Quitting/putting collecting on pause

[Damien]

Yeah I think this is a great idea, and I do a similar version of it just minus saving the pics.

Saving the pictures is crucial for me. It's like getting the thing. And then looking at those pictures over and over is like looking at the item in your collection. It's not the same, but the way it hits the brain is similar enough that I can get tired of a figure before I ever even own it.

 

[joshsquash729]

As much as I try not to be swayed by the opinions of others, I have started watching more unboxing/reviews of other collectors. I don't watch it hoping to be swayed one way or the other, even if that's technically the goal (though I suppose it's me I want talking myself into/out of it, not the other person). As we all know, figures often look pretty darn good in all the glamor shots, as is the point, and the final product can leave you wanting. I've started paying more attention to- and caring about- how a figure looks, how it moves, how it feels, etc. Because those are all big factors most of the time, unless it's just one of the hyper-focus fav characters where I'll buy (almost) anything made. Video reviews have sort of become my way of "try it before you buy it" in a sense. If the reviewer seems pretty chill and genuinely in it for the hobby, and not just spewing something for drama's sake, then I'll sometimes listen to them. Even if it doesn't sway my opinion one way or the other, at least things to to watch out for.

I think I've probably made more impulse purchases here recently than I have in a while; not many at all, to be fair, but especially as I start dipping more toes into customizing and such, I'm starting to take a look at lines I don't usually collect to see what I can do with certain things. So if I see something and it gets my creative juices flowing, or just makes me happy to see, then I'll bite. I'll often wait for a sale on something- whether planned or impulse- which also helps. Because of the light customizing, I've also started getting figures I may have previously skipped because X detail wasn't how I wanted it, now knowing I can (maybe) fix it myself. So, like, an educated impulse buy, I guess you could call it.

 

[Damien]

I think I've probably made more impulse purchases here recently than I have in a while; not many at all, to be fair, but especially as I start dipping more toes into customizing and such, I'm starting to take a look at lines I don't usually collect to see what I can do with certain things. So if I see something and it gets my creative juices flowing, or just makes me happy to see, then I'll bite. I'll often wait for a sale on something- whether planned or impulse- which also helps. Because of the light customizing, I've also started getting figures I may have previously skipped because X detail wasn't how I wanted it, now knowing I can (maybe) fix it myself. So, like, an educated impulse buy, I guess you could call it.

Customizing was the bane of me ever trying to save money/space. Instead of 'this company made three cool figures that I definitely want to buy' it became 'this company made three cool figures, but I know a way to turn that into 14 cool figures if I just buy 19 of them.'

 

[Gothneo]

I enjoyed customizing as a sub hobby... For ML... they actually made most of the items I customized and usually always better... though I still have a handful that I either keep because I thought they really came out nice or Hasbro just hasn't done them... one on the leaked list I've had a custom of for years is Malice... that would be a welcome addition... Now my Star Trek shelf is just as you say @Damien ... a lot were so easy they were kit bashes... and now it seems that Nacelle may have found a way to sell me some replacements.

Interestingly I found that selling the customs, because I wasn't looking to make huge amounts of money was pretty easy... and maybe someone else would enjoy them.

 

[TheRealSmallville]

I think that’s somewhat natural though, isn’t it? To my point earlier, collecting a new (to you) line that already has a plethora of previously released figures to choose from seems like a lot more fun than being completely caught up on a line and just hanging around waiting to cross another name off your want list. I can see how easy it would be to get caught up in that. It’s happened to me a few times as well.

I think it's definitely natural to go overboard with collecting everything previously released when you get into something new, but I guess what I meant to say was I have a tendency to go overboard on 1 thing, and then like a light switch I'll change focus to something else and it's like I don't even care about the first thing anymore. I'll look at that first thing and find no joy in it because I'm on to something new. And that will last until that "thing" comes back around again, which it usually does.

I was buying 1/6 DC and only 1/6 DC until Star Wars caught my eye, and then DC might as well not existed. That lasted until the MCU caught my eye, and now we're back to DC. I'm worried what will happen when I switch back from 1/6 to 1/12, because I really don't want to look at these shelves of $300+ figures and think "that was a waste" lol

As much as I try not to be swayed by the opinions of others, I have started watching more unboxing/reviews of other collectors. I don't watch it hoping to be swayed one way or the other, even if that's technically the goal (though I suppose it's me I want talking myself into/out of it, not the other person). As we all know, figures often look pretty darn good in all the glamor shots, as is the point, and the final product can leave you wanting. I've started paying more attention to- and caring about- how a figure looks, how it moves, how it feels, etc. Because those are all big factors most of the time, unless it's just one of the hyper-focus fav characters where I'll buy (almost) anything made. Video reviews have sort of become my way of "try it before you buy it" in a sense. If the reviewer seems pretty chill and genuinely in it for the hobby, and not just spewing something for drama's sake, then I'll sometimes listen to them. Even if it doesn't sway my opinion one way or the other, at least things to to watch out for.

