[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I got problems, you guys. Scheduling is one of them, but it ain't the only one.

Hey, don't underestimate how huge it is just to even have that kind of self-awareness! I'm even breaking my proud tradition of merely lurking the merch threads just to tell you this, it's so important. There's actually a bit from that chunk of your Kuuga thread that turned into a Collectors Anonymous meeting that I still think about pretty frequently:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I just find it weird, how collecting for me eventually transitions from Maximizing Joy to Minimizing Stress.

Something about this has really stuck with me as someone only (relatively) casually into amassing pieces of plastic representing IP's I like. Especially where it comes to tokusatsu, which has the unique combination of the hassles of importing meaning I basically don't bother at all, and yet also the fact that years of watching Japanese toy reviewers on YouTube has legitimately played a massive part in learning as much as I have of the language.

I have a passion for toys the same as anything else, but a lot of the way I engage with that is from a distance. SO-DO is pretty much the perfect example. Watching this whole saga of craziness as Bandai effectively doubled the price/quality of the usual candy toy figures for Ex-Aid, decided they would make everything when it turned out to be a success, and then kept adding joints and detail over the years to the point those early Ex-Aid figures compared the newest Chronicle stuff look almost like the Ghost figures compared to those early Ex-Aid figures? Completely fascinating to me! And yet I don't feel compelled to pick any of it up.

Like, and I really hope this doesn't come off like I'm calling you a cautionary tale, which is not at all my intent(!), but seeing some of these conversations, and especially that particular quote from you, has really got me thinking how grateful I kind of am to be in the position I am. Like I can just admire tiny plastic mans from a distance, and that's fun and satisfying and valid in its own way.

Maybe the point is that there's levels? It's okay to not have anything, and it can be just as okay to have ALL the things, if that's feasible enough, but no matter what, it's probably most important to just be honest with yourself and what you really want. Or something. I kind of feel a little bad that the first time I'm engaging with this chunk of the forum immediately turned into a wordy lecture (What do you know? I got problems too!), so hopefully what I'm saying at least makes sense!