Always Focused on That Next Purchase

Does anyone else have this issue? It’s not a case of not enjoying and appreciating what I have, because I do. It’s just that I’ll set my sights on something like the Very Cool Toys Jenners thinking “After I get them, I should be good for awhile.”, but before they even arrive, I’m cyber-stalking my next purchase.

I think a lot of it is being new to a scale, a line, or a style of figure. With all of the 1/12 traditional action figure lines I collect, I’ve been collecting them for years, most from the beginning. So there’s not a whole lot to buy until something new comes out, but walking into 1/6th? I’m like Augustus Gloop touring Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. I have GOT to slow down, especially as expensive as these things are!

Oh, yeah. This definitely happens to me ALL. THE. TIME. I've been in and out of this hobby for a very long time -- or similar "action figure" collecting for the better part of 55 years, so it definitely isn't something that only afflicts newcomers. Part of it is mainly, I have these ideas rattling around in my brain -- something that never seems to shut up, and has caused me 4 decades of insomnia -- that when I latch onto an idea, I'm like a dog with a bone. For example: I want to get more into Western themed characters, but my mind isn't content with say 1 or 2 figures. I've searched for "acceptable" or "suitable for the era" head sculpts, and then I add them to my "list". As I find more and more, I imagine: "Okay, what type of character could this head work for"; a shopkeeper, barman, sheriff, outlaw, prospector, pioneer, schoolmarm, farmer, settler, gambler, rancher, etc. etc. My OCD almost never lets me just "settle" for a small number to fulfill my dreams. The worst part is, will I ever be able to make all of these figures -- probably not. I'll be long dead before I can realize most of these, but I keep making those damn lists, and I keep buying more crap -- and more boxed figures. I just placed another PO just a couple hours ago for yet another Star Wars character that I know absolutely nothing about, that falls into an era outside of my actual area of interest (the Original Trilogy only for me, but this character is an offshoot of the prequels which I didn't like one bit), mainly because the character looks cool, and I plan to add him to my growing Han/Darth Stryker Universe -- much the same way that GubernatorFan makes his Star Wars spoofs. I already currently have 3 figures in this make-believe universe, with 6 more boxed figures on PO to add to it. Will I ever get around to doing anything with all of these figures outside of taking a couple of photos, posting them on this forum, and then never doing anything with them ever again? Possibly. Or, maybe when I feel I have everything I could possibly ever want, I'll finally get off my lazy @$$ and actually do something truly ambitious. I'm not holding out hope for the latter, since I know myself all too well.

Stryker2011 wrote:Will I ever get around to doing anything with all of these figures outside of taking a couple of photos, posting them on this forum, and then never doing anything with them ever again?

This made me laugh... although actually, I feel more like crying. I have two or three, or is it four, unopened figures sitting here, a couple of half-opened parcels, a figure on the way, and two figs on pre-order, yet I'm already feeling restless, like I somehow need one more figure or body or some accessories or, y'know, something!

And then there are the several partly completed, or barely started, dioramas and other craft projects related to the figures, for which, of course, I'm constantly "needing" one more piece or more supplies.

I have been thinking these past several days that I need to conduct a serious inventory of my figures. Everything is in such disarray that I scarcely know what I have, nor can I remember what characters or purposes I purchased them for. I have a number of unfinished stories in the works. It's almost as though, the more the chaos grows, the more I'm overcome by a feeling that "just one more" purchase will somehow bring clarity to everything.

I suppose a difference, for me, is that I do not necessarily enjoy or appreciate what I already have. Stryker uses the term "more crap," and that is how I feel about a lot of what I have accumulated. So yeah, some kind of "getting my house in order" is called for at the present time.

First, though, just a quick glance at Monkey Depot, BigBadToyStore, Giantoy, eBay....

I can relate to what you all have posted so far, especially Stryker. Always ideas in my head always on the look for the next thing/project to finish (haha). Well I do finish some projects, but it is only a fraction of the things I wanted to do.

I buy boxed figures mostly for photography topics and then some get on the shelf but others go back in the box or sold again. Which is okay for me, given that I started this hobby mainly for taking pictures with the figures. Sometimes I think it ould be nice if you could just lend a figure for a few weeks and then give it back. (Not every figure though, as I still want my favourites on the shelf)
I kinda do that with buying and selling often.

