You Ever Get Tired of This?

[altcunningham]

Meaning, I have a bunch and it starts to make them all feel diminished. Having a handful makes each very special, but having a hundred turns into a muddled sea.

But like Chooch said, there are times where I want to just sell all of it off and be without, and that's actually my depression taking the wheel. So it's been a task to determine if that's actually it when I feel like doing these mass purges, but the marvel and star wars ones were so relieving once it was done.

I've been depressed enough to know there's usually a truth in it when you have that ping. Turns out I was too deep into Warcraft, toys, whatever.

I really do think there are diminishing returns on things like this. Just do a hypothetical purge. Make a list of your favorites. Or take everything down, and redo the shelves but limit yourself to 20. See who you actually put out.

See who you want on your desk to fidget with everyday.

You learn real quick which ones aren't actually doing anything for you. And if you have anything at all not on a shelf in a box, really think about that. Why even own it if you're just going to kick it into a tote or shoe box.

 

[Ru1977]

See who you actually put out.

That's a whole other problem, since I tend to always put out. I may have two issues...

 

[altcunningham]

That's a whole other problem, since I tend to always put out. I may have two issues...

 

[RichardSimmonsRobot]

I've played this in the car on dates just to gauge reaction and sense of humor. If they laugh I know my collection of sci-fi and comic book related dolls wont entirely run them off.

It's usually seeing me playing with them in the tub that does that...

 

[Chooch555]

On a personal growth note over the weekend I ran across Guardian and Hush Riddler at Target, picked them both off the pegs and put Riddler back after a minute. No guarantees I won't buy him next time, but baby step taken.

 

[TheGillMan]

One thing I've found at different points in my life is if I think a hobby isn't giving me pleasure any more, I have to evaluate if I'm in a depression. It sneaks up every 5 years or so. It's usually not the hobby that's making me feel down - it's a by-product of something else in my life.

I so get this. Sometimes I really get down and think of just jettisoning everything but my girl and my dog. Like you said, it usually isn't the stuff getting me down...it's just life in general.

The problem is with the 'ifs.' That's what I struggle with. You said IF it's just pinned to pinless, you go without. What if it's a bigger upgrade than that? At what point is the answer 'no more' and not just 'no more... unless....'

Yeah, I really feel you on this one. I wrestle with it a lot, honestly... "well, this one isn't just pinless, it has better paint, face-printing, and it's slightly better scaled". I definitely go back and forth on some things more than I should. I guess it counts as a win that, more often than not, I now find myself usually choosing to NOT go with the upgrade. I can't say there is a real solid criteria I have for this though...for every Black Series Farmboy Luke that I decide not to buy because I'm happy with the SH Figuarts version, there is a Black Series New Hope Leia that I wind up snagging. Or a Chewbacca. Or a Han Solo. So on and on it goes. Sure, I can pat myself on the back for being happy with the regular Classified Rock & Roll and not purchasing the Retro-card version...but I'm the same guy who has bought three different versions of Scarlet and Snake Eyes. It's a constant internal struggle.

Even as a geek myself, I can't handle geek rooms/collections that are just wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling STUFF. When it's so much you can't even immediately figure out what you're looking at and it feels more 'hoarder' than 'collector.' I don't think there's any hard and fast rules for what qualifies, but I know it when I see it.

I know EXACTLY what you mean, and I NEVER want my collection to ever get to that point. When the shelves get so crowded you can't even see the figures, what is the point? Those figures hiding in the back might as well be in a tote, since no one can see them!

My trouble isn't so much "Why do I need to buy this character again?" as "Why do I even like this character?" or "Why do I feel the need to own them in 6" plastic form?"

It's the opposite of our If You Give a Mouse a Cookie problem. It starts with the fringe members of my collection and works its way to Captain America and Spider-Man.

Yep...and I get this as well. There are times I look at a display and ask "why do I have a figure of this character? I know it completes a team, but since when have I ever remotely cared about them"? Those are the things I'm trying to weed out now, and not purchase going forward.

It may be intentional. It may not be, but I feel like the current state of collecting also preys on this. Things used to just be on shelves for a whole quarter or more. Things used to be reissued easily or Evergreen.

Now even Hasbro product. You have to snap it up now or you're never going to see it. And I do think that takes advantage of a lot of the people with more addictive and emotional engines on this.

