JediDefender.com Forums
Community => Watto's Junk Yard => Topic started by: Scott on August 2, 2004, 01:03 PM
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So we're in the process of redoing our basement and I have to take down a lot of my collection so we can peel wallpaper off and paint. While doing so I've been bagging a couple of hundred Simpsons, Marvel and LOTR figures and thinking of what I could do if I sold some of this stuff and pare down the space this stuff takes up. Make my wife happy and I could buy an iPod or new TV or something with the proceeds...
Then the though enters my mind that I did this a couple of times in my youth and I've regretted it ever since then. All of the time, money and fun I've had completing a collection to a point where I'm happy would be gone.
I'm at the point where I might do the same with Prequel stuff for SW too and just focus on the OT...dunno there yet. This sort of ties into to what Brian was asking last week about intending things to go as far as they did
I've noticed people (Adam and Cory and others) that have sold stuff in the past, any regrets, anyone thought of doing the same...
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Great topic Scott. Yeah, this is something I think about once in awhile too. It kind of goes hand in hand anymore with me when thinking about what I'd like to continue to collect. It does take up a lot of space (and money), and to be honest, my wife would probably prefer I don't collect anything outside of Star Wars. We've been discussing it lately, and I'm trying to figure out what I'd like to pare down.
I've been down that road too, the same as you Scott, when thinking about if I wanted to go OT-only. I was close to thinking I could do it for awhile, but once the Episode III hype starts up again, I start to reconsider. I've also thought about just "thinning out the ranks" and keeping main characters (definitive version if possible), as well as some strong supporting characters. I guess kind of approaching it the way the vintage OT line was when I was a kid. There was 77-85 figures or so covering all three movies, over a span of 9-10ish years. Granted, times have changed, and also, the "central" characters change somewhat from movie to move in the prequels too. But, I do often think about paring this area down. The ships especially take up a lot of room, although I do like some of them.
I think about both aspects of this a lot, and actually a thought posted by Jeff in another thread got me to thinking about it more. He was talking about how at one point he was buying things that he just thought "looked cool", instead of what he really liked and enjoyed collecting. I'll admit, there are things I look at in my collection where I think "you know, I really didn't need this". I either bought it because of a drought of finds and finally seeing something new, while having a bout of "completism" coming over me, or something along those lines. I guess nostalgia and the love of Star Wars is what got me into this in the first place, and I never probably would have collected these other lines if it wasn't for that.
Right now, I'm considering giving up Marvel Legends/Minimtes. Its going to be tough, but I know I need to start somewhere. My wife really wants me to, and I can see her points when we do talk about this. I think we've come to the compromise that I can continue with Spidey-related stuff, so I might go that route and get more specific with that collection. I could honestly be happy with my LOTR collection with 4 more figures. I just wanted the main core really, because I knew I didn't have the money or space to support more. I have Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Pippin, and Gollum...and would like to add Aragorn, Frodo, Sam, and Merry. I could be happy having those sit on a shelf. The prequel Star Wars stuff I'm undecided on too. It has crossed my mind before, but I'm worried about having "seller's remorse" like you mentioned Scott. Nice topic though, it makes me feel better to know that the thought has at least crossed other people's minds here now and then. Original Trilogy Star Wars stuff is the one area I can say that I've always been interested in, and would like to continue in until the end. The other lines interest me too, and if we had more money and space, I'd be further into those as well...but we just don't, and it has come up in thought more lately that the money could be used elsewhere (when we were looking at TVs/furniture for our basement family room this weekend). Anyways, again, nice topic.
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Ooohh...great topic.
I sold my vintage collection and sometimes I wish I wouldn't have. At that time (1995) there was no Phantom Menace on the horizon and I just couldn't justify hanging on to this stuff anymore when we could use the cash for a used truck. Besides, it was all packed away with not much hope of ever being displayed.
With that being said, I have scaled back my on my collection (sold off my Lego's, vehicles and action fleet line) with no regrets since I used the money to pick up some higher end collectible. I've made myself display everything I collect (at least most of it because some of the newer figures are so much better that the old ones go in the "never-to-be-seen-again" container) so it also helps hold me back when I see new stuff that I automatically pick up to buy and then have to think it through on where I am actually going to put it!!
It's a tough call and it's going to get even harder when ROTS hits and I have to pre-plan my buying.
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I met a guy on Rebelscum who was selling his entire collection for $1.00 per figure. He was nice enough to let my friend and I stop by before the garage sale. I bought 100 figures from him the first night (mostly clones and stormies), the 12" speederbike with scout trooper for 10$, some vehicles for $3.00 each, the Famba for $3.00, and on and on.
Then, after the garage sale he called us up and said that he was selling the leftovers for a quarter a figure.
I bought another 120 figures from him (mostly battle droids and jawas and fleet troopers other army builders)
He did it because he was out of space. And the bottom line is that he didn't want to - I got the impression that he was regretting it as we sat at his dining room table picking through the stuff. I hope it worked out well for him, but I knew right then that I couldn't do it.
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I sold all of my 4" stuff a few years ago after I had opened the first Wave of Attack of the Clones crap that came out. The statues and action features and bendy weapons and the lame ass sculpting finally got to me. These new vOTC has me thinking of buying them and only them but everything else I dumped on eBay and got back pennies on the dollar
That's the thing, you could sell it but you'll be out tons of money in doing so
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With over a 1000 figures sitting around, I sometimes think what the hell am I doing. I have thought about sticking strickly with the OT, but part of me says no. Time will tell, but I really have lost all interest in the PT at this point. But like so many, I am sure that ROTS will offer alot of OT stuff (Chewie, Tarkin, Stormtroopers). I could sit in therapy for hours debating this ::)
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I'll be heading to NYFA shortly, so I will be thinning my ranks.
