[Peteparker]

I think a lot of the need to collect comes from previous losses.

I'm not sure if it was something just ingrained into children of the 80's and beyond, but the basic thought that keeping these in good condition might bring either you or your family good fortune in the future is definitely part of the driving force to my collecting.

We've all heard the stories about ancient items being worth a mint if they're kept in good condition. Those have always had an impact on me personally, subconscious or not.

I started reading comics in the 90's, and when I finally had enough of my own cash flow, would buy everything Marvel produced every week. After 10+ years of buying, reading, bagging/boarding, and storing or organizing comics, I got burnt out. I asked myself the same collecting question of my comics as you are of your toys. Sure, I had one or two worth a couple hundred bucks, but the vast majority were worth nothing, yet I couldn't get rid of any of them.

Last year I went to SDCC and fell in love with the Sentinel. It's incredible mass alone caused me to stand in line for 6 hours to get one Thursday morning, and then I got two at the last minute.

Thinking, "Okay, that was a huge purchase, but maybe I can just grab some awesome X-Men and pose them all over it," I sought out the toys that would go with it. To my surprise, the Sentinel was a Marvel Universe Figure, and there were TONS of them! The cost was high, so I started slow, picking up an X-Man for my own team here and there. Eventually, I started to get ALL of the X-Men so I could change the team out whenever I wanted. It was the beginning of the end.

After stumbling into a couple awesome deals (MU singles on clearance for $2, a comic pack for $1!), I eventually told myself, at THAT cheap, I can afford to have them all! And so my MOC completionist obsession began.

The thrill associated with building this collection has changed from month to month. At first, it was excitement of having my own team to make them do whatever I wanted. Then it was the excitement of finding awesome old figures at cheap prices. Then it was the excitement of finding the rare ones in person. Then it was looking at the incredible collections of others on this site (Andy included), and trying to complete the list.

When Andy started selling off his collection, I saw it as an opportunity to pick up where he was leaving off, and I bought many of his in bulk at great prices (totals be damned!).

After spending so much money and building so quickly, I always figured I'd just try to make a dollar here and there by continuing to hunt for those who can't or don't want to, using those dollars to pay off my collection.

I do all of this because I am a perfectionist and I have OCD. I want to create the type of store I would have been thrilled to find as a kid, and keep that store all for me to enjoy myself.