Keeping a video review "conversational" instead of "salesman-like" is certainly appreciated whenever I'm watching someone. I don't like watching videos where everything has been scripted beforehand, and the reviewer has already played with it beforehand, because then it seems like you're either getting sold on it or convinced to just not buy it. When we started our channel, our first rule was "no scripting, no opening the figure before the camera rolls".

There's only so many ways you can talk about the articulation on a McFarlane figure, I prefer videos that don't spend too much time on that kind of stuff (at least for mainstream, obviously if you're buying 3rd party its nice to know about). A nice conversation about the figure does way more to convince me to buy it than reading a script on it.

I used to watch tons of reviewers, but they started getting on my nerves once we started a channel and I think it's because they do all of the things I don't want to do on ours. Most of them sound like chatgpt.

 

[cmoney]

Every day, I wish I had never started collecting toys.

 

[Darkmoon766]

Every day, I wish I had never started collecting toys.

If this is a recurring thought regularly with no internal pushback, or less than the wish to not have started, it sounds like you need an offramp plan of some sort.

 

[canprime]

Man you guys need to learn a simple word......WILLPOWER!!!!!!!!

Now if you figure out what that word means could you please explain it to me because I have NONE!!!!!!!!!!!

There are two big problems I have. First I love just too many different properties that I can't seem to focus in on one, or two, enough to be responsible. I mean I have items from TFs, GI Joe, ML, SW, MOTU, Lego, Playmobil, Hot Wheels, Predator, Robocop, Voltron, Ghostbusters, etc. etc. etc. I just tend to see something that mostly hits my nostalgia button and I get sucked in for no good, logical, reason. It really has lead to me having way too much stuff. Which is why I am selling in a couple weeks at a toy show.

Second I have to stop buying things because they are on deep discount. Too many times I'll come across something that is dirt cheap and buy it, or extras, just because it is so cheap that I know I'll feel bad not picking it up even though too many times they just end up sitting in a bin. Waiting for me to get to them for whatever plan I have. A recent example is the Lightyear Plasma Drill toy. It was on sale at Dollarama (Canada's largest dollar store chain) for $5. I picked up 4 of them because I saw others who had repainted them to be laser/artillery weapons for GI Joe Classified figures. So I got 4 because I was going to do the same. Have I done it yet? Nope. They are still sitting in a bin waiting for me to get to them. I know I will because I love doing simple repaint customs, especially for Joes, but did I really need to spend that $20?? No of course not.

It is definitely a cycle that I keep going through where I think I have wrangled my bad habits, only to have them flair up again with some shiny new obsession.

 

[cmoney]

If this is a recurring thought regularly with no internal pushback, or less than the wish to not have started, it sounds like you need an offramp plan of some sort.

If my house wasn't a townhouse and thus attached to other people's houses, I would be fine with that offramp being it just burning down and forcing me to start over. Aside from that, I'm pretty well rutted-in on this nonsense.

 

[Alt]

Hostile.

.
Does anyone else just look at themselves sometimes and say "you know what? I fucking hate you, brain. You wrinkly fuck." Because that's where I'm at.

And it's not just with toys. I went through a period last year where I neglected all toy stuff to hyper-focus on my physical media (4K's, Blurays). Sometimes I forget everything to focus on omnibus and other comics. As you guys said, the hobby is collecting hobbies but sometimes it's hard to just stay on track with any of them for long.

Oh yeah. It took time,.but realising when I was mad at myself/my actions/thought process is what helped me gain control. I didn't want to be mad, and I found ways to "push back" and take control. I still get it on occassion.

It's the worst being aware of it. It's like being in a slow mo car crash where you are behind the wheel but at the same time you're in the passenger seat just witnessing the damage as it happens.

Purely as a friend here: all those hobbies you mention are still Collect and Consume Content.

Do you Create? That's where my rewiring really works.

 

[joshsquash729]

Customizing was the bane of me ever trying to save money/space. Instead of 'this company made three cool figures that I definitely want to buy' it became 'this company made three cool figures, but I know a way to turn that into 14 cool figures if I just buy 19 of them.'

I can see how it could easily get out of hand. I've only done a couple small figure bases, and some kit-bashed figures (comprised mostly of secondhand fodder pieces) spruced up with some cheap acrylic paint. I go into things knowing what I want to do, what I need, and am honest with myself on whether or not it's doable with my super limited skillz. No army building, only cheap parts, etc. So far, so good. I don't ever see myself doing it full time, only for cheap-ish, easy-ish ways to get a couple extra characters I know will never see the light of day otherwise.

 

[TheSameIdiot]

Learning to say 'just get the stuff you REALLY like and that you would buy even if nothing else was ever made for that property' has helped. Somewhat.

Mm. This made me reevaluate my collection in a way I don't like. You fuck.

