Author Topic: Cutting back in 08?  (Read 12739 times)

Offline jedi_master_sal

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #15 on: December 7, 2007, 09:41 AM »
It's been my plan for over a year now to cut my SW budget in half in 2008. Once this year is over, I'm going to tally up what I spent on SW for 2007 then come up with the figure for 2008. Further I plan on cutting in half again for 2009 (25% of 2007's spending) then finally from 2010 on only 10% per year of what my 2007 spending was. I figure I've got to ween myself from it somewhat. I can't totally walk away as I know there will be some things I want to get. Conversely, I can't see how Hasbro is going to keep making figures I want for years to come, unless they are all SA or exceptional sculpts.

I've passed on a bit of stuff this year already. I've all but cured myself of the huge army building with one exception being the anticipated correct Kashyyyk clone and maybe the SA 501st clone. Other than that it's only squads of 5 for me instead of companies of 20.

Looking at the first two waves for 2008, I'll do okay. TFU doesn't hold much promise for me to go crazy spending there and though we have yet to see the Clone Wars line, I don't see myself army building much from that line as I'm pretty happy with what I have.

So in short, yes I plan on cutting back, more and more as the years go by.
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Offline Oboewan

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #16 on: December 7, 2007, 01:11 PM »
I definitely need to cut back next year even more than I did this year.   This year saw me turn into an opener as well as develop a "focus" on the musicians of Star Wars, and I tried to only pick up the "new" figures from the TAC line but I ended up getting the whole shebang to complete that damn coin album.   Next year I'm going to stick to it.   The fact that I'm really into the SideShow 12" line isn't helping either- 3 of 'em at Xmas time is hurting.   Not to mention that I REALLY want to get at least the Hoth Ultimate Battle Pack and probably the Endor one too.

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Offline Dan

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #17 on: December 7, 2007, 10:56 PM »
Shoot- I'm going in to reverse and hitting the gas. I may just sell my entire loose clone collection and bail on the prequels pretty soon. Things have to be cool and/or cheap to get picked up at this point- And for everything that gets bought, 2 must go.

Offline Ben

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #18 on: December 8, 2007, 06:07 PM »
I'll be cutting back for sure. I refuse to buy those repainted Stormtroopers, and the Force Unleashed (FU? How fitting) line just isn't my thing.

I'm quite satisfied with my collection character-wise as is. It's getting to the bottom of the barrel when the figure you're most looking forward to in 2008 is a Mustafar Panning Droid.
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Offline Darth_Ice

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #19 on: December 8, 2007, 09:36 PM »
I definitely need to cut back next year even more than I did this year.   This year saw me turn into an opener as well as develop a "focus" on the musicians of Star Wars, and I tried to only pick up the "new" figures from the TAC line but I ended up getting the whole shebang to complete that damn coin album.   Next year I'm going to stick to it.   The fact that I'm really into the SideShow 12" line isn't helping either- 3 of 'em at Xmas time is hurting.   Not to mention that I REALLY want to get at least the Hoth Ultimate Battle Pack and probably the Endor one too.

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AHhh the "coins" that was my excuse aswell! I think what happens as a "collector" you start to find a particular foucus, for me last year I found the Cantina/Jabba's court figures the most deseriable. I also really like Jedi.

Offline Daigo-Bah

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #20 on: December 9, 2007, 01:07 AM »
Ever since I eliminated prequel collecting around the initial release of AOTC toys, and never buying the EU stuff, collecting has remained affordable for me.  I'm finished this year with wave 7 and will not have to buy any figures until wave 3 of next year.
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Offline IshiTib

