How have your collecting habits evolved over the years?

[JediMAC]

I've seen some of my good forum buddies recently seriously change their collecting habits, when they had previously looked like they were set in stone.  So I was curious how everyone's collecting habits have evolved over the years.  Did you change from carded to loose?  From Star Wars to LOTR?  From figures to props?  From completist to just what you like?

As for me, I've stuck to my guns since late '95 when the modern line initially debuted, and haven't looked back.  Carded and loose, obsessive compulsive completist to the end.  I'll army build for the OT, but I just stick with 2 a piece for the Prequal crap.  I've only ever collected Star Wars and nothing else, so that hasn't changed either.  I've always dabbled in "other collectibles", and will generally jump into any Star Wars sub-line if it strikes my fancy (like Kubricks).

So I guess there's no mystery or drama surrounding my methods of collecting in the past, present, or future.  Guess I'm just Mr. Predictable...  

So, how 'bout everybody else?  How have your collecting habits changed over the years, and why did they change?

[jokabofe]

How have your collecting habits changed over the years

recently, i've been spending large lump sums of money on just about everything i can get my hands on.

and why did they change?

because of you!!

but seriously, back in the early 90's i was collecting starting lineups and the occasional other toy that caught my eye. i've been a comic book fan since the early 70's and have always had marvel and dc figures, statues, and other stuff.

in 1994 when i learned that they were going to re-release some star wars toys, i got back into vintage sw big time. by the time potf2 came out, i had given up collecting 95% of the other toy lines that i was collecting. i started out just collecting momc stuff, and just 4" figures at that. then after a while, i decided that i needed to have one of everything open and displayed. and then came the army builders. and then... well, it just keeps snowballing. now, you've introduced me to kubricks - and yes, i had seen them before, but didn't start collecting them until you sent me series 2. now, i've been searching ebay everyday for series 1, as well as some of the chase stuff. damn you!!

i'll tell you one thing: the 2004 collector's challenge thread has surely opened my eyes to exactly how much money i actually spend on this stuff. and getting my ass in gear and working on a spreadsheet to track my collection (thanks to dustrho) has opened my eyes to how much i've spent on it already. and to the fact that i really need to get insurance for it...

[Morgbug]

Hi Mr. Predictable (I so prefer BB or TBM), meet Mr. Fickle.

Oy, I am all over the place.  

I used to be a carded completeist with a bare minimum of loose figures.  I also used to be only modern 3 3/4" figures.  

And then I lost my mind (want to separate that our for the folks that want to change the context).  

Over the years, Canada has consistently sucked at getting figures.  We've been shut out at the end of the FF figs; last figs of the commtech stuff (Pre-Ep I); the end waves of Episode I; end waves of POTJ; late figs on Saga and almost completely shut out since December of 2002.  Vehicle exclusives almost never make it here either.  That has created a lot of frustration and at each point where we got shut out, I just boxed up the figs and stopped collecting.  

About 3-4 years ago I got back in with POTJ and discovered internet star wars boards.  That has cost lots, but afforded me the ability to find just about everything and one rule I always remember is no matter how little you want it, someone eventually will need it (this was pre-jarjar thinking).

I then made a purchase of a buddy (drewlam, member here now) and saw his ships, beasts, etc.  I figured what the heck.  I'll get only the Tie's.  Then it was only Imperial ships.  Then I had to get a Falcon.  Then....

Well, you get the idea.  

I also tend to branch out into other lines, but it depends what they are and whether I like them or not.  Some common sense occasionally applies to, as I managed to actually start with LOTR and then stop.  

I've been a completeist with 3 3/4 figs for quite some time and continue to be so, but with other stuff I'm marginally better.  For the most part I'm happy with loose though and only get carded duplicates for figures I think look really good carded or have some staying power in terms of value (no,  I am not deluded enough to think I'll be rich when/if I sell off my collection).  That would be the late FF, late Ep I and then the rest are selective carded figs.  For the most part I am a loose figure collector now, space issues and all that.  Quite a change from 3 years ago.  

