If You Lost Your Collection....

[ruiner]

The choice is simple for me -- I'd call it quits and get out.

If you think about how much money we spend on this "****" it's enough to make one sick.

I'm trying to become more convervative in my purchases.  I don't need everything and I'm going to try to get away from the Hasbro stuff and just focus on the Sideshow 12" figures.

One 12" figure every two months (or so) at $55 a pop is better than $150-200 a month on mass produced 3 3/4" figures.

[Holographic Elvis]

The choice is simple for me -- I'd call it quits and get out.

If you think about how much money we spend on this "****" it's enough to make one sick.

I'm trying to become more convervative in my purchases.  I don't need everything and I'm going to try to get away from the Hasbro stuff and just focus on the Sideshow 12" figures.

One 12" figure every two months (or so) at $55 a pop is better than $150-200 a month on mass produced 3 3/4" figures.

You and me both.  I'm done w/ Hasbro.  I just got my 12" Anakin to go with my 12" Luke.  I'm all about the Sideshow line now.  I also got the GG ROTS Vader bust last month and want to pick up some more busts, probably the ROTS Clones next.

[Brian]

Interesting responses, it seems like many of us are having similar thoughts lately.  Its not necessarily a decrease in the love of Star Wars itself, but maybe for certain lines - or maybe just the overwhelming feeling of so much product in the past 10 (or 30) years.  It seems like many people almost feel like it would be a "relief" to stop, in some aspects, or to be more limited.  I know I continue to look at ways to cut back, and now I'm trying to decide what to pack away since I'm out of room in our office to display things.  Its hard sometimes though, with all the nice products out there.  That's why I sometimes wish that lines (Hasbro in particular) was a little more limited, because even though we choose what we buy, when nice figures come out - no matter what the pace of things for the year - I still find that I want to pick them up.  With the other things I collect, I can't afford to go all out with the Sideshow line (although I have Han preordered), but I can see the appeal of knowing you're in for about 10 or so figures a year - you probably won't have to hunt for them, and you can organize your display accordingly.  That's a reason I wouldn't mind seeing the Hasbro figures slow down a bit in some ways, just because this year it has seemed overall that you really have to be there when stuff gets put out - or its gone (with some exceptions).  Anyways, thanks for the continued responses, its interesting to read where everyone is at as far as their feelings on their own collections.

[JoshEEE]

It seems like many people almost feel like it would be a "relief" to stop, in some aspects, or to be more limited.

We really sound like a bunch of addicts, don't we?  I've "cut back" quite a bit this year, but I'm kidding myself if I try to say it's because of anything besides this not being a movie year.

I think one thing that keeps me from thinning the heard is my years at Rebelscum (and dealing with you guys here) has engrained in my brain that selling things just feels WRONG to me.  Some people have really helped me out over the years, and I'd hate to somehow betray that help by liquidating stuff (especially stuff someone gave me at a good deal).

Is that crazy?


Sure, there are ways around it.  I could start a sale and limit it to people I've traded with before, but chances are...they have it all already anyway. 
I could sell everything super dirt cheap, but then I'd be sitting there saying "Is this figure really worth getting rid of for 2 bucks?"

I am only buying stuff I really like these days, but I'm full aware there's a lot of stuff in my collection I could lose and not feel bad about.  I should really get rid of that stuff I guess.....but for the reasons mentioned above, I don't.

[ruiner]

Exactly.  It's really not worth the effort to sell a bunch of figures at $2 a pop -- especially if you go the ebay route (factoring in fees, paypal % and shipping).

A lot of times, when I sell, I often regret selling the pieces I did.  I then end up buying them back a few months down the road. 

How crazy is that?

 

[JoshEEE]

A lot of times, when I sell, I often regret selling the pieces I did.  I then end up buying them back a few months down the road. 

How crazy is that?

Not that crazy actually.  I feel like you do, except I never sell anything.  However, let's say I could sell POTF2 He-Man Stormtroopers. I probably would.  What would I get for them?  A buck? Less?

For that price....they're almost better sitting in the very back row of a lineup of better POTJ and beyond troopers, you know?


That's sort of the case with everything I have.  The pennies on the dollar I'd get for them isn't worth letting them go, and for the stuff that IS worth a lot....I don't want to sell it, because I feel like I'm doing something that I've always hated to see. Profitting on Star Wars.

Example:

1.  Let's say I decide I don't want some of my 12"  Hasbro figures anymore, especially the ones that are being replaced by better Sideshow versions.  Some are worth 10, a few a lot more.  I'd want to sell them for what I got them for, or less....and at that point, I'm looking at a figure I bought for 15-20 who's now "worth" 70 or so, and saying "Do I really need the 20 bucks so bad?"  "What if I want to buy him back later?  It'll cost three times that."


Sucks. 

