I just thought I would post this story and see if any other members have had a similar experience or are thinking of doing something similar.
This is the story of why I sold off my massive toy collection.
Between 2004 and 2006 when I started collecting again and getting my own income and started using EBay my existing collecting quickly quadrupled in number.
I didn’t just stick to Transformers I expanded and completed others collections like Thundercats, He-man and Star Wars etc. To save typing I got bits and pieces from nearly every toyline of the 80’s and early 90’s and had probably between 3-4000 pieces.
needless to say the collection took up a lot of space in our house. My bedroom, the store room, spare bedroom and the attic.
However around March 2009 our next door neighbours at the time accidently set their house on fire, but thankfully it got put out and the only damage was in their kitchen.
However a couple days after the incident I started thinking about how much space my collection was taking up and how if the fire had done more damage there would have been no chance I could save my collection and how all the money and time I had put into getting the collection would have been wasted.
This made me realise I really should sell off a couple things I wasn’t to interested in anymore. There was no point in just keeping it when I could get some money for it and they could go to collectors who really wanted them for their collections where they would be on display and complete collections instead of being kept in storage.
I honestly think my room was like a Tardis, there was so much stuff put in there…maybe all those games of Tetris really came in handy. As I was clearing out some of the stuff I found stuff I had totally forgotten buying.
As time went on though my interest in so many of the things I collected had really dwindled and I became more interested in other things I could use my money for like getting a car and more art supplies etc.
It still amazes me when I think back on all the stuff I collected and had at one time to what I currently own now. If I was to give a comparison in percentages I would say I have about 5% of the original collection.
All I have now is my loose Thundercats collection, my Bravestarr collection and one box of various childhood toys I wanted to keep.
Nice story! I am constantly holding myself back from buying other lines. I have thought about picking up some TMNT, Bucky Ohare, Pirates of Dark Water etc but stopped myself thus far. Thundercats is definitely my #1, so I will continue adding to that as long as I can.
Thankyou Mark for sharing your thoughts and feelings about your collection, you have hit the nail perfectly on the head for how I have been feeling lately about my own collection.
I live in a small 1 bedroom place with my (soon-to-be) wife & 3yr old daughter so space for my collection is at a premium. My neighbour below me is somewhat untrustworthy, I feel he could very easily burn down the place at any given moment, meaning I could lose a lot more than just my collection.
This, on top of my recent financial struggles & upcoming wedding has lead me to reducing my collection to just purely Thundercats, and even now I am looking to part with the more vulnerable pieces like my vast Thundercat comic collection.
Once the wedding has passed, and If I ever get to move to a bigger place, I still hope to expand my Thundercats collection, starting with a Mattel subscription
About two months after writing this post I decided to sell my entire Thundercats toy collection as some of the plastic on some of them was starting to go a bit funny. So I have even less now.
If you want a bit of advice, if there is anything you think you want to buy back at some point it would be better not to sell it in the first place. Believe me I know.
There were several things I sold from my collection that I cannot find/afford to buy back such as my Galaxy Rangers figure collection, Takatoku Big Dai-X and various other Transformers and robots. Same with various comics I had.
All I have now is my Bravestarr collection of loose and boxed figures and one box with a few things from different cartoons in it: M.A.S.K. Thunderhawk, Secret Wars Hobgoblin, Star Wars ESB Han Solo, 6x Transformers, 3x Gobots and a couple Matchbox cars.
Thanks for the advice, i am a bit unsure about the UK comics, but i don’t mind parting with the rest.
As long as they go to a good home, (and i don’t waste whatever money i make from them) i will be happy.
I had the ame feelings about most of my stuff. Although I know most of it is in good collections there are still some I would e very interested in buying back LOL.
As I was clearing out some of the stuff I found stuff I had totally forgotten buying.