How do you AFFORD your Collections?!
 

Hey Everyone!

I have an issue that I have been wondering about for a while, so I thought I would see what everyone has to say about it…

How do you all afford your collections?

Let me give you some of my background here. I am 44 years old. I am a college professor. I currently teach a total of 10 classes per semester, at a total of 4 different colleges here in southern California!

I am the only income for my family, and I am supporting a wife and a 10-year old son.

BUT, I have also been collecting TMNT action figures since 1988.

It is killing me that I only have 7 more figures to get to complete an entire collection of the figures since their initial release back in 1988… a whole collection from 1988 to 2014… and I just need 7 more.

The problem is: Those 7 figures are the most expensive ones left. I just need Undercover (cloth trench coats) Leonard, Michelangelo and Raphael. I also need to eventually get Warrior Rocksteady, Mutant Masters Leonardo and Michelangelo and the very last 2 Next Mutation figures… Donatello with his Hydro Skimmer and the other Camo Blitz Cycle.

Unfortunately, those last two figures are so rare and expensive (when I have seen them for sale on the rare occasion) that I am bummed because I will probably never own them!

It is killing me because I live by that Motto: "COLLECT 'EM ALL!"

AND, with all the new merchandise to hit the toy shelves just this year alone (and it looks like 2014 will be totally awesome for Turtle collectors!), I would love to hear how you guys keep up with it all!

I will say that I am in total awe of the great collectors like: Stephan Reese, Michael Vaughn and Tokka. You guys are my inspiration as a fellow collector.

I just don't know how you do it!

I have now decided to stop collecting comics for good. They are just too expensive now and that money takes away from my TMNT Action figures collection. So, I am going to sell off my 30+ year comic collection of all my issues of Uncanny X-Men and my complete collection of G.I. Joe Comics. I hate to do that, but I want to now just focus on my Turtles Collection from now on.

Plus, with the money, maybe I can get those last 7 figures to complete my collection… God, that would be nice, finally…

So, again: HOW DO YOU ALL KEEP UP WITH YOUR COLLECTIONS?

Thanks!

- Chris

I got the entire Mutant Masters set a few weeks back all moc for 150 buy it now. You've just got to wait it out until a deal stumbles along.

I agree, the good deals are all about luck and waiting.

I collect all different lines. BUT, I'm extremely picky and don't have to collect absolutely everything from any line. Sometimes, certain characters/figures just don't interest me, so I have no trouble passing on them. Like the sound FX figures from the Nick line. Stuff like that is a huge pass for me and allows me put that $ toward something else like Marvel Legends (my recent favorite thing to collect), Transformers or NECA, etc.

As for 'affording' it, I have a good job, no kids or huge external expenses... I too make a good living but I'd imagine if my current situation were to change, I'd have to stop collecting as much.

Also a college professor, here … 42 years old. Pleased to meet a fellow adult collector in my same profession.

My partner and I both collect. TMNT, combiner robots (Voltron, Super Sentai, etc.) and Superman/Batman DC figure for me; Wonder Woman and Green Lantern for my partner. We simply budget for our collecting by contributing a certain percentage per month to our collection budget. Sometimes the collection budget goes untouched for several months and then we will find something we want and tap into the funds then. We've been lucky to have that portion of our budget always be 'in the black.'

Through the years, I've also had to sell off portions of my collection/collectibles to help budget for things I wanted to continue to collect.

Well, I'm not married and have no children, so that comes in handy for spending money on things I don't really need :tlol: Provided I don't consider myself that hardcore of a collector. I generally put a 3 digit cap on myself so I won't spend 3 digits on a single figure, so that keeps things manageable. Although I did break that cap recently on this

http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/det...%24pagecnt%3D1

but it was by a few dollars so I was like whatever. Because most of what I collect are anime figures, which usually clock in at $40+ a piece, I don't collect everything. I'm not rolling in tons of money, but my job as a comic colorist does enough to keep me afloat+be able to afford a figure here and there.

