yeah, i have transitioned a few times in my life we're I basically sold EVERYTHING I owned and went down to owning literally NOTHING and just moved away and started over from the ground up about 3 times in my life so far.
A few of those times I either sold or got rid of stuff that thinking back I shouldn't have, or I wish I didn't have to, but nothing stung as much as my toys. It literally felt like having my childhood ripped away from me.
I had a crazy child hood (parents divorced in early 80's and i spent much time in courts talking to lawyers and shit, then the courts didnt want to give me to my dad or my mom so they gave me to my, not abusive, but extremely strict JW grandparents.
So no xmas, no birthdays, no holidays at all. JWs believe in treating children like adults and all treating kids get you is weak kids.
But they where loving and bought me transformers because I loved them. I never should have left them and moved in with my dad and step mom when i was 16. Now I see why the courts didn't give me to him. Chances are they didnt even get to the phillipines now that I think of it, they probably sold em knowing they worth. They ONLY shipped my stuff that was actually work something, they left everything else.
It is weird though. I am glad it happened. It taught me very clearly a few good lessons. 1) lock your god damn door if you live with people and go out. even your mom or dad can take your shit, clean your room and throw out old stuff. 2)Don't be mad when you lose youre stuff. You can get it back. Health is what is important. 3) Some people JUST CANNOT understand collecting. I have proved my father wrong over 20 times about how something is going to be worth money, and HE STILL thinks every time I go and buy something and go "this IS going to be worth more in just a few years when you cannot buy em from stores!" that I'm wrong, and that toys and comics WILL NEVER BE WORTH ANYTHING... then 5 years later I show him how much its worth, and hes always like "oh, it was just luck, chances are most stuff doesnt go up in price"
Like one time in highschool I bought 3 McFarlene Toys for $55 (they where rare limited run ones too) and he got SO angry at me for wasting my money and NOT EVEN OPENING THE TOYS. So while I was at school HE FRICKIN OPENED THEM because it bothered him I wasent going to.
thinking back, its not the money or value I miss though. Its my childhood.
Here is a real kicker though, kinda makes you think about karma, and life. If I didn't lose my collection the way I did, I feel I would have out grown transformers and grew away from it. But because my collection was taken from me, my feelings towards transformers specifically triggered something inside me when I was at my worst, and It is almost like they came and saved me
Thats why I love and collect Optimus Prime. When I had ptsd, went through family problems, had to cut out most of my friends because they choose drugs and life of crime, the only thing that held me together was the comfort of being warped back to my childhood before my toys where takin from me by holding an Optimus Prime.
It gave the the strength to endure hell, save money, move to calgary, and totally flip my life around.
If i had those toys the whole time it wouldnt have meant as much as it did. I had to hunt for them toys. The effort of finding the toys, getting they toys was part of the therapy. Something about having them ripped away from me, causing trauma, made it extremely easy for me to feel exactly how I did when I was a kid when I now play with transformers.
