How do you afford this stuff? (formerly people on the forum)

[sarakawa]

Re: people on the forum

go for the good stuff (sideshow exclusive statues) that has chance to retain/increase in value in case you need to sell it later on. Sorry to say but those play arts stuff are just throw away toys, they will only be worth pennies on the dollar down the road, hot toys isnt any better nowdays.

As for money, i figured it's better to waste some collecting those statues and have cool things to look at & enjoy over time than to blow it on booze&women to keep myself out of trouble I have a pretty stressful job in the financial industry this is like therapy that relaxes me....except when i get a bad statue then it's

This is also not a bad point. I know it's not good to focus on value but it's nice to know that you are buying something that will retain value. I used to collect other toys but have since stopped buying those because they A) aren't as cool and B) are pretty much a waste of money in the end.

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

Re: people on the forum

go for the good stuff (sideshow exclusive statues) that has chance to retain/increase in value in case you need to sell it later on. Sorry to say but those play arts stuff are just throw away toys, they will only be worth pennies on the dollar down the road, hot toys isnt any better nowdays.

As for money, i figured it's better to waste some collecting those statues and have cool things to look at & enjoy over time than to blow it on booze&women to keep myself out of trouble I have a pretty stressful job in the financial industry this is like therapy that relaxes me....except when i get a bad statue then it's

Wise words.

Someone noted that they have 400 Euro per month to spend on statues and figures. Are you kidding me?! That's $525 a month!!

I have a decent job with a large company making decent money. But I'm also married w/ 2 teenagers—yes, teenagers—so I don't have a lot of money to throw around on myself. I'm 53. My wife works part-time. We try to save money for retirement and kids' college. I spend very little on clothes or anything else for myself. But my wife shares none of my adoration for my hobby, so... there's no place to hide, and even fewer places so display my stuff (married guys understand what I'm talking about).

Luckily, I don't have a wide-range appetite: my obsession is Star Trek TOS, some other sci-fi, some military/police stuff, and history. I stopped collecting military figs. and sold almost all of them, and for the most part Marvel doesn't appeal to me, so that helps to narrow down the field. I'm also a fan of 60s-70s American culture and I do have a small collection of 1/18 scale die-cast American luxury and muscle cars, mostly from that era. That's really about it. I can't allow myself to spread too thinly...

My dream figure at the moment is the 1/4 Sideshow RoboCop PF/statue (but that's costing too hefty a premium these days) and the Star Trek original cast.

 

[The Mike]

Re: people on the forum

I run my own business, used to be CEO of the company but I felt it was a bit too stressful on my hobbies so my girlfriend runs it for the most part. We are mostly in technology, competing for new contracts here and there which I love and still take part in. We used to have government contracts but after my last vacation in the Middle East, we decided to stop all of that and move more into research and development. Currently working on modifying a few of our products that have been successful in the past, we're on the seventh version right now. "My girl Friday" isn't 100% supportive but we both agree that my hobby isn't the worst thing she has caught me doing.

 

[gagaliya]

Re: people on the forum

My dream figure at the moment is the 1/4 Sideshow RoboCop PF/statue (but that's costing too hefty a premium these days) and the Star Trek original cast.

Dont let those high listing prices on robocop pf fool you, just a bunch of dreamers. It isnt worth that much, i got one for $250 here a while back, and one just sold for ~$270 on ebay a week ago. It's not that difficult to get at <$300, just need to be patient.

Your dream "figure" should be the qmx enterprise, that is one hell of a replica, i dont collect star trek and even i want that!

As for kids, they can take out a loan for college tuition. It's better that way for them anyway even if you have the money to pay.

 

[averone]

Re: people on the forum

Dont let those high listing prices on robocop pf fool you, just a bunch of dreamers. It isnt worth that much, i got one for $250 here a while back, and one just sold for ~$270 on ebay a week ago. It's not that difficult to get at <$300, just need to be patient.

