Collection burn out and when you think you have enough?

[Mac Daddy MM]

Was wondering if anybody else might be getting on the same boat as I'm slowly realizing I am. I still love collecting and will always get the Bandai vinyls and affordable figures like that. But I got to admit, I'm starting to feel a bit of a burn out. Almost every paycheck for the past couple years has had a solid chunk of it go to anything from SHMA, SHFA, X-Plus, Marmit, etc. I've always been great with budgeting in and never falling behind on my bills/rent, but man I think I'm just starting to get tired of the game.

I just cancelled a YMSF order of the chibis and am planning on canceling my Mezco Godzilla vs. Hedorah set pre-order and just hope they do the remaining DAM cast and just call it a day for that lineup. I plan on staying committed to Bandai MMS, SHMA, Ultra 500 and the Art Spirits Hyper Modeling sets, but everything else... I just don't know anymore, despite my excitement for the Super7 Ultimates.

[Fermix]

I totally can relate to where you're coming from. I arrived to a very similar point in collecting Marvel Legends. I had gotten to a point where I felt like I was collecting figures, not because I loved the figures, but because I needed to complete teams or series. Eventually I sold off 99% of my Marvel Legends, keeping only the figures that were special to me or ones I thought were very very cool. I've purchased a couple more since then, but I've slowed way way down and no longer feel compelled to purchase entire waves for the sake of completion. Instead, I'm happy to cherry pick figures from different lines and companies even if they make no sense on a shelf together, because the common thread is that they are all things that are meaningful to me in some sense.

Lord knows it's getting expensive out there, so I'm happy to tailor my collection to things that are worth the money and worth the shelf presence and ditch the things that aren't. I'm starting to run out of room and am thinking of selling off my NECA Pacific Rim collection, because, while it has served me well as a prized possession, I think I'm ready to move on to other things.

After getting married last year and starting to think about family planning, I also need to be very careful about when and where I spend my leftover cash, which has also been a very motivating factor to keep a more limited and evolving collection.

So yeah, I totally hear what you're saying. My best advice is to consider the following questions when looking at potential pickups:

1. Am I interested because I like it, or because I feel a need to complete a collection?
2. Do I like it for the price, or do I love it for the price?

I feel much more free and satisfied as a collector by thinking these through

[shadowgigan]

I’m having this exact thought. I also think others are feeling the same way. Sales are slowing on Facebook. I don’t have quantitative evidence of this, but, as an anecdote, it seems to be the case. I’ve spent thousands on my collection in the last few years and am growing to the point where I am satisfied and will only go after a few big grails, maybe some books, and maybe a couple cheap bandais a year.

I can also echo the family planning sentiments. I’ve also realized I’ve become obsessed with collecting, I do have a problem/addiction, and it probably needs to stop.

I’m also seeing people on FB who are spending 10x more than me. While I’m happy for them and even a bit jealous, I can’t help but wonder if it is healthy. I’m also completely broke now after a few emergencies, and I’m looking at all these X Plus I own and I’m like crap, was that really smart? I don’t know. Just hope everyone collects responsibly.

Added in 2 minutes 23 seconds:
It’s also the rate of releases. It feels like they’re just being pumped out like a machine. It’s turning me off to a certain extent, makes me feel like I’m being used. Perhaps I’m overthinking this. Idk.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Honestly I'm not exactly going out of my way to collect figures anymore. I'll never stop though, I love the feeling of a package arriving in the mail.

[LiamNeesons]

I think a lot of it has to do with what’s going on in the world as well. Sometimes certain events or the misfortunes of others can make me look around and say, “man, there’s people actually struggling and suffering out there and I’m buying a Gigantic Shin Godzilla”.

Instead of being hard on myself though, I am just grateful for where I am and that I am able to enjoy something like collecting. A large part of me tells myself to enjoy while it lasts.

At the end of the day do what makes you happy. If you’re burnt out, then maybe it is time to take a break or focus on other things that do cater to your current interests. I kind of just go where my interests take me. One day it’s sports, another it’s Godzilla or retro gaming. Life is too short to not enjoy what you are doing.

[Platypus Prime]

I get it, and I've also had to do a rearrangement from 'getting more' to 'focusing on what I enjoy'. Anything that's NOT making me happy is just clutter, and so I've shifted from looking for new things to just enhancing my existing setup. When I find something that works really well, I've started just sticking with it rather than looking for 'even better'. Like how my 'main' Godzilla has been the one that plays music and lights up. I like that enough to make it the main focus and then improve around it. Like how I wasn't happy with the city or Ghidorah before:



So I sold off what didn't work and now the same patch of shelf looks like this:



It has to be an improvement to my Monster Shelf nowadays, not 'another one'. That's why I skipped Super7's '89 but did go for the Rose Biollante.

[Legion1979]

I wonder how much of this collectors burnout thing has to do with the almost insane volume of product that's being released these days. And a lot of it is coming out of the US now at a rate we NEVER saw before. I'd imagine it's overwhelming to people with the unhealthy "I want it all" mentality.