I'd say it is pretty intentional on the part of the toy companies, especially in regard to anything targeting collectors. The whole concept of FOMO is pretty much something that these companies actively try to create.

Right, heh. And I got there a little bit when I purged a ton of my MCU figures. I made a rule to have only movie versions of comic characters I loved as a kid (the cast of the original Secret Wars, Spider-Man allies, Claremont X-men), and the ones I connected with as an adult as well (like Daredevil, or the Dark Avengers), so I sold off Eternals and GOTG despite loving those movies. I can't get figures just because I love the movie; I'll simply enjoy the movie and fight that urge to own a piece of it. But it doesn't feel like it would be much of a leap from that point to "well, why not cease altogether on Marvel and just enjoy the movies and the comics?" Why own a little representation of it? And always comes back to whether or not it gives me joy. I own three Boba Fett helmets and all three of them give me a lot of joy everytime I hold them or simply look at them, and I price Boba Fett helmets every couple weeks because if three makes me happy, how about four or five? And that's the thing, right? This leads to those. Marvel was more of a compulsion; I cannot rest until I have this whole list. I get it, I open it, I put it on the shelf, move on, and there just isn't a lot of satisfaction there beyond accomplishment, and for me at least that's not a fun way to collect. Star Wars Black Series I do enjoy owning and looking at them, and I purged a lot there as well but not as severely as Marvel. Now I've severely gone to town on Classified, but those are REALLY fun and enjoyable, but even with them I'm getting to a point where maybe I own too many to really enjoy them. Meaning, I have a bunch and it starts to make them all feel diminished. Having a handful makes each very special, but having a hundred turns into a muddled sea.

But like Chooch said, there are times where I want to just sell all of it off and be without, and that's actually my depression taking the wheel. So it's been a task to determine if that's actually it when I feel like doing these mass purges, but the marvel and star wars ones were so relieving once it was done.

I think that the whole "does it bring me joy" is the key...and it is a double-edged sword because, as you noted, there is a natural human instinct to think "if one brings me joy, ten will bring me even more". Finding that balance of how many of a thing will ACTUALLY make you happy, versus how many does it tip into the territory of being burdensome, is the ultimate goal I think.

 

[TheRealSmallville]

I think that the whole "does it bring me joy" is the key...and it is a double-edged sword because, as you noted, there is a natural human instinct to think "if one brings me joy, ten will bring me even more". Finding that balance of how many of a thing will ACTUALLY make you happy, versus how many does it tip into the territory of being burdensome, is the ultimate goal I think.

One of the things that I've tried to focus on specifically in regards to the "ten will bring me even more joy" is the idea of having to open them. Especially if it's McFarlane or NECA, the act of opening each one in succession and having to cut so damn many ties and deal with all of the tape and the cards and accessories and the garbage and...sigh...just really turns me off sometimes from purchasing multiple items. Lots of times I've come across several things at Target that I would like to bring home, and then I'll think of the hassle of opening everything and it'll kill my enthusiasm right quick lol For me, opening them is one of the more burdensome parts.

 

[Damien]

And if you have anything at all not on a shelf in a box, really think about that. Why even own it if you're just going to kick it into a tote or shoe box.

Some of us also don't have unlimited space, which equates to rotating displays. I may have Star Wars out today because I'm enjoying looking at them and there's new stuff in that display; but two weeks from now they might be in a bin and I'll be looking at movie He-Man figures, or NECA Turtles instead.

To that point, though; I regularly pull all of my figures out of storage and go through them to determine what stays and what's never making the rotation back out again. If X figures are never likely to make me bounce something else into a bin for a month or two, maybe X figures need to just go.

I know EXACTLY what you mean, and I NEVER want my collection to ever get to that point. When the shelves get so crowded you can't even see the figures, what is the point? Those figures hiding in the back might as well be in a tote, since no one can see them!

When I was more into collecting wrestling figures, I remember looking at wrestling figure collections and it seems like those guys are a different breed. Not that other collectors never do this, but wrestling collectors seem to be the worst for 'I have every figure ever made in this brand and they're stacked six deep, not on risers, on my bookshelves.' Like, dude.. I can MAYBE make out the first two rows on each shelf. At some point it just becomes a mass of STUFF and not a legitimate display.

