You know, my decision to start selling off my collection has made me realize how irresponsible of a collector I’ve been.
Like, okay, by no means am I a completist, and I am one hell of a bargain hunter (which means I’ll be making some SERIOUS PROFIT off this shit) but like… I just bought and didn’t think too much about it. I’d want to build some big crazy G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover universe with sets and stuff but it never just panned out. I never really DID anything with my toys. No dioramas, no picture stories, just throwing them on the shelf, and whoever didn’t fit in got sent into storage. I can’t even remember the last time I had my Beast Machines, first Universe, and Robots in Disguise stuff on display.
With G.I. Joe, figures only stay on the shelf until a better version comes along. They’re all just so… replaceable. Not only that, I just have so damn many. It would be like, “well yeah, I have a Flint on my shelf… but he’s not the Flint I really want so I need a better one”. And keep in mind, I’m not criticizing Hasbro here. I’m just criticizing my mentality as far as collecting.
Every week I’d go into the local Toys R Us, Target, or Walmart, or whatever, just… looking for stuff. Aimlessly. Half the time I’d just go and leave empty-handed. But I HAD TO GO. They COULD have that new toy I wanted! But most of them time they didn’t. The hunt was fun… yet unfulfilling. By the time I was buying the Halo Reach figures, I started to not see the point anymore. Yeah, I’m buying these, but for what? Just to throw them into a storage box after I’m done. I’m willing to bet half of my income last year went to toys, no joke.
I guess what I’m saying is I just… grew up. And this has nothing to do with the decrease in quality and increase in price on western toys, although that did help. It’s just me realizing that I took things way too far.
So now, I’m moving onto Gunpla and some Tamashii Nations stuff almost exclusively. In the case of Gunpla, I’m able to get the experience of building it. It’s just so much more fulfilling than opening a box, transforming a robot, then throwing it on the shelf. I get my money’s worth (literally, thanks to FP), and when I look at them on my shelf, I’m not admiring the fact that I bought a lot of things.
I’m admiring the fact that I put a lot of work into them.
Long story short, I guess I’ve grown up past my old collecting habits. It’s sad, yes, but them’s the breaks. Maybe when I get older, have settled into a real job, I’ll pick things up again, maybe get some Masterpiece Transformers or Sideshow G.I. Joes, but for now, it’s time to make room for new horizons.
