someone else mentioned, social media (in which I include sb) is especially evil for addiction. You see people's collections, but have no idea of the context in which it was amassed. Instead of comparing yourself with people of similar means/values, you see the highlights of strangers who may come from wealth, eat instant ramen three times a day, have collected for twenty years, be heavily indebted or even be terrible parents to their kids.

When I started collecting, I actually asked some people what they did in life to be able to afford the number of toys they displayed. No one replied with anything else than variants of "just a working stiff" (who happen to have toy collections worth $50k and above). I'm still curious, and have even actually drafted a few surveys which I've never completed (because I know they would have been taken as some sort of marketing research scam). So for now I just accept I have a collection that will end on the curb when I die, but which is definitely a conversation piece for my friends (pretty much all non-collectors)... and that still provides a few smiles every day.

/rant

I recently bought an awesome teak cabinet and was so excited to finally have a glass-front case to put my toys in. At some point while putting stuff in there, i felt like i hit a sweet spot of what looked best and I got that awesome jazzed feeling you get from seeing some really cool and well displayed toys. Problem was, this sweet spot was reached after putting like a third of my collection in there. So, obviously i stuffed more in there, stared at it, and am now already back at trying to work out how to display everything better. a constant struggle.

I think i’m at about the 4 year mark of collecting now. I went slow for a long while but at some point i def. got into a bit of a ‘completist on autopilot’ zone. It’d def. a shit feeling to look at a large chunk of toys and realize your time and money could have been better spent. (not on real life shit necessarily, but just on stuff you really really dig)

My other big issue is the constant 'grab a chocolate at checkout’ mentality. I mainly shop on here and Mandrake, and am based outside the US, so it's easy to justify buying an extra piece or two from a sale to save on shipping. Mandarake’s especially bad for that. Because of this, i land up with some stuff that I’m 60% into which is really silly (no one said being compulsive is fun ; ) ).

I’m definitely feeling the burnout after 4 years, it’s not just financial though. As a creative person, i find that i neglect personal projects and spend too much time in toyland. (i'm a chronic procrastinator)

I’m also on the verge of another big move and this usually leads to some hard soul searching as to what i’m doing with all this stuff.

i like to believe in the middle way, not to extreme on either side, but toys are a slippery slope. I'd prefer not to spend my time going from cold turkey to collecting fever on an endless loop, not sure i've quite figured that out yet.

All that said, toys still make me feel fucking joyous at times, and as a hobby, this will always be up there for me over most/all other possibilities. Just a matter of making it a healthy hobby, both financially and emotionally.

Since I started this thread, I'll chime in 4 years later...

I'd definitely say my collecting habits swing back and forth like a pendulum. periods of buying and selling swinging to periods of not... Recently the pendulum doesn't swing as far in either direction though; but that is from real life changes. Less income overall and raising retail prices of toys means less buying. It's caused me to be more focused too, I've unfortunately had to make decisions on which toys I pick up and which I have to pass on. I wish I could collect as much as I once did, but it's not in the cards.

That being said, being active in the community and more focused has afforded me the opportunity to make the most of what few purchases I can make. I've picked up some gems and some grails I never thought I'd get.

So my collection is what it is. I'll never have the collection some folks have and I try not to worry about it, with varying results. Like Oli said- I don't put toys on credit cards, or take from the money set aside for the monthly bills. I work a labor job 40 hours a week and support my wife and myself. If I'm lucky the plant has some overtime every couple of months and I get picked to work it. Or someone buys a figure I paint. That is where my "toy money" comes from.

I am on my second round of collecting toys. Collected for 5 years. Hit financial problems. Sold it all off. Took a year break. Back at it for almost 2 years now. Smaller then my first collection but better. I friggen love my toys. I think though that this time around I am a little bit less compulsive. This last weekend I didn't go for three toys that I wanted. Feeling they would bulk up my limited spaced to much with a bit of unneeded redundancy. I am having more fun with what I have too. Taking more pictures. Traveling with toys. Hiking and museums with toys. And last two nights dreaming of toys.

Sometimes I just go sit and stare at them for a few minutes. In a way I think it's my alter.

I'll always chase more but always trying to be wiser about it and continuously thankful for what I have and the amazing talent out there that has created them.

I only have 12-15 pieces. I decided about 3 years ago that this is what I can afford, and I love the hobby too much to just quit altogether, but I had to establish some ground rules for myself. If one comes in one has to go. Period. I have never been happier, and more appreciative of my collection, and the stress (financial) not being there is a huge weight off of my life. I buy like one piece a year when a lucky bag comes out, or when I win a lottery, or when a really cool artist decides to give me a shot at something as a favor. It's perfect. I have to ignore 10 things a day that i like but it's all good. I get to see them on here and on other news sites, and I save all of the pictures to my computer, I live vicariously through you guys basically.

It's all about perspective.

I think it's wise to stay away from all or nothing scenarios in life in general. (Only the Sith deal in absolutes.) It's a hobby, the beauty is you can do it however you want. You don't have to paint yourself into a financial corner. You don't have to spend so much that your family/relationships suffer. I invite you to ponder- what emotional hole are you trying to fill with these packages? do you love toys or do you love the chase? Do you love art, or do you love being first? Do you appreciate the craft or do you use toys as currency? Once you get honest about why you collect, you start to treat the toys with the respect they deserve, instead of being an opportunist or a toy hoarder at best. Yes, friends come by, but mostly it is a hobby where you have to look at what you have bought, so switch it up if you want, don't stare at a toy that personally doesn't resonate to you just because it's rare or hard to find!

Respect the toys and they will give you endless joy. Use the toys and they will use you to destroy yourself.

Aside for my obsession with Rangeas figures (which has now pretty much reached near completion). I no longer buy into that one maker/sculpt/etc collecting habit. Nowadays a piece has to really blow me away before I buy. Granted this method makes me miss a lot of the great stuff at release times but to me this gives me more time to think how bad I really want that toy. In the end though when I look into my cabinets I feel completely happy with my small but carefully selected collection. In short, I've gone through a purification process of collecting.

look at the join date, and it's hard to believe I've been collecting toys for 8 years now.

I'm still buying, I'm very selective though.

Honestly I was at the Armory and some of the other art shows that set up in NYC a few weeks ago and I remember looking at most of the contemporary stuff on display thinking how boring it was, and how I had so many toys that were more interesting. Not trying to stir up the whole art as toy debate thing.

I've never been one to obsess over 1 sculpt, that sounds like hell to be a completionist. Normally I'm good with a couple good colorways of a toy I really like. I find myself basically buying 2 types of toys. the cheap stuff that is fun and exists to be a toy. And stuff I find really amazing, and more like art than toy. I don't buy stuff I find mediocre anymore. or anything that I think is middle ground.

I look at stuff I have, and like i said, some of it just amazes me in it's artistry. I feel very fortunate and appreciative to have it, and to have discovered it. I also feel lucky I've been here for a while and have such a database like knowledge of these toys. I see a lot of new collectors who don't have it, and it's clear looking at their collection they've just entered a bunch of lottos over the last few years or bought mediocre new releases because they've had money to burn when they pop up and didn't have the knowledge of older toys that they could have been chasing down instead.

Its cool to hear the strong appreciation expressed here. Most of those older rarer figures, even from just 1-3 years ago can be pricy at times. This hobby can be ridiculously expensive, it lessened the pain in the wallet for me when I began to mainly focus on one particular area of collecting, it allows me to even justify paying more at times for that one particular item that fits in.

Thank You everybody who helped me build my collection!