I'm really, REALLY going to sell these this time (and other well intentioned lies)

[CanBot]

This thread is about downsizing and the lies we tell ourselves about just how we're going to 'do' said downsizing.

My story has been told elsewhere (by me, no less) but to paraphrase: ever since I got into the MP line and figured out exactly which G1 toys I want to keep (missing two combiners), I've decided to sell all my other TFs. Namely, my moviebots and Generations stuff.

The problem is that I've decided to sell those bots at least five times in the brief time since I've joined the boards (Fall 2013).

This month, I've made another attempt at rounding up the guys and preparing them for ebay adventures. Yet I always find some excuse not to (and surprisingly, there are lots of valid excuses; I like to call those 'reasons').

My latest line of thinking was this: Leader Sentinel Prime was brought out of storage and tinkered with. I really can say it's not my favorite TF...namely because I have such a hard time standing him up, which irks me to no end. Sure, he stands, but...it bugged me so much that I looked at my entire Leader line-up and was ready to say, "See ya, fellas, we've had some good times!".

Then CW comes along, and I'm convinced I'm not going to buy any. Four Menasor limbs later, I'm still wondering why I'm going ahead because to be honest, I'm not entirely thrilled with Menasor. I like the individual bots, but combined I'm just not over the moon with them....certainly not to the level of MPs (and even my first MP, Hasbro SW, was a bit of a let down of sorts: I didn't realize the amount of photoshopping going on at those online retailers, but once I came down from my Ivory Tower I realized that the MP line was, although not 'perfect', as perfect as it was likely to get). But the Stunticons are one of my G1 crew that I wanted to support, and with the word that Bruticus will show up at some point, I was like....well, I guess I'm getting CW bots!

I realized I've broken a couple well known 'rules' for setting limits, but it keeps coming back to selling off my movie stuff. And Generations stuff. Speaking of Generations...

It started with Gen Metroplex. What a wild ride that was, almost single-handedly bringing me back into TFs as much as my meager moviebot collection! I purposely stayed away from the fandom because to be honest, I didn't feel nearly as devoted as many of you to the line. I thought I was far more limited to what I liked and didn't care for. But after hearing about Metroplex, I joined up and haven't looked back. I balked, but eventually got into the MP line.

I remember only wanting three MPs: Prime, Megs and Starscream. Oh, and Soundwave. So I got Soundwave from a boardie (thanks man!) and figured that I'd stick to the Hasbro MPs. That..didn't last. I only bought three of the Hasbro MPs, and in the time it took for me to figure out who MP?? was instead of by their names (a convention that I almost use exclusively now, but then, lol, not the case), I caught up with the Takara product.

Which forced me to look at the size of my collection and evaluating what my focus should be. When I got back into TFs, I picked up the Leaders from ROTF and figured I'll "only buy the BIG robots, that should keep it exclusive!". So the Leaders came home with me. And Ultimate Devastator. And Ultimate Bumblebee. And then the education began. Loooooong wait (too long, almost) for Leader Starscream. Here I was, not even a fan of the movies, yet buying the Leaders! And only the Leaders. And anything "big". I watched the reviews on youtube, and was happy. Then one day Metroplex came along. And you now know what happened.

So my well intentioned lies are popping up more often: "I'll sell off my moviebots, and by gum I'll ONLY BUY MPs, that's it!" ...but then CW comes out.

"I'm going to sell off ALL my Generations stuff, and by gum I'll ONLY BUY MPs from now on, that's it!"...and then CW Devastator is shown and I all of the sudden need a suitably size adversary for him; namely, Metroplex.

The latest and greatest is Sentinel Prime and his "I won't stand for this!" attitude. "By gum, you and all your Leader pals are going up on ebay and I'LL ONLY BUY MPs from NOW ON!"

I hope it doesn't get too annoying in the future, but I'm going to update this thread every time I make a well-intentioned lie to downsize but don't follow through. Maybe it will help, if I could only isolate the 'problem'

But by gum, I'm going to ONLY BUY MPs from NOW ON, I tell you!...from NOW ON!!! (please share your own, if you have any inkling of what I'm going on about)

[B13]

No response from anyone? Then please let me go first! This is just my opinion bu the way. You do whatever you want with your stuff!

Sell what you don't need to make place for something else, collectibles or not!

Make fun one last time with it, make memories, take pictures if you want, and then sell it!!!

Mo' space! Mo' money!

Have a good evening!

[CanBot]

The selling is the tough part. Whenever I get a thought in my mind of how great it would be to downsize, stick to a theme...I read a thread about some great upcoming CW figs and I'm like, DANG, I guess the Generations guys are staying!

