Thinking about quitting this hobby.

[SanShouXMA]

As some of you may know I've talked about what it would take to quit the hobby. I think I've come to the end of my line and need some freak advice. When I was younger I managed to dig myself into a bit of a hole financially and have been trying to maintain a healthy balance between digging myself out and remaining in the hobby. Let me tell you that is hard as hell... I've limited myself to just Hot Toys comic movie figures. I've kind of splurged with adding Ezio, King Leonidas, and Barney Ross to the mix but that's it. But with everything that's coming out (Capt. America, Mark V VERY SOON, then Mark IV etc) things seem to be getting too hard. I even had to pass on the suit up gantry!

I now need to seriously cut back on figures but I'm not sure I can because I'm a complete-ist (is that how you spell it?). I can't give up any of the Iron Man Marks because I would be bothered by having Mark I, II, III, VI and not V or IV. I want to have the hall of armor. I would feel incomplete if I had CR Superman but no Keaton Batman or Joker. I passed on Spidey and New Goblin but there is still a large list. I figured if I can't have a complete set I may just give up the hobby and sell off what I have... Which is a lot.

In my situation what would you guys do? If I sold off my Enterbay Bruce Lee figures I would probably be able to get myself out of debt. That's assuming the HT DX Bruce Lee release didn't decrease the value of the Enterbay Bruce Lee figures ($600-$900 each). I've tried talking to friends and family but no one can understand the need / love of this hobby. To them they're toys. To us it's artistic appreciation and a lot more.

Please counsel me friends.

 

[EVILFACE]

A mans gotta know his limitations.

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

your best bet is to stick with a theme. only marvel, only movies etc

 

[quiggle]

please dont quit the hobby because you lose a pinch of your soul if you do. if its money thats grinding you its okay to be in debt, its the american way.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

Luckily i'm not in debt. But i feel your pain, i see and i order.

Most of my money other than bills and food is for my collectibles.

I'm keeping my current orders and next year i'm cutting back to 3-4 per quarter.

That will be easier said than done, learning to be more selective will be difficult.

 

[devilof76]

If you can't prioritize, then you will always be stuck with having to get everything. It's either/or. There is no grey area.

 

[SanShouXMA]

ink: I do have a theme, lol. The thing is my theme is HT's money maker. Right now I stick to DC/Marvel. It's hard. I think I'll have to cancel my Muscle body pre-order with SS. Quit customizing, and drop GI-Joe.

 

[DPrime]

I'm in a similar situation. We've got a baby on the way and I just can't afford to get what I used to. I also feel that my collection has lost a bit of "focus"...

I wouldn't get out of the hobby completely though. Take a hard, objective look at what you have, what you'd really like to keep, and what you don't really care about. Sell off what you don't need, and use the money to pay off debt and/or buy new stuff (sparingly).

It sounds like you already feel that the Bruce Lee stuff, Ezio, Leonidas and Barney Ross don't fit in. Might as well let them go.

When I first started getting Sideshow and Hot Toys figures, I was mainly into the GI Joe stuff (and I wanted ALL the Sideshow GI Joe stuff at first - dios, environments, etc), but would also get a lot of Star Wars and Predator figures... I'm at the point now where I've cut out a lot and am down to ONLY 12" Joes (I have the first two environments also and the first dio, but that's it), Sideshow Vader, and Hot Toys original Pred and Dutch, Big Chap Alien and the Arnie T-800s from T1 and T2. I also plan on getting Chris Reeve Superman, but that's pretty much it. A nice, core group of figures from movies I loved back in the '80s. And I think I'm gonna be pretty happy with that. If Hot Toys tackles the Matrix and/or Kill Bill, I'll add those to the collection, but I think that's about all I need, when it comes to the high-end stuff (I still love my vintage Joes and SW, and MOTUC).

You just gotta get away from this completist thing. Maybe just ONE Iron Man is good enough, know what I mean? The debt will kill you over time - even if you sell off 3-5 Iron Man figures that's a HUGE chunk of debt you can get rid of!

 

[LoneWolf]

Your theme of DC/Marvel is still a very large scope of collecting.. Considering choosing between DC and Marvel (which is very hard), or consider choosing a theme that will cut down your theme even further (example: mainstream superheroes, one-per-movie superheroes).

I was lucky to have started off as a military fan - that I am more content nowadays of buying hard-to-find 1:6 parts than the entire boxed set. It's a big chunk of your budget if you buy a boxed set, but kitbashing or buying piece-by-piece and mix-and-matching may not work for you, but it has worked well for a lot of other collectors. In the end, you still get to form the character you want, but you control the pace of purchasing, as the pieces are bought when you really have money (not when you have credit remaining in the credit card - which is not really money, it's debt).

