How to choose what to let go

[Ironman1188]

I have a TON of 1:6.
Times are starting to tell me that I should part with some of it. You know, narrow down the collection to what I really like and want/need.
The problem?
I like all of it.
From my original Joes and Captain Action to my HT gorillas I like 'em all.
More custom sculpts than I'd care to admit to. So much that I've not even completed.
My tastes run thru the genres, switching interests as you would switch lanes on a highway. Science fiction, horror, law enforcement, military... you name it. I love TV/movie based figures.
So, how would you decide what to part with. Do I let the Preds, Aliens and Colonial Marines deploy? Do I get rid of all my horror based figures? Does the military based get shipped out?
Or, <gasp> should I just go all in and sell ALL of it?
Its been weighing on my mind for a bit and there would be pieces I would have to keep. Getting rid of everything would mean I would have to leave all the forums. I know that if I saw something cool I'd fall right back in.
I don't know. I'm rambling and just needed to get this out of me.
Thanks for listening!

 

[King Darkness]

I say you get rid of all your PoTA stuff first

 

[Ironman1188]

They would be amongst the more difficult to part with.

 

[King Darkness]

Think about how easy it would be to get rid of everything else if you did that first. Jump right in. No regrets.

 

[Darth Waller]

If you enjoy spending time on the forums, you probably don't want to get rid of everything.

 

[Corrose]

It sounds like no matter what the community recommends you're going to say "that's the hardest to part with".

I think part of the key is finding out which pieces make you feel LESS excited than the others.

If I have a shelf lined with figures and I walk by them in the morning, there's always a certain few I'll stop at for a second to admire, others you ignore or just glaze over. You likely bought those just for filler to make your shelf look fuller but just haven't realized it.

My (personal only) opinion is that collections that get huge and cross a dozen genres (Star Wars, Indy, Military, Rocky, Joes, Preds, Football, etc etc etc etc) just look like the owner doesn't know what he likes so he buys everything he can get his hands on.

It should be easier to let go of pieces that don't fall into a category of "These are my 3 favorite properties"

Not sure if that helps or not.

 

[Ironman1188]

Think about how easy it would be to get rid of everything else if you did that first. Jump right in. No regrets.

I have regrets already.

If you enjoy spending time on the forums, you probably don't want to get rid of everything.

I do. And trying to choose a certain genre or even just one area of a genre would be almost imposible for me.

Corrose, the "hardest to part with" from KD's suggestion comes from his knowing my long standing affection for the apes saga and the abundance of figures I have from it.

 

[King Darkness]

This forum is a bane to anyone who lingers here, sell you stuff and move on with your life. You will be better for it.

 

[Crimsonbob]

Keep all the key characters and sell the rest.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Well I see on your list you have some law enforcement/military figures. I would say these should be the easiest to get rid of, since they don't have a license behind them and therefore really should not have some kind of emotional tie to them (unless they represent a family member or something). You seem passionate about the apes, so go ahead and keep them. Keep the pieces which you have the strongest emotional bond with. Use that as the bar to measure the other pieces to. If they register as strongly as the apes, then keep them and don't feel bad. It's money that has already been spent. There has to be some that you only bought for their "cool" factor. Start with those, no matter how cool they are!

As far as abandoning the boards, I'm in a similar position. I've been "clean" for a couple of months now. My last figures were KOTCS Indy and the Squad Leader Sandie in early March. Nothing since. Not even any pre-orders. I'm still here every day. Sure, some things are really eating away at me, like all the awesome Iron Man 2 Hot Toys stuff, but I'm being strong. I have a great collection that I truly love, and this has made me appreciate the ones I have a little more since I am focusing more on them.

The Hot Toys things are a little harder to pass up because they seem to go up in value as time goes by. But the sideshow stuff generally stays retail or less, so I know I'll have a chance to pick them up later when I have more cash even if it's without the exclusive. When I started collecting I missed out on a few exclusives, like Indy's torch and dart, but I've survived without them, so I'm sure I'll be fine if I miss out on a few more ex's.

I'm just dreading SDCC though! Although that will still mean another 6-9 months til I actually have to pay for something, so there's some time for me to save up!

 

[Darth Waller]

This forum is a bane to anyone who lingers here, sell you stuff and move on with your life. You will be better for it.

Sad but true.

My wife keeps saying there needs to be a support group for spouses and girlfriends of this hobby.

 

[KitFisto]

This forum is a bane to anyone who lingers here, sell you stuff and move on with your life. You will be better for it.

It wasn't for me. I sold a ton of stuff. Still have some, but I got over the "keep up with the Jones" thing long ago. I just buy what I REALLY want and after parting with so much other stuff I feel no regret and don't really miss anything and I can still habg around here and not feel like I'm missing out on anything.

Many people can get stuck on the "Everyone else is buying it so I am too" bandwagon, but once you're off of it you never get back on.

 

[Mack]

Many people can get stuck on the "Everyone else is buying it so I am too" bandwagon, but once you're off of it you never get back on.

I was on the wagon for a bit. Financial issues forced me to do a massive purge and I narrowed the focus of my collection. Only get what I REALLY want now!!!!