Looking at my collection right now I can see maybe I have gone overboard. I have a now evergrowing turtle collection, but I have Gijoes, Star wars, cards, models, lord of the rings, marvel legends (toybiz), other marvel movie toys, comic books, Dick Tracy movie figures, Robin Hood 1990 toys, movies, video games, books, and ...... get the idea? just too much and more stuff i did not mention, and i have a storage unit I moved my stuff back into last year. I need to focus my collection and just put a halt on things and figure out where I need to go in life. I need to get back to my drawing and the characters I have created with that.

I had to move back in with my parents because of a pest problem at my apartment, wish me and my friends could have kept the house we were all living in before the apartment, that was an awesome place to live.

The turtles I collected this last year for once have never felt like a waste. I may not ever get the rarest pieces, but I like what I have bought from the toyline from the 90's, totally awesome. I got a replica of my child hood toy, the rat king.:tgrin:

I don't have a wife or children, so it comes up pretty easy for being able to afford toys I don't need. I work at Pizza Hut right now and I pay my family's rent (my choice), help with grocerys, pay for a phone that doesn't have texting or internet (seems expensive to have one at this point), pays for a storage unit with my dad, and is paying for a student loan monthly.

Comic Colorist, sounds like a cool job. If I may ask, how did you get that job?

I sell things I no longer need in my collection and use it to get new things. The past couple of years, all of my collectible buying money has come from my collectible selling money.
I don't have much room in my "normal" budget for collectibles, so this method works out pretty well.

^ this!

It sometimes pays off to buy a bulk lot and sell what you don't need. Even if it's just one figure in the pile you're after.

All of my old-school MOC collecting was done years ago when I had less expenses. Except for a Rahzar I got a few months back, I haven't purchased anything older than the stuff currently in-stores since I moved to where I'm at now, almost two years ago. I still do collect other figures and video games, but purchase of both has, on the whole, been less than in years previous due to the fact that my rent and stuff has gone up. My rule of thumb is that no matter how disappointed I'd be in not getting a good plastic score, if I can eat more than just ramen that month I'd be overall happier for it.

I'd wager part of it is from just being blinkin' amazing at it.

I collect Turtles, Star Wars, And Lego. Considering I'm only 12, I either
A: Leech off my parents, or
B: Save my own money

It's certainly true that dropping over a hundred Dollars on an action figure that once sold for $4 seems a bit insane. But there is a limited number of those in the line. One thing that helps is to remember that the popularity of the line tends to be cyclical. Right now is not a good time to buy as the popularity of TMNT toys is at a high point. But give it a few years, and we will likely see another lull and prices will fall once again.

Ah, those were the days.

As for me, I've graduated from action figures to Sideshow statues, where every purchase is at least $300. So, the key is to be patient, pace oneself, and really not spend money on other stuff. Ive got almost all of the vintage line MOC and the entire 2K3 line MOC, but the Nick stuff doesn't hold much interest. I've picked up a few here and there, but as a whole I'm staying away from it.

Well, I'd been coloring my own comics throughout highschool and college, and started coloring other people's work before graduating from college. From there I started charging people and I started to build a client base through Deviantart. I got to start doing work for IDW when a friend, James Stokoe, needed some flatting done for Godzilla HCW and that's how I met Bobby Curnow. So it was a lot of work.

No kids :)

With ya there. When I was younger I collected as many TMNT figures as possible then in my early teens my mom decided to put them all in a box and give them to our distant relatives kid's on the other side of the country. Devastating, yes, but in the long run I can only imagine the kind of money I've saved.

So now the only must-have TMNT items for me are the statues. I have all four of the Playmates statues as well as all the Collector Editions of the Sideshow ones(2 Mousers, too, cuz you can't just have one!).

So until/if theres a new statue, my TMNT spending is extremely limited. I did decide to collect the Ultimate Collections as well. Its just a matter of balancing what you can afford with what you must have.

Impressive collection though :D Keep it up!

I sell drugs.









No, not really... I'm single, no kids, have a job that pays pretty well and I also make a little extra cash selling paintings/custom figures. I also limit myself - I stopped collecting comics and cut back on the lines I was collecting. Now I just focus on 2 or 3 lines. I still try and limit my spending to no more than 15% of what I earn in a particular month, but I don't always manage...

