>discover cool toy line>"I'll only get a few">get addicted after first few and go back to catch up on old ones and preorder a bunch of upcoming ones>within a few months have amassed a sizeable collection>start to feel sick to my stomach thinking about how much money I've wasted and how many material possessions I am encumbered by>every new purchase brings more feeling of guilt than enjoyment>start selling things when I feel sick or depressed enough>repeat cycleThis has happened several times in the last 6-8 years. And now I have become lazy about the selling things off stage as well so my plastic garbage collection just keeps taking over space in my home like a cancer.I feel like I can't really enjoy toy collecting anymore. The high of getting your first figures from a new line or finding good deals on old stuff is so fleeting. Most of the time I just feel sick and disgusted with myself. This is basically an addiction at this point right? Things were manageable when I was sticking to characters I liked but ever since I started getting OCs or other random stuff that just looks cool, it feels like there is no end in sight. It's worse than ever now. My expenditure has never been higher and it feels like I am speedrunning collection burnout. I am scared.
yes, that is the spendcycle of toy collectingno, you cannot escape
>>11896115well we aren't these physical things so we'll never find satisfaction since we can only make ourselves happy, I've got 20 years of shit to unload too, my house is half warehouse, it's seriously retarded in retrospect but growing up, my parents refused to buy me toys and I had to borrow from friends, I feel just as lacking as before I started, same for video games, etc.
>>11896115Yeah, it's a slippery slope and the less self-control you have the quicker you'll be overwhelmed. Once you start buying stuff you have no emotional connection to, you know you're in trouble because nothing's off the table anymore. I'm at a point where I don't buy a new figure without getting rid of an old one because I have more than I can currently display. I'll probably be moving in the next year or two and the thought of having to pack all this up only to set it all up again in the new house is discouraging.
>>11896115I feel so different...I'm always focused on just favorite characters.For example i collect transformers but i collect only characters i really like... And even if we are in this current Peter Cullen news i still just bought Beachcomber because it was finally on sale on amazon.I still don't have SS86 Optimus. But i have SS86 Megatron. (Peter Cullen as a human wouldn't think that spending money on optimus toy was a good way to honor him - he was a good man and wouldn't think this way)Just... buy stuff you like. But i see that you at least selling it - not just keeping it forever covered in dust. So you are not completely lost
>>11896129Yeah it feels like trying to fill an unfillable void. I don’t know why I care about toys so much, I have all my life as my parents bought me a lot when I was a kid as a spoiled only child. I don’t really have anything else in life which I guess is pretty sad. I should have at least tried to make a career in the toy industry instead of settling on being a corporate npc, then at least there is somewhat more of an excuse because it’s your work. >>11896210Yeah it’s over. The thought of moving all of it is also what gets me. Or worrying about losing it all in a natural disaster or theft or something. All these material possessions feel like such a burden. It would be so freeing to have none of it and be able to go anywhere anytime. Honestly if I could just have it all disappear immediately and get like $10k or around however much I paid for it I would probably take that though would probably start the cycle again eventually lol>>11896219The problem is my likes have expanded so much recently that I just buy a lot of random stuff because for some reason I feel like I "need" it. My first collection I started as an adult with my own money was Star Wars Black Series when I was in college. I was only spending like $20-50 on one or two figures once every few months. Things were so much simpler then, I wish I could go back.
>>11896115>>get addicted after first few and go back to catch up on old ones and preorder a bunch of upcoming onesSounds to me like your hobby gave you that wake up call we all get. Real toy collecting is about buying only what you WANT but not what you NEED. You don't buy a toy because you saw the movie or something, you bought it because your personal perception of that toy goes beyond what media tells you. Also you should play with your toys. They're called action figures because they're figures built for action. Don't just put them on a shelf. Put them on a table and pretend they're doing something
>>11896115Just give yourself a budget, it a number of figures per time. It's the unlimited nature that causes what you're feeling because you're having a constant mental battle with an undefined number of figures you're allowed. When you have a rule to follow, then you've offloaded the worry onto the rule and can just enjoy it.
I've done a better job controlling my hyper-fixations and not getting into anything new I can't control. I've been fighting against getting too deep into G.I. Joe because I have no real connection or love for the franchise but I bought a Cobra Commander figure and have been fine with just that. It went out of control with Transformers though, I was buying all kinds of shit that i've since sold.
>>11896115>>start selling things when I feel sick or depressed enoughWell as long as you do that does it even matter? Most people just hoard the toys but at least you can say "yeah I had that in my collection at some point">t. Hoarder who will sell stuff "soon, I'll sell it. I'm telling you it's only a matter of time."
>>11896155
Why don't you just play with them?OP, your behavior pattern is the definition of a surrogate activity.