I know I'll end up regretting it, but I can always buy the stuff I sold back for pennies on the dollar on ebay, since I'll only be selling POTF2 stuff.
Sometimes, you have to sell it. :(
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Nice topic.
For me, I've never regretted selling off a collection. I sold off my SW stuff just before the value of stuff really started to fall. I got pretty good money for most of it. Same for my vintage stuff. I just decided that I didn't want to collect the stuff anymore despite my life-long love for the SW universe. I still have a few Vader items and random loose figs, but my collection is long gone.
My Simpsons collection started to get out of hand (simply too many figs and playsets) so I sold off everything I had (most every piece including exclusives up through the first 5 or 6 series.) I got $600 for all of it and everything was loose. Again, I don't regret it.
I've stuck to collecting SportsPicks, being the sports fan that I am. I collect those loose as well and sometimes when I start to run out of space, I sell off a few figs here and there.
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Nice topic indeed!!
Since I collect only from 2001 (before that I couldn't afford buying SW stuff - I also live in Romania which was under the Communists >:( since December 1998 - so no SW toys) and since I collect mostly Action Fleet and MicroMachines my collection is not that big. I don't want to sell it but have an evaluation of it. Even so, I think there is no space to display my collection properly, maybe when moving to the new house there will be.
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Hmm, interesting and timely.
I've been selling off my old toys from childhood, which at this point would constitute 'collections'. Vintage 12" GI Joe, vintage red line hot wheels and some other lines I played with quite a bit as a kid. Do I regret it? In some respects, mostly nostaligic in nature, yes I do. I played for hours and hours with GI Joe's, they were my childhood toy love. The hot wheels are great and that they are in decent condition is miraculous - we had a gravel driveway and a hose nearby, plenty of sand and mud puddles. I am selling memories, or more realistically I'm selling the triggers for those memories. I'll probably keep a hot wheel or two just for that reason, but pretty much the rest is gone.
Unlike modern toys, these have brought in a pile of money. Enough to pay for a vintage loose SW figure collection and put nearly $2000 in the bank. How much are the triggers of a memory worth? Not nearly that much. Be gone childhood toys.
With respect to modern toys, others have pointed it out already: it's a money losing proposition. With Star Wars, like Brian my first and foremost, I try to not be in a hurry to get stuff, but fail often. It would be so much easier to buy stuff 3 months down the road for cheap, especially since I open.
I am scaling back on other stuff though, mostly because of the same reasons as others: space. I will be offloading about 75% of my McFarlane stuff in the coming weeks, keeping only what I really want to hang on to and most of that will be the loose stuff. Variants are a nice thing and kind of cool, but I only plan on keeping the uniform I prefer for each player, with a few select duplicates. On the bright side, I should generate some decent cash, mostly because these are predominantly goalies and there are lots of other freaks like me that collect goalies. I'll lose money ultimately, simply because half of what I'll sell is loose and also because so much was obtained in trade and I'll never recover customs fees or shipping costs. But looking up at 28 or so goalies right now I see 10 I want to keep, so should be roughly 18 variants out the door as well.
I've adapted pretty well to collecting in the last year or two. I always intended to get all the modern SW figs, though I admit, I never expected to own 500+ of them :o It all started with an orange carded Vader and just kept going (hell, there were only 12 at one point). As soon as I got past the value aspect of collecting, everything worked out much, much better.
Being one of those multiple line guys, like Scott, I've managed better than I could have hoped. I stayed out of LOTR until recently (sheepishly admitting I started this line early, then jumped out quickly) and still don't have what I want from it, but no hurry. Some time after the extended version comes out, I expect loose versions to be more readily and cheaply available. Simpsons was an exercise in self control - lots of super cool things (and lots of huh? too) but I am all but done with them, Scott sending me the last two Homer figures I need (I do have the extra figures from the THOHs and a couple of extras, no thanks to Scott :-*). Batman has been predominantly relegated to toys for my daughter's enjoyment. Marvel Legends/SPiderman legends etc. are mine, and I've been selective from the start, but even now I'm thinking of unloading the chase pieces here too. At least those that are not unique. I may end up opening Red Skull and Goliath, simply because I have them nowhere else, but doombot, gold ironman? Why am I worrying about these, they really are not particularly relevant.
Something I see happening, whether it's Star Wars, McFarlane or otherwise is that the market is saturated. So very much to buy, all of it competing for $$$. Too many chase figures and too much of the stuff on store shelves being bought solely to resell. That's hard on collectors as a whole. Scott for example has all of his stuff loose that I've seen. Why should he struggle to get a clear Vision or chase Phoenix? They certainly aren't worth $50+ and he'll immediately kill most of the value by opening them. No, this is looking to me to be a whole lot like the card and comic scene of the late 80's/early 90's when the bottom fell out. Oh sure, new hot stuff will always come along and the market may regenerate itself, but it feels ready for a collapse.
How's that for going tangential?
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I’m thinking about offloading my modern figures, or at least the PT stuff. I saw the VOTC line and realised that I want my MOMCs to have a photo background. It might sound silly but there’s a room in my house that has a green wall, a red wall and a blue wall: it’s just too much. Plus there’s no room for the upcoming ROTS figures.
So I’ve been thinking of slimming down to just the VOTC, some OT POTJ, Saga and OTC cards, and a selection of Vintage figures. I was looking at my 2 vintage Palitoys yesterday when it hit me that after 20+ years they still look better than most of my prequel figures. So I have dreams of a wall of photo-cards and I’m right on the point where I’m going to do it.
I reckon I could get an average of £4 a figure so that would leave me with around £1200 to spend on vintage. Let’s say C9 late ESB, ROTJ and Tri-logo Palitoys average out at £40 a pop, well that would give me 30 vintage, the 12 VOTCs, and a few other OT characters. To my mind that would make a much better display than having “wallpaper” where you can’t see your figures for the sea of red, blue and green.