I evolved from SW only (ahhhh, there's only 12 orange carded figs, right?) to multiple other lines and now I'm scaling back again to my origins.  I still collect Batman, Marvel Legends, McFarlane (selectively with sportspicks, movie maniacs, etc.), Simpsons and who knows what else will strike my fancy, but those are far, FAR from being complete collections, simply what I like.  

Bell curve

[Ook]

I buy what I want. No real hard and fast rules I set for myself. Here's a little rundown on how modern SW toys have gotten me!

When SW stuff came back, I thought it was great! I was actually proud that my long-favored pop entertainment subject was back in stores. But I had no intention of collecting all the figures. I didn't even buy the first POTF2 figs. I recall looking for the Action Masters die-cast, but never finding them. I think the first thing that got me was MicroMachines. I picked up the movie-themed 3-packs of vehicles, then got sucked into the little figurines by the Jawas. I was stunned by quality of sculpting on such tiny figs! Long story short, that led to "collecting" most of the damned things. I figured I could collect collect the whole damn universe at that scale, and it wouldn't take up an awful lot of space. Then POTF2 Greedo came out...

Oh, man. It's the aliens that got me. He was my first, and Hammerhead and others followed. I lost interest in the micros, and started getting more and more action figs that I liked. I could finally get the heros and other main characters when the sculpts started getting good. I wasn't having any of that beefy Luke ****, or Monkey Face Leia rubbish.

Then came 12". The Tusken Raider was the first 12" to lure me into that web. I bought some of those, and after a while lost interest in the 3¾". Fruitless toy runs and other annoyances got old.

I was pretty much only paying attention to 12" for a while, when I got interested in getting some of the 3¾" OT aliens I'd missed or ignored in the past. I started poking around RS and then trading for stuff I wanted there. Then, all of a sudden, there all these great figures coming out: More OT aliens to add to the menagerie, like the current Jabba waves and the super duper clone trooper! Hell, that has even led to my first vehicle purchase, the command gunship. I've got to amass an army, right?

 

[Ben]

When I started on the modern line in 1995, I stayed with one of everything, with occasional carded figures if I found a sale on them or if they looked cool on the card.

I kept my collecting to just Star Wars until McFarlane put out their first series of KISS figures. I bought them, and saw the awesome work McF was putting into their toys. As a lifelong monster nut, I went nuts for them, but never could find them. (Still don't have the first Malebolgia figure.  Still want a lot of the early figures, but don't feel like tracking 'em down.)

So now I was collecting Star Wars and McF stuff. Then Episode I hit, and I actually managed to stay away from everything but the figures. Then the clearances rolled around, and I got most of the vehicles and stuff for waaay cheap, and even found the Ascension Gun Amidala wave for $3 each. Got two sets, could have got more.

Jesus, I'm long winded. Still more...

Around late 2000, Hasbro started putting out the GI Joe, A Real American Hero Collection. Great, another line to collect. And Mattel with their Masters of the Universe Commerative Series (which is still the pride and joy of my collection) and their modern line. Then Takara and their cursed Transformers G1 reissues, then Hasbro with the same...

Then the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring hit theaters. Another line...

And last year, when I thought it would be a great idea to collect Buffy/Angel, Marvel Legends, and Muppets. I was buying lots of stuff, to be sure.

Now, I have it pared down to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Buffy/Angel, and occasional McFarlane, Marvel Legends, and Transformers G1 swag. I don't want to turn my back completely on ML and Transformers, cause those lines do have some neat stuff ahead. I also buy other neat things if they strike me as cool, like the Comic Book Guy playset from the Simpsons.

[Darby]

I started hard core with the Playmates Star Trek line in '92, I think it was, and then followed that until it sort of spiraled out of control toward the end, which is a pattern I sense happening over and over.

