What really drives you as a collector?
Posted: 26 Jun 2013 22:22
I've been a fan of action figures for as long as I can remember. I've got two older brothers, so I'm sure there was never a time when the house I grew up in wasn't full of boys toys (I was born in 1976 so have never known a world without Star Wars figures in it!!).
When I was a kid I would often set my figures up in display poses and leave them there, not touching them, just to stare and marvel at the colour schemes, designs, characterisations, accessories and sculpts. That still gives me great, simple pleasure decades later. I know my passion for action figures lies in the fantastic blend of these qualities, along with the rich back-stories (either in file cards or other media like movies or cartoons) to give them a soul of sorts.
At some point in my early teens everything got packed up and put in the loft at my parents house. I would often sneak up there to open the Action Force and Star Wars boxes to look at the toys and admire them. It took me a few more years to realise I wanted to bring them out of the loft, even grow the amount of stuff I had, but that's okay because it gave someone time to invent eBay
Now, I have a modest collection packed up in my own loft, so I guess I've just emulated what I had back then on a bigger scale!
I was thinking of taking a little break from collecting for a while as nothing seems to be really exciting me at the moment.
Got me wondering what my drive or motivation for collecting has been all these years and why it's not at the front of mind at the moment?
Do you know what drives you personally?
I suppose at certain times I've fallen into a few different loose categories in my own mind. Hoarder, completist (I'm a sucker for sub-teams!), drawn into the hype of a movie or show, nostalgist perhaps and even a dark desire at times to just beat another person in an auction to claim the prize.
Any thoughts on your own approaches and maybe how they've changed over the years?
When I was a kid I would often set my figures up in display poses and leave them there, not touching them, just to stare and marvel at the colour schemes, designs, characterisations, accessories and sculpts. That still gives me great, simple pleasure decades later. I know my passion for action figures lies in the fantastic blend of these qualities, along with the rich back-stories (either in file cards or other media like movies or cartoons) to give them a soul of sorts.
At some point in my early teens everything got packed up and put in the loft at my parents house. I would often sneak up there to open the Action Force and Star Wars boxes to look at the toys and admire them. It took me a few more years to realise I wanted to bring them out of the loft, even grow the amount of stuff I had, but that's okay because it gave someone time to invent eBay
Now, I have a modest collection packed up in my own loft, so I guess I've just emulated what I had back then on a bigger scale!I was thinking of taking a little break from collecting for a while as nothing seems to be really exciting me at the moment.
Got me wondering what my drive or motivation for collecting has been all these years and why it's not at the front of mind at the moment?
Do you know what drives you personally?
I suppose at certain times I've fallen into a few different loose categories in my own mind. Hoarder, completist (I'm a sucker for sub-teams!), drawn into the hype of a movie or show, nostalgist perhaps and even a dark desire at times to just beat another person in an auction to claim the prize.
Any thoughts on your own approaches and maybe how they've changed over the years?