Now, how much will it hurt? This is a tough question. Last year I offloaded 200 loose modern figures and I didn’t miss them…still don’t. But back them I knew I still had my MOMCs, and this time I won’t have that psychological cushion. All that time and effort wasted. And the money: selling modern MOCs involves dropping serious cash.
Ack, talked myself out of it now ;)
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No, this is looking to me to be a whole lot like the card and comic scene of the late 80's/early 90's when the bottom fell out. Oh sure, new hot stuff will always come along and the market may regenerate itself, but it feels ready for a collapse.
I hear that. The patience of collectors can only be pushed so far. Eventually, they'll get tired of shortpacks, variants, and chases, no to mention rising prices ($13 for Alien and Predator figures? Eeeesh.)
Add to it people like us who have rooms full of stuff: you just run out of room. That's probably a good time to stop. Or at least cut way back.
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So how does this continual buying of "Stuff" happen, you think we all some slight for of OCD or is it not realizing the immensity of the beast or is it just looking for a pastime?
I'm pretty sure I'll eventually sell:
The Simpsons
Non-Avenger and SpiderMan Marvel
SW Unleashed and 12" and Vehicles
Leaving:
Kubricks
LOTR (which I am essentially done buying, might pick up a few here and there)
SW 3-3/4"
Avenger and Spidey Marvel
I've also thought of trimming:
Army Building
Prequels
Out of the 3-3/4" bloated ranks, but haven't given in to that yet. I can remember a time not even too long ago at my Townhouse when I had 2 shelves of figures...now there is 4 bookcases :-[
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So how does this continual buying of "Stuff" happen, you think we all some slight for of OCD or is it not realizing the immensity of the beast or is it just looking for a pastime?
I think it's more of a habit. I've been hunting for stuff nearly daily since 1997 when I got my driver's license, so that's seven years of that.
Plus, when I find new stuff, I don't tend to think of the hundreds of figures I have already. Like today, I bought Boba Fett on an OTC card, even though I have the one from Saga on card already. I just think 'there's room enough for this much more...' when in fact there isn't.
I might sell my POTF2 Falcon to get the new one. I know some carded figures are going to get the ax.
I might sell some carded LOTR, though that may be a while yet.
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Over the past 4 years I've gotten rid of maybe 80%-90% of the non-SW toys I had. (The percentage depends on my recollection.) The only regrets I have are: 1) buying them in the first place. 2) getting rid of half of those before my nephews were old enough to rummage through and pick out what they wanted.
I also got rid of most of the micromachine and action fleet playsets (I kept the ships and figurines, though). There was initial separation anxiety and bouts of longing, but the meds have helped ease me out of the funk. ;)
The 3-3/4" are another matter. Even though I'm not spasmatic about the line anymore, I don't foresee letting go even the most dog-ugly figures. Most are in ziplock baggies in boxes, anyway, so space isn't an issue.
For me it comes down to the "cost" of storing these -- minimal space in a closet -- versus the effort of scratching out minimal sales. Even if I gave away the unchosen to save myself from the hassle of selling them, there's always the spectre of nostalgia hitting me between the eyes a few years from now.
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All this talk is definitely swaying my thoughts more and more about unloading all my Prequel army builders and possibly eliminating the PT stuff altogether. Especially before the ROTS stuff starts popping up. I hate to do it, but the nostalgia just isnt there compared to the OT stuff.
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So how does this continual buying of "Stuff" happen, you think we all some slight for of OCD or is it not realizing the immensity of the beast or is it just looking for a pastime?
For me it is a genetic thing, no doubt about it. I have always collected stuff. Matchbooks, bottle caps, beer labels, pins. So very much crap have I owned. This is quite simply the latest incarnation and there's no telling where it will go next.
I love the mini adrenaline rush of finding something new. I love the hunt, finding a better deal on the net. I love the challenge of setting a price and bettering it. I'm getting a great blue snag from Dale at a very nice price, I still watch every auction though, just in case I can get a better deal :o ::)
Star Wars is where I'll stop, I think, with respect to action figures. Much of the other stuff is about to come out of bins and go onto selling, as I said earlier today.
Why is the Vader Unleashed so short :-\
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I dont regret selling stuff from my collection. Unfortunately, I think a lot of my early collection came more from a desire to be "the cool kid on the block" so to speak, to have some sort of collection that people would marvel at. I've sense finally come to the realization that was the dumbest reason to ever collect ANYTHING. I got rid of all the stuff I didn't passionately wish to remain in my collection. I sold a few things that I didnt absolutely WANT to sell (like my Star Wars Kubrick collection), but came from a need to get some money. I still dont regret selling my Kubricks, cuz I know they're going to a good guy that will be able to enjoy many of the pieces. I've still got a room full of "junk", miscellaneous Star Wars stuff that has just piled up over the years, and I probably wont be able to get rid of it. We're having a garage sale, and Im planning on doing my best to get rid of it. Anyone wants to drive out to Indiana, you're welcome to the remains of my unwanted collection, about a half room of stuff lol
I've also shifted interests. I'm still very much a Star Wars fan, well, a fan of the original unscathed trilogy. Each passing day I grow to dislike the PT more and more, and some of the new SuperSpecialEdition trilogy junk just yanks my crank. The only PT stuff I collect anymore are the props, just because they've got an aesthetic appeal that goes beyond the movies. I'm also turning more towards prop replica collecting in general. I guess you could say I've got a double major in Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, with minors in Gremlins, Freddy vs Jason, Sleep Hollow (next year), Pirates of the Caribbean (next year), Red Dragon, Harry Potter (soon) and possibly Alien(s)... lol
Thankfully, I've been able to almost break even by selling my stuff, but am having to sell more, and go into deeper credit card debt. To me, I'd rather have the debt now, than regret missing out on a piece I could have got my mitts on. Compared to my school debt though, it's chicken scratch anyway lol If a solution arises and I'm able to get my backpay from work, I could pay off all my debt in one fell swoop. I will never let myself get in that bind again.
