Yep, still having fun. Definitely.
But knowing Jared as well as I do, I can tell you that his problem is a total and complete lack of patience when it comes to finding every last item possibly available, as soon as it's available. Hence, not enjoying the hunt.
Me? I live for the thrill of the hunt. It's almost like a game to me. I HAVE TO find EVERYTHING on my own. Don't seek help from anyone on the boards, don't even take Jared's extras from his EE cases, even though they're readily available to me. Nope. I find it, or I wait 'til I can find it. It takes at least 4 - 6 months of not finding something before I hit the boards looking for assistance.
But the difference between Jared and I is that I AM patient. My OCD is apparently a bit more mild, whereas I don't need everything the second that it hits. Granted, I'll be looking for it as soon as reports start popping up, but I don't sweat it if I can't find it right away. I've learned over the past 9 years, that eventually I'll find everything at retail, with patience.
But I'm fortunate, in that I have a built in toy hunting route that encompasses about 10-15 stores just on my immediate route to/from work/home. So the fact that I'm not really having to go "out of my way" to make stops helps out a bit. I know I can get pretty frustrated when I take some of my other larger routes when I'm further behind on stuff, and still come up empty handed, but I don't do those that frequently anymore, so my frustration level stays fairly limited in that respect.
I can probably say that I don't technically enjoy the "toys" as much as I used to though. Moreso the thrill of staying complete, or at least moving towards completeness. The rare times that I am complete, I still stick with the thrill of the hunt, but just gear it towards other friends on the board here, and what they need. If I'm up to date, I'll just hunt for other folks!
What's becoming tougher and tougher for me though, is the growing desire to expand my collecting focuses. I've recently finally delved into the Unleashed line, and am adding the WOTC miniatures, GG bust-ups, and MR mini sabers as they start to trickle out now and in the near future. So that's already adding a serious burden to the collecting chores, and especially dollars. But I'm at odds with myself as to whether I want to take it a step further and start getting the GG busts (OT only), and possibly even getting back into the Code 3 diecast ship line (no comments please!). Then there's all the MR FX lightsabers that I've fallen behind on.
So basically, what's hard (and not fun) for me, is wanting to have EVERYTHING. At this point, I'm closing in on collecting pretty much everything except the MR props, and the $5,000 mannequins (Vader, Fett, etc). Those are really the last couple things on my "if I win the lottery, I'd buy..." list. Other than that, I think I'm getting it ALL now. So that's where my OCD has taken me. Ugh.
Collecting Prequel stuff isn't all that fun for me though, so we'll have to see how it goes come next year, with the glut of Ep. 3 product hitting the shelves. The non-movie years always seem to be more enjoyable, that's for sure.
But the figure collection, and the hunt, I still greatly enjoy. The beauty of the OTC line makes it a little easier right now though. Some of the rehashes though (like the vehicles) grind on my nerves pretty bad, when I "have to" buy them to stay complete. That's
not fun. But the rest, it still is.
But I can definitely vouch for the fact that Jared isn't enjoying stuff as much lately, especially hunting. The agitated phone calls from his fruitless runs always brighten my day...
(kidding, J) I make some of those calls to him too though.
But having forum friends with in here to vent with is always fun though, and therapeutic, right?!
I should probably shut up now. End novel.