I don't want to have too many and I don't have that much money, so that kind of forces it. But I have all the characters I never had as a child so I'm already content with what I have
The previous occasions I stopped buying were out of choice, feeling burnt out and not that interested in the hobby. Having to fly back and forth between the UK, US and Iceland to see my now-wife meant spending reduced too. Taking up another hobby like sim-racing really cut into my enthusiasm and time. Since having our first child I've had to cut back to the point where I only buy toys now if I've sold something first to make the money for it. I actually thought the arrival of our child would mean an end to buying completely, but a collector always finds a way All the best Maz
Not much of a story, but when I got divorced in 2006, I spent the next year selling off my entire collection at the time to buy food, pay rent, utilities and such. over 300 transformers (almost half G1) gone. Not a one left. Had to start from scratch about 2 years ago. Now I am at about 530+ Transformers, and my current wife seems to tolerate it for now
We're having a kid in March, so I can't spend like I used to. However, my wife's doing an amazing job apparently making sure I can still get all of the big things (mps, third party, etc) as gifts, and then gave me what seems like a huge $100/month budget!
For me, most of my life I never had much money, so it's only recently I've been able to spend any sort of large amounts on them. However, this fall i did have my hours cut, so I've been spending less on all "fun-money" things. Still plan to get all the FoC toys at the very least. going to try to get GK Ginrai too, if I can swing it, but I might wait for a sale to get that pricy dude.
Well I have had to cut back due to buying a house and then getting slapped with a 5-year pay freeze. Last year I decided to start a small business to make up lost ground and the costs associated with that have sucked up almost all of what little was left. But God damn it I am getting Masterpiece Red Alert and Encore Fortress Maximus.
My spending will probably drop when my wife and I have our first kid, but I still have about a year before that happens. Plus I only buy Optimus Primes/Convoys anyway, so Im not spending that much on just one character.
My ex-wife lost her job back in late 2009 which forced me to start selling off my collection to supplement her income. Started selling off my movie toys, Universe 1.0, Alternators & Armada figures. She eventually found work again but then due to our marital problems she filed for divorce at the end of 2010. It forced me to sell off all of my A/E/C figures, Masterpiece, Beast Wars, G2, some Classics and some G1 figures. I have been rebuilding my G1 and Classics collections since then though. You just cant keep a good collector down.
Congratulations, all! I'm hunting for the last figure on my list (dinky Air Defense Team minicon Sonar), and then that should be it. I'm a substitute teacher, so I don't have a guaranteed job every day. I've been getting about two jobs a week, which doesn't quite pay the rent. (I just got hired at my local ROSS for nights/weekends, so that'll make up for it.) Plus, student loan repayments begin in February. So it looks like this is it for collecting, at least for awhile. I'm just glad I'm not into things like the Masterpieces, haha.
I'm focusing more on trades now than before. I have a short list that I'm working from. I want to clean up a few outlying Botcon releases that I want for my collection. I am only going with FOC/Generations as a mailine release. Masterpiece Soundwave and company. The only United figures I'm picking up will be Bruticus and the new Ultra Magnus. 3P will be limited to TFC, FP, and maybe Maketoys releases. However I may be swayed by the Throttlebots. If I space it far enough out, I shouldn't blow the budget this year.
Wife pooped a mini me... Mini me says, "gimme all ya moneyz!"... I complied... But it did force me to sell portions of my collection I no longer wanted and made me realize that life is more than just tfs.
Congrats on the engagement I've cut back several times, generally around big life events Moving house, getting married, moving house again but now we're having our first child in january i'm happy to cut back to bigger ticket items. That being said since finding out we were having the baby i have tried to fill every gap in my collection so i dont have a need to buy stuff so have probably spent more recently than i care to admit but the one thing i would say is if your partner is on side it makes life easier. My good wife when i told her about fort max, my holy grail, was like we need to get this for you which is my response to the inevitable "you'll have to cut down" from family/friends who dont understanding a collecting hobby. You should always have a hobby/passion in life, i dont smoke, drink very little. My money goes on plastic crack, we make good livings, dont pay a lot out in bills so confident will still be able to afford lifes little luxurys once baby comes along