I used to have a completionist thing for Rogue and Jean, but as I slowly built up my resistance to completionism, I was forced to admit so many of those figures were just bad anyway (at least for what I looked for)

As an aside, they need to do something about the torso/waist articulation on the ladies. It's basically non-existent.

Sometimes I think the best answer, at least for me personally, would be to decide how many figures I want in my collection. What’s “manageable” for me? Is it 10 figures? 100 figures? 1,000 figures? Maybe I just need to settle on a number and go from there.

This was part of my reverse engineering process.

I have a small office to store/display toys
-> I can comfortably fit two display cases
-> Each case has five shelves
-> Each shelf can fit ~15 figures
-> I have room for ~150 figures

I can either strive for a cohesive display or a hodgepodge. I'd rather have a cohesive display. From there, it was pretty easy. Nine of the 10 shelves picked themselves. The tenth shelf was a bitch. In deciding between two ideas, I picked "both." It worked out okay because one of those ideas was cohesive while the other was a hodgepodge. The cohesive idea goes in the case, and the hodgepodge can rotate on my desk.

I can feel myself getting into trouble with the hodgepodge because I can fit a ton of figures in storage. I'll allow myself a handful, but things can't start spiraling again. Even a few in storage goes against my collection philosophy of "display everything you own." It's very easy to make excuses to get a little dopamine. I caught myself doing it five minutes ago in the Savage Crucible thread. "That barbarian figure looks awful good on that horse. You should get that." No. No, I shouldn't. I don't even like barbarians.

 

[Damien]

I can see how it could easily get out of hand. I've only done a couple small figure bases, and some kit-bashed figures (comprised mostly of secondhand fodder pieces) spruced up with some cheap acrylic paint. I go into things knowing what I want to do, what I need, and am honest with myself on whether or not it's doable with my super limited skillz. No army building, only cheap parts, etc. So far, so good. I don't ever see myself doing it full time, only for cheap-ish, easy-ish ways to get a couple extra characters I know will never see the light of day otherwise.

When Boss Fight was going strong with HACKS and competent leadership, I was buying SO many extra figures. But it wasn't just the extra figures. I was going through loads of paint and occasionally brushes (and that's no joke when a pot of Citadel is 5 bucks and a single brush is 7-10). AND I made my own life miserable because when I would go on to decide to get rid of a lot of my HACKS stuff post-Andrew's bullshittery, I found that everything was in mixed piles and bins, and I have no idea what goes with what anymore, and a bunch of figures I have aren't complete because I stole a helmet or hands or weapons or armor or whatever.

I committed pretty hard on customizing and it definitely bit me a little. I had fun while I was doing it, but in retrospect I think I could have had just as much fun and been a bit more discerning at the same time.

You fuck.

I get that a lot.

Mm. This made me reevaluate my collection in a way I don't like.

I hated myself a little bit when I really settled into this way of collecting. Having to sit and say 'okay, which of these Marvel Legends figures only exists in my collection because of a different figure, but that I don't care about on its own - which figures, if every other figure were destroyed in a fire, would I still keep and which ones would I say 'well I guess I don't need this anymore either?'
Because those latter ones... you don't even actually like them. So why do you have them.

I'd rather have a cohesive display.

On some level, I think every display is cohesive. You just have to change your perspective on what the glue holding them together is. Sometimes it's just 'a shelf of things I love' rather than 'this complete team' or 'that complete video game roster.'

 

[TheSameIdiot]

which figures, if every other figure were destroyed in a fire, would I still keep and which ones would I say 'well I guess I don't need this anymore either?'

I've gone through the exercise before. I'd cut my 150 down to 50. It'd become the collection I thought I'd have when I started collecting again. Then the dopamine got the better of me.

Avengers shelf? Nah. You get Cap, Thor, Iron Man, and Hulk. Marvel shelf? Nah. You get Spider-Man and Daredevil.

On some level, I think every display is cohesive. You just have to change your perspective on what the glue holding them together is. Sometimes it's just 'a shelf of things I love' rather than 'this complete team' or 'that complete video game roster.'

Probably true, though Charizard next to the T-800 next to Invincible hurts my brain.

 

[TheRealSmallville]

It's the worst being aware of it. It's like being in a slow mo car crash where you are behind the wheel but at the same time you're in the passenger seat just witnessing the damage as it happens.

Purely as a friend here: all those hobbies you mention are still Collect and Consume Content.

Do you Create? That's where my rewiring really works.

I can relate to the idea of the slo-mo car crash lol That's a good analogy.

For creating, I enjoyed creating content for our YT channel. We've been on a hiatus since November for multiple reasons, so there's been less opportunities to do video editing, but if I really think about it my problem might have been lessened when we were putting out 4-5 videos each week I was also purchasing things for the channel, instead of for the collection, and that kept me semi-on track. You might be on to something there, maybe I should accelerate our return to the channel. We've been trying to remodel the display area / space where we shoot content, might have to speed that up a bit.