[JAGzilla]

I completely relate to this mentality. I had to just go ahead and stop collecting toys completely for about a year there. It was becoming more of a borderline obsessive habit than actual fun, and taking up both space and money I didn't have/want to spare. I cleared my head and partially solved the space issue, and am now collecting much more slowly and casually than I was, just picking up the occasional toy I actually like rather than grabbing everything in sight like I used to.

[canofhumdingers]

I reached a point of collecting “stasis” a long time ago. But I’ve been actively collecting since I was a kid (I’m about 40 now). I never “outgrew” toys, I just transitioned from playing with them to collecting and displaying them. Then as an adult the toys got fancier and evolved into things like Hot Toys and X Plus and building models.

Once I started hitting the point where I was running out of space I realized I couldn’t just keep adding more. I was also at a point where I wanted some new “grail” type items that were beyond my meager budget at the time, while things I had in my collection but wasn’t super in love with had actually appreciated in value. So I started selling off stuff to fund new purchases.

And that’s when I went from being a pure “collector” to more of a “curator”. Now I continuously but slowly rotate out old stuff to make way for new stuff. I have finite space so it works well, allowing me to keep collecting new things I’m interested in without the collection becoming overwhelming (or expanding beyond the physical boundaries I’ve set). It keeps the hobby fun and engaging. And it keeps my collection from ever feeling stale.

Thankfully I’m no longer on such a tight budget as I was back when I started selling things, but the habit has remained. I also set a monthly budget that’s high enough I can afford pretty much anything I’d want (but not necessarily EVERYthing I want) but low enough it has effectively no impact on my actual monthly budget (it’s less than 1% of my take home pay). And if I want something that exceeds my self imposed monthly limit I just adjust the month(s) before or after by spending less. It’s also allowed me to be less focused on “getting a deal”. Not that I don’t pay attention to price, but as long as it fits my monthly budget limit, I don’t care so much if I got the steal of the century or not.

But yeah, as legion mentions, with the insane volume of collectibles being produced now (I collect Godzilla and Star Wars mostly - there’s SO MUCH product between those two) I can easily see how burnout could set in. Especially if you try to keep up with all the new releases.

[Creature22]

I was also at a point where I wanted some new “grail” type items that were beyond my meager budget at the time, while things I had in my collection but wasn’t super in love with had actually appreciated in value. So I started selling off stuff to fund new purchases.

This is the route I went. As I've gotten older, my priorities have changed, especially with my own personal career plans and increasing possibilities of moving abroad. The current goal now is to reduce the amount of what I own to one storage bin, rotating things every few months to mix it up. I really don't need that much stuff, and actually get stressed when there's too much of it, but I'm still a fan and don't see myself getting rid of everything.

I will say that what Legion mentions plays a big role too. There's just so much stuff out there now and it's a little overwhelming. And prices are increasing too. Both for new items and items on the aftermarket. It has been getting this way for a few years but I have finally admitted that I'm starting to get priced out and it's no longer worth it.

[Legion1979]

Aftermarket Godzilla crap is a real shitshow. That's an absolute fact.

Even back in the days of boutique items like M-1 or Marmit you weren't completely screwed if you missed out in pre-ordering something. Now you're fucked six ways from Sunday if you didn't preprder.

[canofhumdingers]

Oh man, I’ve had it with the preordering nonsense. The crazy blink-and-you-miss-it ordering windows, the bonkers competition, the INSANELY long waits for actual delivery. I placed a deposit on the new Sakai G’91 X Plus figure OVER a year ago and still have no idea when I’ll get it!

I used to preorder anything I truly wanted but I’ve basically stopped preordering anything at all. It’s just a miserable experience.

[shadowgigan]

Also the fact that I continuously have to pay a middle man in the age of the internet is ridiculous. You’d think they’d have this figured out by now.

[Dyrakro]

So interesting to see a thread like this come up rn.

Been collecting for at least 12 years now. Always concentrated on the Bandai vinyls and of course started with Godzilla. Till 2014 my collection consisted of a few bunch of Godzilla, Gamera and Mothra toys. Had various summers where I already had some kind of fatigue and had stopped collecting. Well but then in my countries Amazon Japanese sellers offered Ultraman vinyls and lord knows I had been waiting for 5 years to get at least one of them.
Anyone familiar with Ultraman toy lines knows how excessively big they are. Started with the 6" toys and became 18 soon afterwards which then gave me the opportunity to get the current lines.

In 2018 I had reached 400 figs. Moved out. Now got nearly another 200 at my new place plus various others I stored at my parents.
It was this year when I had ordered a big wave of 34 vinyls in a big package when I opened the box, placed them in the shelves and kinda felt dull. You know that feel, when you look at something, that spent more time with and in your life than most other things? But then you realize that aside of a short glance every two days or so you barely recognize that something anymore? Back in the days I used to play with them, make movies and stuff.
Now I got characters and figs I always had been dreaming of as a child. But now there is no playing. No film-making. They just arrive in their packages, get unboxed, a first look and then their place among the others.

