JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Watto's Junk Yard => Topic started by: Brian on August 24, 2004, 10:55 AM
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While reading a number of posts and threads from a number of different forum members (myself included), it seems that space is becoming more and more of an issue for those of us who collect the various Star Wars (and other franchise/toy) lines. I know since we've moved, and I've packed/unpacked and tried to figure out how I'd like to display things, space is something that has got me thinking more and more about my collection. I was wondering if any of you are having space issues, what you are doing about it, or what thoughts you have had about it. I know personally, it has forced me to really take a hard look at my collecting, and decide what I really want/think I need. The combination of space, money, and a few other issues has brought me to the conclusion that I will likely be scaling back any "other" collections, and focus primarily on Star Wars. Although I do enjoy other lines as well, and would really like to collect them, I just don't know if it is possible...or even logical for me to do so. Aside from a few LOTR figures I'd still like to pick up eventually, and possibly a Spider-Man figure here or there, I think its going to be Star Wars and only Star Wars from here on out. We all know there is more than enough of that to collect by itself! Anyways, back to the main issue, has space become a big problem for you (or is it heading that way)...do you have a plan of action for it, or has it helped/caused you to re-assess your collection and/or display? I'd be curious to see what some of you are considering. It is tough to give up some of the other lines I'd like to collect, but at the same time I know it is probably the right thing to do. Keeping a "tally" this year of what I have spent on collectibles doesn't help the matter any either ;)
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The Space issue is simply solved by one of two things for me:
1) Do I have room for another shelf?
2) Can I rotate this with other things for display?
That's just how I work it baby.
Kevin
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Yeah, actually, that's another option I wanted to mention in my original post but forgot.....do you "rotate" stuff out, do you have things in storage, things of that nature. Also, do you mind that you have to have things stored away...or would you rather have them displayed? Does the fact that you have to use storage bother you, etc.? I know I have a few things that are left in rubbermaid tubs for now (vintage stuff and misc. larger stuff, a couple of ships), I'd like to figure out a way to get it all displayed.
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My room is going to be hitting capacity in the next year or two... I've already gotten rid of anything non-star wars. I may have to start hanging carded figures from the cieling when episode III hits - especially since the new cards don't look like they'll overlap at all. (I've always hung carded figures in rows, overlapping the cards so the bubbles touch.)
My next house will have a bigger room. It will be a requirement when I'm shopping around.
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Well, the first casualty of collecting for me was my carded collection. I still think that in many (a majority?) of cases, carded figures look better than loose figures (Unleashed being a strong exception). But storage wise/display wise it simply became impractical for me to do so. So I started opening a bunch of stuff. My cinema scenes remain closed and probably will. Basically if I can stack it, it stays in. If it has to be hung, forget it. There are exceptions to that, numerous htf Freeze Frames, late Ep I stuff, TFV, Sacul, Theater Luke and possibly some early orange carded figs for nostaligia.
Rotation? No, not really, too much like work. I am at capacity in my room right now, with 11-12 large tubs full of toys. But I refuse to put up more shelves, simply because we may be moving soon and essentially that stuff is already packed from my point of view. It's going to be a major pain to pack up everything that is already out.
Downsizing is underway. As mentioned elsewhere I'm selling off my goalies in a rather substantial fashion. A guy I've traded with over at spawn.com (meatgoat) makes a lot of sense. He opens everything, even his third jersey Roy :o. We talked a fair bit by email about collections and he decided, mostly because of space issues, that if he wanted something, he would open it, end of story. I'm not quite there, but getting closer.
Selectivity. During my tenure at this board my selectivity went broad scale, and now is rapidly going the other way. Like Brian, first and foremost is star wars. Everything else is secondary. One of the few lines I did "right" was the Simpsons WOS stuff. Only Homers, with a few exceptions, mostly due to Scott forcing some stuff on me :P. But it remains a compact collection and easy to manage. Plus the focus makes it look really cool. McFarlane stuff outside of sportspicks have been selective too. Only predator figures for the most part. LOTR is staying relatively in focus, though that is one area that could easily spiral out of control. Fortunately I delayed long enough that loose stuff is already relatively cheap to obtain, so I am ahead in that way.
