Midwest Earthquake

[Neuroleptic]

Ya know JT, I went through that about three years ago. I was just not happy with the vast majority of my collection and didn't like much of anything coming out. So I boxed it all up and sold about 90 percent of it on E-bay.

About six months later, I decided to start again, but now I collect only loose figures, and only ones I want, AND only ones related to specific topics.

I found that the short break, combined with re-starting with more of a focus helped me to enjoy it again (even more so than I had in the past) and actualy made it a little more challanging.

Sometimes a break dosn't hurt.

. . . and it's a lot easyer to stand them back up when my wife bumps into the book case.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

So I boxed it all up and sold about 90 percent of it on E-bay.

. . . and it's a lot easyer to stand them back up when my wife bumps into the book case.

You know, I think eBay has a subsection under "Wives," "Non-Bookcase Bumping."

Friday at Comic-Con showed me how bad things can be in this hobby, how no matter what one does, the best laid plans can be torn asunder to leave one feeling empty and alone.

I haven't been back to CC the last two years from my experiences there. Sad when a gathering of fun turns out to be a fathering of gun (sorry, Just too darn depressed to have a better play on words ).

[Tycho]

Friday at Comic-Con showed me how bad things can be in this hobby, how no matter what one does, the best laid plans can be torn asunder to leave one feeling empty and alone.

What did you mean there? Please explain. I didn't go to Comic Con on Friday.

[Droid]

If you quit buying stuff would you cut back in your time and effort around here? Stop doing the reporting? Hang out with us less?!

[JediTricks]

Ya know JT, I went through that about three years ago. I was just not happy with the vast majority of my collection and didn't like much of anything coming out. So I boxed it all up and sold about 90 percent of it on E-bay.

About six months later, I decided to start again, but now I collect only loose figures, and only ones I want, AND only ones related to specific topics.

I found that the short break, combined with re-starting with more of a focus helped me to enjoy it again (even more so than I had in the past) and actualy made it a little more challanging.

Sometimes a break dosn't hurt.

. . . and it's a lot easyer to stand them back up when my wife bumps into the book case.

For me, if I break, it'll be nigh-permanent. I'll stick with the key pieces I "need" and the rest will go for pennies because my collection is a loose collection. I broke from Star Trek and really haven't put any effort into restarting that collection (I didn't sell it off though, just boxed it up mostly), and so far I've not come back to LEGO while simultaneously not felt good about that line.

And if I had women knocking down my figures, I'd have to make them learn all about which character is as they stood them up and posed them right as punishment. "That is Wat Tambor, he is the foreman of the techno union, one of the members of the confederacy of independent systems who committed his forces to Count Dooku's banner, thus helping to usher in the Clone Wars. He had to adjust his chest when his vocoder scrambled one of the things he was saying to Dooku. His forces' ships are those rocket-ship ones that the Republic Gunships are able to destroy with Anakin's advice. Wat Tambor was killed by Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar once the members of the confederacy were deemed of no importance to Skywalker's new Sith master, Emperor Palpatine. Wat stands in front of that control panel and holds his right arm to his chest." (Yes, Wat Tambor is among the fallen.)

I haven't been back to CC the last two years from my experiences there. Sad when a gathering of fun turns out to be a fathering of gun (sorry, Just too darn depressed to have a better play on words ).

Why depressed? And that was pretty terrible.

What did you mean there? Please explain. I didn't go to Comic Con on Friday.

No good parking, no good swag, way overcrowded, every panel I went to was capped before I could get in, had to bum lunch off of Dawn to help with the endless work, had to sit through 2 boring panels to cover the misery that was Hasbro's 35-minute slideshow race, didn't hang out with any friends for more than a couple minutes, decided to wait as proxy for a friend in her line which was lonely, then decided to wait in a super long line for 3 panels I didn't want to see only to catch the 2 evening panels I did and for no reason as I found out later, the pretzel dog I bought was frozen in the middle, my evening plans went askew so I did my panels alone which wasn't half as good as with a friend, and by that day I had a TON of SSG work queuing up that I couldn't do because no internet at your place and no power outlet most of the time I was free to do that stuff.