Your dream "figure" should be the qmx enterprise, that is one hell of a replica, i dont collect star trek and even i want that!

As for kids, they can take out a loan for college tuition. It's better that way for them anyway even if you have the money to pay.

The moment they know they have a college fund they will be less responsible for their own future.

 

[Corrose]

Re: people on the forum

I'm 34, and my wife and I have great jobs. I never ask permission to buy my collectibles, and I never bug her when she buys coach purses.
At the end of the day, we are a debt free household (no credit debt whatsoever), our bills are paid, we have our CD's and nest eggs and we have fun with the rest.

You're 24, at best in my 20s I had a half assed McFarlane collection that I recently sold for about $.85 a figure, because in my 20s that's all I could afford. I got myself in a bad spot once with a credit card ($8,000), and after about 5 years I paid it off and learned my lesson.

If I can only give you one piece of advice, don't buy anything that you can't pay for in case or with a debit account. Credit cards are evil, and most people don't know how to use them properly.

It's an expensive hobby for sure, so your best bet is to work hard/finish school and shoot for the stars for a great career.

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

Re: people on the forum

Dont let those high listing prices on robocop pf fool you, just a bunch of dreamers. It isnt worth that much, i got one for $250 here a while back, and one just sold for ~$270 on ebay a week ago. It's not that difficult to get at <$300, just need to be patient.

Your dream "figure" should be the qmx enterprise, that is one hell of a replica, i dont collect star trek and even i want that!

As for kids, they can take out a loan for college tuition. It's better that way for them anyway even if you have the money to pay.

I'm definitely going to be on the prowl for a <$300 1/4 RoboCop. I saw that recent auction for $267 but I missed out.

I do have the Master Replicas Enterprise, which for the most part is spectacular; the "flagship" piece of my small collection. I'd love the QMx 1701-A/Refit or even the QMx 2009 movie one but the cost and the space requirements for a second 1/350 scale Enterprise are too prohibitive.

 

[averone]

Re: people on the forum

I'm 34, and my wife and I have great jobs. I never ask permission to buy my collectibles, and I never bug her when she buys coach purses.
At the end of the day, we are a debt free household (no credit debt whatsoever), our bills are paid, we have our CD's and nest eggs and we have fun with the rest.

You're 24, at best in my 20s I had a half assed McFarlane collection that I recently sold for about $.85 a figure, because in my 20s that's all I could afford. I got myself in a bad spot once with a credit card ($8,000), and after about 5 years I paid it off and learned my lesson.

If I can only give you one piece of advice, don't buy anything that you can't pay for in case or with a debit account. Credit cards are evil, and most people don't know how to use them properly.

It's an expensive hobby for sure, so your best bet is to work hard/finish school and shoot for the stars for a great career.

Wise advice!
Although, I have to say I disagree with the CC statement. As long as you can pay it off in 25 days you got yourself more free stuff or a nice ticket to Hawaii or SDCC

 

[Mesa]

Re: people on the forum

I'm a former chemistry teacher who now have my own personal business with a former student of mine. Business had some bumps on the road but business is booming at the moment.

When the hell is season 4 coming to DVD?

 

[averone]

Re: people on the forum

I'm definitely going to be on the prowl for a <$300 1/4 RoboCop. I saw that recent auction for $267 but I missed out.

I do have the Master Replicas Enterprise, which for the most part is spectacular; the "flagship" piece of my small collection. I'd love the QMx 1701-A/Refit or even the QMx 2009 movie one but the cost and the space requirements for a second 1/350 scale Enterprise are too prohibitive.

I will keep a look out for you fellow collector!
In a few years I will have 2 teenage boys and I can just see some changes happening.
Oh and I have to consider myself a very lucky one, since my wife now is completely supportive (Helps to bring in money from what started as a hobby)

 

[xYx]

Re: people on the forum

Meth Lab?

I plead the 5th.

I have a sugar daddy in the UK named -jay-.