Quality. I love the 3 3/4 line, it really is the focus of my collection and my favorite stuff. Opening it allows for displaying more stuff. But aside from the figures, I'm trying to be more selective and have less of some things (says mr. 5 tie fighters ::)) Towards that end, I'm trying to obtain more quality stuff and stay away from lower end stuff. Stay away from smaller cheaper stuff and get busts or MR stuff. BTW, I am failing at this aspect miserably.
The ultimate solution: Buy a house with an unfinished basement and finish the basement. My room will be down there, no doubt about it. The trick is to take it from it's current dimensions to something large. 9ft x 10 ft up to say about 15 x20 ;D Collection too big? Buy a house. Perfectly reasonable solution.
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:) Hopefully I'll be getting an apartment with friends after I got a job. Of corse with a job comes responsability...and with great responsability comes great power....the power to display toys!
Kevin
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No, with moving out come all sorts of horrible realizations. For example, toilet paper costs money. No one told me that. :-*
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No, with moving out come all sorts of horrible realizations. For example, toilet paper costs money. No one told me that. :-*
ROFL! Thats hillarious!
I know pretty much every usable leaf if I run out of money ;).
Kevin
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The ultimate solution: Buy a house with an unfinished basement and finish the basement. My room will be down there, no doubt about it. The trick is to take it from it's current dimensions to something large. 9ft x 10 ft up to say about 15 x20 ;D Collection too big? Buy a house. Perfectly reasonable solution.
A major selling point when we bought our house. I could look past the work that needed to be done (and there was a lot of it, a classic case of a fixer upper), but I always kept my eye on the prize - a finished basement all to myself to do with as I please. Hopefully, and I say this with a grain of salt, I'll have enough room to display everything. I honestly won't know how much **** I have until it's all unpacked and displayed.
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Space has been an issue for over a year now. I'm moving in the near future, and I think I'll use the opportunity to thin the herd some. Like a lot. My collection just spills over everywhere and even I don't like that anymore. Sigh.
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I'm moving on Labor Day weekend, and I never realized how big a pain in the ass moving all this **** is.
At least I'll have most of my collection out of the basement, so that's a good thing. :)
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I was making some headway this summer with organizing, removing, selling off, and basically getting things in order. At this point I'm bogged down and school just started today but I'm wanting to keep at the idea of building some shelves. I have a nice idea of a shelving unit/entertainment stand combo... I want to get my work bench built as well...
Lots of projects, and no time. Not a good prognosis, but perhaps I can speed things along.
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Oh sh!t space is going to be an issue for me in the next few months. See our offer was just excepted on a new house and my room is going to be much smaller.
However, there are other free rooms so I suppose it'll work out fine.
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my current collecting philosophy is to display everything i own. i don't believe in rotating the collection, except when it's done in sections (more on this later). the star wars collection has certainly grown out of hand in recent years, mostly the last 2 that i've been living on my own. with no wife around to bitch at me when i bring new **** in the door nowadays, i have nothing to stop me :D. the non-star wars collection has been downsized recently, basically discarding 90% of what i had. mostly for space reasons, but monetary ones also came into play. presently, my purchasing decisions are something like this:
1) new item comes out - do i want it? usually, yes ;D go to question 2.
2) do i have space for it? 50/50 shot. actually, more like 80/20 (no/yes :-\ ). if yes, then go to question 3. if no, then go to question 4.
3) can i afford it? this is the single most important question, even over and above the space issue. this question mostly comes into play with the higher ticket items - attakus statues, master replicas, etc.
4) can i make space for it? this involves many a decision. i take a look around, and see which "section" it belongs in. in other words, i have a section for loose figures, a section for carded figures, a section for model kits/statues, a section for lego - you get the picture. if there is no space left in that section, i may need to find a new spot for this particualy section of my collection with more space, and move a section that does not have as many items in it to this space. the biggest culprit of this? unleashed. i love those things, but they are so damn big. they have been moved at least 6 times already, and with the newest wave hitting now, it looks like they are gonna be on the move again. if space is available to be made should the need arise, jump back to question 3. otherwise, go to question 5.