But, I dont regret it! Regret is a wasteful emotion ;)
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I have collected so much stuff when I was a kid. I still have the stuff in storage boxes. Toys, action figures, models kits etc. I really got into it in the late 70's. Heck, I'm 43 & still have stuff back at my parents place! ;D
I have a real passion for magic, not the game but magic tricks, illusions that can entertain people. 6 months after the magic shop open here, I went down one Saturday & was hooked. Tricks, books, videos don't come cheap. Every time a new trick came out, I had to have it. I had an extensive collection of stuff. I sold 95% of my magic collection on eBay & I don't regret it one bit.
I even sold off model kits & other toys from time to time just to feed this habit of SW. Still do.
Sometimes it's hard to let go of a collection but the decisions are right. In time they will go, all of it.
Any regrets, naw.
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I've been seriously considering selling 3-4 lines worth of old stuff that I have. It would probably be my GI Joe, Transformers, Spuer Powers and Secret Wars stuff. Thing is, I don't know how to go about doing it. I abhor ePay, and I'd like to sell to someone serious who is also a collector AND is willing to pay a fair price. It stinks.
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looks like a lot of us are in the same boat. i pretty much stopped collecting just about everything besides star wars a while back, and have been thinking about (but dreading) getting rid of the stuff i don't want to collect any longer.
i hate to go to ebay, because you always have people who don't pay, or take forever to pay. not to mention the pain in the ass that it is to actually list stuff.
take the simpsons for example. i have the first 7 waves. should i break them up to sell individually? or by wave? or just sell them all as a lot? i'd probably get the most return on my money if i sell them individually for like $4 a pop. i'm sure some would go up from there, and those that don't would (hopefully) be covered by the gains from the ones that did. of course, listing 40+ action figures, 1 at a time, is a pain in the ass. sell them by waves? might sell a few, but i'm sure they wouldn't all sell. and sell them as one big lot? i'm sure it would sell, but i'd lose a ton of money.
case in point: i just sold a lot of tiny kingdom figures, which were some little ceramic figurines available in the disney store a while back for like $6 a pop. i had a lot of 21 figures in total, which cost me about $125 when i bought them. instead of breaking the figures up and selling them in small lots or individual, i sold them as one big lot. big mistake. my auction ended at $17. talk about a big loss.
so, i have several collections that i really don't want, have no space to store, and don't want to sell... wtf am i gonna do with them??
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It has really been nice reading everyone's comments on this, again...great topic Scott. Its been surprising how many of us seem to feel the same way about collections, or at least think about it from time to time. I guess I'm fortunate enough that I never really got into any other lines really big outside of Star Wars, so it hasn't been a big financial thing, but at the same time what I do have takes up space/money..and time to go and find it, so it really does make you consider what is important to you.
I think sometimes I even look at my Star Wars collection and see certain items/figures and think "did I really need this?". I try to be more selective in my buying now, and kind of wish I had always been that way. Although I like my collection, it does at time seem overwhelming. I think that is why sometimes I get pretty psyched about "subsets" like the VOTC, because I think "well, its only 12 figures or so, and I could display them on one shelf by themselves and it will look nice". I guess I'm the type of person that doesn't want my collections overwhelming the room/space they are in, and starting to look jumbled or messy. But, while I say that, I still like collecting most of the basic line (especially OT stuff), and I'm always ready for more figures too...so I can't complain too much.
Anyways, it has been interesting to see everyone's thoughts and opinions on this topic so far. I'm kind of glad to see that many of the rest of you have at least thought about it at one time or another.
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That's partly why I stopped amassing a huge figure collection, I prefer the small subsets, and by only collecting those, it allows me to get two each, and also get display cases for the carded figures, which ends up looking a lot nicer than have a wall full of hardware pages with 50 lines of figures 6 deep each. So now I only collect cartoon figures, silver figures (glad this line is finally ending), holiday figures, convention figures, holiday figures and VOTC figures. Which I LOVE! Hopefully I can build a nice vintage style display, with figures, the movie style poster, and the new cases.
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Sad day has arrived. I've advertised most of my goalies in the Winnipeg thread over at the spawn board. Give the local guys a shot, if they want it, without shipping. I am being a bit of a bastard though and not giving them away. Used the price guide and only went a couple of dollars under. If they all sell, which they may in time, either on the board or on ebay, I should generate about $800 US. Going to create a huge hole in my office at work though.
It's for the best though. Get some money back, free up some space. Besides, the stuff is getting frightfully repetetive.
Oh yeah, you people are really depressing. :-*
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It is depressing, I know my wife would be happy to see some stuff go and I don't really think I'd miss it too much, its the regret of money gone and the fact that I still sort of miss the toys I had as a kid
That being said, I'm an adult and it would be different if I was thinking of selling off my vintage MOTU, M.A.S.K. and SW stuff. The modern stuff is just a bunch of stuff I went loony over and I shouldn't feel bad of dumping it
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That being said, I'm an adult and it would be different if I was thinking of selling off my vintage MOTU, M.A.S.K. and SW stuff. The modern stuff is just a bunch of stuff I went loony over and I shouldn't feel bad of dumping it
That's a good point Scott, and kind of the way I feel as well. I don't think I'd ever part with my modern Star Wars collection either (at least the majority of the OT stuff), unless I had to for financial reasons or something (although it really isn't worth much I'm sure anyways). I think that is sometimes why I get interested in other modern lines at times too, is because I wish I had more of certain "toys" when I was a kid. I'm kind of in the same boat as you in some ways, my wife isn't crazy about the "other" collections I start/have, and things I spend too much on Star Wars the way it is. I can't say I totally disagree though, I know it gets crazy at times. Good luck Brent on selling your goalies collection, I hope you get what you are looking for out of it. It would be nice to have that money, to put towards Star Wars collectibles, or your house, or whatever.
