Why Collecting Toys is Like a Heroin Addiction.

[GoktimusPrime]

I agree with #1 - it's expensive. And that's coming from someone who predominantly pays retail prices, and I already find it expensive. I cannot even fathom how f'expensive collecting toys off the secondary market would be.

I strongly disagree with #2 and #3 though. I love Transformers... if I didn't like them, I wouldn't collect them. I stopped collecting Marvel Comic toys after they switched from Toy Biz to Hasbro. Transformers on the other hand has never lost its appeal to me. And I mostly stick to buying toys that I expect to enjoy on some level (sure I've made a few mistakes, but on the most part I like the toys that I buy... hence why I seldomly post sales threads!).

Collectors Fairs, Conventions and annual midnight sales are the only times I line up to get toys... and even then, the former two are things that I mostly attend for social reasons rather than to obtain toys (getting toys at fairs and cons are things I see as a bonus and most of the time I walk away empty handed... I get far more satisfaction from just socialising with fellow collectors/nerds )

My priorities are...
Primary objective: Play with toys
Secondary objective: display toys
Tertiary objective: purchase/collect toys

It seems that this author's priorities are inverse to mine, which might explain why he may be unhappy with it and compares it with being a drug addiction rather than a fun and enjoyable lifestyle choice. It'd probably make me feel miserable too if my priorities were like that and I was still buying toys -- as the article says, in that case it's the getting, not the having. But for me it's the having, not the getting. Once I've gotten the toy, then opening it and playing with it is where the real thrill begins. But perhaps for this guy, that's where the thrill ends and he feels bad until he can get his next "hit" (toy purchase).

[liegeprime]

i blame matty collector, they f*%#&% up this collector that he's now gone on burnout symptoms ;p. I guess him writing about it in a way is therapeutic....

[jazzcomp]

My question is this: What the f__k am I doing?

I don't know either
Yes, it's f*ed up expensive.
My toys are in boxes as well. Thinking of spending on a display case makes me think of just using that money to buy toys instead...

[theheretic]

I think I am doing a similar thing to this guy except I do love my TF's and I have a high quality display cabinet in the living room so I can admire my favourites. Think I will start to scale back my collecting.

[Sky Shadow]

By number 2) in the article - I lost interest as I couldn't relate to what he was saying.

That's interesting, since to me point two sounds exactly like you! "As for Masters of the Universe Classics, I actually kind of hate them. I hate that they're mostly just bigger versions of the ‘80s figures instead of the awesome 2002 redesigns; I hate that they reuse parts like the classic line (even though they cost me $30 each); and most of all I hate that Mattel constantly assembles the toys incorrectly, meaning figures have mixed-up arms, legs, shoulders and more. And I'm paying $500 a year for these things."

Maybe your addiction is less like heroin and more like someone who moves from one drug to the next - you finished G1 and went on to Masters, you finished with Hasbro and moved on to third parties. (I don't know if they're necessarily 'harder drugs' or just different ones.)

I agree with #1 - it's expensive. And that's coming from someone who predominantly pays retail prices, and I already find it expensive. I cannot even fathom how f'expensive collecting toys off the secondary market would be.

For years, Australian retail has been more expensive than the secondary market for new Transformers. So maybe you still need that hit of finding the toys on the shelves.

[kup]

That's interesting, since to me point two sounds exactly like you! "As for Masters of the Universe Classics, I actually kind of hate them. I hate that they're mostly just bigger versions of the ‘80s figures instead of the awesome 2002 redesigns; I hate that they reuse parts like the classic line (even though they cost me $30 each); and most of all I hate that Mattel constantly assembles the toys incorrectly, meaning figures have mixed-up arms, legs, shoulders and more. And I'm paying $500 a year for these things."

Maybe your addiction is less like heroin and more like someone who moves from one drug to the next - you finished G1 and went on to Masters, you finished with Hasbro and moved on to third parties. (I don't know if they're necessarily 'harder drugs' or just different ones.)



For years, Australian retail has been more expensive than the secondary market for new Transformers. So maybe you still need that hit of finding the toys on the shelves.

You don't seem to understand how I work with my collecting and have come to uninformed conclusions from what you have perceived of me on this board. You are probably mostly misguided by the fact that I managed to complete my US G1 collection fairly quickly and after that begun to cherry pick other lines while closely following them. Granted I did complete G1 in "record time" as you once put it but that's not because of an addiction, it was because that was the goal I had set out for myself at one point and saw myself capable of achieving it - It was also a lot of fun so no regrets there and feel proud of my collection when I walk into my toy room and see it almost every day.

Most of what the article's Point 2 is about is pure regret when it comes to collecting - That's his main point. I don't have any of that with the exception of the odd single figure which total number is less than 5.

If I were like the author says in point two, I would have a whole lot more MOTUC figures like that huge wall several of the Matty collectors seem to have. Currently I can fit my whole MOTUC collection in a fairly narrow billy book case and still have space (Wind raider and stactions included). I have been a MOTUC cherry picker until 2012 when I only got a sub for Shadow Weaver and the fact that I was likely to buy most of the characters.

Do I have a preference for 200x? Yes I do very much and like it better than MOTUC. However I was also cherry picking that line as I didn't get any of the variants and only own a couple of vehicles - I can easily fit my entire 200x collection in a medium sized box (most of it arrived that way anyways since it was cheap bulk buy). In the article, the guy says he regrets his MOTU collection, I don't. However given how badly handled it is now, I probably will not go forward with actively collecting them in 2013, not because I have moved on to other things but because the line is no longer worth collecting due to all the issues.

At the same time as MOTUC, I have been collecting Classics (inc 3rd party which to me are part of classics) and GI Joes but the difference between my US G1 collecting and these lines is that they are all cherry picked based on what I like (toy and character). So I do not move from 'one line to the next' but just pick toys from different lines that I like. The only strictly complete line that I own is US G1 and it is still the major bulk of my collection.

The author's complaints about Mattel is what you highlighted and that part I do wholeheartedly agree with his sentiments, specially now that things have deteriorated so badly. However I largely disagree with most of the main points he makes in that paragraph as my collecting does not make me unhappy.

[Ploughmans Lunch]

We would be having the same conversation if we were all on heroin just fyi.