I never took the article as literally comparing toy collecting with a heroin addiction -- I thought it was meant to be a hyperbole, again much like the "plastic crack" phrase that gets thrown about. I don't think anyone who says "plastic crack" is literally comparing toy collecting with a crack addiction, but merely a hyperbolic metaphor.

Quote Originally Posted by Megatron View Post
At least with toy collecting you can sell off items and recoup your money, should you ever need to do that, or say if you start loosing interest in them. With drugs or gambling, you can't do that. So yeah, bad comparison.
I know what you mean because with collecting at least you have something to show for it. With gambling and drugs you just blow your money away and you're left with nothing. But toy collecting can sort of be like gambling in a way.

On the whole toys do not appreciate well - many toys are depreciating investments, and even most toys that end up appreciating do so incredibly slowly compared to more conventional forms of investment like buying stock market shares, blue chips or just whacking your money into a savings account and letting it mature with interest. People who buy toys and expect them to appreciate in value are in a way gambling. If I want a toy bad enough, I'll either buy it as soon as I find it in stores, or I'll pre-order it if it's not coming out here. This is because I don't want to risk the toy becoming harder to find and selling at inflated prices on the secondary market later on. Most of the time this works out for me, but sometimes it doesn't.
e.g.:
* I bought Beast Wars Metals X-9 Ravage MISB in 1999 for $20-something. The cheapest I could find on eBay atm is going for 170USD <FMW
* I bought reissue God Ginrai when it came out for $93. The toy shelfwarmed massively and even local Australian import stores were selling them for $20 each! <FML
* I pre-ordered eHobby Astrotrain and paid $35 for it MISB. Look at this! <FMW
* Paid $150 for Jetwing Optimus Prime when it came out in Big W. It shelfwarmed at Target for $99. <FML
...etc.
So my "buy it sooner at RRP" policy sometimes works and sometimes backfires on me, so it's a gamble. But I find that it usually works out well for me so I see it as gambling with odds tipped in my favour, which is why I continue to stick with this personal policy... but there's no solid guarantees. So as with gambling, you accept the fact that you might make the occasional loss and roll with the punches (just as long as you're "winnings" outnumber your "losings" ). I don't buy toys with the intention to resell them, but I do sometimes go, "Ah nuts! I could've gotten that cheaper if I waited!" Thankfully it's not too often and most of the time I end up thinking, "Gee I'm glad I got that sooner rather than later!"