Toy Lines You Collect...How Much Money/Attention They Get

[Brian]

I was curious for those of you who collect multiple toy lines, which ones do you collect...and which get the most attention.  To be honest, I would probably only collect Star Wars if I (like many others) could find them on the shelves.  Due to the drought in SW stuff this year, I have been spending my money and time picking up the X-Men figures from the Marvel Legends line, as well as filling holes in my vintage SW loose collection.  Although I have always looked at other lines, I have tried to hold back because of money, and besides, SW is always my top priority and what I truly enjoy.  Have any of you picked up additional lines, which do you prefer, and why?  I have picked up Marvel Legends, mainly because they are amazing figures and I really like how they are done, but I have also thought about the Master of the Universe line (and I guess I also picked up a Snake Eyes from the GI Joe line, mainly for nostalgia purposes ).  Just curious what other toy lines you enjoy, and why?

[Lemon-Viper]

Of the lines I collect I'd say this would be my order of important right now.

1) GI Joe gets the most attention because I'm soooo close to completing my collection
2) Vintage Star Wars Figures get the most $ actually because I just started with them and there's a whole lot of stuff I need that's easily aquired
3) Ninja Turtles since they are currently on the shelf they're easy to pick up.
4) Vintage Tron figures and vintage Lord of the Rings figs are tied at 4th because I'm just starting but will only pick them up if I happed to get a good deal on them(kinda a right place at the right time thing).

[JediMAC]

You'll find a lot more pertinent answers in this thread here mosnab: What else do you collect?

But since you're also asking about the moolah and ratio factors as well, I'm not going to merge 'em together...  

As for me, 100% of my collecting time and money goes into Star Wars, since I don't collect any other toy lines...  

[max_one]

my toy collecting is strictly Star Wars!!!!

all the other toys i have are from my youth
transformers,g.i.joes, and m.a.s.k. don't or can't really hold my attention.

[Jango Fettish]

As of this week, I am pretty much getting out of Star Wars collecting, toys wise atleast. I'm moving up to "higher end" collectibles, i.e. busts, Unleashed/statues, other memorabilia, etc.


The market for Jango Fett items is always up and down, so it would be fair to say I spend $25-$30 a month on that collection.

I don't really hold any other collections, but I do collect McFarlanes newer Movie Maniacs figs + the like. Way too good to pass up.

[dustrho]

The only toy line I collect is Star Wars.  The only way I can get anything is online via Kebco Toys... not retail stores.  If I had a job I would be spending $100-200 a month on Star Wars stuff (I actually had a budget for my collecting), but since I'm not working right now I'm hardly spending anything.  

[Morgbug]

What was my musketeer title Matt?  Too freaking stoopid for words?

Star Wars is my number one priority (modern).  That said I haven't bought anything at Canadian retail that I kept since July.  2002.  Everything else has come from trades or just outright help from kind souls, the vast majority of which are regulars here (so thanks).  The modern line probably eats up about 30-50% of what I spend in a month, at least when things come out.  I collect 3 3/4, screen scenes, vehicles, beasts, unleashed, Kubricks, Playskool and probably some other crap I've mentally blocked out.

McFarlane has garnered an ever increasing share of my dollar of late.  Mostly as trade bait and to help with favors in getting SW stuff.  I started last fall on hockey and a little into football, though the latter is really tough as our walmarts will get only 2-3 cases each of football (vs 30+ of hockey) and it is pandemonium.  I just dropped $396 on two cases of NHL5.  Percentage wise it varies, depending on what's coming and whether I have any luck with football or variants in store.  When a series comes out, I probably drop around $300 or so on the figs as they retail up here for $15 each.  20%

Marvel Legends is cool and I really like most of the stuff, but I'm pretty selective in what I buy.  Maybe 60% of the stuff, so it only accounts for around 10% of my spending.  I also snag some Spidey stuff in this grouping too, but relatively few (Hobgoblin, Venom, a couple of spideys)

Vintage Star Wars.  Like Lemon-Viper I'm just getting into it, but I've been very selective and kind of cheap, so I've not gone far yet.  Had some great help from Dale, Scott and Wayne in terms of gifts so I'm really not clear on how much I have.  Doing pretty well, but going to have to chase some weapons down.    This probably eats up about 20% of my dollars right now, but that could become a rather substantial percentage as the harder to find stuff (Amanaman) becomes an issue.

I have all the Predator figures from McFarlane.  Lucked out and was able to score a stealth pred, plus found the two new preds at retail.  Split a Aliens vs Predator two pack with MisterPL (thanks) so I have all four released by McFarlane.

Simpsons. (WOS)  Mostly (90%) Homer.  Still missing trailer park (colonel and lurleen) and GITDH but that's about all from Homers.  Have a couple of others that I had to buy for mail away promo stuff.  

Anything else I collect?  Some of these guys probably have a better idea than I do.  