[Brian]

It really seems like a lot of collectors are starting to really give some thought about what they want to keep/sell/collect, etc.  I noticed that there is a thread going over at the GH forums as well where a number of members are selling or talking about selling much of their collections.  I don't know if its a common age group, if things are just getting too overwhelming, or just the lack of time/money/space.  I think for many, at least for me, Star Wars collecting turned into a gateway to so many other collections.  I doubt I would have gotten into many of the other things I currently have displayed if it wasn't for starting back into the basic Star Wars line (Unleashed, Galactic Heroes, Marvel Legends/Classics, LOTR, DC/JLU, MOTU, etc.)

[ruiner]

With work, two kids and everything else in life; toys (for me) have become tiresome and costly.

I've pretty much sold everything NOT related to SW and am seriously thinking about selling parts of my SW collection that don't interest me anymore...

My wife wants a bigger house so that's at the top of my priority list now.

[DoctorPadawan]

There are very few pieces that I would seriously hunt down again if I ever lost the collection I have right now.  If I lost it all, I would probably concentrate on individual characters (Boba Fett, Grievous) and try to finally complete my Burger King vintage glass collection I've been putting off for the last three years. 

The more I look at stuff that is coming out, the less I see that interests me.  The only EU I've ever particularly cared for is the animated "Clone Wars" stuff, so I'm not even going to bother with the Adam Pawlus Commemorative Exclusive Royal Guard and I am seriously considering cancelling my order for the Black Stormtrooper.  When every ship is an EU-repaint of a film vehicle, it makes you realize that one Hailfire Droid is more than enough to do you.

I love the stuff I have, I look forward to finding new and interesting stuff that I don't have, but in the end, that's all it is: STUFF.  I'd be much more interested in making sure my cats and loved ones were safe than whether or not that red ARC Trooper made it out of the fire in one piece.

[Spectre]

If I ever lost my collection, I'd be upset, but I can almost guarantee that I would not pick it back up again. Sometimes it sickens me to think of all of the money I wasted on comics, cards, and toys over the years.

I'm currently trying to unload a huge amount of stuff as I'm getting married and my fiancee and I eventually want to get a house. I got rid of almost all of my cards back in the late '90s and ended up taking a bath on them  

I have a massive comicbook collection that guides for over $100,000.00. I picked out less than 4,000 books that decided I wanted to keep (I have EVERY Star Wars comic published in the US, almost every single appearance of Swamp Thing, every single appearance of the modern Starman, every silver-age and above Spectre appearance, etc.) but haven't even been able to move the remaining 16,000+ books (all "valuable" books) at $10,000.00. Nor at $5,000. Nor even at the $2,500 I'm currently asking

As for toys, I only really have Star Wars and any compatible figures, all loose and almost all customized. Practically worthless aside from the work that went into creating them.

If I was to loose them, not really a big deal in the long run. As long as no one I loved was injured/killed in the hypothetical disaster that claimed my collection, I'd get over it.

[Darth_Deastron]

If I lost my collection, I'd just try and continue, and slowly buy back what I lost.  It could take years, but it would happen.

[Artoo]

My SW stuff I'd wait for Hasbro to either re-release that suff or wait for better versions.My Palisades stuff.....*gulp*......EBAY! *Dun,dun,duuuuuuun!*

[ruiner]

Nor even at the $2,500 I'm currently asking

Is that because collectors want nothing but graded books?

[Brian]

I thought this topic went along the same lines as the discussions here already - There seems to be a lot of people dropping out of certain areas of collecting (or all), and others who are just moving on to other things.  I know I'm continually trying to prioritize what I collect, and what could be cut out.  If you had to scale back your collecting to just a few particular areas (or lines), which ones would those be?  If you were scaling back, which ones would be the last to go?  As much as I enjoy the higher end stuff, I know that prices would keep me out of that for the most part regardless of what else I was collecting - so I'd probably go with the cheaper stuff.  Primarily, I'd focus on the basic 3 3/4" line, and if I'd scale it down further it would probably to go to the OT only - and even further (if I had to), the "vintage" (VOTC/VTSC/VTAC) figures.  The second area I would continue would be Spidey stuff, comic or movie versions most likely.  I like comic stuff as a whole, but if I had to cut it way back, Spidey would be the last to go I think.  Just curious what some of you might keep going with, if you had to scale things down.

[Famine]

I think I would scale back my Jurassic Park collecting. With no movie out, and constant re-hashing of the same dinosaurs in new paint jobs, over and over, with no end in sight (and no new movie in sight), I can't really say I'd miss it all that much. I only keep 3 Jurassic Park Toys out on display, and one custom, just to show my loves. I still love the movies, but the JP purchases would have to go. With my armies of Clones, I don't have the space to display nearly 1/8th of my JP collection, so it would seem like the first thing I'd cut.

The last thing to go would be my Star Wars collecting. It keeps my imagination going, and customizing is my creative outlet outside of cooking (what I do for a living) so I can't fathom stopping.

If I absolutely had to put my money into another SW line, it would be the mini busts.

Kevin