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Thanks Brian. I should spend it on my wife, but we know that will be a rather unlikely event. :o That's enough money for all four MR FX sabers. ::)
Pathetic really.
I'm actually quite attached to the modern stuff, rather than the vintage stuff. Vinty is cool and I'm pleased to own it now, but I have no long standing love of it like many (most?) here. I started in 95 and I'm still quite attached to some of those He-man figures. Vader for example, his saber, the long version, has long since faded to pink, but I'm not giving him up. He's my very first star wars figure.
Could I offload the PT stuff? Yeah, for the most part. And I certainly didn't need to get into army building. But I see no point in unloading modern stuff. Simply put it's a money losing proposition. When checking ebay generically for SW, I feel pity for the folks hoping to see a big return on their modern stuff as they get out. 50 MOMC figures, Buy It Now $500. Uh, I don't think so.
Nope, Star Wars is the right scale, the right price point and the suitable familiarity and love of a movie for me to continue with the line.
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Interesting topic Scott.
Once I too wanted all Star Wars toys i could get, but now I have incresed it to only collect loose vintage figures and variations. Besides I keep the creatures and a few smaller vehicles.
Playsets and larger vehicles have been sold, oris up for sale. Also the LEGO I got as a "farewell gift" at my former job will be up for sale, the only problem is that some of it will be damn big to send, especially the Star Destroyer.
-Henrik
btw: I have not regretted selling these vehicles, after a month or so i did regret it, but not anymore (exept for a Rancor so I had to by myself a new one).
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This is definitely a great topic indeed.
About four years ago or so I had sold all of my childhood toys except my Star Wars and LEGO. On eBay I had sold my entire Gobot, Transformer and GI Joe collections... thinking it would bring in some extra money so that I could go full steam with my Star Wars collecting habit. To the day, I totally regret selling that stuff.
Now that I have a big house with a huge basement displaying my Star Wars collection, I sit back and sometimes think to myself, "Damn Rhoads, you sure went a little overboard, didn't you?" When my best friend, who also collects Star Wars and has always been impressed with my collection, said one day to me, "Dude, you seriously need some help because you have WAY too much stuff!" I was shocked when he said that to me, but he (and myself) have never seen my ENTIRE collection displayed before. It really is sick. Everyeone that has seen my basement has said there's something wrong with me, that I have a collecting disease.
That made me think that perhaps I should sell off some of my Star Wars collection, at least the stuff that doesn't really interested me anymore. I look at the OTC packaging (which is the shizzle), then I look at the Saga blue carded packaging, and I think of how nuts I was to buy some of those figures (Lott Dodd, every single Yoda, Anakin & Jango Fett that was made). I also think of how crappy those Saga cards look compared to the OTC line, like Hasbro didn't think out that Saga card design all that much. Luckily they spent a lot of time thinking about the OTC packaging.
So, I'm not sure what I intend on doing, but if I ever decide to dump some of this stuff you'll see it in the Classifieds here.
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I'll tell ya, this thread is bloody inspirational.
Sales are going well, about 10 goalies heading out the door shortly. Took some time to reorganize the storage stuff tonight and ended up freeing 7 large cardboard boxes. Largely accomplished by looking at all of my modern star wars stuff and going, hmm, open it or toss it. Opening it is, about 70+ packages of single and multipacks. :o Have a bookcase full of carded stuff to sell off so I guess I'll be advising what the loss effect will be in doing that. A ton of Ep I (hello, $1 figures) and Saga in there to get rid of.
Really kind of annoyed by OTC :P I started in on a carded Luke/Vader selection and now everything gets put out on better cards. OH well, hopefully I can find a carded completeist out there. :-*
Still 11 - 30 gallon tupperware tubs of toys in the crawlspace though. Always good to have a claustrophobic wife ;)
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I have thought about selling off some of my Star Wars stuff; 12 inch, vehciles, and some of my extras that I have. I have also sold some of my Simpsons stuff. The only thing holding me back from selling this stuff is not getting the money I spent on it back. Eventually I will probally get rid of all of those thing either through Ebay or Fourms but alot of times people stiff me at sites.
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I was reading through some older threads here this afternoon and found this one. It is funny how many of us were talking about selling things off/space issues/etc. four years ago, and many (like myself) are still talking about it now. How many of you have gone through with cutting back, packing away, or selling off parts of your collections? Judging from the classifieds around here the past couple years, it seems like there have been more and more of us paring things down. I don't know if it has to do with the crazy pace of releases the past 3-4 years, or just the fact that 10+ years of collecting this stuff just adds up a lot.
I'm in a similar place as back then. Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to collect other lines outside of Star Wars (the largest of which has been Marvel and DC stuff), so that isn't helping matters any as far as budget and/or space issues go. I think Scott mentioned in an older post that his wife would be happy if he sold stuff, and I'm in a similar boat now. My wife would really like it if I got rid/sold off some of my collection at this point. I think the tipping point is when I asked if I could display some Unleashed statues in our basement family room (the rest of the collection is in our office). When it starts spilling out of here, I have too much stuff (she says/I agree). I'm still at a crossroads at what to do. There is so much that I really like to collect, but it is just taking up so much room (and I'm realizing what the money could better go towards in a number of cases). I'll probably always collect the SW basic line in some capacity (as well as comic-based figures here and there, Marvel and DC), but I've given thoughts to going OT only (or mostly) - but just haven't gone through with it. I've given more serious thought to giving up non-OT vehicles, which seem to take up the most space for me personally. Problem is, I'd really like to pick up some of the PT stuff (like the AT-TE), but right now I just don't have room for it.
