A timely question for me, Brian.
I'm at the point where I'm in my usual post-movie/anti-Hasbro funk. Up in Canada we start to see the end of product arriving locally around this time post movie. That fosters a bit of the funk but this time around it seems more directly coupled with the Hasbro rehashorama. Granted there are some really neat items coming out, but their collective mentality seems to be lacking. Regardless that ends up with me questioning why I have all this crap, what to do about it, should I buy more?
This is compounded by the fact we are currently (well, we've paid, but construction hasn't begun) building a new house. My Star Wars room will be in the basement, but we've been advised by the builder and the flooring people to leave the basement for a year before finishing it to let the moisture come out of the concrete (anyone know if this is a load of crap?). That means I'm looking at around 18 months with my collection stored. More importantly, I'm buying stuff just to box it up. That's a combination of depressing and seemingly pointless, considering most things drop in price these days after a period of time.
I guess I've pared down the collection quite a bit: I'm largely out of McFarlane stuff (though the NBA legends were really cool) for the most part - I can't think of anything I want to buy now that I have Khabibulin. I'll probably unload a little more of that stuff as well, but on the bright side hockey is back so interest in the figures should go up some as well.
A lot of Jeff's ideas are hitting home right now and I may start paring down the Hasbro side of things. I've been shifting to higher end stuff like Master Replicas, Gentle Giant and Kubricks for a while now. They tend to take more space to display, but they also have a little more classy feel to them. While that's true, there's a bit of arrogance in that statement and I should clarify I really love the 3 3/4" scale. But again, so frustrating for so many reasons - difficulty keeping up, regrettable purchases (anything Jar Jar for example), questionable Hasbro mentality.
Probably the most interesting aspect though is the collectors challenge. Not that I think that was an especially great idea, but it certainly has been informative. The sheer volume of money I've spent in the last 18 months is fairly mindboggling. I can think of so many other places where that money would provide a better return, some more interesting stuff, trips for the family on an annual basis rather than every other year. I really shouldn't be spending that much money, to put it as bluntly as possible. Part of that can be addressed by spending smarter (eg. Kubrick master case and sell spares or buy entire set on ebay) but most of it should be addressed by simply spending less. I think to some degree I'm reaching that point. I'm trying to get less of stuff. I'm trying to not have so many multiples of figures (though I guiltily admit I've been bad with army builders again). I'm reducing the numbers of lines I've been collecting (aren't those DC Direct figures cool
). I'm sort of failing in a somewhat miserable fashion, but I am trying.
I think for Star Wars the end of the movies will reduce significantly my expenditures on this stuff. I always knew I'd stick it out through the prequels. I don't think any TV series' or other stuff can really change the downturn I'm facing in collecting. I just don't think that I can sustain this economically (well, I can, but it isn't prudent).
Space is something I haven't addressed really. I had a room, that was probably big enough and I should have a room again that will be about 12x13, so plenty big. But between posters, 600 action figures, cardboard displays, busts, helmets, sabers and ships, it may not be enough. But I know I'm not getting more either
I think I have a pretty good handle on what I want for the near future (~1 year) so it should be manageable. I just think I'll have to get rid of some more stuff to make more room.