5) do i really want it? this question has to get asked again for any item over $100 or so, since i do suffer from buyer's remorse on occasions. and don't even get me started on impulse ebay items that are ending too fast for me to go through my list of questions :-\
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Space is not an issue for me. Do I have a lot of space? Nope. ;) Right now, my entire LOTR United Cultery collection is still packaged, everything stacked on my couch. No space to properly display them all, but Im not missing out on them for when I may potentially have space ;)
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I decided a while back, when I moved, that I wasn't going to even display my stuff until I had a room large enough to do it properly, so all of my stuff is in storage. When I do get that room, I still figure a lot is going to have to stay packed away (mostly boxed vehicles) so rotation is the key for me, too.
No, with moving out come all sorts of horrible realizations. For example, toilet paper costs money. No one told me that. :-*
Not if you're just starting out and working in an office environment. I always treated TP as in the same category as office supplies... it's an employee loss leader, so take a roll home. 8) :-[ Those were the days.
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This is an older topic, but I was wondering - particularly with the recent releases (Falcon, AT-TE) - is anyone else dealing with space issues with displaying your collection? Its funny for me looking back at my original post a few years ago how I was going to "focus on Star Wars" and only buy a couple of Spidey figures. Man, how things have changed. I probably should have stuck with that plan, but now I find myself buying not only Star Wars, but Spidey/Marvel, DCUC, Indy, and Joes. I find myself oddly relieved when I hear rumors of lines dying down/changing/etc., because it makes it easier for me to stop. Anyways, I personally haven't grabbed the AT-TE, but I'm starting to re-arrange things now to make room for the Falcon (and new figures), and finding its getting more and more difficult to keep this stuff out and on display.
I would make things a lot easier on myself by avoiding the vehicles (which take up a ton of room) or even just focusing on the OT ones - but I haven't been able to do that yet. Is anyone else having troubles finding room for everything? If so, what has been your solution (storage, cutting back/selling, rotating)?
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Since the lost of my star wars office last year to my daugher, I've pretty much had to put everything away in the garage. Loose figures and toys fit into boxes alot easier than carded. I've only bought a couple of ships in the past year that are up in the rafters of the garage. Any figures I have on display are in my office cube. It's kind of depressing not having too many figures out at once. It makes me think, "Why buy these figures when I'm just going to put them in a box in a week or two to make room for more." We really need to move or add on to get my star wars office back. It would be amazing.
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As a kid, I never would have thought to display my Star Wars toys...they lived in the vehicle boxes in the closet for the most part, though for trips and vacations my favorites would get packed into my Darth Vader carrying case.
Back in '95 I bought the POTF2 line and started lining figures up on my dresser in my room at my parents' house...as that line continued into '97 I mounted shelves on my wall and displayed the complete collection there(including the vehicles sans the X-Wing and Falcon rereleases that looked just ugly to me.)
In '98 I moved out (which was a good thing because I was beginning to run out of wall space in the bedroom) and got an apartment I shared with my girlfriend. The toys got packed away then, but those favorites of each character wound up on my computer desk, along with any new stuff I found...which wasn't much as '98 pretty much saw the line die.
I bought a few of the key Episode I toys but nowhere near as complete as I had been, and things would get set out on my desk for a time and then get retired to the big box of figures. I actually still have the three original cardboard boxes from ten years ago labelled: Figures, Ships, Playsets/Creatures in my basement.
I moved around every couple years then, and when the Ultaramas came out my figures made their way back out of storage on a rotating basis to fill those shelves. I'd do themes like Aliens, Droids, Rebels, Imperials, combining the collection in different ways.
In 2002 I remember having an office space with a long (12 foot or so) black shelf the previous owner had put up. I set that with a big Star Wars scene that I remember fondly, with Anakin and Obi-Wan standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Han and Luke, fighting the combined forces of Vader and the Empire and prequel droids (and a squad of clones lead by the one and only Atha Prime.) I wish I had pictures of that set-up, I really enjoyed that.
Also that year I had been to the Celebration and wound up burning most of the weekend in NiubNiub's diorama room, learning the craft and putting my blood sweat and tears into the Docking Bay 94 centerpiece that was given away. From that point I was hooked on diorama building and went home to build a Star Destroyer bridge set. After that I tried a couple more pieces that didn't work out, and eventually built a Death Star playset and most of a Cloud City playset. During this time the figures became dressing for my "projects" more than a collection unto themselves, and even my Ultaramas wound up staying in storage at the next move. I was still buying all the new OT product, and PT stuff as I liked it or needed it to fill that "new toy fix." Most of it was destined to get put into storage whenever the desk/workspace got too cluttered.
