Where are the OG Freaks? Members from past 10+ years

Collector Freaks Forum

Help Support Collector Freaks Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Mar 20, 2010
Messages
14,910
Reaction score
782
Location
MaSSaChuSettS
Hello OG freaks :wave:dance:duff, I'm just seeing who still comes on the boards:stick:lurking:chase . I was absent from here for a few years and came back.:clap:blissy:bat2::welcome1: Everything is different and not for the better. :tap:thwak:medic:banghead

I post pics all the time and get no responses.:postpics::censored:censored:toilet_cl:banghead Is there even a point anymore? No one gives a censored :angryfist::angryfist::shakingfist::mad::hammerhead::bat2::rolleyes:
 
Was a member since 2011 but I lost my old account, I will say though that this place used to be brimming with discussions, not just about toys but anything under the sun, I really wondered what happened? I know the site rebranded after losing a bid to affiliate with Sideshow but did traffic slowed down to a crawl because of that or people just grew out of collecting?
 
Was a member since 2011 but I lost my old account, I will say though that this place used to be brimming with discussions, not just about toys but anything under the sun, I really wondered what happened? I know the site rebranded after losing a bid to affiliate with Sideshow but did traffic slowed down to a crawl because of that or people just grew out of collecting?

A lot of people shifted over to using social media for most of their online engagement/discussion.

The traditional "forum" like this, is antiquated in the eyes of many younger people.

As price points rose, many collectors were priced out. I can't speak for the statue side of the hobby, but for the 1/6th side of the hobby, when a large cross section of the loose parts market collapsed, it took a lot of collectors with them. Lots of people won't spend 80 dollars for a single head sculpt.

Hot Toys made a major shift. It started with "Holy Grails" like a Robocop or Predator or a Tech Noir Terminator, that people wanted for decades. And eventually it ran out of iconic licenses. Then it became Iron Man/Avengers/MCU/Batman/Disney heavy, and if you aren't into those lines, it's easy to opt out.

As more licenses get made, that collapses the custom market. Also 3D printers has started to crush the custom accessories market. And let's be honest, while there are a few honest customizers, many who took in a lot of money and commissions ended up stealing from people. That caused attrition too.

As collectors leave, many dump out their collections. So now they are creating competition for dollars where brands and dealers have to fight harder and watch edition sizes drop. The more collectors leave, the more editions sizes get smaller, which boosts the price point, which refeeds the cycle of pricing people out. 150 for a HT boxed set was palatable for many, but 270+ to 350, etc, that's too far for many people. You compound that with inflation in current times, the massive spike in the cost to ship anything and Ebay experience turning into a nightmare for sellers ( losing the main access point for the secondary market), and it all adds up.

The other issue is space. A collector who runs out of space is naturally adverse to buying more. Or some get married and/or have kids. You can't rationalize spending 500 a month on the hobby when you have a newborn, etc, etc.

At least from the 1/6th side, HT could have helped stem the tide by creating a "budget" line. Also by infusing more accessories as the prices points spiked as a type of ratio, to support the loose parts market. Loose parts buyers stay invested and might pull the trigger on a boxed set more often.

As collectors leave, fewer people to talk about anything.

Collecting anything has a "life cycle" There's no way around it. From the 1/6th military side of the hobby, a lot of the aging collectors died off. Or they became so small in number, they couldn't support the edition sizes needed to make new consistent releases possible. It's also why you see more push into the 1/12th scale. Less of a footprint, costs less, gives collectors a different direction to head.

In effect, we all got old, our shelves got too full and everything around us costs too much against our hobby frame of reference.
 
GordonGekko said:
As collectors leave, fewer people to talk about anything.

And what's left is often just dull repetition. When the forum's busy it usually just means there's a lot of noise.

There's also an overkill of product and an overkill of bland media driving it.


Is there even a point anymore?

Not really.

Just collect what you want and keep it to yourself.

A lot of social media - and yes, a forum is social media whether people like to believe it or not - is either peer pressure and hype at one end of the spectrum, and hating and baiting at the other. Forums are the more civilized kind of social media at the moment, as long as they're managed. Most of the related Facebook groups currently resemble the bad days of Sideshow Freaks.

