[Lionheart]

My first MU: Electro. I had been talking to a friend who still collected toys and comics, and mentioned that I'd loved Star Wars figures and comics as a kid, and that Electro had been my fave Spidey villain. He said there was a Star Wars sized Marvel line that had just started and was available as Asda (local supermarket). I checked it out and there he was along with several other characters - so I bought (and really liked) the figure. Coupla weeks later Asda had a sale and I decided to pick up the other stray figures; Green Goblin, Daredevil, Iron Man, Iron Fist, Sub-Mariner, Spider-Man and Silver Surfer (they seemed to have got a couple of waves at the same time and there was a mish-mash on the shelves). They were cheap so it seemed like a bargain.
I thought I was done, but then when talking to a friend about the figures I would like to see made but never felt they would, he mentioned that some of them (Wrecking Crew and Absorbing Man) were due out in the 'Secret Wars' comic packs. The two most powerful Marvel words to me for nostalgia are 'Secret Wars'. I had to have those... and while waiting for them to come out, I bought a couple of other figures from the line from eBay / Forbidden Planet. When I got done with Secret Wars news was out that the vintage Captain Britain might get a comic pack release, which meant I had to stay in. At that point I kind of dropped the pretense that I was going to get 'just this one and that one' and realised buying toys was fulfilling a long-dormant need in me. Whenever there was down time in the line I started buying other toy lines and then went full-bore toy collecting mode for about three years, and it's still active now... Tron Legacy toys were massively reduced at a local shop and I got the entire line; Star Wars Vintage; GI Joe 25th; Star Wars Action Fleet; Masters of the Universe Classics; DCU; DC Infinite; Pirates of the Caribbean; Lion Witch & the Wardrobe; Masterpiece Transformers (and G1 reissues); Hot Toys; Turtles; playsets; dio parts - you name it. Insane.
Fortunately for me MU has consistently released at least 2 figs a wave that I really want, so I can justify getting all of them. Also, I've found that there is a natural completion point on many lines, providing you can really nail down what it is you want from it. So things actually feel like they've slowed down a little over the last 6 months. There's only a finite number of, say, Masters of the Universe or O/T Star Wars characters, so when you've got them, you can more or less say you're done and then just sit back and get the occasional thing. Apart from MU - which has a massive amount of characters, that seems to be what I've done on several lines now.

That was much more than I meant to type. In summary; I don't regret what I've bought, because I genuinely like it and it makes me feel good knowing I have it. But I *do* regret the massive amount of room it takes up...

EDIT: ChuckSass - that is a great story.