Collecting: What lessons have you learned?

[chubbyman]

1. Never let something you want go, or you may never see it again.
2. Know what you are buying before you actually buy it, some stuff drop in price a few months after you buy it at full price. so do a little research.
3. BANDAI YOU M*THER F*#(ER

 

[KamenRiderDamian]

Yeah, I didn't learn the lesson from personal experience, but "don't be completionist for complitionist's sake" is a good one. Buy something because you like it/really like it. Not because there's a hole in your collection.

Also "Don't Be completionist for nostalgia's sake". Buying a few things because of your childhood ties to them is ok, but don't go buying whole lines or anything because of that. Make sure you still like the subject without your nostalgia goggles.

Of course, I REALLY like most of the designs for the franchises I'm into, so that first one doesn't help me much.

Agreeing with this too.

Also on #2 of what Chubbyman said. :sweat:

 

[whitechromerider]

1) never buy on impulse
2) If the price is to good to be true it is
3) If they say it was in a smoke free environment, it actually isn't since if they didn't smoke then there is no point in mentioning it
4) always pay that extra dollar or 2 for tracking, lost packages are a headache
5) Keep checking HJU because sellers with great deals keep poping up and you'll kick yourself if you miss it :shakefist
6) beware of knock off and candy toys being sold as DX version
7) inspect the item before giving out the cash
8) never trust stock photo, always read the description and the actually pictures
9) Remember what is in your collection, before you end up buying two of them :sweat:
10) your life and safety come first, collecting comes second, especially when the seller wants to meet you in a very shady area
11) never buy an item out of the back of a truck on young and Finch :laugh:

 

[chubbyman]

1) never buy on impulse
2) If the price is to good to be true it is
3) If they say it was in a smoke free environment, it actually isn't since if they didn't smoke then there is no point in mentioning it
4) always pay that extra dollar or 2 for tracking, lost packages are a headache
5) Keep checking HJU because sellers with great deals keep poping up and you'll kick yourself if you miss it :shakefist
6) beware of knock off and candy toys being sold as DX version
7) inspect the item before giving out the cash
8) never trust stock photo, always read the description and the actually pictures
9) Remember what is in your collection, before you end up buying two of them :sweat:
10) your life and safety come first, collecting comes second, especially when the seller wants to meet you in a very shady area
11) never buy an item out of the back of a truck on young and Finch :laugh:

LOL @ #11

 

[redracer2004]

LOL @ #11

I had to agree with most of whitechromerider's comments.

Especially on the part where:

"Know what you're buying"

This is especially true. But I got to add.

"Know what you're into and what's in the line / series / wave."

You might run into something completely alien that you could actually need in your collection at a cheap price but you don't know what it is.

So, better do research especially on box photos.

 

[StaticShin27]

11) never buy an item out of the back of a truck on young and Finch :laugh:

what??? :laugh: I'd like to hear a story haha

 

[Dark Kabuto]

What have I learned? Be patent when it comes to certain releases

Case in point Gundams...I got back into Gunpla around the time Gundam 00 Season 2 was at it's midway point, this was back before I was following various forums and toy-related blogs. Bought the 1/144 HG 00 Gundam and the 0Raiser as separate kits...what happens a month after I buy it? Bandai releases them together in a single packing WITH a brand new accessory to boot. :shakefist

 

[chubbyman]

What have I learned? Be patent when it comes to certain releases

Case in point Gundams...I got back into Gunpla around the time Gundam 00 Season 2 was at it's midway point, this was back before I was following various forums and toy-related blogs. Bought the 1/144 HG 00 Gundam and the 0Raiser as separate kits...what happens a month after I buy it? Bandai releases them together in a single packing WITH a brand new accessory to boot. :shakefist

I think i got you covered, look at my #3. LOL

 

[whitechromerider]

what??? :laugh: I'd like to hear a story haha

haha well it wasn't much of a story I was heading to the subway, and this guy was packing up his street table and putting it into his truck, and I was being curious about one of his open box of what looked like very shady knock off watches and random toys, the man tried to sell me like 3 of the watched for 20, and one of the second hand fell off XD so I was like no thank you and left

 

[Kaji Motomiya]

Before I started doing the comics, I had only gotten TheBee, Diend, Kuuga Mighty, Decade, Kabuto, CycloneJoker, HeatMetal, LunaTrigger, and Skull. I had delusions of grandeur involving awesome fight scenes by collecting EVERYTHING in the series, like all of Kuuga's forms, even Growing, all of the Kabuto figs, all the W figs, etc.

But when I bought figma Black Rock Shooter and started doing comics, I came to terms that these shits are fucking expensive. So then I decided on one rule to collecting...which then added another rule.

1. Only buy something that would be useful to the plot of the comic.
2. Black Rock Shooter figmas, no matter how expensive they are, will always be a must and take priority over everything. EVERYTHING.
3. Impulse figure buying is okay as long as it will somehow benefit the comic.
4. It's okay to buy a figure outside of priority as long as it will be used for beneficial purposes than displaying purposes.

Notice how everything except #2 revolves around the comic. D-Arts Rokusho and figma Roger Smith fall under #4, though Roger Smith is super expensive.

I also made the Toy-Priority thread based off of these self-guidelines.