Which comes first?

[Raven]

There's something that's been on my mind, and I gotta get out of my system. Indulge me for a sec...

Which came first, the collection or the room?

I can't be the only one with problems of space around here, yet I'm continually amazed at the size (literally) of the collections posted. One PF or 1/4 statue alone takes up a big enough space, I can only imagine the dozens+ that some of you have! I'm sure some of you may be independently wealthy with big lavish homes and plenty of space to have a gallery in addition to that 300 inch flat screen tv but for the rest of us it has to be an uphill battle deciding just how much we can squeeze into our little living spaces. Right?

So, how do you do it?

Maybe I'm just not ready for the commitment that is Sideshow Collectibles. When they were Sideshow Toy it was all good for my little collection, but somewhere along the line, they became the giant they are today, with all the giant products and prices that come with it. And rather than cut back as any sane person would, I've been buying more and more and getting bigger and bigger "toys" lately! Is it a sickness? Am I doomed to keep buying these beautiful pieces with no clue of how I'm going to fit them or for that matter afford them? Who knows, but a little angel on my shoulder keeps telling me I need to think about the future. That's easy for him to say!

I am wondering if the rest of you had the room before, or as you bought more and more and your collection grew, you HAD to make the space/add on the extra room, sell the lung to finance, etc. And do you keep buying even though you don't have the space to display it yet or the longterm finances to justify it? Ya gotta eat right?

So where do they go once you finish taking doily, swing, and kitchen pictures? Ever just have to box them back up and figure out something later? Have you ever had to resort to selling off other things, getting in debt with your credit, getting a new job, and/or loss of bodily fluids to fill that gap before something sells out? How low will you go before knocking the monkey off your back?

These are the questions that haunt my dreams.
Help me out here. Is Sideshow collecting becoming too much, and I'm only deluding myself to think I can go on with the lie? Better to back off now before my home becomes furnished by Sideshow?

So throw me a line, am I all alone out here or what?

 

[Rook]

I live in an apartment. I just bought a house. 'Nuff said.

 

[Darklord Dave]

www.publicstorage.com
www.doortodoor.com

 

[Agent0028]

I am constantly thinking of ways to rearrange my bedroom to make space for everything I want. I got rid of a vanity and moved my dresser into the closet to buy three more bookshelves to put stuff on. I now literally have no wall space left. The only other thing I can get rid of is the bed. I dream of the day I am able to move out and get an apartment with a library/collectibles room. And since that day will come I will buy what I really want (although finance problems are making me more and more choosy) and hope that space does not run out before I am able to move out. If that is the case then, yes, I will buy PF Darth Maul and put him in my closet until I have room to display him.

I do rather regret getting Grievous, he's just too big, I could put two PF's in his place. But because he is so fragile I'm scared to death to box him up and put him in storage until later. The next few years I will be waging the ooh, I want that! vs. space war. Space is losing....big time.

 

[Boba Fett]

I am starting to get to that point as well, now that I have pre-ordered more PF's. Luckily, the Detolf glass cabinets from IKEA is keeping my collection at bay for the time being, but I know they won't be able to support the coming PF's as they are much bigger. Plus to add, I also collect GG so that is taking up space in the cabinets as well.

I started off with one Detolf, and now have expanded to three. I have placed them side by side and it's enough for the time being. Looking over my room, I could probably get rid of a dresser by cleaning out its contents and boxing it up in the closet, then placing the dresser in another bedroom. That will give me room to place another Detolf and two future pedestals for my Hulk and Spidey PF's.

After that, it's going to be a dilemma, and I am sure the woman is going to be annoyed if my collection spreads out of the room.

 

[Agent0028]

After that, it's going to be a dilemma, and I am sure the woman is going to be annoyed if my collection spreads out of the room.

I keep trying to talk my grandma into letting me have the spare bedroom. I even offered to pay rent.