The Simpsons I love I love I love, but I jumped ship a year ago, when the characters stopped appealing to me, and space and money became much larger issues than before.

SW used to be one of everything loose until EP1, I guess, since there are still a few things I don't have.  Now I just buy what I want, which is less and less.  Space, money, do I really care about a Ozzel figure?  What does that say about me as a lifelong SW fan?  Am I just burned out?

I kind of am.  I've been thinking about taking a break just to recharge the batteries, you know?  It hasn't been fun for a while, and I miss that.

But then there's things like the Sandcrawler, or Dagobah Luke or Bespin Leia, and you're right back there.  We'll see.

[Jim]

I have eliminated over half my stuff due to either space or money.  At this time I only collect 2 of each basic carded figs (no rehashes)  and multiples on army builders.  The occasional ship too.

[Rob L]

When I started with Episode One (after years of not thinking about Star Wars at all) I was purely in it for fun, so I was just collecting loose. On top of that I was only after a few figures. This did, however, eventually develop into loose completism, a pattern which lasted right up until the Saga line.

At this point I had no more shelf space and one look at the excess accessories and the crappy action features of the Saga figures and I thought to myself “Rob, you’d be better off keeping this stuff on the wall”. FATAL.

I saw how cool the carded stuff looked and decided that I needed EVERYTHING MOMC and loose. This was around the time I first registered here. Up went the extra shelves, and my Internet Explorer was permanently pointed in the direction of eBay. Eventually I had a complete(ish) set from Ep1 onwards carded AND loose.

Not surprisingly my wallet was staring to hurt badly…remember that Star Wars figures in the UK cost roughly twice as much as in the US…so in terms of cash, it was like buying 4 sets of figures. Then the first serious rehashes came out. BANG…WTF is this? “Rob, you have three Eeth Koths!” , and there were bills to pay and rodents to feed and take to the vet. So all rehashes were gone and I was at the all-the-figs-I-don’t-have MOMC and loose stage.

By the end of last year I was getting into LOTR big time. I had to have some of the figures. I went for loose because of all the packaging variation crap (and Hasbro had by this time soured me on that already). So, with LOTR being way more expensive than Star Wars, and because I also had no more shelf space, I came to the decision that I needed to drop one of my Star Wars sets. After consultation with other collectors, my loose figs were out the door…coz I can always open my MOMC stuff later on if I feel the need, right?

So here we are, one of every Star Wars figure that I don’t already have MOMC, and a cool selection of my fav LOTR figures loose. What could be better? Well, I’m running out of space for my “wallpaper” again. I have enough room for the un-rehashed OTC and the VOTC, but not all the figs to be released in the years to come…

…might be about to go down the OT-only-MOMC route

[jadesfire]

I use to collect one of everything, as in LEGO, vehicle, figure, doll, toothbrushes, chip bags...you get the picture.  If it had Star Wars on it, I had to have it.  (But I started this in 1977 when the movie came out, I am THAT old ) and so I had quite the collection.  I have pictures of a lot of it and I can't believe how much stuff was out there.  
Then, with marriage and kids, I sold most of the figures and ships.  I had no room for all the boxed and carded figures and the money I made from the sale bought a nice truck for the hubby.  

My son was always interested in the toys (I did keep the loose stuff from the late '70's and early 80's) so when 1995 hit, he had to have it all and I was right beside him rebuilding a collection I sorely missed.

Now, I've sold/traded mostly everything (due to space) and concentrate on figures and dolls only.  I was also a carded nut but changed my mind over the last year and have been opening everything.  

[Reconsgt]

Well my collecting habits have changed alot over the years.
  When I was a kid I played with SW never really collected it. My first items I collected were the GI Joes. I had to have 1 of each no tmatter if I opened it or not I wan't them all to put up one my shelves as a kid. Well I grew out of that stage and got into sports cards in high school. Went all out on those.  

