How do you guys afford this hobby

[devilof76]

i got an education and a viable career. high-end collecting is not meant for wage slaves.

Wage slave here.

 

[King Darkness]

Sideshow should charge you less since its your hobby

 

[marvelcollector]

I think this is an expensive hobby. Look at what you want. I mostly collect marvel stuff. I didn't buy everything i wanted at once. I look around. Theres always going to be someone who is willing to sell you a statue that you want at a reasonable price, it just takes time for those people to show.

 

[Lejuan]

Sideshow should charge you less since its your hobby

I'm an animator, so I claim all of my figures as tax deductions. This way I get to rationalise my expenditure by telling myself that every figure I buy is actually saving me money.

 

[devilof76]

Sideshow should charge you less since its your hobby

Damn right they should.

Wait, what?

 

[Lejuan]

One way you could afford your figures is to get sponsored, like this guy:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywu1DeqXTg4 -

 

[Bloodsport]

Wage slave here.

Same here. Under Paid Slave but next year I'll graduate, but I been collecting ever since I bought the Celtic Predator was released. I have atleast 16 figures and 3 statues with my low paying jobs. How did it you ask? Save money, you have to pinpoint on when these figures are released and make sure you have enough money to buy the figures and go to work the following week. Simply use the flex pay. That helps alot. Go to conventions and ask the sellers what's the lowest they can go. I bought the Freddy vs Jason Jason statue for 125 bucks, the Freddy Kruegar statue I got for 80 bucks.

 

[jkno]

I don't afford it but I sell other people's blood and organs to make money.

 

[-Super Hans-]

Living on a diet of bread and water, thats how.


Living the dream

 

[OSCORP]

I don't have a good job, never went to college. But somehow i do it.

(I only buy things i really like)

 

[sixxshooter]

Well I do have a great paying job working for the DSNY . I'm married with no children and I'm 36 years of age .I also own a car so I have no payments there. It's scary how much I must have spent on collectibles the last two years though. When I look AT my credit card history statement I see how much money i spent and it's just mind boggleing .

 

[zickjosiahs]

I think a lot of us are older and have pretty decent jobs. Im 35, no wife or kids and a professor at a University. If my girl friend wasn't around I would probably have more.

No way I could have done this at your age. gohastings.com on sale days should be bookmarked on your browser.

No ____ sir, what a talented (ive seen ur customs) prof. And so young! What field? I'm going to college soon....

 

[uscmhicks]

Living on a diet of bread and water, thats how.


Living the dream

exactly this.

 

[JAWS]

I have sold many things on ebay. Thats how I got started. Once in a while I will use my work money but I try to remember that it is a hobby and thus spend "ebay" money on items. I am married and have two children. So I find it hard to justify spending savings on my collectables.

I also can't get over how many things I have bought and then later sold. I try to buy just what I love but then BAM! Something better comes out. I recently sold about $2000.00 worth of stuff so I could get ready for the onslaught of items that are coming.

 

[Gates70]

A few things:

First you're 18, count yourself lucky you even have a Hot Toys item. I was collecting as early as your age, but even working I was pretty limited to what I could buy, typically it was McFarlane stuff, a couple vinyl statues here and there but no big ticket items.

Went to college, paid my dues prefessionally for the experience and am now doing what I love as an Art Director working on what I love, Video Game special editions, theatrical displays and some other awesome stuff. I'm 32 and didn't own my first REAL collectible (AH Mary Jane was my first statue) until 2 years ago. My wife and I have been married almost a year, we have no kids, very very little debt, work great jobs so that's how I personally got to where I am with collecting. Like others have said decide what's important to you and get rid of the rest, if you have a closet full of junk, sell it and put it towards some nicer pieces.

At your age, I think if you like this kind of stuff, it's more about finding 1or 2 pieces you REALLY love and working hard for them, and Flex Pay certainly helps. Make it about quality over quantity.

Above all (and this is where I sound like a parent) only buy what you can afford. I made the mistake of getting sucked in to credit cards when I started college, in no time I racked up a 5 figure debt which took forever to pay down. Be smarter than I was, if you can't raise CASH for your collectibles, don't get them. CC debt is a miserable b**ch to get off your back.

Hope this helps

I collect with my 15 year old son and we make decisions on which ones to buy together, so technically he can say he has tons of HT figures even though I fork out the dough . When I'm dead they all go to him.

I run a highly successful Fortune 500 company that recently passed up a military weapons contract to go into alternative energy and peacekeeping solutions. Recently though some _______ destroyed my race car and blew up my Expo so I'm cutting back on my hobby expenses temporarily to fill in a couple of gaps. I did get a medal recently though that I might eBay for a few figures just for ____s and giggles.

If you ran a highly successful Fortune 500 company it wouldn't be a problem to buy these collectibles even if you blew up 10 cars or whatever. There is also such a thing called insurance, so try again buddy.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

Sith Beagles love to romance 97 year old ladies with one foot in the grave. That's how we make our money for this hobby.

I run a highly successful Fortune 500 company that recently passed up a military weapons contract to go into alternative energy and peacekeeping solutions. Recently though some _______ destroyed my race car and blew up my Expo so I'm cutting back on my hobby expenses temporarily to fill in a couple of gaps. I did get a medal recently though that I might eBay for a few figures just for ____s and giggles.

Someone has been keeping up with their IM comics.

 

[trammel]

Living on a diet of bread and water, thats how.

Ramen noodles for me.

 

[Gates70]

Sith Beagles love to romance 97 year old ladies with one foot in the grave. That's how we make our money for this hobby.





Someone has been keeping up with their IM comics.

It just clicked now that he was talking about that ....too early in the morning for me to try and make sense of things

 

[robbiethepainter]

No ____ sir, what a talented (ive seen ur customs) prof. And so young! What field? I'm going to college soon....

I teach Scenic Design and Technical Theatre. It's a pretty sweet deal really. I get to design and build models of scenery most of the year. Im also a costume and lighting designer but I only do maybe once or twice a year. Im also the Technical Director so I over see the construction of all the shows of the season. And finally teach a course a semester.

Oh and I get my summers off.

 

[Mr. Green]

Make your own statue/imitation. Or buy and cancel it like you're a gazillionaire. Oh, don't forget to brag that you ordered tons of stuff before you cancel!! And rarely mentioned that you canceled anything!!! If they ask for pics, make up excuses like your dog ate the camera.