Author Topic: When you realized you were hooked.  (Read 3479 times)

Offline hansolo_506

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When you realized you were hooked.
« on: February 26, 2005, 12:34 PM »
A very simple topic.  I started looking over my collection, which is in the midst of being unpacked from box after box for display and it hit me.  When did I first start all this madness and when did I go over the edge? 

So, here is all you need to do...
complete the following phrase~~~

I realized I became a fanatical Star Wars Collector when...

(am looking forward to hearing your comments)
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Offline Famine

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2005, 12:43 PM »
I realized I was hooked on Star Wars toys when every amount of cash, big or small, went directly to KB Toys and paid for as much SAGA stuff as I could get on clearance. Then I started having to add shelves to my room. Thats when I kninda knew.

Kevin
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Offline iFett

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2005, 05:00 PM »
I realized I was hooked on Star Wars toys when I could no longer walk in the room I have set aside for my collection.  I'm in the process of moving and I don't really think you know how much crap you have once you have to box everything up piece by piece.  At least I didn't.
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Offline Angry Ewok

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2005, 07:00 PM »
I'm not hooked.   

I can quit anytime I want.


>:(
« Last Edit: February 26, 2005, 07:27 PM by Angry Ewok »

Offline hansolo_506

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2005, 08:11 PM »
I'm not hooked.   

I can quit anytime I want.


>:(

Poor poor Ewok... he's in the second stage of SW collecting..

remember, Ewok...denial is more than a river in Egypt.
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Offline Ben

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2005, 09:26 PM »
I realized I was hooked when I was buying Pilot Anakin Skywalker from the Episode I line. The figure itself was the same as the first Anakin, only this one had a helmet and some stupid joystick thing for the Naboo Fighter.

Worst part is, I paid full price for it, since I found it before the clearances. What a doof.
don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk

Offline SiteC

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2005, 06:38 AM »
...when I finally sat down to realize ALL of my income of close to $2,000 or more a month was going to ONLY toys.

I have since cut back and my checkbook was taken off life support. 

I haven't bought a figure for about 9 months now, but I have a feeling one of these days that I will seriously go into withdrawl, go nuts, and overspend...

But hopefully not.  I have since been trying to slim down my collection of figures without good results, and I dont want to go to ebay with stuff, oh well....

Offline Deanpaul

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #7 on: February 27, 2005, 10:50 AM »
I knew when a 30 minute drive home would take an hour and a half because I stopped at so many damn stores. Some of them out of the way, but all of them assuredly empty of anything new for months at a time.

This probably happened for the first time in 1998, then many times since. Rinse and repeat.

I hate that feeling of "I know there's nothing new there... But I must stop... What if there is something there? - Ack! Empty shelves! - Time to leave the store empty handed again, 5th day in a row... I am such a looser"

That's when I knew I was hooked, not just to the toys, but the idea of the toys.
"Regime change, like charity, begins at home." - Ira Glass, This American Life

Offline speedermike

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2005, 10:39 PM »
I knew back in 1979 when the pictures of the Creature Cantina showed up in the Sears catalog and I knew there would be "more" Star Wars figures past the first 12.

I used to run home everyday from school just to stare at the Sears catalog.

Little did I know that "more" meant somehwere in the 800s.
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Offline JoshEEE

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #9 on: February 28, 2005, 04:38 PM »
I knew I was hooked when I bought my first recarded figure. I think it was the Red Carded R5-D4, and I remember being so stoked that I found it for "only" 10 or 15 bucks. I didn't even open my figures back then, so I had no idea how crappy the figure I had just bought for the 2nd time actually was.


However, I knew I was unhealthily hooked after I received my force flipping figures in the mail from Kebco, opened them up and realized how much I hated them.  These are the worst toys in my collection, and yet I can't bring myself to throw them away.


I asked myself: "WHY did I buy these stupid things, why am I part of this one of every figure club getting toys I don't even like?"  Even so, I still didn't quit that club for another 1 or 2 months after that.


Because of the wedding this year, I've almost completely stopped collecting. I didn't buy the preview figures. I didn't buy the ship. I look wistfully at these toys I shouldn't be buying.....and ask myself why I HAVE to have em.

