Collector Mentality

[starsky]

thrill of the hunt for me too. but just as long as the hunt isnt too long!! then i start getting impatient.

[Tothiro]

I almost find the hunt demoralizing now. I get all nostalgic about when I could actually find mego or mego-like in the wilds of garage sales, (ok that's a lie because I never have once - but someone else bought me my first Trek crew as a group from one) or flea markets (in which I've had some nice scores).

They dried up too long ago, and now it's hard to find anything around here other than McDonald's Happy Meal toys. So for a while I switched over to Antique Shows... but then the sellers are usually misinformed and crazy. There's stuff to be found but most of the sane sellers put these on eBay because the world has moved on...

Wow.
I just realized I (kind of) miss the hunt!
It was never really the hunt so much as the kill though for me too, honestly. It's not the looking, but the finding of stuff that gave me a little geek thrill. Even if it was too expensive, it was nice to come across. My mother was an antique dealer so I would always spend my spare time at shows educating myself on awesome toys before the internets.

Maybe it's like toy dreams? You know the ones - in which you walk into a mom and pop owned dollar store and they have an entire row in the back of vintage dead stock for a dollar a boxed conan including entire series you never knew existed? It's not like I go to sleep for the thrill of the dream, but it's still fun when it happens.

Off Topic: Anyone here live near Brimfield, MA? Boston, etc? That was usually a pretty awesome show.

[clemso]

Definitely the thrill of the chase, finding something, the more rare, the more of a high it is to finally get it.

[jp1969]

Treasure hunter by nature.
The hunt is def my addiction.

[English Paul]

Not only the hunt, but the taking it home and caring for it. Cleaning it up, putting a new stitch in - anything like that does it for me. A few years ago I found a tennis ball in the gutter. I said to the guys I was with "I'll take that home an do it up". Whilst I was joking, they laughed their heads off because they know what I am like.

[MIB41]

It's all about the chase. That's why I love collecting the old figures. The problem is I'm beginning to run out of old things to get! That's the problem you run into when you've been in this hobby for a LOOOOONG time.

[timb]

Yup, the thrill and skill of the big game hunting is essential-particularly the mind blowing adrenaline rush that follows when you finally strike gold.

[B-Lister]

I collect new and old toys, as well as other things.

I even like to walk old fields, in search of indian arrowheads.

it really is all about the thrill of the hunt. Now I DO love to own toys, and have a collection OF them. I also collect comics, old/rare books, and numerous other things, and I really DO love finding something I've been looking for, or even finding something I know I can parlay into something else.

[bp1701a]

I also, like the Hunt and Kill,, I like looking for sweet deals,I collect a wide range of figures and toys, I am not picky at all,I also like to find,buy,play ( I call it inspecting the item),and showcaseing it,. My wife understand my, desire for the figures and such.

[bp1701a]

Oh and also, going to $1 stores, they have cheap figures with cool accessories that fit MEGO figures, some day I am hoping to see a Star Trek themed knock off in the stores,,, only a matter of time.

[megocrazy]

Off Topic: Anyone here live near Brimfield, MA? Boston, etc? That was usually a pretty awesome show.

It is. I haven't been in a few years but it's an experience. For those who don't know about it, three times a year they shut down the town of Brimfield and have what is the biggest antiques market anywhere. Groups from all over the planet come in to buy and sell.

Huge antique dealers from Europe, Asia, etc. come in and send runners into the fields,(there are 8 or 9 multi acre fields that open at different times during the 5 or 6 day event), they have tents where guys on laptops check items on the internet to see what it should sell for. If a runner finds an item they tag it and a team of guys go there, pay the vendor and pick up the piece. they bring it back to the "headquarters". Guys pack em and stick em in overseas containers that get picked up at the end for shipping overseas.

If you buy something UPS and FedEx etc. all have booths where you can go and they pack your stuff, you pay them, and it's waiting when you get home. It's just an amazing set up.

It's like stampeding cattle when they open the gates. Some open as early as 4AM. You'll be in a crowd of 400-500 people waiting for the gates to open.
There is a guy that was there every year that collected cast iron cook ware. He would be right there at the gate waiting and would go right through just calling out "Any cast iron cookware". Vendors would yell out I have this, that etc. and he would stop and see what they had or if he was interested. By the end of the day he'd be carrying a back pack full of cast iron cookware with other pans and stuff hanging off a belt or strapped to the side of the backpack because the inside was full. He couldn't carry the stuff in his hands because he was on crutches. Yep he only had one leg. he would carry like 50-60 pounds of cast iron stuff while walking through a dirt road or cow field on crutches. And he was fast. He'd be there every day we were and just fly through the fields. Unbelievable site.

We logged like 20 miles a day when we would go. We'd bring extra shoes because we would destroy at least one pair. It's like treasure hunting extreme. I've gotten some nice deals there. Man it brings back memories.

[RG]

oh man I love it all ... all parts of the hobby. The Hunt ... on ebay in hidden auctions or flea markets right down to the lame crappy little yard sale. I look, and I love looking. then finding a messed up figure that can be saved ... or used for parts. I still remember the time I found a naked batman mego with the lower right leg missing, I used the left leg to complete one figure and the upper torso to complete another and the knee pin from the right leg to fix another figure lol. And then after the hunt and if needed clean up ... to have a nice mint vintage figure on display in my collection is just sooo cool.

[Sandman9580]

I love the hunt, but it seems like the pickings have gotten pretty slim in recent years. Actually what I miss the most are the surprises - finding something you didn't know you wanted. Though it doesn't happen too often, it did happen just the other day - I went to a local toy show and saw a vintage '50s-era Marx "Mineral City" western town playset, made from folded, lithographed tin. It looked perfect, like it had just been removed from the box. Now, I was dimly aware of the existence of these sort of playsets, I'd seen them around, but I guess they just never caught my eye. But when I saw this piece, for whatever reason, in that moment, something in my brain went "click," and it was like love at first site...

That kind of thing just doesn't happen in cyberspace.

[highquality]

My motivations have changed dramatically over the years. When I first started collecting Mego about 15 years ago, I had to have everything, no matter what the condition. Somewhere along the way, I became a condition snob.

For most of my collecting life it's been entirely about finding the next biggest, greatest and rarest item, no matter what the cost.

These days I'm much more selective and not so anxious. I no longer have to be first in line for everything and can wait a bit. I spend more time enjoying what I have by writing about them and doing some photography. I've also ventured in customizing, which I never thought would happen in a million years.

[Tothiro]

We logged like 20 miles a day when we would go. We'd bring extra shoes because we would destroy at least one pair. It's like treasure hunting extreme. I've gotten some nice deals there. Man it brings back memories.

OMG I know... Plus, it's like the most diabolical memory game ever devised. Whenever I was there we were set up with tables (always got the spot in front of the Greenhouse), so I would have to go out on raiding missions. I was younger (before the internets... so the check eBay experience hadn't started yet) so I'd have to wait until I sold enough to buy some things - and by then I'd already scouted what I wanted. There'd be a Krakken one place, and a carded mysterious alien and boxed Super Phaser II Target Game two acres over, and a quarter of a mile down the road would be that King Size X-Men #1 next to the Dutch vendors selling only cast iron beds. It was insane. Once or twice I was convinced the place magically shifted booths around.
If you've ever lost your car in a parking lot - forget about it.