Diem wrote:While I'm frugal in most other areas of expenditure I spend recklessly on Transformers and would feel ashamed if friends or family knew the extent of what I spend...and if I can't find figures I want I'll seriously consider buying figures I DON'T want just to satiate some sort of need.
Burn wrote:robofreak doesn't joke. He's all about the serious business of the internet.
ItIsHim wrote:My closet is filled to the brim with plastic children's toys. For myself
Gauntlet101010 wrote:Well, some of those points do sound like cause for concern. Maybe you should try doing something about it? Cut back a little? Sell some stuff off? If you're buying just to buy and spending too much cash, then those are definately troubling signs. After all, you have to think about your future and to save up for it.
robofreak wrote:When I have lots of cash and not much to worry about, I become to the poster child to reckless spending...
It's all about how you manage your funds and keep yourself stable. If you do that then no one should care and you shouldn't care what they think.
As long as you are taking care of all your financial obligations first then spending you extra money on the hobby, I say it's ok. Yeah, maybe you are on the more extreme side of it, but as long as the important things in your life are taken care of, you should be fine. Besides, it may SEEM like a drug addiction but this isn't a drug addiction so you are better off doing this than dabbling into the drug/party life. JMHODiem wrote:So we all laugh and joke about the Transformers hobby being plastic crack. But I just wanted to have a frank discussion with my fellow Transfans; how real is this "addiction"? I know that some of my personal behaviours towards collecting would, if they were aimed towards drugs or alcohol, be considered serious business worthy of intervention. While I'm frugal in most other areas of expenditure I spend recklessly on Transformers and would feel ashamed if friends or family knew the extent of what I spend. I hunt relentlessly for the new figures, often checking shops repeatedly in a short period of time and traveling considerable distances on a hunch. If I am looking for a figure and can't find it I can feel my mood worsening and if I can't find figures I want I'll seriously consider buying figures I DON'T want just to satiate some sort of need. And, perhaps most tellingly, I always manage to convince myself that if I get just this one more figure I'll be happy but this always ends up being only temporarily true.
Normally I salute the casual tongue-in-cheek attitude of this forum but since I'm baring my soul here I would appreciate it if the flippant remarks and jokes could be kept to a minimum; if you don't have anything to say please don't say anything.
Lapse Of Reason wrote:
If what you enjoy is also making you feel shame and guilt, then it is time to reconsider what you are doing. Unload some of the burden and set limits. It gets easier over time.
Diem wrote:robofreak wrote:When I have lots of cash and not much to worry about, I become to the poster child to reckless spending...
It's all about how you manage your funds and keep yourself stable. If you do that then no one should care and you shouldn't care what they think.
As I partly mentioned in my answer to Gauntlet I'm certainly unconcerned about the amount I'm spending; it's definitely well within my means. If I had to describe my spending in one in one word I might say "naughty" or "shopaholic" but definitely not "irresponsible" or "dangerous".
Truth be told, I'm more worried about the emotional side of things. I have a tendency to lapse into idee fixe a little too easily in all aspects of life, including figures I want to buy. But once I have what I want I feel unsatiated and move on to something else.
Burn wrote:robofreak doesn't joke. He's all about the serious business of the internet.
ItIsHim wrote:My closet is filled to the brim with plastic children's toys. For myself
Lapse Of Reason wrote:So what are you going to do about it?
Diem wrote:While I'm frugal in most other areas of expenditure I spend recklessly on Transformers and would feel ashamed if friends or family knew the extent of what I spend.
Diem wrote:Lapse Of Reason wrote:
If what you enjoy is also making you feel shame and guilt, then it is time to reconsider what you are doing. Unload some of the burden and set limits. It gets easier over time.
I feel shame about this hobby on a fundamental level though. My parents, sibling, wife and friends certainly know that I'm collecting but as cool as they are with it I don't feel cool about it. I've always felt self-conscious about the fact that I'm an adult collecting children's toys and that I'm spending money on things that are ultimately not functional.
I'm not hunting sympathy or trying to belittle collecting here. This is just the reality of how I feel.
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