At the moment I'm planning a bigger project/diorama with several figures and looking and buying little parts constantly...which can be fun but also a bit unnecessary as I often buy too many things and only a fraction gets used afterwards. And if it drags on too long I lose interest in the topic and head into another topic until i can rekindle the interest again in the project ( I guess I just need different things to work and focus on all the time).

Yep yep. It's the thrill of the chase, the capture (hitting the buy button) and bringing home the trophy (shipment/arrival) giving out lots of good old serotonine.

I love every aspect of it. And of course feeling like I'm in good company, may it be the figures themselves, who I hand picked, or the fellow collectors, who understand my passion.

There was a time when I collected all manner of toys, from war gaming miniatures; Britains and Timpo animals and soldiers; action figures of all scales and sources.

Gradually one sixth became dominant, and I made a decision to offload most of everything else.

However, the one sixth world has grown so vast. There's so much on offer that I feel I'm back where I started, with a collection branching off in all manner of directions I hadn't expected.

It is like a drug. Collecting has always been an addiction, and completing series was a compulsion. At least with one sixth completionism isn't always a realistic goal.

Pre-ordering a figure, even though you might not actually have it until one or two years later, is the first part of feeding the addiction: the satisfaction of having secured future ownership.

Receiving a figure is the drug creating a 'high', but it doesn't last long. I'm then waiting for my next fix. lol

Asta wrote:Receiving a figure is the drug creating a 'high', but it doesn't last long. I'm then waiting for my next fix. lol

For me the greatest high comes at the time of purchase. Once I've hit that button, I may not even notice if I never receive it.
Ok, I do, but only because I keep checking my open orders to remind myself what I have coming for me.

And I certainly remember purchasing that Deluxe Silver Surfer I'm still waiting for...

I completely feel what you guys are saying here -- and, like Stryker, I also have an endless slew of ideas for figures, dioramas, and photoshoots constantly rattling around in my mind, yet so little time/energy/finances to make most of it happen. 

The main difference for me is that my actual 'collecting' (in terms of purchasing full boxed figures) has gone wayyy down recently, simply due to my financial situation and lack of space. I basically have set aside a budget for whatever Hot Toys Star Wars figures may crop up that are must-haves for my collection, but otherwise I don't collect a ton of 1/6 figures. My 'next purchase' that I'm always saving up for and looking forward to tends to be either headsculpts, bodies, accessories, custom parts, or craft supplies for customising. 

The most frustrating part of this is that, at my current rate, it can take me several months or even a year to collect all the various parts and materials in order to finish even just one custom figure. And especially if I'm trying to purchase supplies for multiple figures at once, as it can delay the process further. For instance, I had a random idea for some non-SW figures that I thought might be fun to put together 'on the side' as a bit of a break from the intense self-pressure and perfectionism that always accompanies my SW projects. I had this idea all the way back in November, and yet I'm still only in the collecting phase for it. And I had to abandon parts of the idea because it began to cut into my budget for my ongoing SW WIPs. I have now resigned myself to the fact that all of these various projects are going to take me a looong time to complete.  

The fact that I have to pick and choose my purchases so carefully does get frustrating at times, as I do still have a strong collecting urge (I used to primarily collect much smaller 3.75" figures prior to falling headfirst into 1/6 scale about four years ago), but it's just too expensive to randomly buy loads of 1/6 scale figures on impulse (in comparison to regularly picking up small toyline figures whenever I saw one that caught my attention). I have attempted to collect a few model horses as well to fill that collecting gap, but even with smaller ones, I still run out of space for them pretty quickly, so I'm already close to my limit on those. 

If one is 'just' collecting, then I don't see it being a bad thing to be focused on the next purchase. It would be a lot simpler to 'only' be collecting things at this point, and sometimes I wish I could go back to that. But unfortunately the customising bug has bitten me and still not let go.

Stryker2011 wrote:Or, maybe when I feel I have everything I could possibly ever want, I'll finally get off my lazy @$$ and actually do something truly ambitious. I'm not holding out hope for the latter, since I know myself all too well.