I already had stopped with buying things I had missed out on in the past and am only concentrating on figs that are released in the future. But even among these I only buy character-wise. No special forms or anything. Just the main form of a character, that's it.
This year I even started with purposely not buying characters like the US Ultraman trio. Really had been looking forward to getting them in January. Then I questioned that and been wondering why I'd even need them. Never watched their movie or anything related to them.

Also I feel like being fixated on objects ain't what actually makes you happy. There are memories and people to make them with outside. And money can be saved and spend on stuff bringing more interesting vibes into your life than just a bunch of vinyls... also anyone here been comparing the prices of these over the years? In 2016 Zogu was like 1500yen, last year she's like 3000yen! And it was even the very same mold, with less paint apps! I get that products have to increase in price over time, but double the price for not even the same amount of quality? That's not even lazy, that's ridiculous...

[Legion1979]

That makes me think. When did Bandai first remove the yen price from the top right corner of the bar codes on the tags?

In 2002 Titanosaurus was ¥700. That's under $6 at a straight conversation today. Obviously no one here was paying that in 2002. I remember we paid something like $12 for it. Now if that same figure (which i guarantee wouldn't be painted nearly as well) was released today we'd be paying at least $30 for it.

I know prices change over time but what the fuck?

[Creature22]

That makes me think. When did Bandai first remove the yen price from the top right corner of the bar codes on the tags?

In 2002 Titanosaurus was ¥700. That's under $6 at a straight conversation today. Obviously no one here was paying that in 2002. I remember we paid something like $12 for it. Now if that same figure (which i guarantee wouldn't be painted nearly as well) was released today we'd be paying at least $30 for it.

I know prices change over time but what the skreeonk?

Yeah; $12 back in the day sounds about right. When they revived the MMS line around 2016 the yen price doubled, although I honestly don't know how much of that is inflation and how much is the reflection of increased material cost. I do believe that Toho increased the price for the license as well, at least from what I know with the higher-end companies like Marusan and M1, so that might play an additional role in the uptick in prices. But in general, everything has been getting expensive.

Of the current list of upcoming figures I'd love to add Battra, Megaguirus and Daimajin, but with all the talk that they will be in the $30 range I will likely only get the first one. Hopefully they will be slightly larger and the price will be justified but I just don't know as of yet.

[Legion1979]

Yeah if these things were still in the $12 range I'd buy more of them. But just three plus shipping puts them over $100 and that's just the retail stuff. We're not even talking about stuff like the Godzilla Store exclusives.

Out of all the stuff coming out later this year I'm only definitely getting Battra and Varan. I dont know how some people keep up with ALL of it these days.

Edit: The thing that really got me aggravated at Bandai is that I dont really feel I've gotten my money's worth on some of these. That Megalon should have been much better, while Gorosaurus is a welcome addition but still not as nice as the original from almost 30 years ago. The new Hedorah sculpt is great but they really went cheap on some of the body paint. MEANWHILE the quality I expect from this line seems to be reserved for the Premium series, which are more expensive than they should be because of this silly practice of packing multiple paint jobs of the same figure in one box. That King Ghidorah was at the top of my wish list but I'll be damned if I was paying that much.

[Platypus Prime]

The Rising Costs issue is hitting harder than ever. My main actual collection is Transformers, which I've been into since I was five. However, in the modern day I do see where both costs are going up and quality is not keeping pace. I was recently looking at the new Menasor (a combiner made of cars if you're not into that sort of thing) and I realized that while I like the look, the way it's done just doesn't appeal. And then it comes to, is it worth $200, all told, for something that I will have hesitation even using? With how many joints are run through clear plastic, that's a major break risk. That's why I have leaned away from them recently and put the money into finishing my Monster Shelf, and even there like I said above, I'm being very choosy. And while preordering has its flaws, if I can work out well in advance what exactly I'm doing, I can keep better tabs on things and not go over my budget. My gas costs have tripled and that's cutting into a lot.

[canofhumdingers]

A note on inflation:

I’ll use the example already given of Titanosaurus. It was released in 2002, which is now 20 years ago. (Holy carp it does not feel like I’ve owned that figure for two decades!! This thread is getting depressing! Lol).

If you were able to buy it for $12 in 2002, that would equate to buying it for $19.30 today, 20 years later. This is according to the US Government Bureau of Labor Statistics own calculator. I can still rather easily find regular Bandai vinyls for around $20 delivered. Furthermore, while you *could* find vinyls for cheap, I remember routinely seeing them for more like ~$20 even back then. If you couldn’t find a deal and paid the higher dealer price of $20 in 2002, that would equate to $32.16 today.

So, the $12-$20 price range of 20 years ago equates to the $20-$30 price range of today strictly based on inflation. I agree things are getting more expensive (and we’ve not yet touched on qualities such as paint or perceived value) but Bandai vinyls still cost about the same, relatively, as they have for at least the last two decades.

[SoggyNoodles2016]

I am 100% getting there tbh.

Between trying to afford shit on top of student loans, running out of space and just MORE and more shit coming out, I'm kind of just getting down with it.