I know, popularity tends to be cyclical, and TMNT is following the same patterns than older lines like Star Wars, Master of the Universe and more. But I've never heard about prices going down for that lines, even more for the "rare" items that are growing day after day.

Anyway you never know what will happen. Last week for example I got the hydro skimmer for a very low price.

I make about 20 euros a month, so I pay most of my collection from that. All the other stuff I buy on fleamarkets of my allowance.

Honestly? Sheer luck. My job generally gives me 34-35 hours a week and what I don't use for bills is free game.

I collect TMNT, but I consider my 80s vintage stuff done right now as I have all the vehicles and figures I really wanted. There are a few I'll try for maybe if I ever see them for a good deal, but that's pretty much done.

The modern 2012 stuff I was originally buying every vehicle and figure, but have since toned it down to just the figures now and that's a slow thing since releases are nicely spaced apart.

Outside of TMNT, I collect S.H. Figuarts Super Sentai/Power Rangers figures, vintage Power Ranger Megazords (looking for a complete Thunder Megazord right now), and I am now working on my NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), SNES, and Sega Genesis collections right now.

Really, the thing to do is not be a completest I'd say. It'll drive you crazy and make you spend more money than you should, that you should use on other things.
I used to own every single Marvel Legends and DC Universe Classics figure ever made. I'm not proud of how much money I spent to get all those figures, but one day I saw them all just sitting in boxes and decided to sell them to someone who'd probably take better care of them than I did.

Yes, well... enjoy it while it lasts! :)

Thanks for all the other great feedback on this topic.

I think I will hold out for a while until I find a decent price on my own missing figures. If they are out there, I will eventually come across them at the right time.

By the way, I just saw some pics of the up-coming new TMNT MOVIE Figures at www.toyark.com

What are your thoughts on these new figures? I know I will be getting all of them. I actually think they look very interesting.

- Chris.

am same with snake but I bearly ask my parents I save change from getting water and fast food then in a month I got 8 bucks and buy one figure simple I don't got to much tmnt things I got small compared to the member on this I got 10 tmnt thing (Basic Figure)Basic mikey,Stealth Tech mikey,Tiny Turtles Mike raph,squirrelanoid PS Broken,metalhead,Battle Shell Raph,25th Ann Pizza Slice W/ mike fig,Sewer Curiser then I got my brothers but not saying what they got

Is your wife able to work? I'm not saying this just so you can afford the figures, but having total independence on one income is unwise, especially if you get sick or laid off. I know some wives have dreams of being stay-at-home-mothers, but putting all of the onus on the husband to provide is kind of unfair, especially once the kid can be left alone for a while without a baby sitter.

Otherwise you'll have to wait until the kid is eighteen, when he leaves home and overall expenses become far less.

Staying focused on WHAT to collect

I collect TMNT and Transformers. For TMNT I try to limit myself to only the turtles and avoid variants no matter how tempting they are (quite easy so far although the stealth tech turtles and the battle shells were tempting)

For transformers I try and get only one character, Optimus Prime.

my dad works my mom is at home with my family i think the man should work no girl or (Wife)

It's really hard to afford collecting vintage tmnt figures. I mostly try and find deals on ebay or haggle prices with sellers whose items weren't selling. Nevertheless, it still becomes quite an expensive hobby, and my collection is only a fraction of what other members here own.

Most of the stuff I'm into isn't too expensive, and I try to limit what I collect.

Also, yeah I don't have kids... I think about that kind of thing a lot though. Would be great to have kids, but that's just not where I'm at.

I think you should budget and get the remaining items you need for your collection. Then you will be DONE. You can say you have the full, complete set and be happy knowing that.... just don't fall down the hole where you start collecting another series that could be just as expensive if not more so.

i sell my body so I can afford to buy some toys. :tcry:

If you read this, thank you and for the response. I honestly have been a bit stuck in my art career, mainly on where to start again. I have loads of ideas for many things just not a head for where to put the energy to make it matter.

