Another Dilema, selling toys to buy toys.

[MegoNinja]

Hey every one,

I have made a similar thread a while back about selling He-man so I can buy mego's with the money I make. The responses were obvious "Mego is way better than he-man", "forget he-man, buy more mego!" and so forth.

My question is now, I really am getting sick of pumping hundreds of dollars that I can't afford to spend on Mego's/70's toys, so is it wise to sell off majority of my Star Wars (vintage) stuff to buy other toys? My problem is I have sold 6 MIB vehicles, one MOC figure and one MIB playset, I must say, I made a killing for thing's I didn't expect to get much for. It felt really good, like getting a pay slip at the end of the week, but it was for toys, I didn't have to slave at work all week for it and I knew I could get some other cool stuff with the money I had made. I am considering selling off more of my vintage Star Wars (not my 3 3/4" and 12" because I want the whole set) but I am really worried I might regret it, when I sold off most of my He-man I was really mad, mad because I got $30 for bag's full of the stuff on eBay that I paid through the nose for from collectible stores for (not because I miss any of those chunky plastic things).

My child self wouldn't bother with SMDM, Remco, AHI or Mego, just Star Wars, so I am concerned with getting rid of any of it, especially my Jabba the Hutt (which I have wanted since I can remember).

Any way, what should I do? Sell some more stuff and buy much needed mego's, SMDMan and Hulk memorabilia or just leave it alone and maybe I will get out of the mood to buy all this other stuff.
Any help would be appreciated.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Sounds like a weird dilemma. I think you have to ask yourself: what stuff do you REALLY like, and what stuff are you amassing just to satisfy some weird collector bug?

I collect the 8" figures 'cos I've always thought they were the bestest toy ever. Luckily for me, my goal has always been to get every cool character in this scale; and not to actually amass a collection of authentic figures. So repros, customs and such are perfectly cool for me. When I see similar nifty stuff (like the AHI monsters) I can satisfy the bug with a repro head and custom duds.

I've got a bunch of model kits too; but the ones I really liked were part of finite lines, and I've almost completed most of them. So there's no real urgency to get more. Maybe it's like this for you with some of the stuff you collect? (I pity the folks who need EVERY variant of anything....)

So neither one causes me any trauma to collect, I enjoy what I've got and it's not urgent to get any more. (Even for the sets I'm still missing stuff from.) I think the trick is to find that balance. If you REALLY enjoy the Star Wars stuff keep it. If you've kept it 'cos of sublimated childhood urges and don't GENUINELY get any kick from having it around, let go. I had to do this with the model kits I was collecting; I was spending more time looking for that OTHER Imai 1/72 Valkyrie custom conversion than I was building the kits I had.

Just don't ask me about a certain three colouring books. (I WILL have them, oh yes I will... one day....)

Don C.

[MegoNinja]

yeah you made some good points there, it is hard to decide "do I have this because I wanted it as a kid or do I genuinely need this in my collection?". I don't care hugely about finishing sets, I was going to get Star Wars EVERYTHING but that is stupid and I would need a new house to store it all but now I am happy with every loose 12" and 3 3/4" so I guess I can afford to sell the MOC stuff.
I too feel sorry for people that try and collect every variant because that is incredibly hard and often expensive. Some times it is hard to tell if you are satisfying your collecting bug or buying some thing because you truly like it until you have the toy in your hands, some things I have bought for the sake of it and ended up loving it and others I was very disappointed when I finally got them, I guess that is the gamble we take when we spend money on toys though right.
thanks for the advice.

[Bo8a_Fett]

Feel your pain here MegoNinja....once I was all for everything Star Wars (used to say to people "if a turd had Star Wars written on it , i'd buy it), but money, family and space dictated that i'd have to curb my collecting especially with the comics, other toys, books,dvds,gadgets, computer stuff, games, art stuff, models and magazines all competing for the same cash and space (both at a premium).
When I looked at how much stuff I actually had, I realised that most of it is packed up in boxes and rarely sees the light of day and I questioned whether I actually needed it all. Yes, there are some things i'd never part with...but what was the point of boxing it all up and not actually enjoying it other than the fact that I'd got it. I've realised that we will never have enough space for it and the prospects of moving to a bigger place are less than slim ....so i'll have to weed out the "definately keeps" from the "could do withouts".
Since making that decision my spending on collectables has taken a different route...I no longer buy the increasingly expanding Star Wars figures(doubt if I could catch up now) and buy one or two pieces a year that I really want (gentle giant statues now....).
I'm still finding it hard to let go of toys I spent ages searching for ...but realise now it was just the thrill of the chase and the NEED to get all and sundry for my collection.
It's difficult to see when a hooby becomes an obsession and that is when you have to be careful......

[hobub]

Collect what you like. Keep what you like and sell what bores you. If you cannot decide whether to sell something to pay for something else. Ask yourself what you would rather have. This is the main reason I collect multiples. When the time comes, I can unload and still have the item. Like having my cake and eating it. This is how I acquired a Tex Willer, Zorro, Peter Parker and Clark Kent as well as multiple Romulans, RMR's and RCB's in the past.

[Cosmicman]

I am trying to sell off my Famous Covers and DC 9" figure line. I plan on reinvesting it into Mego parts to make customs but I can't seem to find anyone to make me a decent offer for the whole collection. I would rather sell them to someone here or on the other toy boards I am on. I hate eBay lateley. People bid on my stuff and then retract or don't pay. It is a headache.

grrrrrrrrrrr

[batmanrocks]

I can understand your dilema, I had the same one so what I did was decided which toys I could live without and sold them and the ones I really wantd to kee i kept. I have decided to concentrate on the WGSH line, although I do keep other lines but the wgsh line is my main thing right now.

[MegoNinja]

thanks for the advice guys, I think I am just going to have to decide what is more important and what is a better investment. For example, I have a MOC Klaatu, most SW collectors would know this is one of the most common carded figures, so selling that and putting the money towards SMDM or Hulk stuff would be a good idea in the long run.
Looks like I have another Star Wars massacre to commit, the results of my love to other toy lines is taking a heavy toll on the look of my once gigantic star wars collection.