Anyways, I haven't gotten around to selling anything really (except a few extras here and there), but there's a part of me that is envious of those who can and do. The money (even if its less than originally paid in many cases) would be nice, as well as the extra room - and I know it would make the Mrs. happy as well. Anyone else gone through with selling/cutting back plans, or are still considering it? Its always nice to hear people's opinions and choices, since none of my friends really collect stuff in this capacity (instead focusing on other "hobbies"). I don't think you really understand unless you do collect, in some respects anyways.
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My suggestion to you, Brian, is to just slim down what you collect and sell what you might've bought to be "complete" or because it was "HTF" or "everyone else was buying it." What I did back in 2006 was give myself a limit on what I could buy; 2005 figures onward. A big step towards making space was slimming down my army some. I got into the whole Skittle Clone thing... had about 9 of each color, 18 501st, Camo, 18 Utapau, etc. I then realized I bought a lot of those because the guys online got them or to be complete. I've now sold all of my troopers that are not based on an Evolutions sculpt. My exception is the BattleFront II sets and Clone Wars.
I think one of the biggest money/space eaters as well as hard urges to beak is wanting to be complete. I had all 60 TAC figures last year. I probably bought about 40 or so for the coins only. Sold 'em and haven't looked back. I also used to own complete collections of Saga 2 and ROTS. I realized it was kinda useless and sold all but my favorite figures from each line. (Actually, I'm not sure if I even own any TSC)
I'm not sure how you collect, but if you're a completist, you gotta kick that thing. It's nicer to have your own complete collection rather than Hasbro's complete collection.
Regarding the collecting of other items, that could be bad. I'm not saying you cannot buy anything other than Star Wars, but you should really be careful. Think about what your biggest love is, and collect those toys. For the other stuff, pick like 5 favorite figures or five favorites per company. Rotate them on display by your computer or something like that. I've found that trying to balance two lines breaks the bank, but getting a couple of Neca figures a year just spices up my desktop.
From reading your post, I get the feeling that you buy just to buy at this point. You seem to like everything. No offense meant, but I think you need to draw a line at what you can/can't have. Believe me, there are about five other lines that beg for me to collect them (Joes, IJ, Dark Night, Legos) but if I did I'd be broke as a mother ******. Over the past year or so I've been working to make my collection MY collection. I'm not buying just cuz someone else has it. If I do, I stick that item on my classifieds list and chalk it up as a mistake. I love the natives of Star Wars. I have 20 Wookiees. I own three Jungle Rancors. 15 Nemoidians. I'd like to think that these things that I enjoy really set my collection apart. Does anyone on here have three of those big ass Rancors? By slimming my collection down I've been able to add some really cool pieces and root out even more stuff that was bought for the hell of it. (I replaced my Y-Wing with two B-Wings... couldn't be happier)
If you'd like, I'd be happy to offer some more tips on how you could selectively feed your addictions but have more space, cooler stuff, etc. This is if you'd like someone else's opinion, of course.
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Regarding the collecting of other items, that could be bad. I'm not saying you cannot buy anything other than Star Wars, but you should really be careful. Think about what your biggest love is, and collect those toys. For the other stuff, pick like 5 favorite figures or five favorites per company. Rotate them on display by your computer or something like that.
Pretty hard to do my friend when you were a hardcore fan of SW, Joes, and TF as a child of the 80's. Money is getting tight now on the collecting front no thanks to the Joe resurrection. I'm just glad I didn't feel impelled to go back in time and collect everything vintage as I did with TF's. Saved me a few bucks. I picked up some lame collections over the years that were not needed like Ren & Stimpy, Invader Zim, Fairly Odd Parents, Hellboy, etc. that I will sell off.
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I've totally thought about getting rid of my Prequel stuff often. I know I can move the clones, everything else, I'm not so sure.
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Pretty hard to do my friend when you were a hardcore fan of SW, Joes, and TF as a child of the 80's. Money is getting tight now on the collecting front no thanks to the Joe resurrection. I'm just glad I didn't feel impelled to go back in time and collect everything vintage as I did with TF's. Saved me a few bucks. I picked up some lame collections over the years that were not needed like Ren & Stimpy, Invader Zim, Fairly Odd Parents, Hellboy, etc. that I will sell off.
So true. The nostalgia is what sucks me into things like Joes, MOTU, and to a lesser extent, Transformers. If budget and space were unlimited, I'd probably get a little more of that stuff. Thanks for the advice too Greg, I do appreciate it. I'm not a completist in any sense of the word really, although I will admit that the last couple years has been a bit closer to it than usual. I too got sucked into a few figures I would have normally passed on for the coins last year, and this new Build A Droid concept is doing much the same. I'd probably pass on the majority of Wave 3 in the TLC collection if it weren't for wanting the BaD. I'll take my time on that wave though and see how it goes.
I think more the problem for me, like many, is the accumulation of stuff after collecting for 10 years (or for some, more). I didn't get back in the collecting game right away with the POTF2 release, but kind of trickled back in slowly. I picked up the "big names" from POTF2 loose, and had a nice little shelf in our computer desk with Star Wars figures. Then it became two shelves. Then the Falcon...and an X-Wing...and so on. I think a lot of us have similar stories about things slowly piling in, and who knew we would be buying figures of Dice Ibegon and Wioslea all these years later. Heck, many of us were just happy to get figures of ones that should have been in the vintage line (Tarking, Stormie Han, Slave Leia, etc.)
