Resisting the Urge

Never did an intro and I had a question that is not about how the forum works so here goes:

I am curious how other Freaks control their buying? More specifically 1/6 but others apply.

I loved toys as a kid but grew up and got married haha. I saw the Star Wars Black Series line and was pretty hooked. I collected every figure (minus the SDCC ones). I also discovered toy photography and really enjoyed the hobby though I am amateur at best. After the Rogue One figures hit I was sick of the decline in quality, on top of that Jango Fett is one of my favorite characters and after waiting years for his figure I purchased several and every one had the elbow hoses break. I can deal with sub-par figures but when my favorites disappoint me I get tired of it.

I sold every one as well as some 6" Hasbro Spider-Man figures I had. With the sale money I started my 1/6 collection. I was trying to only collect my favorite characters and characters that I would like photographing. I had Mad Max, Breaking Bad figures, Star Wars, Marvel, and Game of Thrones. My spending needed to slow so I decided to set rules (as I have heard others do). I was only collecting Star Wars, Marvel and Game of Thrones then.

Again with the favorite figure thing I didn't like Jon Snow or Daenerys and sold that whole line and started Asmus' Lord of the Rings line. I also was not a huge fan of the MCU Spider-Man and figured I will never have the perfect 1/6 Spider-Man so I ditched the Marvel line am settling for the Mezco 1:12 figure and probably one day getting the Punisher.

So I am down to 2 lines. Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. I had years of the Black Series collected and selling them gave me a good 1/6 start but now my budget slowed. I allow myself $50 a month for figures plus I get one "free" for my birthday/Christmas (falls on the same damn day). The $50 my wife agreed on because it is cheaper than smoking. That gives me roughly 4 figures a year all together.

So any other figures I will have to fund from selling some. I am getting close to barebones favorites but there are always more I wish I had. I flip flop between keeping the Lord of the Rings line or allowing my Star Wars line to take off a little more. There are also 2 figures I would love to have: The Threezero Bioshock figures. I don't consider myself a particularly selfish person but I find myself longing quite often for figures I don't have and considering selling ones that I don't want to give up. I already made that mistake with Hot Toys Jyn and SSC Snowspeeder Luke (though him I bought back at an inflated price).

Enough about me! How do you guys resist (or give into and afford) the urge?

I appreciate your dilemma. I'm hooked on Hot Toys and other 1/6th figures. I try to only pay for new figures with funds from my Paypal account which is replenished by selling off older figures and collectables. I've also run out of room in my 6 detolfs so any new figure will have to bump an old figure which I sell.

I sold off my MOST of my whole collection once long ago and made about $25K (This was mostly figures from when Hot Toys first started, the AvP figures, Superman Returns/Batman Begins, USCM Marines, etc. until the mid-2000's). That helped pay off some bills and my car. I then started collecting again but had no real urge to get back any old figures....this was also around the time the MCU started kicking off. I also learned to be a little more strict and not get "everything" from a specific license.

I then just learned to become much more "selective" with my purchases, and focus STRICTLY on characters I love...as well as resell what I no longer have interest in. For example, I LOVE Marvel, but my favorite heroes there are Spider-man, Captain America, and Wolverine...so I just focused on getting those figures (and at that point, also decided to sell off my Thor's, some Iron Man's, etc.). I also like the "current" incarnations of characters...so I sold off the Hot Toys Spidey 3 Raimi figures and Amazing Spider-man figures to focus on the MCU Holland-Spidey. I also sold off the figure designs I didn't like and/or just didn't buy some figures. I didn't like the original Avengers Captain America outfit...so I sold that figure, didn't care too much for the Rescue and Stage version so I didn't get them. In some cases, I just stuck with the "updated" versions since Hot Toys tends to 'adjust'/improve their figures as time goes by. For example, the First Avenger Cap is VASTLY undersized in comparison to the rest of the Cap figures...which are more in-scale with one-another. In terms of Hot Toys, I try to stick with Marvel and DC (mostly just Superman and Batman).

I still occasionally buy figures that "at the time", I'm interested in...but find out later that my interest wains, or it was an impulse buy. In those cases I usually either cancel the figure or just resell it. I try to avoid "investment" buys of characters/figures I'm interested in reselling in the future (Exclusives, Limited Editions, etc.). I know it's nice to make double your money on some figures down the road, but the $200+ price tag at the start is already a lot of cash.

Primarily I focus on Marvel, DC and Dragon Ball Z and within primarily two different companies: Hot Toys and Bandai's Tamashii Nations (Figuarts Line). I also get the Amecomi line from Kaiyodo's Revoltech and some of the Mezco One:12 figures.

Thanks guys! Definitely good input/validation. I don't like to purchase to sell, although I have been tempted sometimes to leave a figure in the box after I see the aftermarket prices (Rogue One Vader). How often do you revisit a figure you already sold?

I also figure with impulse buys you can get some money back and hopefully at least SOME enjoyment. Can't do that with say videogames (PC).

