Shopaholics/ Retail Therapy
 

OK, so to those who know me, once upon a time, I was at 100% completion with MUs and all 3.75 movie tie-ins, etc. Whatever.

So anyway, Im in the process of selling them off, and things have cooled since a feverish start, but...I can't stop buying sh*t. Like OK, I just bought every single McQuarrie Star Wars concept figure.

???

I love SW as much as the rest, but I have NEVER collected SW in any capacity since '83 when some of y'all were swimming in your dad's nuts. Like, I couldn't just look at them and think, "Oh those are cool." No. I had to HAVE them. Where are they now? In a (expletive) cardboard box, along with my AC: Brotherhood 3.75's.

I can't stop. I have used some of the MU proceeds to purchase 2 unneccessairly expensive watches and 2 pairs of running shoes.

I leave work tonight to go to Target to grab a 12-pack of Coke, and walk out with $60 worth of stuff.

A couple of you that I have got to know collect multiple lines, or comics, or DVDs/Blu-Ray, etc.

With that being said, who here enjoys (or beats themselves up) about excessive buying? I know you're out there. I wanna know some theories.

must be nice to indulge, im too broke.

Agreed!!! I've been doing the same as you although not getting rid of my MU figures. Just my minimates and certain other things as well. But I'm glad I'm not that crazy as a shopaholic, no offense or anything =)

We had a thread about toy buying being similar to an addiction, but it was more about the social stigma surrounding toy collecting and whether it was better or worse than the one associated with drug use. This seems to be more about the addiction itself.

As for the OP, I used to be a lot like that. But once I got married and had kids, most of my hobbies and frivolous spending went out the window. I used to collect all sorts of things ranging from comics, movies, music, toys, t-shirts, CCGs, you name it.

Now the only things I collect are Transformers, MU, G.I.Joes, Thundercats, PR Samurai and certain DVD "sets" (like all Stephen King-based movies and all comic book movies). I will occasionally buy one-off toys from other lines if it's a certain character, but that's about it. And it's a very short list of specific characters too.

About the only thing that feels like an addiction to me is collecting Transformers. But I've been doing it since they were first released, so it's become a part of me. I think the longest I've gone without buying a new TF is two weeks (excluding December, where I'm banned from buying them by my family).

As for the other lines, I will rotate through them so one week I might buy a Joe and the next week a couple MU, then maybe a PR Samurai or Thundercats toy after that.

I'm pretty good about admiring figures in the store and not buying the lines I collect.

But having said that, I do buy whatever i want. I tend to see a part or accessory on a figure and buy it just for that, knowing I'll use said part in a custom down the line.

Of course Transformers are my main line, with Marvel Universe and Legends second, followed by all others.

I have a respectable collection (2000-ish figures) but many are repeats, commission figures, fodder, etc.

I do occasionally go on benders and spend stupid money on figures though.

I am addicted to buying toys.

I bought a pretty extensive Marvel Legends collection over a short period of time after they stopped the Toy Biz line and now I don't even care about them.

Same thing with Rambo figures.

I recently bought a bunch of those, almost all MoC, opened them up, and now they are in a shoe box under my bed.

I've often thought about this and what it says about me and my thought process and have concluded that it has a lot to do with fear of the unknown.

Buying toys, opening them, maybe playing around with them a little bit is something I know gives me joy that makes me feel like a kid again.

I don't want to grow up, I am fearfull of getting old and what eventually comes next.

I know in my heart of hearts that I would likely be better off if I let go of earthly attachments, but I'm just not ready to do that yet.

Besides, Retaliation comes out in 6 months and I really love GI Joe.

I think it's very easy to get caught up with the mentality of "I want it now, this looks awesome", but after you bought said purchase, part of the lure of buying fadded and you're left with a $20 piece of plastic. I used to be hardcore into collecting hockey cards, everything anything I needed it, I focused on 1 player, but it got to the point where I'm at a collector's store and contimplating paying $150 cash for a piece of cardboard because it's 1/10. I mean at a certain point I said hey, I'm collecting cards for the sake of collecting them because I'm familar with the system and value scale, but they don't add enrichment to my life, I never even look at them. So I decided to collect toys again and never looked back. I've loved everything from mcfarlane to marvel, dc, neca, revoltech, 3A, etc etc etc, but if you're a completist at heart and have 2 many interests your wallet is going to suffer and your collection will be a massive miss-match or randomness. I try to focus on IM and Marvel mainly, sure I'll buy the odd off topic figure but it's just that odd, MU,ML,MI AND IM have my full attention. To me it sounds like you're "problem" is that you need to be buying stuff, it's the rush of finding collector jems at retail pricing. If you want to have the best of both worlds, buy toys and sell them to arkers who need them, because it sounds to me like you want to be done completely with buying/collecting toys.

i wouldnt say im addicted to buying, but i have come to accept i like the hunt more. im not a completionist, and I know how to control my spending. I know what I want before i even head out and set out for that goal. I plan ahead knowing how much im going to spend so i dont feel bad at the store. Helps that i only "collect" MU and TF generations toys.

I lurk toys on eBay, and after I fixiate on a toy I'm interested in I create fantasy situations in my head about what I plan on doing with the toys if I get them.

Will I recreate my favorite scenes from movies and TV shows or invent completely new scenarios?