[Darby]

I'd say:

60% Star Wars
30% LOTR
5% Simpsons
5% Misc. Marvel Legends, X-Men, Spider-Man, etc.

I'm pretty much done collecting Simpsons, and I've pulled way back on everything else.  I'd love to collect ML, but I just can't do it.  I did get Beast, though.  He's awesome.

[Scott]

Packing Peanuts

[Morgbug]

Bubble wrap

[Ben]

I mostly collect Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. That's about 60% of my toy dollars. The rest is divided among smaller lines I dig, like Marvel Legends and until recently, Masters of the Universe. I seem to think of MOTU as more of a chore than joy, so I've decided to back off that one for now.

I received a couple of Buffy figures in the mail today, (Buffy v1 and nice Angel) and I want more. Now, of course, the price on those will skyrocket, until Art Asylum picks up the license and delivers us from evil.

[JediMAC]

What was my musketeer title Matt?  Too freaking stoopid for words?  

Uh...  Not exactly, though that one might work well too!  

I believe it was the Too Many Toy Lines Muskateer.  But as long as Brian (TopJedi) is around, I think he'll always claim top honor in that department!

I'll be thinking about you Brent, while I'm admiring my Code 3 Millenium Falcon.  Have fun with Homer, Predator, et al though!  

[Morgbug]

Uh...  Not exactly, though that one might work well too!  

I believe it was the Too Many Toy Lines Muskateer.  But as long as Brian (TopJedi) is around, I think he'll always claim top honor in that department!

I'll be thinking about you Brent, while I'm admiring my Code 3 Millenium Falcon.  Have fun with Homer, Predator, et al though!  

Yeah, but Brian's not one of the four musketeers.  If I dumped the other stuff, I could have the Falcon, but this stuff is smaller, cheaper and easier to sneak into the house.  

Bulky Blocky

[Jesse James]

Star Wars gets the most attention from me in the past...

Honestly, my disenchantment with Star Wars grows every week though...  The line's just not inspiring anymore.  It's nowhere near capable of competing with other toy lines, and Hasbro's truly running it into the ground much like the Batman line got from them, or how Playmates killed Star Trek.

Of course, the new films not living up to the hype or expectations of many also haven't helped the SW license keep momentum either, so let's give credit where it's due all around...

Star Wars just isn't a powerhouse on any level anymore, no matter how much we wish it to be.  What's sad is Hasbro's capable of so much more, but just unwilling to go boys to the wall on the line.  

Couple that lacking attention to their consumer's wants, and the inability to motivate retail to get product out there, and you have a recipe for disaster.  

I've easily put more money into Star Wars than any other toy line though, that's for sure...  Though I do not collect many toy lines either.

I continue, as 21st Century puts out new product, to buy a new vehicle here and there, and if I could find new 21st Century figures on the pegs I'd be buying a Battle of the Bulge G.I. every time I walked in a TRU I think.  Unfortunately 21st is slow to get product out...  We'll see what new shows up, as 21st is definately ABLE to get my $ if they just put out some n ew things in good quantities...

The upcoming WW2 USMC figures are amazing looking, and while a biznitch to find, the Battle of the Bulge figures are easily the best they've done so far in terms of detail and playability.  Picking up the pilots on their own cards through the 21st Website was nice too though.  

G.I. Joe beckons me to collect it...  Joe was THE Toyline back in the day, and while the new stuff leaves something to be desired I could see myself trying to army build some of the old figures, and amassing a good Joe collection built off what I have from my childhood.  

beyond that, my collecting habits are passing...  LOTR is nice, but too expensive to suit me, and too difficult to bother tracking down for my brother who loves LOTR, much less myself.  I've given up on it.

21st Century and Star Wars are all I'm focusing on now, and let me say that Hasbro is making it too frustrating to bother all the time anymore...  Maybe when some superior product starts to come out I'll rethink this...  But when I get almost an entire year's product line-up on sale/clearance, well that doesn't bode well for the future.

[Brian]

Nice post JesseJames, and JediMAC, sorry if this is a redundant thread....I saw that thread as well, but wasn't sure if it belonged together or not....sorry if it did.  Relating to JesseJames' post, it seems a lot of people are really becoming disenchanted with the Star Wars line lately (specifically the 3 3/4" line).  Do you think it is mainly because no one can find anything, or that other toy line favorites (Marvel Legends, 21st Century, Muppets, MOTU, etc.) are doing more with their line that we think Star Wars (Hasbro) could do as well?  Personally, I'm a SW fan through and through, and I will always enjoy collecting the figures (unless they really start putting out some crap), but they do enough great figures to keep me interested....but, at the same time I can see some people's point....I haven't been quite as excited about Star Wars this year, and a lot of it may be due to the lack of product at retail...do you think it is something more....what is wrong with this line?  Maybe this deserves another thread...but I just thought I'd bring it up here.  Thanks for all the replies.