To buy or not to buy more toys?

While shopping at Orchard Road over the the weekend before Christmas, I came across a cool looking black-costume Spiderman action figure from the Spiderman 3 movie.  I do not collect the Spiderman movie toys.  However, I could not help admiring the attractiveness of its sleek black costume and its multi-articulation points, making it ’super-poseable’.  Black Spidey looks way better than its regular counterpart in red and blue costume.  So should I buy it?

There were 2 waves of thoughts fighting it out in my mind.  One of them was the logic part telling me not to buy it since I do not collect this toyline. I should not give in to impulse buying and I should instead save my money for other purchases.

The emotional part of me kept enticing me to buy it since I liked it so much and that I also collect action figures anyway.  I could have fun posing Black Spidey and take photos to post on my blog etc. 

My logic mind then came in to remind me to think of the space contraints at home for other toylines that I do not specialize in.  Besides, my toy budget (a.k.a ‘Play’ account) for this month has been burst due to prior Christmas shopping.

“‘Buy it, buy it! It is the last piece left on the entire rack and this character is also very hard to find now!” yelled my emotional mind repeatedly, in a last bid effort to catch my attention and secure its victory over my logic mind.

“Put it back and just leave!” shouted back my logic mind. 

“You will regret not buying it now! It is on 20% discount today!” pointed out my emotional mind.

“Pleease look carefully, the card has been bent, it is imperfect, just drop the idea!” my logic mind said triumphantly.

The crease on the card definitely caught my attention.  For toys that I am unsure of keeping in my collection for longer term, I would keep them MOC or MIB to sell off in future in case I do not wish to keep them anymore.  Hence I made my decision and my logic mind won its case!

Managing your emotions when buying toys and most other items is easier said than done.  Many people do not realise it but subconsciously, the angel and devil within us are always fighting it out for our attention and for us to make ‘their’ selected choices.  These mind ‘battles’ are usually very difficult for Rapid Growth collectors to manage.  Some of them do not even bother to manage those ‘battles’.  You have got to be in your conscious mind at all times so as to be discerning in your purchases and other actions.  However, most people tend to go through their lives on ‘auto-pilot’, so their emotions take over and they regret making those purchases when they reach home.

Perhaps you could prepare a check list stating the criterias to be fulfilled whenever you buy new toys.  Once a toy ‘fails’ any of the necessary criteria that you have set in order for them to join your toy collection, it will be rejected on the spot.  That should shorten and simplify the decision making process and save you much ‘emotional discomforts’ too!