Author Topic: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?  (Read 3969 times)

Offline Dan

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Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« on: September 21, 2007, 04:37 PM »
I went digging to see if I could find this thread/topic, but didn't see it.

Today I was looking for my Cantina bar sections so I could make use of those new curved puppies. After digging underneath the steps for hours, moving 10 LARGE plastic totes, numerous paper boxes, and bags of packaging, I found myself wondering how the completists can do it? Where does it all go? How much more can we take?
I realize we are at all different levels of having entered this hobby, with just as many quirks about what we open vs keep "mint", but how close are you to maxing your storage area? After 10 years I have amassed well over 1,000 loose figures, just under 200 carded in star cases, dozens of vehicles, props, semi-playsets etc. That doesn't get in to the 12 inch totes, Galactic Heroes, kubricks, or other lines I have started/stopped/started again.

I came in to the 30AC having been dismayed by how much I bought/spent in '06 on TSC. So far in 30AC I have limited myself to a few figures plus the concepts to keep carded. I can't seem to pass up clearances though, so the 66 packs stacked up.

 I like the new guns on the Y wing, the upcoming AT-RT battle pack, the repack of the AT-ST in the upcoming Hoth set (since my current AT-ST has grass stains), many of the Galactic Hero sets, and the AT-AP looks great. But why get them if they are going to go under the stairs?

With the BIG battle packs upcoming (Hoth, Geonosis, and Endor), plus the never ending legends waves, and the new product, how do you keep/store/manage your collection?

I definately decided I have maxed the space to use for my collection, and for anything that gets bought, something else has to go. It adds some cost to the idea of buying something, because a purchase means not only the initial money spent, but the time spent finding and selling something I like less to make room.

So how do you manage your collections' footprint?

Offline iFett

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Re: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2007, 04:55 PM »
So how do you manage your collections' footprint?

10x10x20 storage unit.......but that's on the brink of being maxed out - besides the room and closet I have.

Unfortunately, I haven't quite figured out when/where/why/how to stop collecting.   ::)
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Offline JACKOFTRADZE

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Re: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2007, 05:04 PM »
Unfortunately, I haven't quite figured out when/where/why/how to stop collecting.   ::)

I hear you, I do not even collect carded outside of VOTC & McQuarries. Like you I have over 1200 figures and just about every single ship and multiple of. I manage my collection very carefully, the army building is what has really eaten my space up. I built a pretty massive fleet of ships and legion of troops. (I buy like I am a kid that is going to play with this stuff and think like a general. Its pretty sick when I think about it......

My best weapon to combat space issues and make room is not being a completist in the sense of having everything made but everything best represented in plastic. Here is what i do:

1. I always phase out crappy/older sculpts of figures (1998 Bespin Han, Luke etc) and have the most up to date, best sculpted version available. Same goes for certain ships (small x-wing, small ties)
All of that crap is sold on ebay, traded or broken down into custom parts.
2. Whats not displayed gets tricky. I have several Target 1997 collector case to store my loose figures and a compartment tool box for weapons. Careful stacking is what save the day. Vehicles not on display are stored in heavy duty plastic wheeled bins thats stack from container warehouse. ($50.00 a pop!)
3. My custom biz is tricky as I have so many extra heads, cloaks, weapons, bodies etc I just reorganized.
4. Army building wise I select certain troops to invest in and phase out others. I refuse any Snowtrooper & Scout trooper thats not VOTC. They have to be the best of the best to enter my army. all others are deported, sold or traded.
5. I have my entire collection recorded(minus custom extras) for insurance. I

Now that I am buying some Gentle Giant stuff is getting cramp in out 2 bedroom condo. I have a whole second bedroom with all my stuff. I am lucky my wife is tolerant of this. I will not stop buying but when we buy a house soon I really have to think ahead. I doubt I will get more that another bedroom. I have to make room for kids.....

Wow...you really presented a good issue. I have to rethink some storage options the TAC line is really getting good I am not missing a thing. Just think when they release the AT-TE, we are all in trouble then. i want 2 of those suckers even if they cost $200.00!
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Offline Nathan

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Re: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2007, 05:56 PM »
I don't have a designated display/storage area--the stuff is opened and displayed all around my dorm, my room at home, etc.--and the problem I run into is sometimes I honestly forget whether I've already purchased a certain figure. :-\ I used to have a Microsoft Works database with all of them but I stopped updating 6-7 years and hundreds of figures ago.
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Offline Rob

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Re: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2007, 10:38 PM »
I won't store anything but the most basic extras in the closet or a storage unit.  The entire joy of collecting for me is displaying and enjoying these things.  I can't fathom buying a bunch of stuff to throw it into boxes.  The day I do that is the day I stop collecting.  My room is getting pretty damn full at the moment (I'm in the middle of a re-do) and I'm thinning out some older things to hopefully sustain a small amount of free space.  I've probably got 2 or 3 years before I'm moving out of this place.

But that's just me.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« Reply #5 on: September 22, 2007, 01:50 AM »
I won't store anything but the most basic extras in the closet or a storage unit.  The entire joy of collecting for me is displaying and enjoying these things.  I can't fathom buying a bunch of stuff to throw it into boxes.  The day I do that is the day I stop collecting.