If you quit buying stuff would you cut back in your time and effort around here? Stop doing the reporting? Hang out with us less?!

I was kinda hoping nobody would ask that, because the answer is likely "yes". In part, I've only stuck around here out of loyalty to you guys, my Star Wars buddies, making sure that you get represented in the fandom to folks like Hasbro, and that the forums don't get run into the ground. But as my LEGO interests have slipped the past year, so has my participation there, and I suspect it'd be the same if it went down that way on the overall.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

And if I had women knocking down my figures, I'd have to make them learn all about which character is as they stood them up and posed them right as punishment.

Why depressed? And that was pretty terrible.

I was kinda hoping nobody would ask that, because the answer is likely "yes". In part, I've only stuck around here out of loyalty to you guys, my Star Wars buddies, making sure that you get represented in the fandom to folks like Hasbro, and that the forums don't get run into the ground.

Hee hee! Classic!

I was depressed because I knew you'd hate my pun attempt...

Now I feel more depressed because you'd leave... :missyoumostscarecrow:

[JediTricks]

Hee hee! Classic!

We may have to turn that into a fan film.

I was depressed because I knew you'd hate my pun attempt...

And well you should be.

Now I feel more depressed because you'd leave... :missyoumostscarecrow:

Aww, that's sad. Now I'm sad.

[figrin bran]

JT, say it ain't so!

Hopefully I'm not just speaking for myself when I say that your hard work and keen insight have greatly enriched our collecting experience. Were you to leave us, that would be a tremendous loss indeed.

You're going to have to pick up all the toys off the floor anyhow so that shouldn't have any bearing on you wanting or not wanting to collect. And SDCC is such a ridiculously insane environment anyhow and in no way indicative of the joys of collecting. If I were just starting out collecting and went there, I'd think I would want to find another hobby.

As for that Friday at SDCC, it looks like a good thing that I didn't come down. I heard from someone else that the Amtrak I would've taken down there departed about 30-45 minutes late from Union Station. They had to detach the business class cart for some reason. I was in no shape to catch the 6 am train again so had I taken the 8 am which was the aforementioned delayed train, I would've arrived probably close to 12:30 and by the time I got to the convention center, would've had no shot at getting into the Hasbro SW panel. Which I guess I didn't miss out on much.

[JediTricks]

Well, I still haven't made any decisions. On the lazy side of the issue, I really don't want to pick up, track down, and re-pose over 100 figures, it'd be easier to put 'em in a bin but I don't want to leave them in a box forever either.

Thanks for the kind words. You guys in the forums really do keep me going.

Part of me had a great time at SDCC, and if it weren't for the con I wouldn't be driving today, I wouldn't have made a close friend last year or a new friend this year. But another part definitely felt like Wed through Fri at the show was a downward freefall, and the amount of cash I put out was over the top.

Dang, you really dodged the bullet with that Friday train! I loved taking the train last year, but compared to the convenience and fun of driving, there's no way I'd take the train again unless I could afford to rent a car and drive it back (the train was fine for heading to SDCC, but coming back with the giant bag of goodies sucked, and around-town sucks on the trolley despite what Tycho claims, it's slow and you have to interchange sometimes, and you're often on your feet after when you REALLY don't want to). The modern train I took down there also had nice amenities, but without those amenities I don't think it would have been so great. Plus, it costs a fortune now! What, $70 for a 1-way trip? You really could rent a car and do that drive for that price, and I drove back from SD in an hour 50 despite a 15 mile accidental detour, the train is nearly twice that time.

But if you had made it on Friday, I had an extra saved seat that didn't end up getting used, could have gotten in that way.

[figrin bran]

Well, there's nothing wrong with having some of your collection in storage bins as I can certainly attest to. I know we all have romanticized notions of having everything out on display but for most of us, it's a pipe dream.

With a 20% discount, I was able to get a round trip for $54.40. For some reason, when I tried to book for that Friday of the Con a few weeks later, they would no longer accept the code and so I didn't book beforehand and left it open as to whether I'd go on that day or not.

As for the trolleys, Tycho's never mentioned how cramped they can get and how small the seats are. By comparison, our Metro subways and buses feel almost luxurious! (can't believe I just said that)