What bugs me is loving a line and then getting to a very anticipated core character and it ruins the whole line.

Some people just do individual characters and some go all in on licenses

I think everyone starts out collecting with the urge to buy everything they see then eventually calms down to focus their collection on what's really important to them. Your collection will evolve as you get older, increase/decrease your budget, become aware of a new line/company, etc. As long as you enjoy what you collect, don't treat your collection as an investment, and understand that if you miss out on something that another version of it will pop up eventually, then you'll be fine.

Hello [emoji3]

You should share some of your photography here. I'm sure the other members would enjoy it.


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Does anyone have a "trial period" they keep new figs before they sell them?

Also I have started posting some, I have a pic under Anakin, Frodo, Boromir, and a couple under Snowspeeder Luke. The rest are on my Instagram @scaled_multiverse

good question, i used to be a problem drinker i stopped for health reasons and didnt drink at all for 18 months i was so bored so i started buying /repainting iron man figures ,the frugal part of my brain says dont buy any more then i fall off the wagon badly and redline my credit card on ebay/dealers etc so i have something to look forward to til the next time. technically the figures cost nothing since i would have drunk the money and had nothing to show. pre-orders this hangover dieast 2 4 6 5 50 & hb2

StarWarsFam said:

Does anyone have a "trial period" they keep new figs before they sell them?

Also I have started posting some, I have a pic under Anakin, Frodo, Boromir, and a couple under Snowspeeder Luke. The rest are on my Instagram @scaled_multiverse

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Once interest isn't there.

Always get what you like. Not what others like or the new trendy picks.

StarWarsFam said:

Thanks guys! Definitely good input/validation. I don't like to purchase to sell, although I have been tempted sometimes to leave a figure in the box after I see the aftermarket prices (Rogue One Vader). How often do you revisit a figure you already sold?

I also figure with impulse buys you can get some money back and hopefully at least SOME enjoyment. Can't do that with say videogames (PC).

What bugs me is loving a line and then getting to a very anticipated core character and it ruins the whole line.

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Never. Once I'm done with a figure and my interest is gone...I usually sell it and never think twice.

I will say that when I first sold my collection...there were some "gems" that would've fetched a lot more right now. I had an EXTREMELY hard-time selling a brand new Dark Knight Two-Face and the Godfather figure. People just weren't interested and there was still enough Two-Faces to go around. I barely made over a $100 for each and I'm shocked to see the Godfather pushing $1K alone.

What do you mean "getting to a very anticipated core character and it ruins the whole line"? Do you have an example? I think it's rare to see Hot Toys fail...but the other up-and-coming 12-inch figure companies have their wins-and-losses.

The biggest line struggle I gave us was the Alien/Predator franchises. They're what got me into Hot Toys in the first place. While Hot Toys has come a long way, I was DEEPLY impressed by the original AVP Predators and Colonial Marines when they first came out. Anyone else remember the days when you had to PUT TOGETHER YOUR HOT TOYS FIGURES? Man that was nerve-wracking sometimes...especially considering the prices and how you could easily break some pieces...

It's tough passing on the Wolf Predator 2.0 because I really love the character...maybe I'll reconsider but I gave them all up. I wonder if Hot Toys would ever do the Colonial Marines again. I'm sure a Hicks 2.0 would do REALLY well.

They never did do the Alien Queen like we all hoped, but there are so many rubber issues with the Alien figures (even the recent Aliens Warrior 2.0) that I'm sure they see it as a big risk and anticipated a lot of angry feedback if the material deteriorates.

Bardoon said:

What do you mean "getting to a very anticipated core character and it ruins the whole line"? Do you have an example? I think it's rare to see Hot Toys fail...but the other up-and-coming 12-inch figure companies have their wins-and-losses.

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For example: I loved the Eddard Stark and Tyrion figures from Game of Thrones Jon Snow was ok. But Daenerys sucked... I don't want to wait years for a new version.

My top three Marvel Heroes are Spider-Man, Daredevil and Punisher. Hot Toys Daredevil was a little boring for my purposes but he was a solid figure, Punisher is awesome, probably their greatest in a while (but to me a little tall). It was Spider-Man though. I can't deal with the bulky body and bad ankles of the Sam Raimi figure and Tom Holland was not true enough to the comics for me. The lack of the right Spidey turned me off to Hot Toys Marvel.

Even now I like a lot of the Asmus Lor of the Rings line but Aragorn is a little off and he is supposed to be the coolest haha.

Regarding what you said about past sold figures, I learned to let go of missed opportunities. I used to be a **** about money and get bent out of shape over stuff like that but that is no way to live a life. I did sell my Jyn to buy the Hoth Leia (love the figure) and now I see great pics of Jyn and miss that figure.

StarWarsFam said:

I am curious how other Freaks control their buying?

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My wallet divorced me a couple of years ago.

Anyway...Hello and to the show!