Good luck with the choice. It's all up to you to decide, you just have to let a few of them go, and understand that, no matter how much we love our hobby, the money you spend in the hobby can always be spent on something better.

 

[tnaig001]

Rule 1. Don't get into or stay in debt because of this hobby.

This is a luxury. Buy what you can, keep what you can.


Sell if you need to. Break free from the completist mentality.


It's a prison. Eventually you'll have figures you don't really care for but have to keep the collection complete.


That is NO FUN. And you'll eventually run out of space.


Ask yourself, if there was a fire and you could only save 10 figures, which would it be?

I'd go from there.

 

[dino76m]

like someone said keep the ones that fit in ur collection, and i think anyways this isnt the end of all these toys, newer toys , better functions and more cost will come out making these one looking like proper vinatage toys, question is if u would like to keep it for sentimental reasons, or for its awesomenes, right now looking at the older predators, im glad i never got them..because they do look like bobble heads, more iron movies will come out in future, with better designs , its trying to find a balance which figures hold more attachment to u as a collector, and now there are reports of battery leaks in hot toys , so much for MISB hot toys, u got to open it and remove the batteries

 

[choopie]

How fast to you want to get out of debt? That will determine whether you simply prioritize your expenses to better manage your debt or whether you need to walk away from the hobby for a while and put every bit of disposable income towards your bills.

Believe me, being debt-free and having the freedom to make collectibles purchases is a heck of lot better than worrying about what figure you have to nix because you can't pay your phone bill.

 

[quiggle]

so if everyone is going to be selective and buy only certain figures the hobby suffers because the companies will not be selling and profiting as much and less figures of other films and shows will be made in the future, is that what you want to bite the hand that feeds you?

 

[ProgMatinee]

so if everyone is going to be selective and buy only certain figures the hobby suffers because the companies will not be selling and profiting as much and less figures of other films and shows will be made in the future, is that what you want to bite the hand that feeds you?

not sure if you're serious?


SanShou, if you can sell a couple of figures and be out of debt, that seems like a pretty obvious decision.

You should count your blessings that you bought items that are apparently in demand so you can actually make your money back or profit.

Imagine all the people in your situation stuck with SSC SW figures.

If you're in an "all or nothing" mode, then I do have to question your premis of collecting for "appreciation". All or nothing is OCD and purchase driven collecting. You're getting your jollies too much on the buying part.

If you stopped buying today and can't appreciate what you already own, then you didn't appreciate it for the right reason to begin with.

I will say, there are a few people in this community that blow me away sometimes. In one thread I'll read about how they lost their job or live with mommy and daddy because they can't afford to move out and then in the next thread its "I have 2 of these coming next week". It never ceases to amaze me the priorities people have around here.

 

[LoneWolf]

so if everyone is going to be selective and buy only certain figures the hobby suffers because the companies will not be selling and profiting as much and less figures of other films and shows will be made in the future, is that what you want to bite the hand that feeds you?

Good point, but it won't happen. There are trillions of people around the world, millions of them are collectors who despite having different tastes, all buy from the same few manufacturers (Hot Toys, Sideshow, Enterbay).. Add to that the increasing amount of hoarders, and these manufacturers will never run out of business.

 

[dino76m]

ok , how about this advice, train ur selves to be a proffesional flipper, ,try to find the ones that could hit grail status, u know something , the optimus prime exclusive which is limited to around 150 es , i think half of them could be on ebay for 5k, isnt that marvellous...

 

[YoNoSe]

Do whatever you have to do to settle your debt. After that, make decisions based on what you can afford without digging another financial hole.

If you really can't collect without being a completist you should find a hobby that suits your budget. Stressing your finances takes the fun out of anything, IMO.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

Don't buy anymore figures til you're out of debt. When you're out of debt, start collecting again more responsibly.

 

[karamazov80]

It's human nature to go to extremes and to get in over your head.

I don't suppose that's advice

 

[grphyx1]

Every pre-order I actually transfer money from my checking into my savings to cover it. If I don't have the cash, I don't get it. I was in a similar debt situation and in this fluctuating economy you really don't want to be owing too much cause jobs are hard to come by if you lose one. I can actually appreciate the figures and statues through others on this forum, who are financially more comfortable than I am. You don't need to be a completist to continue in this hobby.