A couple years back my wife and I moved into our current house, and the dioramas and all wound up staying in storage this time, to await the day we finish the basement as my toy room. In the meantime, I eventually wore down my wife's reservations and was given the ok to turn the walls of our office into my "collection display area" for the time being. I combined my current situation with my love for diorama making and came up with multiple shelf display projects that I have been enjoying completing this past year.
As I conceptualized what my collection was going to entail, I came to the decision that there was no way I wanted to try and display everything--I had collected a bit of the PT stuff, as well as all the upgrades of OT stuff along the way, so alot of the stuff I had just didn't feel like it belonged. At the same time, I wanted to make sure all the cool Cantina aliens that haven't been made yet would have an eventual home. In the end, I spent an afternoon coming up with my version of the ultimate collection, just basically going through the movies by memory alone and writing down every character I wanted a figure of. If I couldn't think of 'em, I must not need 'em. It wound up being about 350 figures, definitely modest collection-wise. (For the prequels, I decided I would stick to the "top 12" from each movie, to recall the vintage original 12). And that will be my collection. As for ships, my office has a drop ceiling, so I look forward to hanging my stuff (OT only, and then not all of that) from the beams. The BMF is getting the one wall I was holding off as the "wild card" slot in my original plans.
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Space is a huge issue for me in how I display items. I wanted to do walls of carded figures, but ran out of room, so I decided to just display loose items...this has actually caused me to open quite a bit of stuff that I had not opened previously. I'm still having some issues on exactly how to display items in my office/collection room, but it's a bit of a learning process as well as acquiring furniture to display items on/in.
It's kind of fun to work on though.
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Old topic here, but one that always seems relevant. I've been going through all the tubs/collection lately, partially to get another look at what I have and partly because I'm taking up too much storage with my "crap" (as the wifey says). It's funny this topic was originally from 2004, and most of us said we were out of space then. Now, 10 years later, it is still a problem. It is funny how creative you can get with the space you have, but it runs out eventually. Have any of you had to make changes to your collecting habits, display, etc. or will be looking to? Looking towards a future of Star Wars movies every year, it really makes me think about what I want to collect and/or keep. I think I'm a little better these days, but going through some tubs there have been a few items where I thought "I bought this?" The ongoing downsizing goal continues....
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I've adjusted stuff, built shelving, all that stuff...
On my property I own a whole separate building. Two actually, but one was built (block garage with a wood 2nd floor for a wood shop). I've stored some things up there but the garage isn't heated, nor air conditioned. Costly projects for another day.
The other buildings on the property came as part of a deal where old coal mines on the neighboring property were purchased when the owner passed away and his wife offered them to us. I guess he was always going to, but just never got around to it, so she did for a song.
One of the buildings is a large garage I could get 3 cars into if not for my brother's lazy ass wasting some of the space (he "works" out of it from time to time for extra money). It's got enough room inside I could easily build a loft within it and virtually double what space it gives me. It's just a stone block building and isn't in the best shape, but it functions and could function a lot better. It was once the "mule barn" that housed the mules that pulled the mine carts in/out of the mine dug into the hillsides.
There is another building right beside it, much smaller, but it's had the windows and door removed now, and I'm keeping mostly scrap and lumber in it. I think I may convert it to a mini-garage for mini-things though like my garden tractors and the tiller. It could work for that junk. In the interim it works ok for storing scrap and used oil and junk like that.
There was another building too on the property but it's collapsed... It was also on the other side of the creek that they used to pump water from and things. This was a blast to grow up in this area and play, let me tell you. :)
It's left me with space I can use, but it's all space that's going to take work to maximize it. I'm still cutting down/back... At the same time I find new things I want now and then too, so I'm torn. I can easily see cutting back a lot of Star Wars stuff I have that, honestly, I don't even like now. I really could see unloading my old toys from my childhood too, even for a song, just to have less clutter.
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I ended up moving to a bigger house for a variety of reasons. It has a larger space than my old house, but I don't want to jusr cram everything in like I did before. I'm trying a strategy where I've allocated certain shelves for a type of product like 12" figures. If I get something new, it needs to fit in that space, likely replacing something else that will then get sold off or donated. We'll see how that goes. The majority of my stuff is still boxed up from the move.
