Today, I sold four carded figures and bought a…

[edd_jedi]

Lawnmower. And I'm pretty sure I got more satisfaction from cutting the grass today, than I did from those MOCs sitting in a box for the last decade.

Maybe I'm getting old, but I'm starting to realise that I don't HAVE to own everything I had as a kid. And what on earth am I going to do with all this stuff when I get even older! I think it may be time to downsize substantially.

Anyone else feeling the same? I'm not cashing out from fear of losing money due to declining interest (which is another topic) but I'm just not sure I need to own as much any more, honestly it stresses me out a bit having cupboards full of "crap."

 

[theforceuk]

To be fair Edd you do have a lot! But seriously yes your spot on, I think we all go through it at some point, having kids guarantees a real lens shift at some stage. Will be interesting how we feel in 10 years if we're still posting on here. I still have a lot and have no intention of selling anything, at the moment.

 

[monkey_roo]

For me it is seeing it all in one place and realising just how much there is and wanting a nice display which actually means less items etc.

After 25 years of collecting there will be an inevitable rationalisation over the next few. Stuff will still come in, but stuff will also go out - maybe it's all about finding that balance (I hear)….

 

[theforceuk]

I look at my stuff and think exactly the same, what's the point of it all there just objects from my past. I think in the last couple of years I've looked at it as stuff I enjoy but can take it or leave it. Slowing down with what I buy for sure. I'm not buying as much but when I do buy something it has to tick a lot of boxes. I'm basically aware that I have to much and new additions have to be worthy of taking up more space!

I've also had a word with myself in respect to recapturing the past, those memories are always present, the toys are also very readily available. I think playing retro video games really helps, I can live in the past for 20 minutes and then go back to my everyday life with the hunger of the past fed for a while.

Big Vectis auction 25 April by the way.

 

[lejackal]

I had a choice yesterday, buy a Trilogo Luke Hoth or be a child and buy an expensive fridge with a pretentious door that goes transparent when you tap it so you can see what's in there.

Obviously I bought the fridge.

 

[theforceuk]

Yes household essentials seem to get in the way of collecting the older you get.

 

[Michael Sith]

I had a choice yesterday, buy a Trilogo Luke Hoth or be a child an buy and expensive fridge with a pretentious door that goes transparent when you tap it so you can see what's in there.

Obviously I bought the fridge.

Pity we can't tap our heads and see what's in there!

 

[peekaygee73]

Lawnmower. And I'm pretty sure I got more satisfaction from cutting the grass today, than I did from those MOCs sitting in a box for the last decade.

Maybe I'm getting old, but I'm starting to realise that I don't HAVE to own everything I had as a kid. And what on earth am I going to do with all this stuff when I get even older! I think it may be time to downsize substantially.

Anyone else feeling the same? I'm not cashing out from fear of losing money due to declining interest (which is another topic) but I'm just not sure I need to own as much any more, honestly it stresses me out a bit having cupboards full of "crap."

Yep, I'm definitely feeling the same. There are a few things happened over the past few years that've led me there.

• Hitting 50 and realising that retirement isn't that far away. The more I spend on things I don't need, the further away retirement is.
• Moving house and realising (i) how much crap we have and (ii) that I have a nice house I'd like to make improvements to.
• My in-laws house. They have a house full of stuff, chiefly down to my father-in-law. He was born in the the 1930s and had a really, really impoverished childhood. He did well for himself but that's resulted in the fatal combination of being able to afford stuff but not being able to get rid of things, as he pretty much had nothing as a child. Even stuff that's broken doesn't get binned so his garage is almost literally full to the ceiling with stuff., and every flat space in the house is covered with things. My mother-in-law died earlier this year and ended up spending the bulk of her last 6 months confined to their living room due to her illness. That room ended up rammed full of clothes, medicine, books, paperwork, etc... with nowhere to put them other than the floor and chairs. No matter what we tried they didn't want to deal with it. I don't want to end up like that.
• Re-evaluating my 'got to have them all' mentality (which didn't include vintage SW, thank goodness, but did cause problems with other things I was collecting). I got to the stage with some things where I was buying items I didn't really want, just because I 'needed' a full set. Kenner's 'Collect all...' tag line has a lot to answer for!

I've boxes and boxes of stuff stored in the garage that I never look at (not SW stuff) and I've realised there's no point in keeping it. I'll hang on to my childhood stuff, but as far as I'm concerned everything else is fair game. I actually find clearing it out quite cathartic.

There are a few things I collect and my SW collection isn't that large but I'd say around only 50% of it goes on display. I switch it around from time-to-time and get enjoyment from this but could probably sell a fair chunk of it and not miss it. There's other stuff I'm selling at the moment but I'm sure in the not too distant future I'll be selling some of my SW stuff too.