I almost want to hang on to it all just so I can have all the combiners together for a group shot. But then I think about the years to come...what if they re-release even BETTER version of G1 styled combiners? Something would have to go, for sure. Or, it ALL goes...and I just keep the G1 stuff, which is what I'm attached to anyways.

I'm going to do it in pieces, in any case. There are two guys I have that just don't fit in anywhere: Armada Unicron and Ultimate Optimus Prime. I'll test the waters with them in the coming months and see where it leads.

I was thinking perhaps others might want to share their own 'well intentioned lies' about their collections...I kinda find my own excuses funny, kinda like coming up with reasons not to clean the basement

I will definitely take pics, though, before moving ahead.

[Megatron75]

My experience is a little bit different. I will buy a new item and often justify it by telling myself that I will be selling off certain figures in order to offset the cost. My biggest obstacle when the time comes is usually not being able to accept the current perceived market value for these figures. After dabbling in the 3rd party market a few years ago, I was only able to recover a percentage of what I paid for them. Very disappointing. The demand just wasn't there. I should mention that when I finally got rid of my stuff, I never gave it a second thought. It was actually quite liberating. I'd go ahead and pull the trigger if I were you. HasTak will always be coming out with new stuff. You just need to ask yourself how many versions of a particular figure you need before you are satisfied with what you have in your collection. Even better if you are able to just stick to only G1 and Masterpiece, or whatever line(s) it happens to be that you collect.

[wervenom]

I think we all go through the same type of experiences in terms of we say we are going to focus on this but then a really good type of deal comes along and you justify it by saying "it's only $20 and it's MISB" so you have to get it or it's on sale so you have to get it. Recently I've been looking through my collection and deciding on a focus (which I've done in the past) and been getting better at it. Sometimes you don't get the money you think you can get later on down the line but if you can settle with it than so be it. I've trimmed down my movie collection to a place I think I can live with. MP's I've been more selective with trying to focus on characters I that have attachments to (but for some reason I can't bring myself to get rid of iGear Storm or Greenscream yet) but since I have no attachments to Soundblaster, Exhaust or Star Saber, they are gone. It's hard to stay on focus with some many new figures coming out so I can can offer is stick with what you love, if you have to justify why you have to have it, then you probably don't need it. Just my 5 cents

[Mega-Prime 316]

I just recently went thorough a similar realization. I am running out of room for my collection so I decided to take a hard look at each figure and see what I have an attachment to. I surprised my self when I realized that I have most of the 1st movie figures and several of the 2nd movie and have zero attachment to these guys. So I decided to sell em off, I got as far as packing them into a box and setting them aside. Thats where I stand now. Have to find/make the time to take pics and post ect... lol

[elburrito]

I too have been where you are. I think the first step is admitting the problem. You sir, (like many of us here) are afflicted with an advanced ABS/PVC addiction. If my experience holds true, it is unlikely that you will be able to completely deal with this on your own.

In all seriousness though, "I don't want to sell this one, so I have to keep all of the others from that line too." is flawed logic. Survey your horde and decide what your favourites are. Build yourself a collection out of those favourites and then sell one of the remaining bots. After that it will get easier to say goodbye to the others.

I sold my Classics in the past year and then realized that my 3rd party combiners really complimented the Classics better that MPs or G1 (which is mostly what I have left now) so I sold the 3P combiners as well. Now that they are gone, I am not "jonesing" nearly as bad as I thought. even with the advent of Hasbro Generations combiner teams. It has also resulted in less money spent because if it is just MP, G1 (and 3rd party MP-like, G1-like) there are far fewer toys to obtain. I am also happier with my display.

I read on here recently that a well-curated collection is more satisfying than a complete one and have to agree with that.

[joshimus]

I've been more selective to what I buy as well as selling more stuff.
I too am low on room and once I get rid of the non-display stuff, I will move onto display stuff.
Or so I keep telling myself that

[Megatron75]

Originally Posted by elburrito

I read on here recently that a well-curated collection is more satisfying than a complete one and have to agree with that.

That's a very good point.

[Grimtron]

I am selective when it comes down to collectibles. I collect the ones that I really like or have some kind of special attachment too and try to avoid impulse buying every single transformer out there or I would be broke and out of space real fast. To me a collection is about what the collector wants the collection to be. One must separate the needs from wants.

I would say take a good hard look at your collection and see which lines you would still want to collect, or if there is a common theme you are aiming for, or if you are trying to collect the transformers you love truly.

Hope this helps