What got you into this hobby???

[GeekedOutMoonie]

For those of you who collect Hot Toys, or just collecting in general. What got you started or what caught your interest enough to get into collecting??

 

[P.]

For those of you who collect Hot Toys, or just collecting in general. What got you started or what caught your interest enough to get into collecting??

i have been a predator fan for a really long time. so both "collecting" and "collecting hot toys" started with predators.
my first 1/12 was McFarlane alien vs predator set (originals, not avp stuff), i collected McFarlane for some time, then bought HT Predator 2 - and stay in 1/6 since then.

 

[Metatron]

Being a massive Iron maiden fan I bought the Mcfarlane figures when they came out, then got the Metallica box set and carried on with the maiden stuff when neca got the rights. I bought other low end figures that I liked then I bit the bullet on the hot toys X3 wolverine and that's pretty much how I ended up buying hot toys figs... It was so much cheaper before hahaha

 

[GeekedOutMoonie]

Addictive personality. I'm in the USA, we do addiction like nobody's business!

Honestly, there's more than a little truth to that. I was into collecting as a kid, got out of it as an adult until I got my first 1/6 figure - it felt like traveling back in time to when I was a kid. The more figures I got though, the more that feeling has kinda faded, which one reason I'm getting rid of some of them (plus space and budget reasons). But it's hard not to keep buying them, at least I'm being much more selective about what I get now.

And you? What got you into it, Geeked Out?

I couldn't agree more on that, we sadly have addiction down to a science. I hate to admit it, but I think that is a big part of what got me into collecting. Although, I've always enjoyed light collecting to a certain extent.

As far as what got me into it figure/genre wise, it was S.H. Figuarts and specifically Sailor Moon, which I imagine isn't too terribly popular here.
That was something I always loved when I was younger and my daughter recently got into it, which sucked me back in..lol. I guess it's something we can bond over. Then I came across Hot Toys on Instagram, oh man.. I TRIED to fight the urge to buy, but I just couldn't. I am obsessed with Marvel and Star Wars, so those two lines totally sucked me in. I'm really going to have to be careful with this one.

 

[goatchumby]

Walked into my local comic shop one day and saw an ENORMOUS box with the PCS Zangief inside of it. Upon inspection I was floored with the size and detail of it. The $300 they were asking for it seemed like a lot back then so I waited a week and ultimately picked it up. More boxes kept coming in containing characters that I loved and the rest is history.

 

[fosing]

i started with hookers and blow.

rehab.

now i collect dolls.

 

[Buttmunch]

For me, I just never grew out of toys as a kid. I just got older, the toys got better and more expensive. There never was a natural breaking off point for me.

 

[nearedg3]

It's a hell of drug, lol

i started with hookers and blow.

rehab.

now i collect dolls.

 

[Plastic Bateman]

I just never stopped buying toys. I think McFarlane were getting rolling with Movie Maniacs as I hit my pre-teens, so I just transitioned from kid's toys to those, Kotobukiya's Armored Core complete figures got me into Japanese imports, I went through a weird Lego Star Wars phase for a while, just before university discovered Ashley Wood had started his own toy company which in turn got me interested in Hong Kong's toy scene, then finally a couple of years back I caved in after years of resisting and started buying Hot Toys.

I've actually sold off a massive chunk of my collection over the last two years. All that's left is the 1/6 end of my ThreeA collection, Hot Toys, SH Figuarts and a substantial amount of Medicos Super Action Statues. Plus a few interesting odds and ends like some SIC figures, Mezco's Batmen, a handful of classic Japanese mecha, etc.

I've always gravitated towards 1/6 too. As a child I had a huge collection of Action Man figures, including some vintage examples from the 70's. As I got older I started picking up military figures like the collector's GI Joe releases, the 21st Century Toys SWAT team, Elite Force, and so on. Hard to believe how far the bar has been raised over the last decade.

 

[GeekedOutMoonie]

i started with hookers and blow.

rehab.

now i collect dolls.

wait... You could be serious, so then me laughing would make me a ....

