Collecting Philosophy

Doomsday519

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No, I'm not collecting types of philosophy or branches of it lol. I'm talking about collecting things. I'm a collector of things. Action figures, statues, statuettes, spinning top toys, retro & vintage toys, keychains, books, comic books, magazines, blu-rays, DVDs, VHS tapes, and last but not least physical video games. I collect such a wide range of things but in regards to philosophy I go by a code of sorts when I do my collecting.

When it comes to a lot of that stuff, first and foremost, I shop secondhand. Go to the thrift store or find them online from wherever. Don't believe in buying a lot of new stuff cuz even tho I gotta feed this addiction, I have to at least be pragmatic and a bit principled in my approach which is why I avoid certain retailers which I won't get into on here. A lot of my collecting boils down to me being a creature of habit so it's part of my routine, helps keep me sane. Things I collect I have to have a genuine interest in it. If I feel there's too much doubt in my mind, I put it back and I'm always right in operating that way because 9 times out of 10 what I left behind I don't regret. And when it comes to those thrift store bags of toys and action figures, if I see something I'm interested in within the bag of how many figs, toys, & trinkets but the price seems a bit much or I have 0 interest in anything else in the bag, I leave it. And the stuff I don't want I've slowly sorted a ton of that stuff out and put in boxes to eventually give away for free. Other avenue I take is the rare estate sale that pops up time to time.

Used to collect a lot of Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, and other Tokusatsu imported from Japan but I had to think of my finances cuz most of what i copped before was imported. Nowadays, i'm on the hunt for rare ones that happen to pop up at the thrift store which somehow happens every now and then.

As far as collecting new figs go, I've slowed down on it a lot considering the current economic climate and my indifference to a lot of what is being released today. I'll cop some new from Amazon or BBTS if I really want them. Wrestling figs are the primary "new" figs I collect and my philosophy with those is to not collecting everything new I see. Nowadays I'm collecting Ultimate Edition WWE figs and the little amount of AEW Supreme ones that pop up for AEW(heard Jazwares ain't gonna make to this time next year with the license but we'll see, don't see much in stores anymore). I collect Elites & AEW figs but it's strictly for wrestlers I don't have figs for now. The U & S ones I mentioned earlier, If I have an Elite or an AEW "Un" of a wrestler, I'll cop the U or S ones of them if they look good. I end up at Walmart looking for them but other "new" ones I look to stores like Ross or Ollie's that sell the stuff that wasn't sold at the bigger stores. New non-wrestling figs if I really want them from those places I cop but my focus is mainly on wrestling as with Marvel, Star Wars & Transformers I've collected most of what I always wanted. Power Rangers in a weird place so i'm not collecting those.

20251109_191111.jpg


And this is a video game forum so might as well talk about the video games. Current gen I don't buy new games often at all and I've only bought less than half a dozen physical this year. At thrift stores I'm constantly looking for whatever folks dumped there and every now and then I find some cool games from different generations. Got a local video game spot I stop by rarely to see the stuff they have and there I try not to spend any real money on anything despite me getting a discount from them every time but I make sure to leave with something on my way out. Online I tend to look for auctions for games whether they be sold individually or in a bundle and with the bundle, there has to at least a third of the games in there that I really want or I leave it alone.

And with the bundle talk I segue into the other part of my philosophy: I don't believe in selling stuff off all the time. I have a ton of "inventory" and that stems from the toy bundles and video game bundles I've purchased over time as well as dupes of blu-rays and other things I have. Whether that be the thrift store bags, a boxed toy bundle won at auction, or a video game bundle. I feel as though if I'm the type of person that buys this stuff and constantly sells after, I'm not a collector, I'm a reseller. It doesn't matter if I kept some of the haul. The act of constantly putting stuff up for sale would turn me into a different animal. So I keep a good amount of stuff in storage. I have room for it as I own a townhouse that's only occupied by me and my brother so I have a spare room I just have a whole bunch of stuff in, from all the stuff I collect that's not on display to boxes for figs, to supplies, tools, & equipment. And I still have plenty of room. I mentioned early that I have some toys in boxes that i'd give away but the rest of the stuff is more of a "break in case of emergency" scenario. Hate reselling but if I'm in dire straits, then and only then will I revert to that sort of thing which I was doing during the height of the pandemic some years ago. Once you cross that line things start to not be fun anymore and I hope it doesn't get to that.

But yeah, that's my collecting & philosophy pertaining to it broken down. One thing about it is that I always go in to a physical location with the thought in the back of my mind that I will walk away empty handed but that's okay cuz the act of me getting up and going out on the hunt keeps me going. You will find something eventually. Had to add that last bit but anyway here's a pic of King. Don't be rude and give him a fist bump.

20251109_190738.jpg
 
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That’s a nice collection!

Personally I think I mostly collect video games and their respective consoles. I once wanted to start to collect figures, but I really don’t have where yo put them.

I’m now slowing down because for retro games I have to mostly import them, otherwise I barely find something interesting or if I do, it not as much cheaper as importing it and most of the stores here have the crappy practice of taking the game manual off so they can sell it afterwards.

On the new games side: I just started with the rules of “if it is digital license, then I’m not buying it”, this also extends to “physical” games (mostly from Microsoft) that have nothing in the disc like the remaster of Oblivion or DooM: the dark ages. But I have bought a ton of games this year, so I guess it is time to stop until the (my) economy gets better lol
 
most of the stores here have the crappy practice of taking the game manual off so they can sell it afterwards.
Never heard of stores purposely taking the manuals out to sell separately. That's so shiesty. If the local spot I go to pulled that sort of thing I would stop going there and tell others to avoid the place myself. This is part of it when it comes to reselling to me. Too much of it is dirty to me and I want to keep my hands as clean as much as possible.

Too many out to screw folks for a quick buck which reminds me when I went to the RangerStation Power Ranger convention in Philly last year and a former associate of mine was adamant about doing reselling of items the rest of us deemed items we'd much rather buy for ourselves cuz we're fans first and foremost.
 
NGL, I thought you were collecting 哲学 tetsugaku, popularly known as gachimuchi

Aniki would have been so proud...

Then you explained yourself, and made Aniki sad... 😟

/jk
 
I don’t really ”collect” anything anymore.
I had a phase where I bought a shitload of cheap Japanese Super Famicom games just to own them but it felt pretty pointless.

Nowadays I mostly only buy things that I actually want to have first and foremost.

Though it might just be because I’m broke. If I had more disposable income I would probably let myself be slightly more materialistic. I know for certain that I’d splurge more on artbooks and comics/manga instead of maaaybe getting one a year like I do now.
 
I try to avoid collecting for the sake of collecting, and only focus on things I'm passionate about or deeply interested in. I feel anything you collect should spark joy when you examine it instead of a "why did I waste money on this?" reaction.

I used to collect a boatload of figures and merch of all sorts of brands and series, for example. I found, however, that it led to a lot of bloat in my personal space and was a chore to keep so many clean and tidy. I only really collect for a small handful of things I deeply love now.
 
Only thing I collect anymore is records and astolfo figures
 

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