Jabba’s diorama doesn’t qualify as ambitious?!?  

I just realized after reading through everyone’s responses that I have one saving grace that most people here do not.

I’m creativity bankrupt.  

Seriously, when I look at the photography, the storytelling, the films, the custom dioramas and bases, the individual character customs and even custom universes of characters that we see here on a daily basis...it just blows my mind.  I may not comment on everything, but I appreciate all of it.

Me?  I’m analytical and methodical...left brain dominant all the way.  The right side of my brain is like Beavis and Butthead when the light bulb is trying to come on, but keeps shorting out.  

So I’m not in any real danger of accumulating items intended for future projects.  What I am in danger of is having to sleep on a bed made of 1/6 scale boxes under a bridge somewhere.  

yep, this is an addictive hobby...

My greatest fix came from finally getting an out-of-production-hard-to-find-yet-affordable figure. One such figure is the Phicen's La Muerta.

Should we start an "Intervention" topic??

Stryker2011 wrote:Will I ever get around to doing anything with all of these figures outside of taking a couple of photos, posting them on this forum, and then never doing anything with them ever again?

I took pictures of unboxing, post them on this website, find a place to display them, change their poses now and then, change their outfits (eg without jackets), add-on other weapons that i never display, put some on my spinning platform when they feel current (like Wonder Woman), and that's it.

When it's time for me to die, i'll probably state in my will that all of these figures be burned...

brassco wrote:

When it's time for me to die, i'll probably state in my will that all of these figures be burned...

Interesting you should say that. I was thinking something similar only a few days ago. Box everything up and send it to a landfill. I really don't want to think about everything going to a thrift store to be pawed over and destroyed.

Yup this is totally me too. But then usually by the time a figure is released, I am broke and have to cancel pre order lol. Currently on Nam but have 4 of the Russian motorised infantry on pre-order as have idea planned but then also thinking on other stuff

I'm always looking for the next cool loose item to grab before someone else does . I actually think buying pieces is worse, you buy a boxed figure and that's that, you display it, pose it, make something cool with it maybe build a squad or an army of them (would be amazing to build an army) but with loose items? I see it, I like it, I want it, I buy it and then it spends God knows how long inside the spare parts bin looking at me dip my hands in there to grab something made decades ago for a bash.

ooooh boy, guilty as charged;) there was a time when my interest in 1/6 figures was very clean cut and strictly based upon ww2 figures. granted only having dragon amd the occasional bbi or did figure within reach made my consumption more or less organized. oddly enough i never strayed from this topic i.e towards movie characters or super heroes. ww2 it was.

i don't remember when it changed or why but all of a sudden i had that "itch" after committing many, and i mean many hours, to a certain video game at the time that i thought " man it'd be cool to carry that feeling over into the haptic world"

and from that point on all hell broke lose;)

problem is, i became real jumpy when switching to a new topic, leaving projects on hold indefinitely, for the main motivation ended when i stopped playing the source material.

sure, there are evergreens that i literally never stop, fallout for example is always on a hdd on at least one pc.

but take resident evil as an example, played re 2 and 3 ad nausea, kitbashed a leon and hunk, bought a re1 chris just for the heck of it, but my envisioned resident evil diorama, as of now, hasnt come to fruition.

why ? neca's 1/12 tmnt line and the resulting binch session of old cartoons revived a certain nostalgia and has me building my tmnt diorama instead.

all off a sudden *bam* one to many whiskey and a link to 160 episodes of fist of the north star..... guess what, went shopping on ebay for medicos figures. and grew a ton of new chest hair

but here's one thing that might be the trick. "instant gratification" or moreover the lack of it.
when buying a figure we get rewarded with endorphins, but go cold turkey until either its released (when pre ordering) or when shipment takes quite some time.

in the meantime we go for the next "reward" thus resulting in figures left in box, something i witnessed on myself lately.

even had to "force" myself taking the time unpacking them. not that i don't enjoy my purchase but personally i have to be in the right mood to give them proper credit and be thorough lest i damage the figure right away. i'm looking at you stiff neca joints ....

so yeah, i think having to great a timespan between hitting the purchase button and holding the figure in hands, renders the gratification mechanics in our brains null and void and trick us into repeating what made is feel good in the first place.

