[Kurona]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gashatfreak

Oh man, this brings me back to my Transformers and Gunpla buying days a few years back. I used to buy a lot without thinking because I thought they were 'cool' and ended up filling my room with a lot of plastic.

Nowadays I'm really stingy with my money.

Quote:

Originally Posted by acdcguy

Yeah that's how I feel with my megazords. I actually got into my head that I could collect every single mecha from 1975 to present day. Eventually opening up a museum. But I just don't have the time, money, or energy for that. I think I will reduce my collection down to just the Soul of Chogokin figures I own, Dynaman, and Jetman. As for the rest of my belongings, only my Digimon collection (which isn't much), and my books stay. I have a nice private library that I need to expand on.

Oooooh BOY do I know this one.

This is, like... yeah. I remember back when I was focusing on collecting Transformers, I really got it into my head that I must collect full sets. Like, I should have a full 1984 Ark crew or a full MTMTE main character display. And it just made collecting very... dull? I wasn't picking up characters like Mirage or Cyclonus because I was especially attached to them, but because they were Part Of The Team and I needed them to Complete it.

I think what eventually woke me up was one particular quote from Vangelus; I forget if it was on a panel or some other youtube video or something, but he talked a lot about Fill A Gap mentality -- which was doing exactly as I described. Do you really want this toy you're about to spend money on, or is it just because you've convinced yourself it's needed for a collection?

And of course, it's not necessarily wrong to collect a full crew or anything. I'm not into judging people for how they collect or what they decide to do at all; you get what you get for any reason you like -- because you've got an emotional connection to the character; because a full group shot looks wonderful to you; because you just think the character goddamn looks cool or there's a fun gimmick. But you've got to make sure that the reason you're doing it is a reason you actually have, and not one that you just do have. And I think in collecting, especially when many toylines gear themselves towards completionism and because many other people show their shelves and goals of having full sets; that by default we go into it thinking we should just get a full collection. For me, that was bolstered by getting into buying Transformers again with Combiner Wars; a toyline that necessitated getting at least 5 different figures for a full complete Combiner -- and then on top of that there being different Legends Class figures for accessories, and on top of that there being many aspects of the complete Combiner that was unsatisfying such as the hands and feet, so you'd want to go after Third Party solutions to those problems.


All of that to say that it was incredibly refreshing for Fill A Gap mentality to be explained so that I could start thinking "hey, actually, do I really want to buy this character?" I don't regret all of my choices or anything -- I got back into collecting with CW Blast Off because I really liked Bruticus, and I still really like Bruticus and am still happy to have him! But so many others... T30 Roadbuster, Legends Arcee, Three (!!!) TFP Vehicons... I mean I liked the TFP Vehicon, awesome toy, but how did I get it into my head that I needed to troopbuild them because eventually I was going to have a complete TFP Decepticon display alongside a thousand other Transformers displays? Was I really going to get complete displays of every significant Transformers cast, especially on my limited paycheck? And would that really have made me happy in the end?

The answer to all of those is a big huge No, and for me personally, I've these days discovered that the Transformers that personally make me happy are a select few who I either like the character of or who I think look cool or I have fun transforming; as well as getting a few Cybertron figures due to how nostalgic I have for them. And that's such a far, far cry from what I originally wanted!

And at one point, I slipped back into that with Kamen Rider. When the Seihou OOO line was revealed, I convinced myself I was going to get every Combo they came out with because I loved the gimmick and the character -- but while I do like that gimmick, did I really... need that? Like, was I seriously going to be that into Ratoratah or Sagohzo on their own, and would I even be that interested in Combo Changing? Would I have a place in my display for them? At best, even if I did have a place for them and did want all of them, would I not be better served by cheaper lines like SODO or the original OCC line, rather than getting expensive high-end £50-60 figures of them? Eventually I realised... nah, nah I love OOO's gimmick but I hardly need all these Combos. I really would just be happy with Tatoba, Tajador, maybe Putotyra and then eventually some time in the far future I might go after cheaper versions of the other Combos.


Right now I'm going after a few very particularly very limited displays based on my absolute favourites, and a couple Main Riders outside of those with FRS providing options that are not just very cheap but very fun and satisfying to build. And that's proving to make every purchase and every received figure a joy to pick up. Moral of the story here really is that collect what you want, do what you want... but sometimes you gotta kick yourself up the ass to ask if it really is what you want.