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #21 on: December 9, 2007, 03:03 AM »
i think i won't cut back very much, i think in opposite to others i don't buy so many figures, because i don't want complete waves and as a pupil i don't have that much money, and don't forget that i just started collecting in april 2006, but i think t4c was quite expensive and i don't have all figures i want now, wave 1 was expensive, i didn't buy anything from wave 2, 3 not very much, 4 and 5 were great waves with fantastic figures, wave 6 is ok, from wave 7 i only ordered the ewoks, wave 7 isn't interesting and wave 8 won't be that expensive, but the problem is, that figures like darth revan will become more expensive, so i don't think i'll ever have these figures and i don't like it, that i have to buy most things in the internet or often go to another town, because these guys here still have wave 3 :-\
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Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #22 on: December 9, 2007, 11:02 AM »
I'm going to be cutting back considerably in the new year.  I've had a bit of a problem with impulse buying this year ("Oh, that GH Leia Boussh looks cool, and it's only five bucks, so..."), so that's going to be the first thing to go by the wayside.  My 2007 army building drive will be finished as well, since I pretty much have the number of troopers I want multiples of in every conceivable form (with the exception of the Kashyyyk Clone and the 501st Clone), and after Hasbro alluding to "greatest hits" style figures in the regular line next year instead of a separate Saga Legends line, that should serve to cut down my purchases by a good bit in the basic line.

I seriously think that next year, at least for the six films' figures, is going to be similar to 2006 in that there will be at least 40% repacks due to the focus on Clone Wars stuff in the later half of the year.  Hasbro's never been able to show real success with two lines at once at retail (regardless of what they say about Legends/Greatest Hits figures having no effect on stocking the main line at the retail level), and I think they would be smart to hedge their bets and *not* do a full line of new figures alongside CW stuff.  But that's not the subject of this thread, so I digress...

But yes, I'm going to be cutting back considerably next year, and sticking with the basic figure line and vehicles, as well as the 2" Unleashed (if that line even makes it past the FU stuff).  No non-CW EU stuff, no Galactic Heroes, no Titaniums outside of capitol ships, no more buying multipacks for one figure, and no repainted vehicles I already have just because it's "different enough."

Offline Desfiy

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #23 on: December 10, 2007, 02:51 AM »
Well next year is lookong very promising, I will be skipping the first wave, but after that I think I will be getting figures from each wave until the CW line then stopping again, until the following year.  However saying that I might pick up the odd 1 or 2 from the CW if I can use it for custom fodder.

Offline JesseVader08

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #24 on: December 10, 2007, 03:11 AM »
The Saga Collection of 2006 broke me of my completist carded collecting habits, and ever since I've only been buying what I want to display loose in my various displays.

I continued that habit with the 30th Anniversary Collection, with the exception of aiming for a carded and loose set of the McQuarrie figures.  That being said, there have been so many new figures this year that I've been wanting to add to my collection that I haven't actually skipped that many!

But I continue to enjoy the regular 3 3/4" line and am actively collecting Galactic Heroes and creating a Darth Vader focus collection.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I plan to basically continue my habits in 08 and won't be cutting back very much.  But I'm happy with that.  :)

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #25 on: December 10, 2007, 03:34 AM »
I doubt I cut back next year anymore than I already have...  If anything I only see it getting worse.

I wholely plan to get into the Indiana Jones line...  I've managed to avoid GI Joes pretty much, but that's a tempting line.  I'll be strong and pass though.

I will always collect my 1:18 military line...  My focus there has always been World War 2, but I do pick up modern figures here and there (and there's some really nice figures out for the modern U.S. military right now!), and if they ever start delving into 19th century figures, or World War 1...  Well, god help me.

Beyond that, I love snap kit figures from overseas, but those are few and far between... 

Star Wars I've already weeded down though.  I army build, and custom fodder, so there's the extra stuff I buy...  But with vehicles I only buy those that are to-scale.  That's not many usually, so that saves me some dough...  Other vehicles I just don't feel compelled to buy, like the TIE Bomber at Target which is an inaccurate grey paintjob... 