My beoutch works hard to please me.

Stop painting these ugly pictures in my head & I'm the Giant Head which makes it worse!

When the hell is season 4 coming to DVD?

A month or so before the new season begins most likely.

 

[sarakawa]

Re: people on the forum

I'm 34, and my wife and I have great jobs. I never ask permission to buy my collectibles, and I never bug her when she buys coach purses.
At the end of the day, we are a debt free household (no credit debt whatsoever), our bills are paid, we have our CD's and nest eggs and we have fun with the rest.

You're 24, at best in my 20s I had a half assed McFarlane collection that I recently sold for about $.85 a figure, because in my 20s that's all I could afford. I got myself in a bad spot once with a credit card ($8,000), and after about 5 years I paid it off and learned my lesson.

If I can only give you one piece of advice, don't buy anything that you can't pay for in case or with a debit account. Credit cards are evil, and most people don't know how to use them properly.

It's an expensive hobby for sure, so your best bet is to work hard/finish school and shoot for the stars for a great career.

Yup, not taking on debt to have this hobby is a wise decision. You're young...figure out what you want to do for a living first...that kinda stuff is far more important. I also feel that credit cards are fine as long as you pay them off. We charge everything to a CC just to gain mileage and points but everything gets paid off monthly. Unlike other toy hobbies, this is definitely one you have to be careful with or you will be deep in debt pretty quickly.

 

[Gary23]

Re: people on the forum

Listen to these dudes, they know what they are talking about. This hobby sucks if you don’t have the spare cash, especially this year as there are some really cool figures coming up. All I can suggest is only buy what you really think is beautiful and will give you pleaser over the years, aww and keep the box!

 

[dino76m]

Re: people on the forum

TBH, its never too late to enter the game, i think oe one advice would be not to spend so much money on back tracking , sometimes much better things will be just round the corner, an wat we collect now would look redundant then, so patience and controlling urges is important too..

 

[livindaye]

Re: people on the forum

dude, my month salary is just about 400 bucks (well, talk about living in the 3rd world country) and it's been 3 years since i cut my financial-relationship with my parents
and now i own several sideshow statues, 1/6, many pvcs and nendoroids...

in my opinion it's not about how much the money you earn, it's how good you manage your living expenses.....i think

sorry for my bad english

 

[jye318]

Re: people on the forum

When u don't have anything but job and statues, it's not hard.

 

[kajobaldisimo]

Re: people on the forum

i am 33. married and with one son,

have about a hundred TFs and about 30 hot toys. but i did not buy them in one go. it took 5 years.

just make sure you cover food, shelter and clothing expenses first before you buy any figures and you're good to go.

enjoy!

 

[jkno]

Re: people on the forum

I'm 36, I have a good job that I like, I work hard and I always pay with debit. I own my own house and car and I NEVER use credit for collectibles. I haven't been indebted in my life.

 

[crows]

Re: people on the forum

is all about managing your money and saving,
and saying no to little things like Fancy clothes or expensive meals, you would be surprised how much you save,

and, sometimes people tell me, "Why the Hell are you wasting money on those god dang toys? you're not 10 years old, grow up"
but that same person spends like 300 or more a week on Booze, Cigarettes, going out, going on dinners, all stuff that you don't even get to keep,

sure they have a social life and go out every Friday, but I am safe and sound in my home next to my Awesome toys!
and If I need to sell, I could,

 

[BB&WSF]

Re: people on the forum

You're not married blackmask, are you? Would be quite difficult for someone who's married to get alienated from the 'society.' And occasionally relishing those little Blessings like fancy clothing, expensive meal, etc. is not a very bad idea. Anyways, who am I to say otherwise. Hope you wouldn't mind. But I surely hope that you have a nice friend circle and not just folks on the board.

Like many, for me its balancing. I prioritise things and yes, have been collecting for the past six years. I believe the mantra is to be passionate and not obsessive about collecting.