The answer seems to be:  "Because I'm hooked."
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Offline Rob

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #10 on: February 28, 2005, 04:47 PM »
When I was 15 and decided to fork over most of my birthday money (115$) for a long-saber head-shot Obi Wan Kenobi (50$), Stormtrooper ($25), Yoda ($20), and Long saber Luke ($20).

Of course, I later learned that I was being ripped the hell off - but my willingness to collect was there from that moment on...

Offline Hemish

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #11 on: February 28, 2005, 11:17 PM »
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The problem with America is stupidity I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself

Offline CorranHorn

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #12 on: March 1, 2005, 06:55 AM »
I realized I was hooked when I was buying Pilot Anakin Skywalker from the Episode I line. The figure itself was the same as the first Anakin, only this one had a helmet and some stupid joystick thing for the Naboo Fighter.

Worst part is, I paid full price for it, since I found it before the clearances. What a doof.

Mine is a story similiar to HMI's...

I realized I was hooked, when I began to buy figures on clearance that I had deemed unworthy of buying at full price. These were the figures such the Ep1 Softgoods wave which had very little differences to the initial version of the figure released just a few months back. I wouldn't buy them at full price, yet for some reason when I would find them for a buck or 2 at KB or TRU I flopped down my money for figures I was completely uninterested in. This just happened again to me recently when I bought the ROTS Preview Grievous. I saw a pic of the main ROTS Grievous, realized each were unique figures and there was my justification for the preview figure. Silly me.....
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Offline Deanpaul

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #13 on: March 1, 2005, 09:54 AM »
I realized I was hooked when I was buying Pilot Anakin Skywalker from the Episode I line. The figure itself was the same as the first Anakin, only this one had a helmet and some stupid joystick thing for the Naboo Fighter.

Worst part is, I paid full price for it, since I found it before the clearances. What a doof.

Mine is a story similiar to HMI's...

I realized I was hooked, when I began to buy figures on clearance that I had deemed unworthy of buying at full price. These were the figures such the Ep1 Softgoods wave which had very little differences to the initial version of the figure released just a few months back. I wouldn't buy them at full price, yet for some reason when I would find them for a buck or 2 at KB or TRU I flopped down my money for figures I was completely uninterested in. This just happened again to me recently when I bought the ROTS Preview Grievous. I saw a pic of the main ROTS Grievous, realized each were unique figures and there was my justification for the preview figure. Silly me.....

Ouch, Jason just hit me with the self-awareness stick. I have a similar story where I decided to pass on a figure only to break down less than a month later:

I almost forgot I decided to pass on preview Grievous, because I knew Hasbro would make another down the line with better articulation and more sabers, and probably a soft cloak. I've moved into the one-of-each character phase of collecting.

But then like the addict I am, I picked up Grievous in a moment of weakness "because I thought my 2 1/2 year old son would really dig him". Riiiiiight. I'm such a dumbass.  >:(
« Last Edit: March 1, 2005, 09:56 AM by Deanpaul »
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Offline Morgbug

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Re: When you realized you were hooked.
« Reply #14 on: March 1, 2005, 01:52 PM »
I've been able to quit.  Several times ::)  Hasbro Canada screws us over quite regularly so up until I started hanging out at online sites about 4 years ago (5? 6?), I was able to just give up and not worry about missing stuff.  Happened with POTF2, commtech, etc.  Didn't get hooked too much until POTJ but by then I had friends online so I never missed out anymore. 

I'm mostly over my completeist ways ::)  Really, I am.  I'm trying to skip a bunch of figures if I'm able this time around, while waiting for clearance.  An impending move is helping - I still haven't opened unleashed Bossk and may end up returning it.  Haven't opened the unleashed stormtrooper either but won't return it. 

These statements all apply:
Worst part is, I paid full price for it, since I found it before the clearances. What a doof.

I hate that feeling of "I know there's nothing new there... But I must stop... What if there is something there? - Ack! Empty shelves! - Time to leave the store empty handed again, 5th day in a row... I am such a looser"

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