Completism: I May Have Seen the Light!

[jjreason]

Hey gang. A lightbulb went on over my head at TRU yesterday, and it felt pretty neat. I saw the Mustafar playset for the umpteenth time, sitting there on the shelf and thought to myself (as per usual) ahhhh, it'll be here - I'll get it later.

The fact that I've put it off at least 12 times actually helped something click - I think I don't want it. In the past, there would have been no real thought put in - it includes figures I don't have and thus is a "need" on my master list - but for some reason, I can now see a fuzzy line between "wants" and "needs" for the first time in my SW figure collecting life.

I'm going to pass on this playset, the Duel sets, the craptastic KB 9 Pack with (yet another stupid) Silver Darth Vader figure, the deluxe figure Clone 3 packs, and most of the vehicles..... just because I finally feel that I can.

That being said, I'll likely break down and buy whatever I find from this lot on clearance - but I'm not paying the going rate.

Anyone else have a distinct recollection of a significant change in their collecting focus?

[2-1B]

You have done well Lord Reason. Congratulations, you are on the road to recovery !
I don't recall when exactly I kicked the completist bug but it was somewhere around 1998 or 1999 and I haven't regretted it at all.

[bobafrett]

Yes JJR. But I'm not quite sure if mine comes from a "what I can afford" over my "needs" and "wants". I avoid buying most of the ships and playsets, and instead concentrate on the figures and Gentle Giant. I'm not sure that if I had an extra $500 a month to spend on SW toys, that I would not own everything that I could get my hands on, however I have seen some stuff out there that just makes me say "No Thank You, I'll Pass", because the quality just isn't in the product. I kinda wished I had taken a better look at the Jedi Vs. Sith pack, as some of the paint jobs are sub standard, very poorly done.

I also collect Lego's and I passed on a lot of the EPI stuff, just because I was very unhappy with the movie, and I felt my purchases should reflect that.

[Deoxyribonucleic]

Congrats REASON! Frack, I'll never forget that feeling...that aweful anxious borderline OCD feeling of having to have them all... uke: I never want to feel that way again and it started for me with EP1 figures! I got the entire first 3 waves and then I realized that hey, I don't really like this movie so why do I want figures of something I don't really like so from there I just pick and choose the characters from the new movies that I like (and yes there are plenty ). I also used to get two or more of everything to keep carded and one day I just opened over half of my collection and have them all over in awesome dioramas...they really do look better OUT of the box to me and I can pick em up whenever I want and play with them.

Exception: OTC and VOTC just cuz those look damn cool on their awesome little card backgrounds!

congrats!

[scruffziller]

You have done well Lord Reason. Congratulations, you are on the road to recovery !
I don't recall when exactly I kicked the completist bug but it was somewhere around 1998 or 1999 and I haven't regretted it at all.

Roger that. It was unreal to finally let that feeling go of that, "the toys control you."

[vader68]

It happened to me after EpI. The thing I got tired of was the release of the same figures on the different cards . I mean come on how many different versions of Luke skywalker or Darth Vader do you really need. It just got out of hand. Not to mention the cost of everything. I finally decide I don't need to collect just to have everything,just collect what I want. I also had 2 of every figure, most of my doubles I donated a couple of years ago to a kids group in NYC. I didn't get my money back, but it was good for the kids and I got a tax write off.

[El Chuxter]

I broke the completism bug with Sio Bibble, Jabba w/ Hexen & Rexen (where did those names come from?), the Eopie, and Holo Sidious way back when. But I wasn't at peace with this. I still wanted those figures. (Some of them I still wouldn't mind having.)

Saga HOF/OTC were easy, since I open everything. Aside from a few worthy repaints (Bespin Luke without the blood, the greatly improved Gammorrean), the reissues were easy to pass on.

But now with every vehicle being reissued in every color of the rainbow on a weekly basis (who needs four Jedi Interceptors?), the lousy pack-in figures, the nonstop exclusives, etc, it's pretty easy.

The TRU Y-Wing with the psychedelic paint job looked cool, but I have nowhere to put it.

The Mustafar playset and the Arena Battlers will still get my attention if and when they get clearanced out.

But I have enough crap. I'll just be an Alternators completist from now on.

[shammykenobi]

I used to be a completist when I was alot younger...and then I quit collecting for a bit and started again shortly after episode 1 came out...anyway, when I got back into it, I didn't have to have one of everything, but sometimes I would get excited and buy figures I didn't really want...but I was usually with other collectors and I guess the thrill of seeing something new in the store took over...now I just buy only the figures that I really want, which is basically jedi and clone troopers...or just about anything from the original trilogy.

[Ryno]

[QUOTE]

It happened to me after EpI. The thing I got tired of was the release of the same figures on the different cards . I mean come on how many different versions of Luke skywalker or Darth Vader do you really need.

That's when it happened for me too, with the whole "Power of the Jedi" line. Starting with that line, I just adopted the same philosophy I had when it came to buying two figures (one to open) - just get the ones that interest you most. I didn't mind the Saga line and the ROTS line because those were fresh new figures and I have the complete sets (what I've found of ROTS anyway) of both. But, when Hasbro starts rehasing stuff like they did with the OTC , then I just step away and get whatever is new and whatever interests me.

jjreason has the right idea if you pass on it, then you probably don't want it anyway.

[jjreason]

It's kind of weird, but when I ask myself "What do you really WANT?", the answer is straight forward:

1. All the new basic figures, with multiples of army builders.

2. Any cool ship that I can open and display, especially if it comes with an exclusive figure.

3. Any multi-figure set that helps me build armies for my display or includes a good quality figure I can't get elsewhere.

4. To re-collect the vintage figures I had when I was a kid, and then finish the off the last wave I started - which was the one just before the POTF figures came out.

I'm a much healthier and happier collector of other lines. My Marvel Legends collection is only as complete as I can make it without relying on paying too much on ebay for variants or shortpacked figures I can't find, and my LOTR collection only consists of figures I have found at retail - and then only ones that really got me excited. I wish I was able to dial my SW sickness down to that level, but I'm not really hopeful that I can. The only thought that can help me? We VOTE for the acceptability of these products with our money. By going out of my way to track down stuff that A) is too hard to get or B) is too expensive for what you get - I'm only shooting myself and other collectors in the foot. If you kicked me in the guts and I gave you $20, wouldn't you kick me again?