Treble,

I know the DOTM will have Soundwave and Wheeljack come out, are there any new Trans for the generation line though?
Thanks.

theres only two new generations toys out right now, junk heap and sky shadow

Unfortunately, sales don't happen all that often around here, at least not in comparison to trades. Plus, we're all cheap asses trying to hook each other up and expecting incredible deals, it's hard to even cover costs when that's the case. The community is WONDERFUL for trading, with everyone finding and needing different things, but sales are rough. My advice would be to offer them here and then sell on eBay. If you start out with the same price on eBay as you do here, you'll at least cover costs there. Otherwise you're sitting on an inventory of toys...


As far as an addiction goes, I often feel horrible about my spending. I 'sold' the idea of running trades and sales through an independent credit card to my wife, with the notion that I'd be making enough off of finding rares and selling volume that it would pay for the things I couldn't get through trading or sales. So far that's not working out all that well. I use the card as a license to buy anything I need to complete the collection without giving any thought regarding if the money will be paid back, or how many profitable items I would have to sell to pay it off. I used to not pay any attention to the account total, claiming that I had a number of high-priced returns in process that would knock significant chunks off of the total, but that explanation is no longer reasonable, and the debt is looming. Now that I'm getting into the last (and rarest) of the collections to complete them, I'm relying on eBay to find my missing components, which we all know is dreadfully expensive.

I see an item I don't have and want to check the box on the collection list, so I start justifying the price, thinking I'll never see that 'deal' ever again, or I'll never see that figure again (which is true, in some cases, Thanos once at Target, Dark Galactus for $50 at a specialty shop). At that point, I panic a little, debate with myself, and end up closing my eyes and buying it.

I keep telling myself that I'll straighten up, start selling lots of other things to pay down the habit, but it hardly happens.

An addiction? You bet your ass. I just hope the hole I've dug can be filled once there's no more to find for my own collection. They say that if your 'hobby' or 'passion' has a negative effect on the rest of your life, it's an unhealthy addiction, so at least I'm not to that point yet. With my collection account being so separated from everything else, it's easy to keep separate financially. Time-wise though, I'm sure my wife would say my time spent hunting negatively affects the family, so there's that.

Geez my post turned into a downer. Sorry!

Agreed on both your points!

I think my hole wouldn't be as big if I didn't buy every X-23 statue that came out :P Other than that I think I've been doing ok with the buy/sell/trade since I've been collecting.

Will there be any for 2012? Or are they going to focus more on the Trans Prime line...

Alls I know is that my unfinished basement is full from floor to ceiling with boxes and plastic totes of toys. MU, GI Joe, StarWars, Transformers, you name it. How often do I even get to enjoy them with my busy life (work, kids, marriage, etc.)? Maybe one hour a week total. And yet I just found myself buying all the main characters from the Thundercats 3.75" line. Do I have an addiction problem mixed with an over active sense of nostalgia topped with a nice shaving of OCD? YOU BET!

Ha ha awesome, I hope you got them on sale at least than =)
Here's a cool Mum Ra to add to your collection if you don't have it already.

Mumm-Ra Hunts The ThunderCats at SDCC!

I almost got my "son" a set of Thundercats for X Mas.

It's a problem, but other than one or two 3rd party Transformer products I might buy a year, what I collect is pretty inexpensive and can be found at retail for $7-$20, so I continue with it... but yeah, I can see patterns that probably aren't healthy. It's just easy to look past when it's not damaging me physically or financially.

I also think that the internet made some of us into the collecting monsters we've become. Aside from the countless online sites & stores to find things, we have sites like this one where weirdos (myself included) can gather to feel like they're normal. I can't tell you the number of times I've read "well, at least I don't do drugs or gamble" as justification for grown ass men to continue to collect children's toys.

Ha ha true enough "well, at least I don't do drugs or gamble" as justification for grown ass men to continue to collect children's toys" Plus selling toys is legal :P

honestly i hope so, with the well drying up for movie toys. all they got now is prime figures.

Sites like this one make me feel less normal.

AFAIK, nothing else has been officially announced after the Junkheap/Sky Shadow wave. There was a news report that Generations Warpath may get a Hardhead redeco/remold but again, nothing official.

We may get some news early next year when the trade show circuit starts up again.

Right now, I think Hasbro's looking at the continuation of DOTM, while the full line of TF Prime toys will be dropping in March (I think).

The G1 reissues of Rodimus Prime and Sideswipe are getting reissued again (in the Asian market only, though), which I'm excited about. I was never able to snag a reissue Sideswipe when he was available at KB Toys, so this might be a cheaper way to go than my current options.

Lol. I love Classified's perspective sometimes.

I wouldn't be surprised if that Warpath/new head showed up in the trilogy line, as well as the Scourge/new head too. If I recall RTS Lugnut showed a new head too.

Trilogy will most likely be kind of a catch all like RTS was, to better homogenize the classic look with the movie look.

I personally am looking forward to deluxe Soundwave and that Evac figure. Not a fan of that Wheeljack and the "G1 " inspired repaint is so forced the figure should cry rape.

But Exodus was asking specifically about Generations releases. I agree Trilogy will probably take over like HFTD and RtS did as the catch-all line. But I have no idea at this point if the Generations line itself will return, get absorbed by Trilogy, or get re-branded into something else again.

Yeah, there's still plenty of DOTM I'm looking forward to (Soundwave being at the top of the list, naturally).