It's a constant internal struggle.

I don't want it to be anymore.

For real. Not to get too deep over here. But I'm tired of the 'internal struggle' of what to buy, what not to buy, what to upgrade, what to stop collecting, etc. But I also don't want to just stop. I could. Not in the 'I can quit any time I want' addiction denial kind of way. I legit could. My wife and I talked about this a few times and she's the one that actually talked me out of it.

I think the only way I can just stop having this issue is to stop altogether. All of it. Sell every action figure I own, delete all my toy-related bookmarks, start a new Instagram without toys all over it, and cut myself off from the toy community stuff. I could never be one of those guys that sells all my stuff but still pops in to see what's up and chat with the boys. I would HAVE to cut it all out to keep from falling back in. I know I could do it. Probably pretty easily, if I'm being honest. But I don't -want- to. But I also don't want to be fighting my own brain all the time anymore. It actually kind of sucks.

 

[SalemCrow]

On a personal growth note over the weekend I ran across Guardian and Hush Riddler at Target, picked them both off the pegs and put Riddler back after a minute. No guarantees I won't buy him next time, but baby step taken.

I saw the Platinum Guardian for 3 WEEKS straight at a local Target (he wasn't moving), and i picked him up each time, but put him back each time as well. I enjoyed him in the Superboy comics as the mentor type, but the McFarlane Superboy I have is the more modern one, and he'll be HUGE next to the time frame appropriate Mafex version, so he will live on in memories instead of on a theoretical shelf some day.

I did donate some stuff over the weekend, and moved the bin of SWB figures to the front of storage for a sort and separation in the coming weeks. Multiverse will also be on that list, I know for sure, as well as the Legends figures I got due to BAF parts, or the "it looked cool at the time" urge. The majority of the wrestling figures are in the back of the unit (they've been there long enough to get blocked in), so that will be a process to uncover and retrieve before THAT sorting can begin.

 

[RicksNerdLife]

And I will admit, as someone mentioned above--I've been in a bit of a funk. Things are dour. It's really hard to justify spending extra money when a regular trip to the grocery store for two people is 200 bucks a pop. Every single day, it's SOMETHING. It is very hard to be enthusiastic about anything.

But the things that should be taking my mind off of everyday shit just aren't anymore. Because it is being affected by everyday shit. Round and round we go.

 

[Ru1977]

My wife and I talked about this a few times and she's the one that actually talked me out of it.

That's funny, exact same here. She usually reads it as a sign I'm in a depression so she argues against for that reason. I think what happened is if I mention it to her, she assumes it's depression because otherwise I just sell a few here and there without bringing it up to her.

I know I could do it. Probably pretty easily, if I'm being honest

Actually, same here. I'd also have to give you all up as well, and I've done something similar before. I had a ROTJSE Fett costume that was pretty good, then he showed up on Mandalorian and my wife of all people urged me to switch to the all black and I went for it, as well as frequenting The Dented Helmet costuming forum and a couple of Fett costuming Facebook groups, and between all that I was heavily immersed. It's really easy to get caught up in the culture of accuracy, accuracy, accuracy, and trying for 501st membership otherwise you're shit etc. I realized not only could I not afford to keep up, I didn't even really want to. That coincided with me being fed up with Facebook in general, and I just quit all of it, then got a Black Series Fett helmet to repaint that will never qualify for the 501st, made my costume like a salad bar of bits and pieces from all his versions that would give most Dented Helmet members at least a twitching eye, and am so much happier just leaving it at that. Psh.

Leaving this community would be a lot harder, but I should be able to be an idiot here AND not collect if that's where I end up heh.

 

[altcunningham]

Some of us also don't have unlimited space, which equates to rotating displays.

That's how I manage. And if I'm not rotating it in, why do I have it.

 

[cmoney]

This is all very familiar territory for me as well, obviously. I have no solutions. Take every post in here and add "and that's why you're gonna die alone" to the end of it, and that's pretty much my day-to-day.

 

[Justice]

This is all very familiar territory for me as well, obviously. I have no solutions. Take every post in here and add "and that's why you're gonna die alone" to the end of it, and that's pretty much my day-to-day.

You will never be alone if you are surrounded by little plastic folk!

 

[cmoney]

You will never be alone if you are surrounded by little plastic folk!

In the worst way!