GetterDragun wrote:I don't understand what you are saying? How can you compete in the real world with figures? The only example you gave was a board, which I am assuming is a message board on-line? I think forums are the real world of collecting, I've had no exposure to non-forum collecting, is there one? I mean, I can see meet-up groups, but most of these you find out about on-line through fourms.
The other collecting I do is cars and while we meet up at Racetracks, the forums play an important role in organizing the events, getting guests to attend, and just providing the news of the event to people who couldn't go. So I don't really see adifferentiation between the real world and posting about it?
I'm just confused how those you listed can differ so much from what we do?
Is there a non-forum collecting? You had better believe it.
Some years ago well before internet forum boards were around people actually got up, left their houses and occasionally ran into other collectors in their toy hunt travels to their favorite "toy stores". Sometimes you would meet up with others that shared the same interests as you.
There used to be local Hot Wheels collectors club where people got together to discuss, trade and some would gloat in what they had found (treasure hunts and such) as far as Hot wheels are concerned. anyway it got members through word of mouth and fliers in certain retail stores. Not the internet.
How can you compete in the real world with figures? It is simple.
Here is an example
When I used to collect mcfarlane sportspicks there was a couple of local guys that when I would run into them (and they made the rounds frequently so I ran into them alot) and during conversations the more recent figure releases would be brought up (or they would fish for info to see what you knew) and then they would ask "oh did you find this or that" And if I (or as I have heard them ask other people) answered no to something that they had found first a comment would be passed like "you better hurry I am almost finshed the current wave of figures and you are not" like it was some sort of competition.
I know a local that collects Marvel Legends and he is a completest. He has on more than one occasion passed the comment to me "if you don't collect the whole series then why bother collecting any of them at all".
A competition can be as simple as waiting outside a TRU before it opens, there being other collectors also waiting and when the store opens they have a mad rush to get whatever new figures off the pegs before you.
I have witnessed fights break out because someone grabs all of a certain new figure not allowing anyone else to get them (saw this with Star Wars a couple of times).
Through the years and through toy collecting I have made some good friends, hell me and 4 other guys help each other out by calling each other when we find something Star Wars, DC or Marvel related. And we met by bumping into each other in stores not over the internet.
The same kind of competition can be done over the internet, someone could know that you want a certain figure and they could have it and "rub it in your face" that you don't.
But like everyone else has said I don't compete with anyone. I just buy what I like and am happy with that.