I'm inherently anti-social, and always have been, so I don't know why I stuck around so long. Maybe because online you can keep people at arm's length or ignore them entirely, but even so.

The forum barely serves my limited interests any more. Nowhere really does apart from maybe certain Facebook groups, but I'm not that desperate. :lol
 
Still here and still enjoy the forum.
Only time I thought of leaving was when Sideshow started wielding the heavy hand and put the kybosh on customs and third party figure threads. Once that tyranny ended it was a lot better.
Like Asta mentioned, it’s much more civil discussing things here with proper moderation than the wastelands of FB.

The third party Barbossa figure thread is a prime example of why I still like this place even though it’s definitely different from when I first joined.
 
Still here and still enjoy the forum.
Only time I thought of leaving was when Sideshow started wielding the heavy hand and put the kybosh on customs and third party figure threads. Once that tyranny ended it was a lot better.
Like Asta mentioned, it’s much more civil discussing things here with proper moderation than the wastelands of FB.


The third party Barbossa figure thread is a prime example of why I still like this place even though it’s definitely different from when I first joined.
Same. No offense to the other guys that left to start their own forum during that time, but it was a little lame over there. And I just cannot do FB anymore, even for my own personal friends :LOL:

There was a time this place got pretty out of hand for a stretch, but I like the way things are run now and the updates we've gotten.

Ppl don't post pics as much (myself included) but it doesn't really bother me. I know I still can't take a good pic worth anything. I always feel like I'm doing the figure/statue a disservice so opt not to :lol

We still have pretty good discussions on here for the most part and things don't get as heated as they used to IMO. Though I have noticed there are a lot more than before that I'll quote someone to have a bit of further discussion on something they said and then I get no reply :lolThough that could be just that what I said wasn't worth replying to :rotfl

I personally haven't found any place as good and welcoming as this place when it comes to the type of collectibles we discuss here.
 
Last edited:
And what's left is often just dull repetition. When the forum's busy it usually just means there's a lot of noise.

There's also an overkill of product and an overkill of bland media driving it.

Maybe I was fortunate that I was gone for a decade.

I try to remember the fun I had and I am thankful for being part of the hobby when it was entirely different. Many people will never get to experience Spooktacular the way it used to be or have Chicky run contests in the forums or see the excitement in so many "grails" coming out all at once.

It's kind of like when YouTube was easy going, and not a dog fight by content creators to dump clickbait or when something like Facebook was just for keeping up with family and old classmates, instead of being embroiled in all the psychotic BS it's gotten knee deep into now.

Most of us here remember the world before 9/11. And nearly everyone here didn't grow up in the pandemic. Can you imagine being 15 years old today? All the porn you want, all the time! LOL.

I remember the good times. Am thankful for them. And I understand there will be a point when the hobby will pass me by like it did for other collectors before me.
 
I miss when I had pages of updates to read every day in my watched threads. Other forums died off completely, like Chocolatebydeath. It's sad. Facebook is horrible. I hate it.
 
Still here and still enjoy the forum.
Only time I thought of leaving was when Sideshow started wielding the heavy hand and put the kybosh on customs and third party figure threads. Once that tyranny ended it was a lot better.
Like Asta mentioned, it’s much more civil discussing things here with proper moderation than the wastelands of FB.

The third party Barbossa figure thread is a prime example of why I still like this place even though it’s definitely different from when I first joined.


OK, I was gone for at least a decade.

Can someone explained to me what happened? This used to be Sideshow Freaks, now it's Collector Freaks.

Where is Darklord Dave?

Why did all my Sideshow Rewards Points disappear? I logged in last year during Spooktacular and they were all gone. I mean the points I got from the numerous Spooktaculars, I get, but the points I lost on product I actually bought, that was different....

Does Chicky or anyone from SSC come around here anymore?

Did Spooktacular change?

No idea what happened. I feel like Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead. Woke up, no idea what happened, most everyone is gone, etc, etc. The only difference is I am a better actor than Andrew Lincoln. ( He made millions glaring at people and going into constant monologues, how is that possible?)
 
Back
Top