How to stop the "gotta get em' all!" syndrome?

[QuadESL63]

For starter I am very selective on 3rd party products and that cut down a lot of purchases. Even though they are all very tempting, now I only ended up with the ones that I really wanted. I filtered out a lot of 3rd party products due to bad experiences, bad reviews and preferences last year, and will do so from now on.

For the official Hasbro/Takara stuffs, I don't buy everything like I used to anymore. There are simply too many things to collect that I ran out of space. It is a pain to get rid of them when the time come to clean house so to speak. For sanity sake, I now take a stand on what I will buy and I won't hesitate to sell extra stuffs that I don't actually love or have connections to. This is applicable to the MPs - I tried not to rationalize to get, say, all the MP-10 repaints (why do I need the Nemesis/black, the Bape or the Evagelion versions?). I skipped/will skip the mainlines, too, like the movie 4 stuffs and the upcoming RiD line if things don't look good to me. The only things that I may get will be a selected few G1 figures that I aways want, the announced MPs so far, and the Combiner Wars.

If you don't want to fall down the slippery slope you need to really take a stand on what you purhase.

[MULTIPLEX]

My advice, since money is not a factor for you. Get them all as they come out and take advantage of early bird pricing from Japan. These things are appreciating in value, a rare thing with new age toys.

Think of it as a plastic crack fund cycle. If you really don't care for certain "B-list" characters, sell them to support your future "A-list" MP purchases. You'll easily make $20 to $50 off each purchase if you sell them a year later, especially if you leave them MISB.

[prime]

For me, being a military fan it started with only getting military themed figures. Then it branched out to G1 character remakes, which lead to MP/Metroplex/Dinobots and down the rabbit hole we go.

What I've done (which is also the strategy some of the others on the board use) is to only buy on sale. While you might not get all the figures you "want", let's face it, we all could find some justification to "want" any particular figure if we tried.

Buying on sale naturally limits your purchases (it won't be a daily habit), helps financially (at least, on a product-by-product basis) and IMHO is mentally satisfying as you're withholding gratification, so when a sale does come around it's that much more meaningful (Classic dopamine/addiction stuff here).

[CanBot]

I've had some success with 'not' buying. I actually owned the very cool (IMO) Generations Jetfire, but brought him back when I realized, yes, he fits into my Leader class collection...but that's for movie bots. When I saw Thundercracker was on the way, no matter how cool I think the Generations line is (especially the Combiner Wars stuff!), I just can't go there. The guys marketing this stuff knows what to hit on...and until something comes out that truly fits in, I can't start buying. On the chopping block are all my Generations stuff (Metroplex, Kickback FOC...even Waspinator)...the space is just better served towards fulfilling the MP focus. If they ever do a really cool Devastator or Insecticons line that's up to some of the 3rd party stuff, I might bite. But I think that the MP line will cover that at some point. How could they not do a batch of MP Insecticons at some point?...exactly.

I like a lot of the strategies mentioned in this thread so far. The whole repaint thing to me in MPs isn't something I'm into. Ok, I did get Black Convoy...but I can live with that. It's the Autobot cars that get to me...even though they're sufficiently different, stuff like Tigertrack or Black Sideswipe (which does look awesome!) don't have too much of a pull.

Bit by bit, I can see my collection going towards MP and G1 only...and I'm not sure how Movie Unicron fits in, but at least the ebay prices are good enough that if I decide to sell, I can get another MP out of him. But....I think he's going to stay.

It's simple to say 'just buy what you like', but man...there's just so much to like!

[Megatron75]

Originally Posted by CanBot

Bit by bit, I can see my collection going towards MP and G1 only...and I'm not sure how Movie Unicron fits in, but at least the ebay prices are good enough that if I decide to sell, I can get another MP out of him. But....I think he's going to stay.

Movie Unicron is definitely a cool figure. I recently sold mine off as part of the culling of the herd. Mine was MISB so the space that his massive box took up was better served for other figures.

[Pascal]

I limit myself to only get all the Transformers I can.

More seriously, I mostly focus on some characters or types of Transformers.

[zfarsh]

I for one have limited space.

I build my shelves first, and have a theme to follow for each long row.

I may get swayed into new thing while waiting for what I planned, but then i will eventually have to sell some back w.hen I run out of space, and I do this time to time to get back on target.

Good luck

[Sun Swipe Prime]

Originally Posted by CanBot

It's simple to say 'just buy what you like', but man...there's just so much to like!

There's sort of like and there's really-really like. For me that gets sorted out if you let yourself cool off. There's always that initial WOW when you first see something, but once you let that wear off, it's a lot easier to pass on things.

It also helps if you realize that no toy ever disappears. If you find you really want something, you can always find it. It might take time, and you might have to pay a little more, but when compared to having piles of stuff you don't want any more, you actually end up saving money.

[StaticShin27]

I've had that feeling especially when seeing something in person.

I always have a list of stuff I know I want or at least interested in based off upcoming release dates. If I hear good reviews of something that looks good enough to warrant an off-the-list purchase, then I go for it.

But back to the impulse buys (especially during sales) I ask myself, if I've gone this long enough without the itch to buy it, do I really want it all that much??

[CanBot]

Off topic,

I gotta say: I don't know why but these latest MPs off ebay from Asia are shipping so quickly, it's unreal! Literally six days after I ordered them, BAM, in hand! I don't get stuff in Canada that fast, I have no clue how they do it.

Second thing: these Autobot cars?...no regrets! And I now understand the absolute WASTE of packaging that is Hasbro MP Prowl: what were they thinking?!?...it coulda fit into one of these cute lil boxes, just like the other Datsuns. I could probably fit three of the boxes in the space of Prowl! Just no need at all. I wouldn't even complain about space!

Just wanted to mention these things, now carry one with your bad selves