Preach on brother.
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Offline Dan

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Re: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2007, 08:25 AM »
I love to display them as well, but even with a computer room downstairs and some cabinets out in the main basement, the majority is in tubs waiting for its' turn in the rotation. I may have to add some shelves up high to get some of the action fleet ships out, I really like those ships.
Right now I have
 
a  48" by 36" hanging cabinet for the kubricks
a 48" by 72" cabinet with a Hoth diorama, cantina space, jabba's palace space, dagobah space, and falcon/hangar bay space.
a 36" by 72" cabinet that was exclusively Death star/imperials (currently in transition, but I'm not sure to just what yet)
a space for the gentle giant yoda monument
a shelf with some darth statues and figures
a 36" by 36" cabinet for gentle giant busts and the dewback statue
a 36" by 36" cabinet with my trading card collections and misc items

That leaves me with two small closets and the space under the stairs for the figures that don't fit into the diormas, nearly all of the ships, the action fleet collection, the galactic heroes, my vintage stuff, 12 inch figures, the 200+ carded figures, and I can't even remember what else off the top of my head.

I'll tell you another reason this is on my mind- I'm working on my father's estate since he passed away earlier this summer. He was a cowboy/western fan, and an avid reader with a job that gave him access to almost unlimited books. The library in his town was overwhelmed by the donation of more than 2,000 books, and thankfully they were there to take them or we would have had to get a storage unit just for them. That leaves 60 plus years of general living and accumulating, which tranlates into a tremendous amount of stuff. He was alone, so everything needs to be dealt with as part of the estate.

Some of the items he saved I am sure had a story of their significance to him, but he passed away just before we were to get together to do his estate planning (he was ill, but no one expected it to impact him so quickly). So the stories are lost, and it makes it very hard to feel like you are doing what he would want when you choose what gets donated to the salavation army, what gets passed on as a memento/heirloom, etc etc. I take comfort in the fact that I am simply doing the best I can, and he would appreciate all of it, no questions asked. But I wish I knew some of the significance behind some of the seemingly bizarre items he saved (old lighters with logos on them, coins from foreign countries, file cabients full of jokes, etc).

So as I work on his items (distributing them, packing them away, checking with relatives about what they know) I find myself thinking about this pile of stuff I have been hoarding over the years. Where will it end, how much do I need to feel like I have what I want, how do I best help those I leave behind deal with it if I go suddenly? Will my spreadsheets make any sense to anyone but me? What if they throw away the yakface kubrick? AAAAAGGG!

I'm kidding about the kubrick, but serious about the bigger question- I like the idea of only having what you can display for myself, but I'm sure it won't work for everyone, especially if you collect boxed/carded. Even getting myself down to that point would require ditching virtually every carded item, and losing the 12 " figures, sub lines, and scrambling to find a way to display the ships. I guess I will always have items in storage and hopefully will rotate them in the cabinets so I can enjoy them, otherwise, what is the point?

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« Reply #7 on: September 22, 2007, 01:47 PM »
I need to take some update collection pics, but I've found that the heavy duty shelving units from Lowes/Home Depot work really well for storage or display.  I've got 7 units x 5 shelves = 35 dioramas. 

When newer stuff comes out and I don't like the older sculpts, I either recycle them for customs or trade/sell them off.


Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« Reply #8 on: September 22, 2007, 08:51 PM »
This is exactly why this is my last year doing carded/boxed. I'm out of space.
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Offline Brian

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Re: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« Reply #9 on: September 24, 2007, 09:15 AM »
Good topic.  I think space is a pretty big issue for the majority of us here.  Like Rob mentioned, I really hate to store anything away if at all possible as well.  I enjoy "seeing" my collection, although I can definitely understand why things have to get packed up, moved, or rotated in and out of the display.  Right now, the majority of my collection is in our office.  I've got a couple of display cases with my loose figures, a bookcase with the smaller to mid-sized vehicles, a bookcase with "other" stuff (Marvel/DC/books), and a closet with shelving in it for the larger vehicles and Galactic Heroes right now.  I have a few various shelves on the walls as well holding the Unleashed figures, the McQuarrie figures so far (loose), and a few other various figures.  Then there is other stuff (glasses, animated Clone Wars, miscellaneous figures) scattered in various areas of the desk.

I collect primarily loose, outside of the VTSC line, McQuarries, and Han/Chewie figures to some extent.  I also don't care for things to start to look cluttered, so I'm running into a problem since space is running out.  My vintage figures are packed away, as well as "older" versions of modern figures (POTF2 primarily).  I don't think the collection could ever really venture out of this room into other parts of the house, so I'm starting to think about what should stay/go/get packed away from now on.  Like I said, I always like to have things displayed, so I try to keep as much out as I can.  I have to say that I often keep in the back of my mind the question "If I could only keep one small display case out, what would I display?" just in case we would need the space in here, or something else would come up.  I can say, I don't know how many people here can do it.  I know I don't have half the stuff that many/most do, but it seems like there is a ton of it and its tough to find the space.

Offline jedi_master_sal

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Re: Where the H*** are we going to put all this stuff?
« Reply #10 on: September 24, 2007, 06:14 PM »
I had to upgrade my storage space last year to a 10'wX12'hX25'l. It's already approx 85% filled. That is with 95% loose stuff.
I've got over 3000 figures easy though it's been sometime since I've tabulated them all and the number keeps growing.

Thankfully my plan to half the SW budget for 2008 and then half it again for 2009 will dramatically slow the pace in which I collect.

It's been fun to collect, but I want to be able to SEE it, not have it stored up somewhere else.

I look forward to the day when I have my collection up for display. That is many years in coming though as I plan on building some massive dioramas for the figs to go into.
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