I didn't think it would get so crazy either... I figured another 90-100 figures from the OT and then the prequel figures.
Boy was I wrong.
I started out in 96, buying Han and Chewie for nostalgia. Then, I needed Vader. Then, I needed Obi-Wan to fight Vader on my shelf. Then, I decided to grab 3PO and R2. Then, I decided to grab Leia and Luke too... next thing I knew I was collecting these things left and right, carded and loose, buying EVERYTHING: MicroMachines, Bend-Ems, Action Fleet, 12", etc. I mean
EVERYTHING with the SW logo on it was ending up in my house!
Eventually other stuff stared leaking into my collection too... X-Files, Xena, X-Men, Batman, etc. If I liked a TV show/movie and there were figures, I eventually ended up with them.
Then, I had a breaking point. I remember buying a Hyper-Armor something-or-other robot-fightin' Gambit and thinking, "What the hell am I doing?" It was an epiphany of sorts. I realized I had waaaaaaaay too much stuff and was spending waaaaaay too much $$ tracking all this extra stuff down, despite the fact that I no longer had any interest in it (trying desperately not to sound like someone else here *
coug
h*
).
Here I am, out of college with a crappy starter job and I'm burying myself in CC debt for figures that I no longer liked? I think I got caught up in collecting AF lines before I thought out the ramifications like cost, storage space, and longevity... there's something about a line that ends that just kills your love for it, you know. I also think that I ended up buying a lot of that other junk (X-Men, et al) because there were no new SW figures to buy on that toy run and I just wanted to buy
something... not a good reason to collect a toy line.
So, somewhere in the late 90s as I prepared for the Ep1 figures (around fall 98- early 99), I decided to focus solely on 3.75" SW figures and accessories since that's what I had as a kid. I sold off all of my non-SW stuff and all of my non-3.75" SW stuff and have been much happier with my collection.
Of course over time again, I have let a few other figure lines slip into my collection here and there, like the Playskool Galactic Hereos, my DC Pocket Heroes, or my DC Direct Green Lantern Stuff. Don't get me wrong, it is hard sometimes to pass up some of those awesome lines like Marvel Legends or MotU, but I know that I'll just eventually get tired of them too, just easier to skip it in the first place. Much easier to collect a toy line you are passionate about then one you like just because it "looks cool".
Reading through that Collector Challenge sticky Thread, I don't know how some of you guys can do it! I have enough trouble keeping up financially with SW, no room for more.
Jeff
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