Do you Find Collecting to be a Drag?

Discussion in 'Transformers Toy Discussion' started by sideswipe29, Apr 24, 2015.

  1. WishfulThinking

    WishfulThinking The world has moved on...we've always said.

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    I've heard they have a toy mafia. :D 
     
  2. FanimusMaximus

    FanimusMaximus Well-Known Member

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    It has it's ups and downs.
     
  3. Scrapper6

    Scrapper6 Lord of Constructicons

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    The trick to collecting anything is to know when it's time to let it go... And no that is not a Frozen reference. Pretty much collect for a time what you enjoy the most than sell it off and move on to the next. Because if you have way too much stuff you start to feel out of control, you get listless and agitated when you don't have what you perceive what you want. Right Now!

    It's definitely important to know when to just let go on what you've been keeping for perhaps a little too long. When you start to feel more like a hoarder than a collector, or you keep telling yourself you don't want to sell it, and then you keep adding and adding to your collection until your house looks like a miniature toy museum. That's the time to take a step back and really look at your life.

    Is it a drag to keep lists of things you want? HELL NO! A list is just that, a list, something to let it out of your system. I enjoy writing lists add nauseum. I make lists of things I want, things that were part of this series or that, mold uses (how many times did Hasbro re-use this mold). In the end it's just a harmless little pastime.

    A list of things you want doesn't have to be a list of things you are going to inevitably buy for your collection. Write up a list of every single movie toy ever made, take a good hard look at it, and then tell yourself 'Yeah, that's way too many Prime figures for a single collection, especially when they are only packaging variants, time to cut this down to size and make it far more manageable as to what I'm actually going to buy.' And I guarantee you won't feel like it's a drag.

    I used to be obsessed with having a collection which was balanced between the factions, so that every Autobot had someone to fight. Then I realized how stupid that was because Hasbro caters more to Autobot fans than Decepticon ones and we don't get nearly enough to have the sides of the conflict as even. So I tossed that habit like the bad egg it was and haven't looked back since.

    I told myself I'd never sell my Hasbro RID 2001 collection. Low and behold I just decided to put it up for sale, now I get to sort it out of storage, ensure that the figures are all complete and still as pristine as ever and pass them off to someone else who'll have fond memories of them, make fond memories of them and cherish them.

    Start keeping attached to everything you own and eventually you'll turn to the dark side... either that or turn into the 50 year old virgin because you can't get a date to save your life. (Which in retrospect has no real bearing on how you treat your hobby...)

    Anyway, it's fun to collect. It's only a drag when you start to hoard and turn into the completest from hell, there is no way on this planet you can ever hope to own everything, the space and funds alone for such an endeavour would require you to be one of the Trumps.. Or a Gates possibly, maybe a Jobs... Someone far richer than middle class blue collar workers can hope to achieve. Hell even white collar jobs aren't enough to own it all, so why kill yourself slowly with stress, anxiety and despair over simple plastic playthings?

    Now if only I could figure out how to tell LEGO to sod off because that damn stuff is addictive. Accursed minifigures, they're like pringles, once you pop it you can't have just one.
     
  4. doomtron

    doomtron Hunter

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    Lol I remember a story some time ago.
     
  5. Grimlockimus

    Grimlockimus Wot?

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    Depends on what and how you collect.

    If you collect for completion I can only imagine how much of a drag having one rare piece left to find would be.
     
  6. ParaChomp

    ParaChomp I am what I am

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    No, it just requires great patience.
     
  7. siccoyote

    siccoyote Worst side of the fandom

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    The drag is that I don't have my own personal Indiana Jones warehouse to store all my collection in a neat and tidy fashion out of the way of others.
     
  8. Nubs

    Nubs Master-D

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    Sometimes I find the concept of organizing my collection in a way that satisfies my need for order a bit harrowing. Other times I find myself disappointed with the fact that getting a representation of a character I like can prove very difficult (Chromedome comes to mind).

    Otherwise, I enjoy collecting enough that I can ignore these feelings.
     
  9. sideswipe29

    sideswipe29 Collect what makes you happy

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    I know it may sound like I'm in denial but I don't consider myself to be a hoarder or that my collection is to the point where it's overwhelming. There should be circumstances that will make you sell but I don't think having a large collection or owning figures from your childhood means you aren't willing to let go.

    I don't have this problem. Sure I want to have a "complete" collection but I would not call myself a "completionist". I'm not one to search ebay and garage sales and obsess over getting every version of an Optimus Prime figure. For my collection I want some representation of the characters that I like enjoy. It's for that reason that I'm able to eliminate the want for the canceled DOTM Que/Wheeljack figure. I didn't care for that character in the films so I don't have a desire to pick him up. If I was a completionist and obsessed over having a figure for every character in the films, then the drag would be astronomical. Thankfully though I am able to limit my wants.