Anyway enough about me, how do we afford our collections people?:)

Don't sell your body for toys, find something better to do, like make a friend or two, or even just do something you enjoy that doesn't take up so much space as a collection of toys, take it from someone who has amassed too much.

That made me lol,

but anyway, I think if times are hard you have to get what you really really really want. Don't get tempted to get stuff you think you could live without.

Good job, ability to budget. I don't(very rare if I do) sell any art, and keep this thought in the front of my mind when considering a purchase. If I think I could flip it, I don't buy it because I only see value and not sentiment.

Have a kid due at the end of August, so that's gonna be a game changer. I'm sure I would reply much differently come Labor Day...

3 rules:

-Don't spend rent/bill/food money on items, only disposable cash.

-Don't change budgeting habits more than 2 weeks to afford whatever. If you can't swing it changing how 1 or 2 paychecks get dispersed, you can't afford it...

-If you completed a goal obtaining something, DO NOT IMMEDIATELY SET A NEW GOAL OF OBTAINING SOMETHING ELSE! SAY NO TO IMPULSE. Give it a few days and let your new acquisition sink in. You may look at your collection differently after each addition. Let that thought sink in to your brain.

How?

I have a job, that pays me money each month for the work I have done. A small amount of that's left after rent and bills I sometimes use to buy stuff that isn't food.

I'm not sure what everybody else does for a living. I have a very good job that pays very well. I've been in the same field of work for the last 10 years, Telecommunications. I'm now a Data Center tech for Verizon Business, it's a great job and I love it. I busted my keester for years in private co.'s salaried positions to get where I am(regarding experience and academics). VZ pays the bills, and then some, now and is going to pay for our family soon. Or at least a good portion of it.

We live pretty far apart, so most of my days are treated as me being single. I stay in most nights, don't really have any other hobbies that cost significant amounts of dough. I don't have alot of revolving bills either.

Believe me, if I didn't have as good a job, I wouldn't have as good a collection... 100% correlation

I'm not expecting prices to crash, but I would expect to see fewer people thinking that every carded TMNT figure must be worth three figures. If the popularity drops off quite a bit, and as people begin to sell off their collections, prices will likely come down.

There are several things that could change how that plays out though. Now that Viacom owns the property, they may take more steps to keep the property viable over the long term similar to how Hasbro does with the Transformers property. We are also reaching the point where fans who grew up with the 2003 cartoon are reaching adulthood and could fuel another entire wave of collectors.

i don't live by the NEED to collect them all... plus i only go for the old stuff or old themed stuff. no Nick stuff at my house. a lot of the items i have also only cost me a couple bucks to acquire, i love to thrift shop and search for things... its half the fun of collecting.

i also live with my Girl friend so expenses are low and i have a great job in the summer which pays for me to survive during the winter and to try and work on building my app company, Ruppah Inc. i actually have 2 cards games on the Apple app store (Cowboy Whist and Salad the card game).

last key piece is i only buy what i can afford and i try to get the best deals i can. to me living in canada the biggest problem is shipping so i love when i can do a big purchase and save on shipping.

That sounds good. Hope to see prices going down too, otherwise the vintage carded figures price will be prohibitive, and sadly I will have to stop collecting.

You're right. Never thought the 2003 fans could be influential because in Spain the success of the serie was ridiculous.

It was quite successful here too. That is why I said that it could change the collecting community. Kids who were 5 to 10 years old when that series started are now just hitting their twenties. Give it another few years and they will be reaching the age where they have finished college and have more disposable income.

dont do that cus in the bible (Dont get Made If you Dont think bible is real or fake) but in the bible it says to not sale your body for nothing i think you can get a better job you seem quite talented :D
you get paid once a month oh my family gets paid every 2 weeks

I can't.....er....shouldn't AFFORD my collection lol!

I'm not married, and don't have kids, but like most folks I'm up to my butthole in debt.

However, I've got two decent paying, not perfect paying, jobs and inbetween payments on loans and credit card, I find some little bits of moolah left for TMNT