Tjolnir wrote:
so yeah, i think having to great a timespan between hitting the purchase button and holding the figure in hands, renders the gratification mechanics in our brains null and void and trick us into repeating what made is feel good in the first place.

I’ve noticed that myself during the last two weeks. I’m not accustomed to having to wait much more than a week or so for a package to arrive, but apparently there’s more shipments than flights going out of Asia right now, and I’ve got a backlog. I’m definitely more excited about the figure I bought two days ago and haven’t received than the figure I bought two weeks ago and haven’t received.

Great. Now I’m wondering if part of this recent buying spree I’ve been on is me trying to get my “fix” because it’s taking too long for my packages to arrive.

Thanks for making me feel like I'm not some psycho and there are loads of others like me! Hahaha! I could pay off my mortgage a lot faster if I didn't have this damn addiction but it's better for me than hard drugs I guess lol.

no worries mate, it´s not like you´ve gotten to the point where you buy an almost completely uninteresting figure from the same line, while waiting on the "main course" just to fill the waiting time and void in getting onwards with your collection.... uuuuhm....*looks at my tmnt preorder history* damn ....

I've spent thousands in the last few months, since I just discovered collecting 1/6 figures and everything I see is new to me....well not anymore, I've bought everything I wanted and spent a great deal of our savings.  I had to buckle down and slow up on my spending.  One thing is I feel like the manufacturers of 1/6 clothing are laughing at me for buying overpriced items made of the cheapest, lowest quality materials they can find.  I started to feel a bit embarassed at being a sucker and purchasing this junk.  I'm also a little insulted but have noone to blame but me.  Always chasing that dopemine rush at buying something new, and the rush disappears minutes after recieving said item. Oh, and the realization that preorder dates of release are always so far off that it takes a year to release an item that has an initial release estimate of a month or so. So wish I would have known this sooner... Oh the agony!

Melancholia wrote:I've spent thousands in the last few months, since I just discovered collecting 1/6 figures and everything I see is new to me....well not anymore, I've bought everything I wanted and spent a great deal of our savings.  I had to buckle down and slow up on my spending.  One thing is I feel like the manufacturers of 1/6 clothing are laughing at me for buying overpriced items made of the cheapest, lowest quality materials they can find.  I started to feel a bit embarassed at being a sucker and purchasing this junk.  I'm also a little insulted but have noone to blame but me.  Always chasing that dopemine rush at buying something new, and the rush disappears minutes after recieving said item.  Oh, and the realization that preorder dates of release are always so far off that it takes a year to release an item that has an initial release estimate of a month or so.  So wish I would have known this sooner...  Oh the agony!

The long delays from PO to release are the thing any of us who’ve been in this hobby for a long time learn the hard way. And for the love of god, please don’t PO through eBay or Aliexpress — only go through a reputable retailer.

Melancholia wrote:One thing is I feel like the manufacturers of 1/6 clothing are laughing at me for buying overpriced items made of the cheapest, lowest quality materials they can find.  I started to feel a bit embarassed at being a sucker and purchasing this junk.  . . . Always chasing that dopamine rush at buying something new, and the rush disappears minutes after recieving said item.  

Yeah, I'm with you on the obscene prices for "doll clothes," and I agree, the quality "ain't what it used to be." I feel like an old codger saying that, especially since I've only been in the 1/6 figure hobby on a significant level for three years or so, but the prices seem to be escalating particularly rapidly now, while the quality is not improving or is even declining. Sixty bucks and up for what amounts to "Barbie clothes" -- spending that kind of money is not anywhere near rational, is it? I'm trying, really trying, to taper way back on the purchases, but there's always something alluring that beckons. Often as not, when (or if) the alluring item arrives, the parcel sits unopened for weeks, even months. The "rush" for me seems to be in the initial optimistic enthusiasm for what I'm going to do with whatever it is I'm purchasing, but by the time the item arrives I've moved on to other interests.

I've given up on pre-orders, and I have cancelled all but one that I had purchased. The one remaining is paid in full, and is "expected" to ship "third quarter" -- yeah, right. If it ever shows up -- yay, surprise!

