The Energon Pub

When I worked for a couple of years, I decided to expand my childhood G1 collection as a side hobby. I had about 30 G1 figures from elementary school. I ended up getting nearly all G1 figures and most MP's. After a couple of years, I got bored of my collection. I kept buying MP's and reissues for the sake of having them. Currently, all of my figures are stored in large cardboard boxes. I had the figures stored in a glass cabinet for years until they looked like a large blur of colors. It started to annoy me, the more I saw it. I got so fed up with the "visual diarrhea" in the glass cabinet that I stored all figures. I already stored the boxed ones, since I didn't have space for them anyway.

I've been considering to sell them, but I fear regretting it. This is a typical symptom of compulsive hoarding. I don't desire these figures. I don't even see them as they are boxed away from my sight, but I can't let go of them. I'm thinking about keeping the MP's and sell everything else, except my boxed G1 Optimus Prime. I don't need the money, but I think the piled boxes of figures in my bedroom looks ridiculous. I want to move forward in life, but I feel like these figures are dragging me down.

I already sold about 10 figures that I really don't care about. I'm thinking about the remaining ones that I never wanted such as the Seacons.

I think it's compulsive hoarding and collecting addiction. Since I got nearly all G1 figures, I didn't have much to collect and started to collect thousands of bucks worth of boxed 8-bit and 16-bit retro games that I never play. Financially, it's not a big deal since a couple of thousands isn't much for a long-term hobby compared to most adult hobbies. It's just the idea of clogging my home with stuff that seems to be used to fill a void in my life, rather than providing real joy. When I hunt down an item and win an auction, I feel great. Once I receive the item, I don't care about it much. I admire it for a couple of days and then store it.

How do you cope with this?

How do we not become hoarders? I think you're doing it: selling off things you don't care about. It's healthy to look at things and go, "Nope, not for me anymore." I just dropped nearly my entire Beast Hunters figures on eBay because I don't need them. Those decisions are hard, but it's not something you have to do overnight. And by the way if it helps, I "collect" games too, and I do get rid of things I don't play like Mega Man Legends 2. You can always buy them again if you decide later you've made a mistake.

The difference between hoarding and collecting is the willingness to let go of what you don't want, without too much hassle.

Lately I've been selling a crapload of post-G1 figures. I think I've sold about 200/300 and I'm nowhere near done. They just don't excite me like they did, no 'new toy joy'. Sometimes those are almost though choices, like HA Barricade. But then I get to hunt on Ebay for obscure G1 stuff and it gets me all riled up again, like a kid.

The newer stuff comes slower these days. I'm more picky now. I don't want the clutter.

I had compulsive hoarding with TF's for several years. The bug bit me during Armada and I went nuts collecting.

I finally got to a point where I woke up and started getting rid of some of my lesser desired figures. Some can come back from it on their own like I did, others need help.

I have the same issue with my movie figures. I could live without them But I fear that when Im like 50, I will regret selling them and might enjoy them. Also I have never sold an item on e-bay in my life. Im lazy as hell. I have no desire to transform complex figures just to take pictures. Then post them and calculate shipping costs. And pack them and drop them off. All to make maybe 5-10 bucks profit, break even or maybe even take a hit compared to what I paid. So I put them in 2 big rubbermaid tubs, shoved them in the closet and try to forget they are there. My real "hoarding" problem is with 3rd party boxes. I would love to throw most of them out like I do Hasbro/Takara boxes. But I fear that if I ever have a life changing event which forces me to downsize my collection, the boxes will greatly increase the value.

I will sell all figures that I don't want. They will be placed in separate boxes to make them easier to let go. The same will be done to a part of my video games collection and other belongings. My unnecessary possessions have been taking my home hostage for too long. My bedroom has piles of cardboard boxes stocked to the ceiling, filled with Transformers. It's ridiculous. Enough is enough.

I will keep all my Masterpieces and sell a lot of G1.

I deal with my hoarding problem by buying lots of bin drawers for my Transformers

I sold a bunch of unwanted Transformers and feel liberated. Some loose G1 figures that I never really liked and some boxed figures. I have 3 more cardboard boxes full of boxed Transformers that I'm planning to sell. When I got through those, I'm selecting more loose figures and G1 stuff for sale.