Why is everyone uncomfortable about telling how much they spent. Is it because deep down they feel guilty about spending money on something that doesn't really help the world much. Would you feel as bad if you were asked about how much money you gave to charity? I think in that case you would feel proud (yet humble of course).
Don't give into your materialistic desires too much. It's not 'worth' it.
Interesting point here. I don't disagree with you - material possessions do not bring happiness - but actually, I think that toy collecting is WAY down the scale of financial immorality behind, say, buying a fast car or a cutting-edge computer for gaming. It's just that those things are deemed 'cool' and therefore socially acceptable, while toys are not. This, I think, is rather a sad state of affairs - after all, at least a toy collector ADMITS that his expensive but useless items are just toys.
I felt (correctly, as it turns out) that I was spending more on my HT Predator collection than on any hobby theme I'd had before. However, what I've spent there is a fraction on what I've spent on relative necessities like a new car for my growing family (we're a single-car household, BTW) or have lost due to the recent stock market fluctuations. In fact, it's about the same as I've spent on
newspapers over the same period. And even then, most of my money came from getting out of miniature wargaming (after almost 20 years in that hobby). So by any logical analysis, I've not really misspent - I mean, I could sell them easily and make a profit, which is more than I can currently say for some of my investments. And, equally, had the money been spent on a holiday or car, it would be GONE GONE GONE.
So no, I don't feel guilty. There are far better things I could have done with my money, yes, but also far worse. I'm somewhere in the middle, as are most of us.