 So fast forward to 1995 I remember seeing the new SW stuff in the store and remember picking up a few off the pegs and saying to myself these look like crap and walking away. I was not into toys at that time. What got me into it was EP1 and my little brother making me take him out to the stores when I was home. I remember seeing Darth Maul and saying this is kind of cool. This was before I saw the movie. I didn't know who he was but they looked better than the buff line of 95. I started picking up a few here and there. I got frustrated when I couldn't find what we were looking for. After all I remember being a kid and seeing every new fig on teh pegs at one store or another. Well that searching futility lead me to the internet. Well now with everthing at my finger tips I had to have 1 of everything. So that held me up till a couple years ago.

 Now my habits have changed from having every new item to going back toward my youth and hunting down what I remember as a kid. I don't care if its a set of ESB curtains or a yoda night lite. That what I want. So the modern line has all but stopped for me. I will pick up a few figs I like but thats about it. Even with KB closing by me and all the dirt cheap stuff I still walk away.   I will say though I will probably pre order all the new ships in the OT style packages.

[Mikey D]

When POTF2 debuted in 95, it was one of every regular carded figure and vehicle.  I keep them carded until the Momaw wave came and decided I wanted to play display them and opened them all.  Then I decided, for whatever reason, to buy two of every carded fig - one to open and one keep carded.  That lasted up until the Flashback wave when I decided to just collect loose due to the obvious - space and money.

It was Hasbro and that's it.  Until I couldn't find anything new in stores and saw some clearanced Lego at Target - the Awing and Bwing.  I bought them and now I have every system set except the new Xwing and Mos Eisley cantina sets.  When I can find them cheap, I also buy the UCS.  Still don't own the Xwing, RBR, SD and Snowspeeder.

Other toy lines have tempted me - every time I walk down a toy aisle, they call to me.  MOTU, Simpsons, GIJoe, LOTR and Muppets have all almost been a part of my collection.  The only one besides SW I collect is Marvel Legends and the assorted Spiderman/Xmen/Hulk classics.  

Of course, I do have a couple of McFarlane Sportspicks coming from Brent.  I only want ones of players from my favorite teams, so I'm not going to break the bank on those.

Fast forward to Star Wars and I can say I'm a loose semi-completist (if that makes any sense).  I'll buy one of every new regular figure released and whatever floats my boat otherwise.  No crappy deluxe or useless TRU 4 packs.  I won't be buying many of the new rehashes - just some army builders - but any new figure coming out will be purchased and then opened.

[Darth Paul]

I've recently decided to ditch everything prequel except for my Clonetrooper army.
There's just too much stuff out there for my wallet to handle.  I buy 1 of each fig and keep it carded, some uber-cool figs get opened.
Also buy some ships, and have stayed away from 12".
I've also been considering going vintage only but I am too addicted to stop so far  

[Brian]

An older topic, but I thought it was a good one.  As far as how my collecting has evolved, its (unfortunately) gotten larger and more expensive.  I bought into all the lines as a kid (Star Wars, He-Man, Joe, Marvel/DC, Transformers, etc.), but pretty much stayed away from toys after that.  I don't know that I necessarily remember when the modern line started up again, although I was later aware of it as my younger brother got into it.  I remember thinking it was pretty cool, but didn't really start collecting it yet.  Right around the time of the TPM hype, I started thinking about picking something up.  I worked at a store in college (Pamida, for those who have them), and got assigned to do the "set up" for the TPM display.  A coworker and I decided to use our employee discount and pick up a few figures.  I think I grabbed Obi-Wan, Anakin, Qui-Gon, Darth Maul and eventually 3PO, R2, and Yoda.  Right around that time (I think shortly before), I picked up the commtech Han and Luke (which at the time, I thought looked pretty amazing compared to vintage toys).  I then started buying loose POTF2 figures online, starting with the "big names" from the OT.  This led to a small desk shelf or two being filled with Star Wars figures, and I was pretty happy.  Like many of you, I had no idea how big the line would become.  Next I picked up a Falcon on clearance at KB, and received an X-Wing from a friend, and things started going downhill from there.