Collecting additional lines doesn't help matters any, and I know that. Star Wars takes up enough space (and budget) the way it is. I've gotten a little better at staying away from some temptations (in the past like Muppets, Simpsons, etc.) - and sticking to things that I've had an interest in since my childhood (SW, Marvel, Indy, DC, Joes, and maybe later MOTU). The only exception to this now is one shelf of LOTR figures, which although I was tempted at the time to get more, I'm quite happy with the 9 that I have. Of course, all said, it would probably be simpler if I just passed on all the "other" stuff and focused in on SW and maybe one or two other favorites (like Spidey in particular). The "build-a" concept has made a sucker out of me in some instances though. Although all the figures are well done, I don't need to own every DCUC figure so far (through three waves), but I do. I originally had a plan of getting the Batman "world" of characters, and then the big names from the JLA/DCU (and maybe one main baddie from each). Then I wanted figures like Grodd and Grundy, and I end up owning things like Superman Blue and Etrigan. They are nice figures, but I probably didn't really need them. I think I might try going forward to focus in again on just the main characters in that line, and if I have to focus it further - finishing out my favorites would be enough too (Flash, Green Arrow, etc.)
Anyways, sorry for another long post, but its nice to see some other perspectives on this stuff. It seems like a crossroads a lot of us are coming to (or have already gotten to) within the past few years - be it a combination of many years of collecting, many lines to collect, or just the fact that there really hasn't ever been so much product (and good product at that) out there for collectors as there is now. I mean, this isn't even touching on all the well made high end stuff out there these days. Its a great time to be a collector, and yet it isn't...with budget, time, and space constraints factoring in. Its probably good to reflect every once in awhile on the "why" of collecting, and I know its a question I ask myself every so often. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy what I collect - but when it comes down to it, it really is just a pile of plastic - and I have to remind myself that. I don't need the AT-TE, I just want it, and there's a difference there. Anyways, thanks for the comments, I look forward to reading other people's thoughts and solutions to their own collecting troubles and/or crossroads. Its always nice to see you're not alone in thinking about what you can cut back on, cut out, etc.
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It's good to hear I'm not the only one who's at the same crossroads with their collection...
Let me relay a story to all of you...
There was this girl I worked with that used to smoke, had been for about 14 years -- smoked a pack a day. One day she came back from one of her normal smoke breaks and told me "that's my last cigarette; I just quit." A couple weeks later she hadn't gone back to smoking, and a few months later she still had not had another cigarette. Not being a smoker, and hearing how hard it is to quit, I asked her how she was able to do so, so easily. She told me, "I added up all the money I had been spending on cigarettes over the last year; when I saw the total and carried that out over 14 years, I got so pissed off at myself and the cigarette makers that I just decided I had had enough. No more!"
Well, I had this same epiphany about my SW collection around May-June of this year (during the lull of Hasbro product). I started looking at all the SW items (Hasbro & non-Hasbro) I've purchased and held onto for the past 13 years (!!!), thought about the SW items I've purchased and ultimately sold over the past 13 years; added/estimated the total of all those purchases and just got mad. Mad at myself -- for buying figures that today I couldn't even tell you the name of the character -- and mad at Hasbro for overwhelming the market. I'm not blaming Hasbro for my own inability to control my purchases, but it just wasn't fun anymore. I'm liquidating roughly 85% to 90% of my collection, save for the first 9 POTF2 figures (sentimental), the Fans' Choice figures, the McQuarrie figures, and 2-3 representative figures from each line (POTF2, SOTE, EU, EpI, POTJ, SAGA, CW, CWAnimated, OTC, Vintage, POTC, ROTS, TSC, TAC). This alone will still leave me with close to 100 figures.
This is not the first time I've sold a huge chunk of my collection, but this is the first time that it's hitting nearly every segment of my collection. In the past it would be "I'm selling all my 12" figures" or "I'm selling all my Unleashed figures" or "I'm selling all the army-builder figures" or "I'm selling all my non-Star Wars figures" ... you get the picture.
I have not purchased any of the Legacy Collection or Clone Wars figures, nor felt any compulsion to. I went to the Midnight Madness on July 26, looked at the new figures and just walked away. I have been hardcore for 13 years then just decided "No more!" I'm taking a huge loss on the figures I'm selling, but having never been a believer of collect-to-profit and expecting to be extremely lucky to get even 50% of my money back, I'll be okay with that.
I anticipate about 2 months to move everything.
Loose figures first
Multi-packs second
Vehicles/Beasts/Acc. third
MOC figures fourth (biggest chunk of my collection)
Misc. crap last
...whatever is left or did not sell, I'll probably just donate.
I'm not completely out of the game. I still love the OT films; I still have all my 1977-1985 figures; and I will still continue to post very infrequently. I buy LEGO, the GG animated maquettes, OT Acme Keys, and OT or Clonetrooper Mighty Muggs now, and that is all -- lines that are infrequent enough to not overwhelm me, but still frequent enough to keep me anticipating. Hopefully now I can stay a consumer who collects to enjoy, and not just one who collects to collect.
...and I do believe this is my longest post ever in the history of the internets.
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Sorry to derail, but here goes... Are you going to be selling through the forums Bamaker? There's a good chance I'd be interested in acquiring a MOC/MIB collection of Clone Wars 2003 stuff (Hopefully the whole run) along with several other select figures from other lines. If/when you start selling, please keep me in mind there. I'd love to take a bunch of stuff off your hands.
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I think almost all of us are sliming down in some way.
I started off as a loose collector, then switched to one open/one carded. That even ballooned into one open/one boxed for cinema scenes, battlepacks, etc. Now that I am finally to a point where I have a large room to display everything, I have been looking at the boxed battlepacks and the like and think how can I really display all of that. I have considered trying to sell off the extras, but like many, I doubt that I will even be able to get the retail prices that I paid for the items.