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I'm downsizing / focusing my collection.
I recently sold my complete packaged 12" collection, which probably accounted to close to an 1/8th of my collection by volume - some of those boxes were huge.
I'm also going to dump my (nearly complete) Galactic Heroes collection. I had hopes that my toddlers would enjoy playing with those, but they never latched on to them and immediately preferred the 3 3/4" stuff I had lying around. Most of it is still packaged and I expect that this will clear out another large chunk of stuff.
I also continue to slowly sell off my extra 3 3/4" stuff as well, but that effort has been weak lately.
I'm debating whether to turn the open space in to a nice display area, or just leave it for now knowing it might get filled with Rebels and Episode VII stuff.
I've got aspirations of displaying a carded figure (Stormtrooper or Clone Trooper) from each of the product lines since 1977. I might use most of the space for that.
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Yeah, I've got space issues. My Billy cabinet is pretty full and I've included some ships in there and that has taken most of the space that I only display OT stuff. I'd like to get another cabinet, but I don't see where I'd display it here. I do need to go through some of my old figures and weed them out. I guess I wish I knew which figure was the best (definitive) so I didn't have to go through each box and find all the Lukes or Obi-Wans, etc... Or Stormtroopers, even. That way I don't get rid of the best Stormie out there. I suppose it would be easy to just go with what feels good by me. Anyway, another project for another day.
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I was in a pretty good place at the point they shut down the Clone Wars line, I had just enough space to house a complete carded/boxed collection. And after that the SW stuff I was still getting were just random one-offs here and there. Then I decided to jump in on the 6" line and figured I would at least open these to conserve some space. Ok, no problem.
But with the announcement of the new Rebels line, I may be screwed. That's going to be another one where I will get everything MOC/MISB. If this goes a couple of years it will present some real challenges. Something will have to go. :(
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I was in a pretty good place at the point they shut down the Clone Wars line, I had just enough space to house a complete carded/boxed collection. And after that the SW stuff I was still getting were just random one-offs here and there. Then I decided to jump in on the 6" line and figured I would at least open these to conserve some space. Ok, no problem.
But with the announcement of the new Rebels line, I may be screwed. That's going to be another one where I will get everything MOC/MISB. If this goes a couple of years it will present some real challenges. Something will have to go. :(
+1 ...definitely feeling your concerns there McMetal
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My whole collection is in a very small room... about 8x11. Unfortunately this has left me with no room to do a display with the legos, which I think will be really impressive once I get to it.
As long as it continues to fit in one room, I'm holding out until we buy a place in the next 1 to 5 (?) years before I go downsizing again.
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I bought Legos early on and bailed... I consider, often, selling those early kits... The first TIE Fighters, B-Wings, etc. I just can't see keeping them. :( I've taken a lot of my micromachines and other early 90's stuff and just done away with it, usually to Goodwill to avoid hassle.
Legos, since I bailed on buying whole sets eons ago, are probably next on the block. This is back when guys were still yellow even. No clue how much interest those kits get even these days. :-\
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Still sealed those old LEGO sets are money.
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But with the announcement of the new Rebels line, I may be screwed. That's going to be another one where I will get everything MOC/MISB. If this goes a couple of years it will present some real challenges. Something will have to go. :(
I'm in the same boat - I have seven display cabinets with a vast majority of my loose figures and vehicles on display.
One cabinet each for Episodes 1,2,3,5 & 6; a Clone Wars cabinet and a cabinet dedicated to "the Empire".
I then have four two shelf barrister cabinets. Two of those house all of the non-Empire related EP4 stuff, and two more which I had waiting on "stand by" for future stuff ended up being used for Clone Wars overflow.
So now I'm seriously wondering "where the heck am I gonna put all the Rebels stuff?"
It does have me appreciating the fact that the line isn't as huge as it once was.
My Star Wars, LOTR & Hobbit Legos are an entirely different problem altogether :-X
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I bought Legos early on and bailed... I consider, often, selling those early kits... The first TIE Fighters, B-Wings, etc. I just can't see keeping them. :( I've taken a lot of my micromachines and other early 90's stuff and just done away with it, usually to Goodwill to avoid hassle.