I started collecting the basic line full force, and it was easy enough to keep up on at the time (aside from TPM, there wasn't the 60+ figure release years then it seemed).  Then I slowly started branching into "other" stuff.  I picked up a Spider-Man figure, then a Marvel Legends Wolverine, then the Legends/Classics continued.  Then I grabbed some Batman stuff, then LOTR, and so on.  I've stayed away from collecting any "other" lines full force for the most part, with Marvel/Spidey being the main exception.  Fast forward to now, and I'm still all in on basic Hasbro Star Wars, but I also continue to pick up stuff from other lines like Galactic Heroes, Marvel Legends, DC Superheroes, 25th Joe, and some other miscellaneous crap (not to mention Indy next year).  I'm hoping to scale back again - and I sometimes look back fondly on how simple it was to collect in those earlier days (late 90s/early 00s).

As far as the carded/loose thing goes, I did leave all my figures carded for a little while (and packed away in a box), but eventually I opened a couple up and enjoyed them more that way.  Now I open pretty much everything, aside from a set of the vintage (VOTC/VTSC) figures that I'm keeping (and still working to complete), and a carded Han Solo collection (and some Chewies).  My habits have definitely evolved in some ways, just leading me to buying more stuff unfortunately .

[David]

It all started when my parents took me to the Special Edition ANH in '97. I really like it, so I had them buy me some figures. Luke, Vader, the basics, all were torn open and played with until they broke    . Then as I got older I became hooked. And as of several years ago, my parents want me to work for money for figures, so...well, it is an expensive habit. When I started out on this forum last year I was a MOC completist. But space and money, as well as the pictures of vast loose collections of other JDers, inspired me to start ripping open everything decent and selling the MOC stuff that was crap. Now I have a growing stormtrooper and clone army, as well as a ton of droids and a few Jawas. I have also discovered the joy of customizing, with Mygeeto Bridge being my best work. Opening stuff is just too much fun. I do leave the rarest MOC stuff from what I had before my great unboxing in the box, and all of the concept art figures in their packages as well, because the way I see it, opening them usually doesn't make sense and a carded set will look so nice. As for sublines, I don't do too much. Comic packs are usually only bought for custom fodder. Attacktix are SOOO 2005 (when I was eleven). And as for vehicles, I only have a small handful, but I'm considering starting a TIE Fighter fleet. Other lines are non-existent in my collection, except for the occassional customized POTC figure. So how have my collecting habits evolved over the years? They've gotten more expensive! But I still enjoy it, and I will until the price of basic figures hits $15.99 apiece, which shouldn't be for another couple years. 

[Chris M]

I started collecting a couple of vintage figures through a comic shop I visited just before college down in Corpus Christi.  When the POTF2 figs started coming out I was in college and went everywhere to pick them up.  I then went into EPI when I had no money and then into POTJ.  When I went overseas in 2001-2002 I spent my extra time and lots of money filling in spots in my collection buying pretty much everything I could get my hands on.  I came home and had a ton of stuff and lots of boxes to open.  EPII came out while I was overseas and when I came home I started picking up everything from that.

Pretty soon I had a bunch of stuff with no meaning to me.  I started selling some of my stuff, starting with EpII figs.  EPIII comes out and I picked up almost 100 clones and eventually sold those too.  Over the last two years I've started selling most of my stuff.  My wife and I bought a new home a year ago and after boxing up what was left of my collection, close to 15 boxes, I decided I had had enough.  I kept my vintage loose collection, my Han collection, and gifts that people had given me.  I decided I had enough and wanted less clutter in my home.

With the money I had, I bought a good amount of equipment for my home gym...thank god, no more trips to the gym to workout, just go into the next room.  i've been digging through and selling more stuff recently.  My collection looks neat and much more maneagable now that it has a place and a focus.  I still travel through the toy sections at Target, Walmart, and TRU, but don't purchase and modern stuff anymore.