With Sideshow taking over the 12" line, I keep looking at my boxed 12" Hasbro figures I wonder if I really need both. Sadly, it is hard to get $10 for a figure that cost $20 ten years ago.
Ebay has made things worse with all the anti-seller regulations (unless you are a "powerseller").
I think I may just attempt to sell stuff at cost and then barring that, keep items for my son so he has stuff to play with and is not tempted by Daddy's stuff.
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This topic has come to mind for me again lately, as I've gotten some bad news regarding work going into 2009. As I was already planning, I'm definitely going to have to cut back on collecting (or maybe nearly altogether) for the next year - and I'm also considering putting some stuff up for sale. As some others have mentioned, I'm sort of worried that I will regret selling stuff later on. At the same time, I'm really excited for what is on the way in the SW line next year (with all the OT stuff), so I'm considering selling stuff that I don't necessarily need to try to fund any new purchases. Honestly, that's probably what I should have been doing in the first place - because there is a lot of stuff that's just packed away, that I bought extras of I didn't necessarily need, or figures that I know next to nothing about character-wise that I probably don't need either. Anyways, its nice reading other people's experiences and thoughts about cutting back and selling stuff off. Its tough to think about parting with a lot of stuff, but at the same time, I guess it is just "toys" when it comes down to it. I'm going to spend some time going through the collection and seeing what I could sell (what people would be interested in buying) so I can hopefully fund some of the nifty stuff next year.
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He did it because he was out of space. And the bottom line is that he didn't want to - I got the impression that he was regretting it as we sat at his dining room table picking through the stuff. I hope it worked out well for him, but I knew right then that I couldn't do it.
Holy crap how things change after 4 years. I'm enjoying the hell out of selling my stuff, even though I still like the parts of the collection that I'm hanging onto.
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I was reading through this thread again, as I've been (slowly) selling off portions of my collection. I find myself digging a little bit deeper into the collection with each round of sales, but it gets a little bit tougher each time. At the same time, it does feel a little bit liberating as well. As I mentioned earlier, I got laid off from my job of 10 years at the beginning of this year - and the situation has sort of worked itself out to where I'm working part time from home and staying home with our daughter. Long story short, the budget is extremely trimmed and I've been looking to sell stuff as well to bring in extra money. Sometimes it is tough to part with things, but at the same time it does sort of feel like the right thing to do now. I still enjoy collecting, and will continue to collect some things - but I started to realize I don't need so much of this stuff. I started to pick up some of the new Star Trek stuff (Kirk/Spock), likely purely out of hype, and then ended up taking them back to the store wondering why I even needed them. I don't have the room, nor the budget, so I'm working on sticking to what I really enjoy.
It is funny how it all seems to balloon out of control. I started with POTF2 figures (back when there was only 12-24 a year), and now I have a room filled with everything from Star Wars to Joes to Indy to Spidey/Marvel to DC to Lord of the Rings to Transformers, etc. I've never bought anything from a property I didn't enjoy, but I start to think now do I really "need the stuff" to enjoy it? I'm on the fence right now with the Clone Wars animated stuff. I really like the show, but do I really need the figures? I've bought quite a few of them, but I'm wondering if I should continue.
How many of us ended up selling the stuff we were talking about on Page 1/2 of this thread? If so, do you regret it? I've noticed that quite a few of us have slowed down/cut back, or in some cases totally stopped or switched interests (higher end, other properties, etc.). I wonder if it is a sign of the times, the fact that there is just so much stuff at this point, or maybe it is an age thing.
I also thought this quote from Brent was timely, since the "collector market" has been struggling (or at least we're being told it is), and I can sort of see something like this happening:
Something I see happening, whether it's Star Wars, McFarlane or otherwise is that the market is saturated. So very much to buy, all of it competing for $$$. Too many chase figures and too much of the stuff on store shelves being bought solely to resell. That's hard on collectors as a whole. Scott for example has all of his stuff loose that I've seen. Why should he struggle to get a clear Vision or chase Phoenix? They certainly aren't worth $50+ and he'll immediately kill most of the value by opening them. No, this is looking to me to be a whole lot like the card and comic scene of the late 80's/early 90's when the bottom fell out. Oh sure, new hot stuff will always come along and the market may regenerate itself, but it feels ready for a collapse.
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I was looking for another thread, I think it was titled something like "The Space Issue" or something similar, but stumbled on this thread instead. To make a long story short, I've finally reached the point where I'm running out of space for my modern collection and need to expand my shelving/display room, and the only way to do this is to sell off all of my old childhood toys. This is stuff from the 90's, like Power Rangers, Hot Wheels, Toy Biz X-Men/Spider-Man Animated Series, Batman: TAS, wrestling, etc.
These are all in large Rubbermaid bins in my closet and I'm at the point where I just want to get rid of them. I want to make SOMETHING off of them (I know I won't get much) so that leaves out the Goodwill/donation aspect, but I'd also like to avoid eBay. I've used eBay maybe twice, each time only making purchases, so my lack of feedback would turn people off. Plus I feel like if I just listed the lot of toys for a $20 starting bid the auctions would just sit there. Plus there's the whole issue with all of the toys being in played-with condition and accessories being all over the place. I don't really have the time to sort through everything and research which pieces go with which figure. Then again I think about all of the above and just want to say "forget it" and donate it all anyway.
I guess what I want to ask is for those of you who sold stuff, how did you go about doing it and how much success did you have? Is it a relatively painless process in terms of making deals and shipping things out? Just trying to figure out how to get into the selling "business" and what to expect.
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You'd probably make more money claiming the charitable deduction on your taxes after giving them away then you will selling them. Plus it's much less hassle. I've never found an "easy" way to sell worthless toys, other than dumping them on a dealer.