Ok, the more I look at this, the more I think I misinterpreted it. .. I'm so sorry!!

 

[Keegan]

I wanted that big *** Tumbler. So I got it...sat with it for a while...realized it needed a driver. Got him too. Then the driver needed someone to fight. And so on, and so on....

After a year or so I realized that I very much enjoyed the kitbashing/customizing side of things. That's what really piques my interest now - making or getting ahold of these things and seeing how they can be even more awesome with little bits here and there. That's where my addiction lies. Parts. Collecting + A Little Creativity = Why Not? It's relaxing in an otherwise not-that-relaxing world. Plus about 50% of my collection isn't, strictly speaking, legal. And that's kinda cool.

 

[Sidewinder]

I've collected different things over the years. Started with movie and tv cards when I was 11 years old with Topps X-Files cards and Skybox's Lion King in the mid 90's.
But by 13 I was out of collecting and didn't start up again for more than 10 years later when I saw what cards were being produced in the late 00's. So got back into that and then being a big X-Files fan, found out about Gillian Anderson's charity auction, so got into buying props from there.

Then in 2012 I saw the proto for Avatar Jake Sully, and that got me into Hot Toys. Previously I had only purchased a couple of Buffy Sideshow figures and their maquette line. So 1/6 was never something I was into as a whole until 2012 when I preordered Jake Sully and then I saw the Christopher Reeve Superman, then it took off from there really.

Up to 25 1/6 figures now, so it is a really addictive hobby. I've had to cut back to 1 figure a month from now on. It's just getting too expensive.

 

[demorathis]

It started with my love of batman when I was 3: mego batman. corgi batmobile, utility belt --immediately followed by Star Wars figures in 1978. Transformers and he-man soon followed.

Then the great Star Wars drought from 1985 to 1995 with only few items to quench the Star Wars thirst. Like the giant reds Darth Vader vinyl figure...during this time transformers kept me interested in the hobby. Then Kenner announced the acquisition by Hasbro and the renewed license with Star Wars The rise of companies like McFarlane. Neca. Mezco. Dragon. Hot toys. Sideshow. And the transformation of the older companies like bandai and Hasbro Mattel into these huge
powerhouses. My Godzilla Alien Star Wars predator collections all grew. It's hard to quit when there's better product year after year after year.....

 

[Voorhees27]

The devil. He has powers over me.

 

[The Jerker]

Toys McCoy Indy was my first high end 1/6 scale figure back when it was released. I thought it was just incredible.

 

[Stanlore]

2000 - 2002 McFarlane --> 2002 - 2006 NECA ----> 2006-Present 1/6 doll addict

 

[SnakeDoctor]

Toys McCoy Indy was my first high end 1/6 scale figure back when it was released. I thought it was just incredible.

The TMc Indy was my entry point ... and I never actually bought one. It was cool, but way too expensive and didn't look enough like Ford. My first actual purchase was the SS Raiders Indy. I was pleased there was finally a suitable, less obnoxiously expensive, Indy.

SnakeDoc

 

[tbay]

Actually started with the Sovereign Studios Batman Keaton custom. Then I picked up the first medicom Rocketeer figure. Years later I was looking up reviews for the X-files Sideshow figures because I had just discovered the show in 2008 so I wanted some action figures of them. I ended up here when I found a repaint of those sideshow figures and couldn't believe how life like these figures could be. I signed up for the board, got ripped off by the great Chris Howes and I've been here ever since.

The hobby has come a long way. The figures are better than ever, but the price gouging some of the people do on the boards now is just sickening. Really hoping for the bubble to burst.

 

[Solidus]

I first learned of 1/6 collectibles in 2008 from some YouTube videos. Before then, I used to collect McFarlane figures from Gamestop, and I was completely unaware of SSC, and Hot Toys . I bought my first two 1/6 figures that year (from Medicom), and this hobby has been a drain on my wallet since then...

 

[karamazov80]