I did splurge and buy a carded set of McQuarrie this year because the art means so much to me, but ultimately that's all I have.  If there were a deluxe line, I tend to pick and choose with those as well to save a buck...  I've also cut out a "need" to buy figures from multi-packs.  I don't need every variant anymore (blue Han Hoth for instance), so I'm pretty particular and save in those aspects.

What kills ya is army building, but I did manage to get a LOT on sale this year...  HTS was really a godsend in many ways with the coupons and all...  20% off and free shipping was a routine thing from a company that isn't even a retailer.  Not bad...  Too bad TRU, Target, and Wal-Mart don't make more of a concerted effort to give you a discount once in a while to get into the stores...  WM's price drop is nice though, and TRU did some spiffy B2G1 sales.

I was actually so happy with the line in general in 2007, that I really didn't consider cutting back...  My one wish by year's end was that the Wave 7.5 had been just canned and nothing was there to replace the Force Unleashed line.  I could certainly use the peace of mind that I only am behind ONE wave right now, haha, and none of those figures is really appealing to me...  They're different and all, but none of them really are interesting overall so I wouldn't have cried a tear had they been spread out over the years to save a cent, or had they never gotten done at all.

So, to summarize, I probably will spend next year like this year, but hopefully not TOO much more on Indiana Jones toys...  It's gonna really tack on I'm afraid though.
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Offline evenflow

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #26 on: December 10, 2007, 08:22 AM »
In regards to star wars, i assume i will be cutting back just becuase much like in 2006 in dont plan on buying re-releases. So any figure that now has a stand from the 2007 line is a pass. No need to buy the same figure again.
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #27 on: December 10, 2007, 09:06 AM »
This weekend was a cleaning weekend and really helped drive home the fact that there's just too much stuff in the 3 3/4" line alone. Every year, we have to find places to put 5-10 cases of carded figures, 1-2 of battle pack cases and vehicle cases, 2-3 of miscellaneous over-sized exclusive set cases and this year add 3 Comic pack cases. We don't have basements in SoCal, so space runs out quick.
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Offline Brian

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #28 on: December 10, 2007, 11:35 AM »
I intend to cut back every year, so we'll see.  I was hoping to cut back this year, but the combination of really nice figures, a good amount of army builders, and those darn coins put a wrench in that.  I think I still cut back overall, but not by as much as I had hoped to.  I'm getting better at avoiding "other" lines, and that's an area I hope to focus on even more next year.

Like others have said, there was just way too much stuff this year.  It was great, but still, overwhelming.  From the initial rumors, it doesn't sound like next year will be any better with Clone Wars and all of that.  I personally like the Clone Wars (at least the initial cartoons), so I'm likely in on that line as well.  I am hoping to cut back next year though, and the lack of coins (and possibly more repacks) could help that.  Also, this year alone I got to the point where I'm pretty happy with a lot of army builders (clones, Stormies, Snowtroopers, Scouts), so it will help not having that to worry about as much too.  I'm probably one of the stupid ones here who still buys some of the vehicles, so that takes a larger chunk of money/display space.  I have to figure out what to do from there.  I was convinced I was going to go OT only with those, but I haven't exactly stuck to that so far (mainly with ROTS ships).

Like others, I'm going to take a look at the Indy line.  I'll probably buy the majority of it, depending on the budget at the time.  I'll at least get an Indy, and I'd be happy with that.  I'd like to get it all, but we'll see.  I might have some employment changes next year sometime, which will drastically change the outlook for what I'll be picking up.  I tend to think of my collecting in a list of importance, so when/if I have to cut back, I know which areas will be the first and last to go.  Star Wars 3 3/4" is the last to go for me, and I'll probably always collect it in some capacity.  Like many of you have mentioned though, it really is getting to be a lot of stuff to manage at this point.

Offline Darth_Ice

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Re: Cutting back in 08?
« Reply #29 on: December 11, 2007, 07:27 PM »
I didnt buy any ships, the only ships I have are the Gunships! I have no problem passing up the vechiels.  I would "help" if the cost of the figures would go "down" like Walfart has done.