I love the Lego stuff. I've never been able to properly display it and over the last two years I've gone way out of my way to fill in a lot of gaps in that collection. So I'm sort of dying to have a room big enough for it all to go up. There's OT Star wars (nearly all of it, just missing a few of the early kits and the new Sandcrawler), then there's pretty much complete sets of Classic Space, Futuron, Blacktron I, Blacktron II, M-Tron, Space Police I, Space Police II, classic Pirates... Then there's a ton of the castle stuff from Crusaders up through Lion Knights. Basically, OT Star Wars and then almost complete sets of all the lines I loved as a kid, so almost nothing is newer than maybe 1996 or 1997?
Someday.
If you happen to have any of these older SW sets, they're still on my list:
7190 - Millenium Falcon
7264 - Imperial Inspection
8129 - AT-AT Walker
10178 - AT-AT Walker (Motorized)
101143 - UCS Death Star II
10198 - Tantive IV
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I think my sets are mostly all even older than those... Not many in the box but a few. :-\
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We'll that falcon is one of the very first Star Wars sets... No biggie though, just throwing it out there.
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I think my sets are mostly all even older than those... Not many in the box but a few. :-\
Check eBay. Even loose sets can get some money, especially if they have exclusive mini-figs.
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The "space" issue has been one I've been ignoring for many a year now. But as I've gotten more and more willing to let loose vintage stuff be a part of my "official" collection I've started to think about opening some 1995+ stuff. It really is fun to actually "interact" with the toy. That being said I can't bring myself to go all in. I really do like a lot of the packaging AND there is no turning back.
So my newest thoughts are to open most of my stuff that isn't "basic figure" scaled. So 12", 6", Mighty Muggs, Unleashed, Galactic Heroes, etc.
Anyone else out there ever do anything like that? I can't decide how much it really is going to help with how much 3 3/4" stuff there is. And my biggest question really is; has anyone ever started opening their stuff and then regretted it down the line? I only hear the "I'm so glad I took the plunge stories", but there has to be people out there who have been disappointed in the end.
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Space hasn't really been an issue for me until the last several years. I was more of a casual figure buyer up until ROTS came out when I started working, had additional income, etc. I basically had a desk and a dresser to put stuff on (everything was in my room as I lived with my parents) so in 2007 we put up some shelves on two walls in my room. One side hosted LEGO and the other side hosted Hasbro figs. I had plenty of room! Then I started buying Indiana Jones figs, Marvel Universe figs, and 99 percent of the Star Wars offerings and things got out of hand again. I started buying LEGO again after a several year hiatus in 2011, and that's when I completely ran out of room. Since then, my figures have remained boxed and inside of my closet. Most LEGO sets I buy I keep boxed as well, mainly due to a lack of space for them. I even disassembled a lot of older sets and put those in the attic, and still have little room for it all.
One problem I have is I could easily store some stuff since I've been out of my parents' place for a year but my closet is filled with the aforementioned carded figures from the last 3 years, along with several Rubbermaid bins full of old 90s toys (Marvel/DC Animated figs, Power Rangers, WWF, etc.). I've considered getting rid of the old 90s toys but I don't want to deal with selling them online and definitely don't want to just give them away. There's a new store in town that buys vintage toys but I'm assuming they'd only be interested in a handful of items.
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Nick -
I've struggled with maintaining carded/boxed versions of my stuff for the art/coolness of it. Ultimately I realized the art/coolness of it didn't overcome the fact they were toys meant to be opened or played with (or displayed) and I just didn't want boxes upon boxes of stuff.
I did find a personal compromise where I am saving a carded version of a figure (usually a Stormtrooper or Clone Trooper) from each line of figures to have come out since 1977. I hope to create a cool wall of all of these at some point to display the art/coolness of it. Although I don't intend to do this with anything other than the 3 3/4" figures.
Recently, the one that hurt the most was selling my entire carded/boxed MicroMachine collection. The couple I opened I just didn't find that cool to play with / display, so I figured I could live without them, plus they were selling for good money on eBay. It did hurt to sell them though because I thought the art on the boxes was fantastic. Maybe some of the best (in my opinion) of any major line out there - Galoob did a great job. It felt like each box was a super detailed Topps Galaxies card or something.