 

[karamazov80]

This forum is a bane to anyone who lingers here, sell you stuff and move on with your life. You will be better for it.

Quoted for the truth. I wish I was able to sell all my ____ and move on, but I can't because I'm a stupid idiot.

 

[Ex-Parrot]

Box everything you are thinking about getting rid of, and store them away for a few weeks to couple of months, see what pieces you miss, and what you don't. Then you'll have your answer. Sell off the pieces you didn't miss, hang onto the ones that you did, even if they don't go straight back on display.

That's what I'd do if ever I was in such a situation anyway.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

Box everything you are thinking about getting rid of, and store them away for a few weeks to couple of months, see what pieces you miss, and what you don't. Then you'll have your answer. Sell off the pieces you didn't miss, hang onto the ones that you did, even if they don't go straight back on display.

That's what I'd do if ever I was in such a situation anyway.

Great suggestion!

 

[niennumb1]

Over time I've found it easier to let go of things.

In one instance the pieces are cool and it's just awesome to see them all on your shelves and such. But then in another instance I think of how much money I have spent on stuff that sits on a shelf and gets no use and I begin to think to myself, "Look at how much money is just sitting there doing nothing!"

I had a high-end costume I decided to sell to put toward an Adobe suite product and haven't regretted it since. I basically had over $1000 sitting in a bin doing nothing and when I would use it would be maybe a few times a year for different conventions or events. The rest of the time it sat there. The money I used from that to invest in the software I have now was well worth the investment even a year after getting it because I'm using it almost daily. It gave me great perspective in that my money went A LOT farther than in did with the costume that sat there 95% out of the year.

There are some things I will not sell if it's something that would be impossible to find later, like screen-used movie props or (rare) sentimental valued statues, but for me over time I have learned that quantity isn't better than quality.

I could display my screen-used foot soldier mask from TMNT and that alone would absolutely trump all of my TMNT toy collection. Thousands of people have the toys, but next to no one's got a screen-used piece like that.

It's much easier for me to sell something if I know if would be easy to obtain later. For me over time I have felt toys have been very easy to let go of. I'm still trying to heavily downsize because I kinda like the look of less clutter.

I have too much stuff still that I could have used that money toward gear that I would use far greater than the stuff I spent it on laying around.

You gotta pick what you truly can't be without. It's like ripping off a bandaid, but over time it becomes easier when you put into perspective what is more important. It makes detaching from collectible 1:6, toys, statues easier, depending what ones you are parting with.

If you have a POTA collectible you KNOW you'd probably never see again AND at a decent price just hold onto it.

 

[superdoug]

Box everything you are thinking about getting rid of, and store them away for a few weeks to couple of months, see what pieces you miss, and what you don't. Then you'll have your answer. Sell off the pieces you didn't miss, hang onto the ones that you did, even if they don't go straight back on display.

That's what I'd do if ever I was in such a situation anyway.

True and doing stuff like that has helped me. Every once in a while I might have a passing regret of wouldn't it be nice to have them all but then I look around and think where would they go and it passes.

Seeing all the great figures and displays online makes it hard to resist the new stuff but since cutting back I haven't really given in to all the new stuff again. The hardest part for me is while some stuff sold I still have others that aren't and that's the hard part. You start debating about whether or not you really want to get rid of it and if it's connected to stuff that did sell you wonder if you really should have sold the other stuff. Oddly enough the thing I wouldn't mind having back the most is my medi Indy (my SS Indy collection is staying put). Yeah he looks a little off but the figure was just so sturdy that I'm starting to think it might have been a fun one for the kids.

 

[Customikey]

I have a very simple system.
2 Detolfs. Limit three figures per shelf.
If it doesn't fit, it goes.
If it's in storage, I might as well not even own it. It goes.
If I get something new, something old has to go.
This keeps my collection small, but precious, and filled only with things I really love.
There are no so-so purchases. Every figure in my collection is a winner for me, not the result of needing to be a completist.

 

[Maglor]

I have a TON of 1:6.
Times are starting to tell me that I should part with some of it. You know, narrow down the collection to what I really like and want/need.
The problem?
I like all of it.
From my original Joes and Captain Action to my HT gorillas I like 'em all.
More custom sculpts than I'd care to admit to. So much that I've not even completed.
My tastes run thru the genres, switching interests as you would switch lanes on a highway. Science fiction, horror, law enforcement, military... you name it. I love TV/movie based figures.
So, how would you decide what to part with. Do I let the Preds, Aliens and Colonial Marines deploy? Do I get rid of all my horror based figures? Does the military based get shipped out?
Or, <gasp> should I just go all in and sell ALL of it?
Its been weighing on my mind for a bit and there would be pieces I would have to keep. Getting rid of everything would mean I would have to leave all the forums. I know that if I saw something cool I'd fall right back in.
I don't know. I'm rambling and just needed to get this out of me.
Thanks for listening!

Wait... why do you need to get rid of any?

This forum is a bane to anyone who lingers here, sell you stuff and move on with your life. You will be better for it.

Quoted for the truth. I wish I was able to sell all my ____ and move on, but I can't because I'm a stupid idiot.

Is this the way you guys really feel?