 

[edd_jedi]

I think playing retro video games really helps, I can live in the past for 20 minutes and then go back to my everyday life with the hunger of the past fed for a while.

Yes I think gaming is something that has triggered this - I can play games, and I enjoy looking at the manuals etc. Now I do love looking at my vintage Star Wars toys, but do I ever get the urge to play with them? No.

 

[Pomse2001]

I have been there a few times. Some years ago i sold all my modern stuff from the 90s and 00s. I thought there was to much of it to collect and i think it was not so much fun as vintage. The last couple of months i have had the thought with my coo variants. Why have 2000+ in figures. But i also still have a lot of spare parts and extra figures that i need to find time to trade or sell, so why not begin there first before thinking about coo variants. I also still have many figures and some vehicles that i have bought some of them years ago and i have not found time to look at them yet for variants. So again i think why not begin there before even begin to size down my collection. But again i still have a lot of items i still want so i would maybe not size down but size down of some star wars thing and get more of other star wars things. So maybe it is just for me about changing focus. But i must also admit because of the high prices it is not so funny to collect today than it was 10 or 20 years ago.

 

[_Lee_]

Im pretty much out of vintage now. Just lost the bug and the way the hobby was going it wasn't for me. I still collect props and autographs from SW, TDK trilogy, Predator and various other films. I'm now of the opinion that the props are more visually appealing over time and I don't need to worry about plastic bubbles, fragile boxes and whatever else anymore.

I think the vintage has had its re-birth now and that things have crashed. Some of the prices being paid for some items a few years ago was ridiculous. I cannot ever see those heights being reached again because like it or not, as the years go by and the original generation have moved on there will be very little demand. There is too much new modern stuff that is saturating the market too.

I can happily say one thing, between the years of 1993 and 2020 I felt like a kid again at times and that feeling was good, but all things come to an end. I've owned and sold things I've collected over those years that I never thought I would own again and that made it all worth while.

At the end of the day, all i need is the OT on VHS or DVD and I'm happy.

 

[Gadders]

Interesting thread.
I keep thinking about downsizing. I've got all my loose and all my MOCs in my office, alongside a handful of boxed items. The rest of my stuff is boxed up in the loft. I'm coming round to the idea of selling off almost all the boxed stuff (vehicles, playsets, carry cases) and just keeping the figures (loose and MOC) and a handful of select boxed items. Its the figures that bring me joy, the boxed stuff is just my "got to have everything" mentality.
Having said that, I should probably sell off my set of Ep1 MOCs first - I'd sold almost all my modern tat about 8 years ago but kept these as not sure if they are worth anything and didn't want to end up selling some and being left with a partial set. Also got boxes and boxes of football programmes that i think i'd get rid of before any vintage star wars.
I'm still into my retro gaming, but sold off most of the original machines and games and now mainly run Amiga games on a Raspberry Pi 400.

 

[kabuchi7]

What a great discussion! It's fascinating to hear everyone's perspectives on this topic.

Personally, my collecting pace has slowed down over the past four years. I assembled a run of the new figures released for Return of the Jedi MOC, and now I'm on to the Empire Strikes Back run, which i have around 4 cardbacks. However, I'm not as eager to acquire these as I once was and I'm content with aiming for just 2 or 3 cardbacks a year.

I'm also working towards completing my loose figure collection; I reckon I need around 15 of the last 17 to finish that. I would love to get hold of a boxed Jabba and Rancor, provided the price is reasonable!

As well as collecting Star Wars, I paint Warhammer figures, collect Fighting Fantasy books, and currently, I'm building the Fanhome Delorean. This helps me from solely obsessing over completing a MOC figure or a loose run.

I have quite a collection of TVC too. I think the dream is to one day have enough room to display it all but im starting to think as time passes by the majority of it will just be sat in boxes

 

[Grant_C]

Star Wars till i ****ing die!

 

[lejackal]

Give him a bed, chair, a spoon, a tin of cold beans and wall to wall Star Wars and he'll be a happy man

 

[lejackal]

*toilet optional

 

[sith-smith]

There have been many occasions where I have considered packing it all in and selling up.

I have in the past turned down items I would normally have bought as I needed the money for more grown up things (buying a house) and in recent years I have down sized some of my collection.

However, I tend to approach collecting with a completist attitude - a characteristic I wish I did not have and constantly try to get rid of - and until I can bring that under control, any thoughts of a major sell up would be impossible!

That said, I still enjoy having the collection and get a lot from finally having at least some of it on display. I do see myself still collecting into old age, but accept that life has a funny way of throwing things in your path that require a change of direction. So while I don't currently see any change I do accept that the future my be different and it may all go one day!