Counterpunch wrote:Diem,
First off, your thoughts and feelings on this are far more common than you might believe. This thread should be a bit of a hint at that.
You have to separate the two things you are dealing with though. The first is the habit of buying and the second is the volume. They are related, but really different issues.
The habit of checking stores and thinking about acquiring all the time is probably the tougher thing to deal with. We all do it, well the ones who collect large volumes of toys. Changing the habit is tough. My advice is to purchase all your new stuff online. Use BBTS or HTS and get a whole wave a once. Take away the need to hunt at all. Even if you're knocking out only 2-3 trips a week. You'll get more comfortable with not stopping by as the fear of losing out will pass.
In regards to volume, this has its own challenge. If you don't have a "goal" for collecting, establishing one is the first thing to do. "All" is not a goal. It's unsustainable. If you don't believe me, start collecting Mini-Cons. We'll race. It'll be fun. (it won't) Point is, if you like Classics, collect Classics and be satisfied. Don't buy toys you really don't want to display along side them. Dark of the Moon is going to be a goat of a toy line. I've seen it. There's a LOT of crap coming our way. Use that as practice to cut down.
In terms of how much you spend and getting crazy with exclusives and rare items, my advice, and what has worked for me is to find a secondary interest. Collect something else. What this will do is put perspective and competition to the prices on Transformers. Some toys don't look as good for $120 when you can get a statue or other rare item of interest.
Lastly, one thing that has worked really well for me is seeing my toys on display en mass. Why that helps is that I can see the differences in quality and worthiness. Space is limited and toys these days need to be worth landing that space on my shelves.
Listen to this man, he's helped me get through just the same situation as you seem to be in.
What I really want to emphasize on his comments though is the idea of a goal for your collecting. What helped me get out of a similar rut was deciding on a very specific target (in my case, creating a storyline consisting of Classics/Neo-Classics characters) and, more importantly, selling off figures that didn't fit in with what I wanted on my shelves. The importance of selling has nothing to do with money, but it helps to quell the urge of "well damn, I know I don't collect Alternity seekers but I only have one left!" Whether you limit your collection to lines, molds, characters, story or whatever criteria you decide is best, keeping your physical collection focused will also help keep YOU focused. There will always be figures outside of your decisions that you'll want, and that's fine; this won't help the urges at all, but it'll help keep it at a more "healthy" level of manifestation. Also I highly recommend CP's suggestion of making sure all of your toys are on display; if nothing else, sheer size limitations can help force you to become more choosy.
In terms of toy hunting, in the real world you can always try shopping at your local retailer for more than just toys, or trying to shop more in the area if it's a toy store. If you're going to an area anyway, it becomes easier to stop in and check the toy aisle when you're going there anyway instead of making an extra trip whenever you're a few minutes away, since you'll always be going there tomorrow, or next week, for X thing anyway. As for online, here's a little trick I like to use: let's say you're on BBTS and you're just about to get that last Alternity seeker (I keep using this example, I know >_>). It seems like such a good price, right? Well, try waiting until you have a half an hour, or ten minutes even, and go through every category they offer and add EVERY single toy you could possibly want into your shopping cart. Then take a look at it. I know you're not concerned with money, but if you're anything like me you'll see that huge number and instead of picking through a list of $30 things, just close the browser and be done with it. Won't always work, and can backfire pretty nastily, but it's helped me narrowly avoid some otherwise regretful purchases.
It's really cool that you felt comfortable enough on here to be honest about a problem that a lot of us share, even if we're not aware of it. Hope some of this has helped, and good luck buddy :3
so not all of mine are in perfect condition (still looking for a good replacement Jackal/ Barracuda).
. My Father came down for about a year and bought me several figures and headmasters and some ghostbusters toys. My mother remarried a year later and she chose a man who did not believe in toys and took it upon himself to destroy them all over the years. I lost my entire transformers collection.
