If You Lost Your Collection....

[Andy_R]

If my modern collection went up in smoke, I honestly wouldn't be too disappointed. 
My insurance would cover replacement costs for everything (i.e. retail value), which is more than it's worth if I were to sell it. 
Plus, I have completely lost interest in all modern toys. 

Vintage is a different story. 
I'd re-collect, but my approach would be very different.  I'd use the insurance money to acquire very rare and unique items, rather than going on a carded figure spending spree.

[JoshEEE]

I'm with Josh, I'd try to replace a few choice pieces, but cannot fathom trying to rebuild everything. While i have no desire to part with anything I have, I know I wouldn't have the passion to go back and start from scratch.

All that money would go towards this instead:

My money would probably go towards this:




Which sometimes honestly makes me wonder why I don't just sell the stuff I don't care about and only collect the stuff I REALLY like.  These days, I tend to only buy things I want, but I still have hundreds upon hundreds of figures from the last 10 years that I'm fairly ambivolent about.

[Brian]

I got to thinking about this issue again, while reading of a few more of our friends here scaling back their collections for lack of money, space, time, or any other issues.  I should probably change the title of this, because I'm wondering more of if you were starting from scratch - or even if you just had a little amount of space to display things - what would you choose to collect and display - Star Wars or otherwise?  I'm getting to the point now where the space I have to display (our office) is getting pretty full.  I don't like it when things look cluttered, and I'm thinking now what needs to be packed away.  What would you choose to keep?

For me, although I really enjoy the entire saga (and ROTS from the prequels in particular), I'm more of an OT person overall.  If I was really strapped for money or space, I think I'd focus on that.  Maybe completing a loose vintage collection, and possibly moving onto vehicles and/or playsets eventually.  I think I'd still be drawn to the modern stuff too, particularly things on the level of the VOTC/VTSC figures.  If I took it further than that, I think I'd collect the basic figures from the OT - particularly those who had versions in the vintage line - sprinkling in "new characters" such as the Lars, Hem Dazon and other aliens, etc.  It would be tough to ditch the prequel stuff totally though, so I'm not sure what I'd do there.  Maybe I'd keep a dozen or so from the prequels as well, stuff along the lines of Evolutions Maul/Anakin/Palpy, ROTS Pilot Obi, 3PO, Jedi, Clones, etc.  Its always tough to know for sure when you're not technically in the situation, but its just something to think about.

Outside of Star Wars, my main interest is Marvel (and to a lesser extent DC) stuff.  Foremost among that is Spider-Man.  If I was limited on space, I think I'd try to keep a "Spidey shelf" with Spider-Man and his "world" of characters/villains.  If I had extra room, I'd continue on with more of the Marvel Universe though.  I guess there are always more and more ways to branch off, depending on your interests (for me, comic figures, Unleashed, etc.) - but if I'm trying to keep it to a bare minimum, this would probably be what I'd stick to - in an order of relevance:

Star Wars 3 3/4" Figures - Vintage and Modern (Original Trilogy) - maybe a handful of prequel figures
Marvel Legends/SMC Figures - Spider-Man, then other Marvel (or DC - Superman, Flash, Batman)
Star Wars 3 3/4" Vehicles/Beasts/etc. - Original Trilogy
Star Wars Unleashed

There are other areas I've always been interested in too, higher end stuff in particular (GG Busts, Master Replicas, Sideshow 12" Figures) - so that would be an option too.  I'm looking mainly at what I collect now, and what I'd do if I had to pack things up/sell things off/start from scratch and only had a few shelves to use.  What would you choose, if anything, to collect and display?

[Diddly]

If I lost my collection, I probably wouldn't start over. I'd go back and get some of the cooler/favorite figures, but rebuying everything would be a lot more expensive then when I first bought it.

I would go back and rebuy the Legos again though. There are a LOT less of them I'd have to track down, and a lot are still sold for MSRP either in stores or online.

[Mikey D]

I guess this applies to me now that I'm selling off my loose collection.  Many things lead to my decision and it wasn't an easy one.  I just want to move on to better things.  My love of Star Wars hasn't diminished, just my love of the Hasbro line.  The excitement I once felt isn't there anymore.

I've decided to only keep a few things from Hasbro - the VOTC/VtSC figures, all the astro droids, 7" Unleashed and maybe a few select figures that I really like.

I'm also keeping and will still be collecting the Galactic Heroes line.  I plan on eventually giving them to my son when he gets old enough.  Until then, they'll remain carded and hanging on the wall.

Once thing I'm most excited about is getting my Lego collection built and displayed again.  I had the majority of them built shortly after I finished my basement, but had to take them apart again once I realized I didn't have the room.  With my Hasbro collection now slowing dwindling, I now have room for them.

I'll still be buying the Kubricks and luckily they only come out a few times a year.  And if I ever did decide to sell off everything, I think these I would keep. 

Marvel Legends will still be collected, at least for now.  I'm waiting to see what Hasbro does with the line.  Hopefully the continue the same way Toy Biz is doing it now.  I'm almost certain a scale change would cause me to stop collecting this line.  We'll see.

I'm getting into the 12" Sideshow stuff and think this will be a great line.  Expensive sure, but amazing.  Need to buy a glass cabinet for these shortly.

Other than those, I think I might start looking some of the mini busts and Master Replica stuff.  I'll see how my sales are going first before committing, but they're something I would like to have.

[JoshEEE]

I still feel the same way I did last year, with a twist.

I've already stopped buying a lot of the lines I was collecting previously. I'm only collecting the stuff I really like now, but I still have too much.  Plus I live in a smaller house so there's even less room to pick and choose what will eventually be displayed.

