How do you guys afford this hobby

Collector Freaks Forum

Help Support Collector Freaks Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I'm only 18 but I only recently got into this just bought the t-800 and should get it this week,But that all I can afford to get and there are so many figures I want but can't get how do you guys manage what you get and don't get

Yeap your 18 by the time you reach 30+ your broke as hell :monkey1
 
That's a biggie. There's probably $1.5K a month here at least that goes straight into baby in this household.

Heh. No kidding. I have three. We pay 1,500/mo for daycare alone. I'm throwing a freaking party when my last kid graduates to kindergarten in 2016.

You afford the hobby by getting a good job, living on less than you make, saving a bit, keeping the wife happy and the kids well-adjusted ... then using the leftover however you damn well please.

SnakeDoc
 
Last edited:
My collection has a pretty high turn around. I hate having too much stuff in the house and with limited display spaces I pretty much sell off collectibles I already have if I like something announced or new more.
 
You afford the hobby by getting a good job, living on less than you make, saving a bit, keeping the wife happy and the kids well-adjusted ... then using the leftover however you damn well please.
SnakeDoc

Easier said than done. Unless you have a "very good" job you cannot easily live on less than you make if you're saving enough for you and your wife and the kids: paying the bills, paying the mortgage/rent, paying for adequate life and health insurance, paying into the 401k/IRA, paying the car payment, paying into the college fund, keeping the wifey happy with an annual vacation and at the same time support a habit... er.... hobby in which each piece averages a couple of hundred dollars or more. Saving for adequately for a family means more than socking away a few dollars a month when it's convenient to do so. Ultimately, it depends upon your income, how much you choose to save and how big is your hobby appetite.
 
If you are selective and a little lucky, you can actually make money to keep your hobby alive and buy more stuff. Hold onto your hot toys for 2-3 years, and you can double your money. At least you used to be able to. Not sure now with retail pushing 220-250 each. When HT were 150-180, it was easier.
 
If you are selective and a little lucky, you can actually make money to keep your hobby alive and buy more stuff. Hold onto your hot toys for 2-3 years, and you can double your money. At least you used to be able to. Not sure now with retail pushing 220-250 each. When HT were 150-180, it was easier.

For the most part, I think those days are over. Due to technology there is a glut of quality stuff now available and more and more being produced every day. While prices are going up not down. Factor in today's world economy which is not likely to change anytime soon...
 
By being irresponsible and doing my best to avoid fully fledged adulthood.

Truth is I don't earn enough to afford these things - it just so happens that, other than rent and electricity bill, I have no other immediate financial responsibilities and it wasn't until pretty recently that I even had those ones. I do have to drastically cut down but it won't be this year unless circumstances really force my hand - theres still a good bit coming out that I'll badly want.
 
Easier said than done. Unless you have a "very good" job you cannot easily live on less than you make if you're saving enough for you and your wife and the kids: paying the bills, paying the mortgage/rent, paying for adequate life and health insurance, paying into the 401k/IRA, paying the car payment, paying into the college fund, keeping the wifey happy with an annual vacation and at the same time support a habit... er.... hobby in which each piece averages a couple of hundred dollars or more. Saving for adequately for a family means more than socking away a few dollars a month when it's convenient to do so. Ultimately, it depends upon your income, how much you choose to save and how big is your hobby appetite.

Discipline is rarely easy. I don't do car payments ... cash, or I'm not buying.

SnakeDoc
 
Discipline is rarely easy. I don't do car payments ... cash, or I'm not buying.

SnakeDoc
Through my wife and I being extremely careful and frugal over the years, our only debt is our mortgage. This is after going through 10+ years of college/post-graduate education a piece. It isn't easy, but it can be done! In fact, one reason I'm considering cutting back on collecting is that I feel I should just be saving more than I currently am. Hard to be too careful about these things.
 
Through my wife and I being extremely careful and frugal over the years, our only debt is our mortgage. This is after going through 10+ years of college/post-graduate education a piece. It isn't easy, but it can be done! In fact, one reason I'm considering cutting back on collecting is that I feel I should just be saving more than I currently am. Hard to be too careful about these things.

I haven't borrowed a nickel in almost a decade. Still paying off the stuff I borrowed before I figured that out, though. Mostly student loans.

For the toys, I buy the stuff I want, so long as I can afford to pay cash for it. I can live without this stuff. I did fine before I knew Hot Toys existed. They're certainly not cool enough to pay $200 plus 18% interest for the rest of my life.

SnakeDoc
 
I think everybody in this thread should go play the Lotto this weekend and if one of us scores the millions, we promise everyone on here Hot Toys for life! ;)
 
I think everybody in this thread should go play the Lotto this weekend and if one of us scores the millions, we promise everyone on here Hot Toys for life! ;)

That would be cool. I can't afford the lotto though. Too many toys to pay for.
 
Life's too short and you cant take your money to the grave with you, so buy what makes you happy and forget the rest :)
 
Life's too short and you cant take your money to the grave with you, so buy what makes you happy and forget the rest :)

Well, that's what the drunken sailor says. But even the drunken sailor has a family. What the drunken has left when he goes to the grave can at least go to his children—provided the drunken sailor had at least some sense of responsibility, and didn't blow his whole wad on booze and women—and Hot Toys. Now, if the drunken sailor has no family, then all bets are off.
:chug
 
Last edited:
Through my wife and I being extremely careful and frugal over the years, our only debt is our mortgage. This is after going through 10+ years of college/post-graduate education a piece. It isn't easy, but it can be done! In fact, one reason I'm considering cutting back on collecting is that I feel I should just be saving more than I currently am. Hard to be too careful about these things.

Hey Sam. If you don't mind me asking, what line of work are you in?
 
I haven't borrowed a nickel in almost a decade. Still paying off the stuff I borrowed before I figured that out, though. Mostly student loans.

For the toys, I buy the stuff I want, so long as I can afford to pay cash for it. I can live without this stuff. I did fine before I knew Hot Toys existed. They're certainly not cool enough to pay $200 plus 18% interest for the rest of my life.

SnakeDoc

^Agreed. Unmanageable debt is a killer. Everything goes on the debit card. Very few items I buy are financed, unless I can get them 0% APR and paid off within a fixed time frame.

For me, these statues aren't much different than some of the comics I try to collect, its just expanded as my purchasing power expanded. Still much less expensive than collecting artwork. Would someday like to be collecting $10,000 original cover art, but that's still a ways off.
 
Back
Top