[Skoob]

I fell into the 'completist' trap in my early teens, blowing every dime of my allowance. It created trouble for me in other parts of my life, and I had to assess my priorities.

My awakening came when I went to a country Flea Market and found a big pile of beat-up "treasures" lying in a dirty old cardboard toybox, JUNK left over from someone else's childhood. The sight of that helped me to "objectify," to distance myself and gain better perspective.

I realized that they were just THINGS, and there's always going to be another NEW THING hitting the store shelf, and I saw that chasing the latest THING is not a healthy way to do things, as a person and as a society! I realized that I DON'T CARE ABOUT THINGS (STUFF) IN GENERAL as much as I used to. Taking another look at my collection, I realized that I had been a SUCKER and didn't even WANT a lot of the stuff I wasted my money on.

Enough was enough. I sold off or donated ALMOST MY ENTIRE COLLECTION, keeping only a handful of special items. And now, rather than snapping up the latest thing like an obedient trained slave to manipulative marketers, I do a lot of standing back and watching while other people express their regret at having thrown money away.

I am resolved to focus on my particular niche (6" figures), to BE DISCRIMINATING, and to BE VERY PATIENT, waiting as long as it takes for what I consider to be the VERY BEST VERSION, because if a character is popular enough, you can be sure that different manufacturers will take turns cranking out sub-standard copies before THE BEST ONE finally appears, at a price that I'm willing to pay. And if I miss it, well, I'm alive and have money in my pocket.

I'm still waiting to purchase some very popular characters, because I realize that the most important part of the shopping experience for me is the ANTICIPATION.

South Park recently did an episode about free-to-play online games that seems relevant to this discussion: Season 6 Episode 18: "Freemium Isn't Free."

Rgds