This is a thread that we came up with in the Star Wars thread. Post pictures of the figures you don't remember when you bought them!

 

This is perfect! I’ll start with this just because I took the picture recently and it’s already handy.



I was focusing on the Joe figure here but that Jetfire in the background also counts. I have no recollection of purchasing either of these. I have about and entire garage filled from floor to ceiling with boxes like this so I’ll have plenty of material to post here.

 

I’ll have to do some digging. For better or for worse, I tend to remember where most of my stuff came from. That’s largely because most of my stuff is either from my childhood or was purchased within the past 2.5 years. There has to be some mysteries floating around here somewhere, though...

 

Next entry: A few years ago, I was going through some old boxes and cleaning out junk scraps of paper (yes, I collect and keep paper too). I’m heavy into Macross collecting and always keeping an eye out for deals. My favorite character is Max, and owning his Valks is a big deal to me so I’ve been hoping to get the Yamato 1/48 version but prices for it were $300+ so I figure it was not going to happen. So anyways, in the scraps of paper I was going though, I find a receipt for the 1/48 VF-1J Max with Super Parts of my dreams. I freaked out and was jumping and screaming with joy while my family looked at me like I was crazy. Only problem, the figure was nowhere to be found. But seeing the receipt, I knew now that it existed somewhere in my sea of boxes. Fast forward to last year when I was moving. I looked through every box I packed and finally, I hit the jackpot!



There it was, packed perfectly and in minty condition like the day I got it. Considering what a grail this piece is to me, it’s going to be hard to beat but I know there are gems like this in pretty much every box I have.

 

I wish I could forget purchases so I’d be surprised by them later! I’m just the opposite - show me any random figure or accessory and I’ll be able to pinpoint the year and probably the store it was purchased at. It’s even likely I’d remember what I was doing that day. Unfortunately my memory doesn’t function the same way for useful things. My memory seems heavily tied to objects.

 

My memory is like that too, these days I'm finding that sometimes just the memories are enough for me to reminisce about, helps in letting stuff go.

 

i guess i must be some manner of galaxy brain or something, - when it comes to memory and all -
since i honestly readily recall just about everything i have, and pretty much where and when i got it,
including much, if not most of what my parents got me clear on back when i was a boy in the 80's...

 

Once or twice recently i bought micromasters got home opened them, went to put them on a shelf only to find i already had them.

 

i often wonder whether I have something I just saw at the store...especially for some of the more recent minor stuff like those micromaster 2packs...I stared at the hot rod pack and couldn't recall if I had it or not...figured if I buy it I'll be able to return it, but sure enough when I got home there they were being wielded in weapon mode...

 

This happens all the time with me and Hot Wheels, except it’s for ones I haven’t opened.

As for people who remember every item they ever bought, that’s impressive. I can remember pretty much everything I have ever opened and played with. Problem is, there was a time in my collecting where me and my fellow collectors would go to every shop within 50 miles or more, almost on a daily basis, grabbing everything we could. We were getting so much there was no way to appreciate or remember it all. Most of it stayed in the bag it came in and was carefully packed in a box immediately after getting it, stored away and not seen again. I have possibly hundreds of these boxes, a garage literally full from floor to ceiling stacked with them. If I could remember every item in every box, I could probably be doing some thing to be making a lot more money and then probably having a bigger house with even more boxes stacked in it.  

 

I don’t recall ever buying something only to find I had a double or finding something I don’t recall buying. Overall, I’d say I know about 98% of what I’ve got at any given time and where/when I bought it for many. I do sometimes forget if I’ve sold things or not as I’ve made several sales threads with similar content over the years. Everything on display is always known, but the stuff off to the side to sell has a few question marks.