    Trying to achieve this would absolutely make collecting a drag. In my collection I want to have certain characters so I can display them together in scenes from the movies, however, I realize that to do this for every figure would just be impossible, and that helps me keep things in perspective.

    While I completely agree that collection can become an obsession and some people could divulge into hoarding I don't think it's wrong to have a large collection. If you know how to manage it, it can actually be a great collection. TFW moderator Sentinel has over a thousand figures and I would never in a million years consider him to be a hoarder. His displays are tastefully done and very organized and has in a sense created a Transformers museum and that certainly doesn't make him a hoarder. Holding onto stuff isn't bad at all. Sure you have to be willing to let go under certain circumstances but I don't see myself selling any of my Armada, Energon, or Cybertron figures from my childhood just because of sentimental value (Toy Story 3 will always make me keep my toys ;)  ) and I don't think that makes me/will make me a hoarder or as you say a '50 year old virgin who can't get a date'.

    I guess, bottom line is, don't let your hobby control you and make sure you have a handle on yourself, but if collecting Transformers is a passion of yours, don't let it go and don't hide it, especially in regards to relationships. Someone out there can appreciate it just as much as you do.
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2016
  10. iacon45

    iacon45 Missing: One Custom Title

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    As a whole, I don't find collecting to be a complete "drag". I enjoy it and when they day comes I don't enjoy it anymore will be the day that my collecting will come to an end. That being said, there are some moments though that are what you could call a "drag". Mainly when there is a figure that will be in high demand and it ends up being cancelled for whatever reason or it is so ridiculously rare or hard to find that value climbs more than what I'm willing to pay for it. While it sucks, I just move on to the next thing I want.
     
  11. 8bitboy

    8bitboy Well-Known Member

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    I don't share the exact feelings about collecting. Don't get me wrong. There's satisfaction collecting to get to that completion point. I actually look forward to that because I don't want to collect forever. So I set a goal, which is almost coming to completion In the near future. I don't find collecting a drag but I find that my focus especially in life now too focused on the small things I want and not doing more with this focus. I find that I can do so much more if I can farm power out of this focus. So in one hand I do look forward to ending. On the other, it's enjoyable. In the meantime I'm content.
     
  12. ssjkazer

    ssjkazer mr dyslexia

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    I do find it a drag when the hobby needs all you extra cash for weeks on end it get frustrating, but tgen again I don't have any other hobbies.

    Im coming back to this question as it seems this hobby also has some social barriers e.g your mates randomly want to get hammerd but you spent all your cash on plastic crack lol
     
  13. Purple Heart

    Purple Heart Some other time..

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    Sometimes I feel like that literally does sum it up for me. :lol 

    I love Transformers because ever since I was a kid they've always been the only thing I've ever had in my life. Sometimes it does become stressfulbut I've learned what a lot of people have already said. It should he fun, take it slow because it isn't a competition.


    That being said, being a devoted collecter require a lot and on my 17 year old minimun wage budget that "lot" isn't really there, so I have to be careful what I buy and have to skip out on a lot of things which sucks because they make me happier then anything else sometimes.
     
  14. RKillian

    RKillian http://www.rktoyandhobby.com

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    You know what else is a drag? When you start closing in on a complete collection. I hope those new Machine Robos don't get screwed up somehow...
     
  15. malware5

    malware5 Well-Known Member

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    I think it can be if you're out there collecting every line, trying to prove to the world you're a true TF fan fortunately for me it isn't....

    my preference gives me a lot of focus, more like tunnel vision, I have eyes for only Sunbow G1, everything outside of that universe is pretty much non-existent to me. I'm only interested in Sunbow G1 in it's purest, in toy form that is the original line, which I collect casually and masterpiece (Takara & FT only!!) , season 1-4 characters from the show, only. Add to that;

    I'm very stingy
    I'm not a completist
    I don't double dip
    I don't do stand -ins
    I don't troop build
    I don't give in to hype
    I don't buy random, non-show repaints

    All these kinds of rules/focus/preferences keeps collecting from becoming a drag and makes it rather affordable if I do say so myself!
     
  16. BattleUpSaber

    BattleUpSaber Result.

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    Collecting keeps my life from being a Drag.

    So no.
     
  17. BW megatron

    BW megatron tiran

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    Now that you mention it, collecting is getting annoying and tiersome.

    The fact that we here never get anything at retail, always have to import, paying rediculous prices and then there is the most hatefull thing of them all: EXCLUSIVES! which make it even harder and more expensive.

    I HATE EXCLUSIVES!! with alot of passion :) 

    It's why i decided to cut back.

    Also it's become impossible to follow all releases like i did 15 years ago. They just make too much stuff (granted half of it is utterly crap, but as a collector you become a bit of a completist).

    /end