Woe.

[Morgbug]

I'm an addict.  If I were to lose everything, I think it would be a great excuse to not bother collecting at all.  It's a huge waste of money, IMO, and I really probably should stop.  I have to say, moving and boxing it all up, then looking at it all sitting in a lump and now thinking about what it cost it's been a largely pointless exercise.  

Don't get me wrong, there's some really neat stuff there and I've had a ton of fun and made tons of friends but I think about what I could have bought and I realize that it's pretty frivolous to put that much money into stuff like that.  

I haven't looked at my previous comments, so I hope these aren't too dissimilar.  

I guess I'd try to rebuild a couple of things, but moving, while a pain, was also instructive.  I let the movers handle everything from my collection except three boxes:
loose vintage - 2 boxes
Kubricks - 1 box

I guess those would be the last to go were I to get out, but even those I don't think I'd chase hard to replace.  My loose vintage collection was easy to assemble, relatively speaking, because I was selling my own vintage toys off to fund those purchases.  It wasn't really like I was spending actual money.  The Kubricks, cool as they are, I'm not about to go spending stupid amounts of money on chase figures yet again to replace them.  

I'm pretty attached to the Gentle Giant busts and might try and rebuild some of that collection as well, but not really much else.  

I'm perpetually in the same boat as Mikey has been in - wondering what I should and should not be collecting.  I like Lego, but don't have that much love for it.  I do still think the Hasbro stuff is neat (some Tatooine stuff looks fantastic) but I have so much stuff that I don't really need that badly.  Unloading it (ships, beasts, etc.) has a lot of appeal, but I don't even have space to go through it right now.  I'll certainly keep many pieces, but even a lot of stuff I have on order online is in near danger of being cancelled.  I'm just really questioning why I need a $300 18" tall Princess Leia figure.  

Think of all the beer I could have bought.

[Morgbug]

Simply put, I wouldn't start again.  At least that's how I feel at this moment.  It's a huge 'waste' of money.  I could have easily bought my '67 Camaro by this point.  Heck, I'd be close on two years of money alone. 

That I have all of this stuff is self perpetuating, but losing it would simply kill the urge. 

Yep, that was pretty much the same, just a whole lot more succinct and less whiny.

[Brian]

I'm perpetually in the same boat as Mikey has been in - wondering what I should and should not be collecting.

That's kind of what I've been thinking about lately too, and why I enjoy reading everyone else's responses on this.  There always seems like there's so much that would be nice to collect, and if I had unlimited space/fundage it would probably be: Hasbro Basic, Unleashed, Galactic Heroes, Master Replicas, Mini Busts, Sideshow 12", and LEGO (not to mention Marvel stuff) - but, that just isn't feasible.  That's why I'm trying to decide what I want to stick with, and collect.  I'm a fan of the 3 3/4" line (OT in particular), especially when its at the top of its game, so I don't know that I could give that up - at least not completely.  But, there is a lot of the higher end stuff that I think is really neat - but I can't afford - so I can see why many people get away from the "smaller" stuff, and move onto the higher end collectibles.  Anyways, its nice to read everyone's thoughts on this, it just seems like something many of us around here have been giving thought to lately - scaling back, dropping out, or just really considering what is important.

[Reid]

I'd just start collecting from where I left of. Maybe I'd track down some of my favorite figures on the secondary market.

[Chris M]

If I were to loose my collection, I'd take the insurance money and move on.  I might restart my Han focus, but I don't know for sure.  But there would definately be some SW stuff still around the house.  I've tried selling all of my POTF2 collection lately and can't get it sold for a decent price.  I'm not even looking to get back what I put into it.  I've managed to sell my EpI and POTJ though.  Back to the question though, I'd be upset that my collection was gone, but I can replace it.  Afterall, it truly is just plastic and cardboard.

I'd take the insurance money though and buy either this a Glock 19 compact with a laser site.

And when that was done, I'm hooking myself up with a Demarini 34/30 softball bat.

[john todd]

i imagine almost everyone who has a complete or nearly complete modern collection has noticed that this thing has gotten to be far more of a juggernaut than anyone ever expected.  i think most guys would be relieved to be able to come back from a different perspective and try to narrow their collection.

it would be very hard to just give up 10 years of collecting, but at the same time, i think hardly anyone would immediately start searching for a monkey face leia on a mint card if they had to start from scratch.

[tonphanan]

If I lost my collection I would probably try to replace my favorite pieces but not everything. When I was in high school I was dumb enough to bring in a binder with my entire Baseball card collection and of course it was stolen, and never found. I replaced my Cal Ripken Jr. rookie card then called it quits and never collected cards again.

[iFett]

I lived through the vintage era of SW, GI Joe, and Transformers and had most of all lines in varying degrees of some sort at the time.  Right now, I'm in limbo and living back with the folks due to college, but I have my SW and TF collection insured at 50k. 

I would NOT pick up on any toy line if I were to lose it all.  I started back collecting toys hard core in 99 and would not attempt to start over or to specify in one particular area.  I'd take the money and buy a house and move on with my life.  Too much of a headache/second job to try and keep up on all the new stuff that keeps coming out.

[Ben]

If I lost mine, I'd not touch Star Wars again. I had no idea in 1995 that it would become what it has, and if I did, I'd never have started.

I've been going back and forth for more than a year on this whole game. It's become a "just one more piece" thing, but I have said a definitive no to the CW Gunship and it's accompanying Battle Pack, so that's progress.
But then there's Sideshow's line, and I doubt I'll be able to stop with that.

I just look around at all this stuff and figure I'd be halfway through a mortgage with the cash.  And to sell it would be a joke, since most figures are worth pennies now.