 

[dekadentdave]

I live in a one bedroom 850 sq. ft. condo and I am literally drowning in my collection. It has been a real problem for me for the last couple of years and only getting worse. I need to sell some stuff on ebay but haven't the time because I work two jobs just to keep up with the growing debt from my collection and I obviously cannot afford a house and I am single. I've seriously scaled back only buying the absolute essentials but even that is a problem. My attic is completely full and my bedroom and living room is filled with stacks of storage totes and boxes. My friend recently lost his entire movie poster collection that he had in public storage that was flooded by a burst water pipe and lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of RARE stuff he collected as a theater manager for 12 years. He had stacks of those Spiderman WTC one-sheets and banners that were recalled all destroyed by the flood. He's been fighting with their insurance company for 10 months and they will only settle on $8000 for everything because the value is speculative and most of that stuff is so rare that their is no way to assertain a value figure. For that reason, I will never use public storage.

 

[Boba Fett]

Dayum! That really sucks!

 

[Darth Madden]

For me the collection came before the room (I had 6 storage boxes filled with stuff.) I went from my parents house to a small apartment and now a house (but the little lady only gave me the small bedroom down stairs for my toys) so I had to decide on quality rather than quantity so lots of stuff left and now what I have is managable and looks great.

 

[bcm77]

I ended up hating having a large collection that had many items that I barely looked at as I was putting them straight in a storage box or cupboard because I just didn't have room to display it. Since quitting 3 3/4 SW collecting I have a much smaller collection which I can display without it looking cluttered and have a lot more space for extra Detolf cabinets and new shelving which will certainly be needed as my 1/6 collection grows,particularly if Sideshow make more large scale items like Jabba & his throne.

 

[dekadentdave]

I was wondering about Jabba. I have the Illusive Jabba maquette and he got rather dusty so I'm thinking of trying to find some kind of acrylic display case big enough for him and the throne.

 

[jason2885]

Well I am only collecting the PF and 12" Star Wars and LOTR 12" from Sideshow but my Hasbro habit is what kills me on space. Our bonus room upstairs have my Hasbro collection and right now I have 89 of the big storage totes full plus probably 25 - 30 shipping cases of Star Wars figures and 20 cardboard boxes full of stuff that doesnt fit in totes. I also have the second half of this years worth of Hasbro on the floor still. I think I have enough room for 2 more years and then Im going to run into storage issues with it. I want to display everything I have one day but I need a 30 X 30 room to do the Hasbro collection justice plus I also need another room for the higher end Sideshow stuff now.

 

[Boba Fett]

And that is why I quit collecting Hasbro.

All I stick to now is just GG and Sideshow. No way I have the space for anymore.

 

[The Josh]

Yeah, I'm starting to run out of room for sure and the boxes are starting to become a real issue. Gonna have to get a storage unit for those or buy a shed. My collection is growing more and more beause of all the great LOTR and SW stuff coming from SS. I had cut it down some when I sold off half my LOTR SSW stuff but it's getting bigger again. I'm hoping that by this time next year I'll have my own house with more room to display my stuff but we shall see. For now my bedroom is my collection display area.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Most of what I put in storage besides teh boxes are things that AREN'T my collectibles - you know, unnecessary things like - books, records, clothes, furniture, medical supplies...

 

[nash]

seriously my apartment looks like a UPS warehouse....

 

[galactiboy]

I've been growing gradually over the years... but luckily I'm not interested in PF's or I'd really be screwed. But my new place is the first time that I've gotten to really go crazy with my displays and I'm at a good place space-wise... for now

 

[mfoga]

I have tons of Kenner and Hasbro stuff stored at my parents, they are allowing me to use my old bedroom to store it. I have all my new stuff in my room, but I have decided that I should get all the items I want now even if they never leave the boxes until I have room for them since I figure these will go up in price and would rather have them at retail then huge prices they may end up going to.

 

[BadMoon]

This is the best topic I have seen on this board yet! LOL! I love it! I can see we are all addicted. This is worse than crack! What to do? What to do? I have a closet and half of basement filled with empty boxes. Why? I am to anal to throw even the shipping boxes out. This is crazy! We should start a recovering collector forum.

 

[dekadentdave]

Agreed. We should start a 12-step group. I need help.