I still have unopened figures from a couple years ago. I have the attention span of a gnat some days, and once I get focused on something, I tend to hyper focus for a bit, and then get bored and move on. Oh, I’ll return eventually, but it’s usually a long time down the road. Plus, I’m lazy AF. If I feel something might take longer than a few minutes to do, I tend to put it off.

The clothing… yeah, the prices for this stuff is insane. I spend more on freaking doll clothes than I do crap for me to actually wear 98% of the time. I need more Western clothing and gear, but I just got done buying two boxed figures that came to nearly $900, have 3 other boxed figures (2 I’ve already paid for, and waiting on a 3rd to come in) that amount to another $1000, and paid almost $1500 for clothes, accessories, and head sculpts for Western stuff. I’m also eyeing another $1000 worth of stuff to continue getting heads, clothing and accessories for more. This hobby can get insane in an instant.

Melancholia wrote:I've spent thousands in the last few months, since I just discovered collecting 1/6 figures and everything I see is new to me....well not anymore, I've bought everything I wanted and spent a great deal of our savings.  I had to buckle down and slow up on my spending.  One thing is I feel like the manufacturers of 1/6 clothing are laughing at me for buying overpriced items made of the cheapest, lowest quality materials they can find.  I started to feel a bit embarassed at being a sucker and purchasing this junk.  I'm also a little insulted but have noone to blame but me.  Always chasing that dopemine rush at buying something new, and the rush disappears minutes after recieving said item.  Oh, and the realization that preorder dates of release are always so far off that it takes a year to release an item that has an initial release estimate of a month or so.  So wish I would have known this sooner...  Oh the agony!

I think I may be a few months ahead of you, but we seem to be on the same continuum.  I could have written that same post, almost word for word, not that long ago.

My purchasing was definitely a coping mechanism, but I was well aware of that at the time.  My one saving grace is that I paid for everything in “cash”.  I didn’t incur consumer debt or dip into our savings to fund my purchases.   However, in retrospect, a lot of that money would have been much better spent elsewhere.

I’ve slowed WAY down.  The only 1/6 figures I’ve bought in the last several months are the Hot Toys Arkham knight Batgirl, and the Hot Toys Wonder Woman 1984 which is due out sometime this summer and is on a layaway plan with Sideshow.  (One more payment to go!)

Now that I’ve been through a full cycle and can be fairly objective, I personally consider 1/6 to be a terrible value overall.  A lot of that can be attributed to being a collector and not an artist.  Creativity seems be where people here get the most enjoyment, and therefore the most value, out of the hobby.  Unfortunately, when they were handing out creativity, I was waiting in line for my third pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

An exercise that really helped me when I was where you’re at now was to sit back and take inventory of everything I had purchased.  What did I regret buying (about 30%), what would I buy again (about 30%) and what fell somewhere in between (about 40%)?

It’s helped me to differentiate between what looks good during preorders, what looks good in hand, and what will still look good six months from now. In turn, that’s helped me to control my spending and buy smarter.

I don't have it with figures. I've got about 6 1:6 figures, in 1:12 I've got more, but that's mainly because of my Girls and Panzer figures (11).

I do have it with 1:6 clothes though. I've got a bunch of clothes I haven't used yet.

Regarding the overpriced but cheap quality clothing: This is why I decided to either a) make my own 1/6 clothing, or b) purchase 1/6 scale clothing mainly from skilled craftspeople (rather than the mass-produced stuff which may or may not be of dubious quality). I figure that if I'm going to spend ££ on what is essentially doll clothes, I might as well aim for the higher quality stuff. My current method is to search Etsy for custom or handmade Obitsu, Made-to-Move Barbie, or other types of fashion doll clothing. However, it does take some trial and error to figure out what fits and what doesn't.

The thing that I find I have no choice regarding, however, are shoes and boots. The mass produced ones can be overpriced, but custom ones are usually too far out of my price range. So for those, I do tend to just the readily available ones from AliExpress and Ebay.

When starting out in this hobby, one does tend to learn the hard way. I remember when I first started I wasted so much money on cheap bodies, not realising it would have been better to just pay a little extra for the better quality ones.