>>11896457>unfillable voidI was spoiled, but not really THAT spoiled, so I always longed for more than I had. I've had many LEGO kits, like early City 6553 and 7034, full collection of OG Bionicles, but I always wanted more because of these goddamn catalogues that came with them. I've been glued to them. Looking back, they probably caused an unrecoverable brain damage to my psyche. It was so tantalizing seeing these huge ass set pieces that I'll never own. Like, full City kits, Aquazone, Pirates, these complicated Technic sets that featured industrial machines, augh.And looking back, you know what annoys me even more? I didn't value what I had, obviously nothing survived to these days, which annoys me even more. Could have been such a nice flex pieces of memorabilia these days, but I was a vapid piece of shit.What's fucked up, nothing really changed with me growing up, it's still looking in from outside and seeing stuff I can't justify buying or don't have skill to make myself, even despite having my own money these days. Well... at least I care about stuff I own these days. But it still pales to what it could be.
>>11896115I recommend trying ERP therapy.
>>11896115You need to have limitations man otherwise you'll end up like Sean Long
While it’s not easy, one thing I learned is you have to sort of pick and choose your nostalgia. Case in point I just bought AOTP Fangry because it was triggering nostalgia of when I had the original G1 version. They also have pretty good versions of the Thunderzords from Power Rangers right now. I used to own the original, but I’m not particularly feeling like collecting that right now so it’s not something that I will get.
The trick is to become incredibly picky about all things and eventually most of what you already have will not be up to your personal standards. That makes getting rid of most of your crap hoard doable.
>>11901471that's not his problem.Look at what he said.He's just a buyfag. Buying is his addiction.He doesn't actually care about the toys, so it doesn't matter what he's picky about or has standards, because he only wants to buy NEW TOY.As someone with standards, i like to admire my toys. I'll sometimes take them into bed with me just so i can fiddle around with them and maybe swoosh them around. It's as gratifying as reading or watching tv on your bed.I think if you like your toys, you should get that sort of enjoyment from them.
>>11901491That’s not really accurate. I do care about and admire most of the figures I have. And I do actually have some particular standards, I won’t buy just anything. The problem is once I have a figure, I will change the pose every once in a while, maybe take some photos of it and that’s kind of it. I am not interested in carrying it around in my pocket or smashing figures together to pretend they are fighting or whatever stuff like that some people like. So yeah then a figure gets boring like almost immediately after it goes on my shelf. I don’t stop liking it but I feel like I want something new. I think most collectors with large collections are like that. We can’t just stop at a handful like 3 or 4 or something Another thing is I often feel like I am on a never ending quest to find "perfect" figures. desu I feel like most figures I get are just "alright" and I will enjoy them more or less depending on how much attachment I have to the character. I have a really autistic criteria for what constitutes a perfect figure for me personally. I might currently only have one or two that I think are true perfect. If I bend the criteria a bit maybe there’d be one or two more.
>>11896115I know this all too well, currently I just have so many figures I bought that I took out once or twice but they ended up in boxes and I put those boxes in the closet or drawers, been a slow wake up call but I am finally going through selling what I dont want and tossing out boxes for the stuff I do want and actually display it, but its been a lot of selling and a lot of "why the fuck did I get that?"
>>11896219this. gotta have rules.
"collecting" shouldn't be enjoyable. It's autistic behaviour for dopamine seeking losers trying to a fill the hole where life experiences and creativity should be. Buying plastic to shove on your shelf and feel "complete" will last moments, before you move onto the next obsession. It's not healthy. Look at photos of the few collectors who dare to show their face. Most of them are depressed, fat, dysgenic freaks.
>>11901610You're coping>will change the pose every once in a while, maybe take some photos of it and that’s kind of it>So yeah then a figure gets boring like almost immediately after it goes on my shelf.>I feel like I want something new.>on a never ending quest to find "perfect" figuresThis is pure buyfag mentality.I have a large collection, in the thousands. Why do i have so many figures? Because i neeeeeed more to compliment the toys i like to play with. Take picture for instance, where there's a couple dozen figures in frame, but i realize that it's incomplete, because there should be another civilian car to act as a shadow guard for the first one.I also need more "good guy" vehicles, because there should be more show of force PLUS a lot more need for samefag.So what'd i do? I started looking for military scout vehicles, which could act as chase vehicles but also be armored. I eventually bought 3 Jurassic Park armored cars. I bought a shit load of army builders too, including russian special forces to act as a liaison force.It's not much different than someone buying entire teams for a Marvel superhero group like XMen or Avengers, because wolverine by himself is lonely and he needs other characters to play off of. Buy more toys is to support the toys i already own, because it's more fun to include more and more shit.I also buy spaceships and need support craft, thus buying escort ships, fighters, moving spacedocks, repair ships, fuel tankers......... oh, and is that a missile that looks like it could be some weird alien spacecraft? I need that in my collection, because there isn't enough sci fi merch out there to fill out the next area of space a scout ship went after being seperated from its fleet.
Buy a figure, then return it. Depending on the store's return policy, you have 30-90 days to decide if you want to keep it. That's enough time for the honeymoon phase to wear off. I just bought the entire wave of TMNT x GI Joe line, but I'll probably just keep a couple figures and return the rest.
