An observation I’ve made about some toys collectors’ buying patterns is that when there is some sort of toys clearance sale, they will first do the usual of buying all the pieces that they have wanted all along. 

Then the sale items are sold out or they get restocked at much lower rock bottom clearance prices.  Those who had held back at the previous sale now enter the buying frenzy.  These are the patient yet very lucky ones who took the right “gamble” by waiting for further price reductions.  Most importantly, they are able to be at the right places at the right times. 

Among this round of buyers are those who had bought at original retail prices during the hype of the toy fad, and those who already bought at the higher clearance prices at the earlier sale.  Seeing how much cheaper the toys have become tempts them to buy some more of the same toys to keep unopened, or to open up for play and display.  Sometimes it’s to replace faulty or imperfect pieces that they already own.  Maybe there’s this fear that the toys may deteriorate over time, so it’s good to have another piece, or multiple pieces on stand by.

Once a clearance toys buying frenzy starts, it can get out of hand in the minds of some toy collectors.  It’s like some sort of rare opportunity not to be missed, even if you have those toys already.  This feeling is very similar to the emotions felt during the “rapid growth” stage of toy collecting.  Logic thinking flies out the window while emotions rule the head.

The other resulting type of toys buying frenzy happens to the toy collectors who for some reason, are always on the tail ends of the clearance toys hunting parties.  This is one very anxious, stressed and frustrated lot of buyers.  Everywhere they go, the clearance toys they want are all sold out.  Tough luck.  At the end of the clearance sale, they wonder why they acted like that.  I have no clear answer to that except for a sudden unexplanable wave of obsession that swept into their minds then.  Again, emotions win over logic.

Some of them end up buying loads of toylines that they didn’t think of collecting in the first place, but the attractive toys clearance sales gave them the opportunities at the right prices.  These are the lucky ones who scored a bargain.  For others, it is simply “impulse buying” and “herd mentality”.

There is no right or wrong in these emotions.  Many of us go through them at some stages of our lives.  Even if it is not toys, it can be other items that we use in our everyday lives.  All consumer goods go through clearance sales eventually, and our buying frenzy gets activated into bargain hunting modes.  It’s just that for some people, there is “after impulse purchase regret”.  Good luck on clearing those impulse items!  Humans are ruled by emotions much more than logic.  Life’s just like that!

Since I started blogging about toy collecting around 2 years ago, I’ve received emails and blog comments from fellow toy collectors sharing their similar predicaments during the course of their toy hobbies.  One of the most common result of collecting toys is having your room or most parts of your home overrun by your massive toy collections.

Buying toys feels great, both during the act of buying and during those few days following the purchase.  Then the interest in that new toy fades over the subsequent weeks and months.  It is then stored aside and you embark on your next hunting expedition for another toy that catches your fancy.  And so the vicious never-ending cycle repeats itself over and over again. 

At the end of the day, you might wonder why you bother to collect something that you would lose interest in so quickly after acquiring it.  I can only explain in short that a lot of us actually enjoy “the thrill of the hunt”, rather than owning the actual “toy trophy” itself.  Then when your “toy conquests” build up to a huge size that is not comfortable to handle, disillusionment with the hobby sets in.

Having been in this hobby for many years, I’m not surprised by the various states of psychology that toy collectors share with me in their emails and blog comments.  I’ve blogged about the different kinds of emotions I had personally felt, and still feel.  You know what you’re getting yourself into, but you feel seemingly ‘powerless’ to rectify it, or you simply just ’surrender’ to it.  Doing the latter is usually the more popular option.

Then when toy collectors finally ‘open’ their eyes and start to ‘really look’ at their enormous toy collections, they begin to wonder what they have done with their lives for the past x number of years.  I guess people all go through different stages in their lives.  When some toy collectors begin to feel “disillusioned” with their toy hobbies, it’s usually either they collected toys based on hype or trends, or it’s really time for them to move on in their lives.  We’re all different, so we subsequently make different decisions about our toy hobbies.

Some toy collectors tell me they don’t why they were so obsessed with collecting certain toylines during a particular period of time.  They were very sure that they did love those toys and the comics / cartoons / movies that the toys were based on, a long time ago.  Then for no good reason, they now feel that they no longer want to keep their toy collections etc., anymore.  They just know that they want to get rid of those items and there is no more attachment to the toys anymore.

So what are my responses to such toy collectors who have become disillusioned with their toy hobbies?  Well you’ve got to ask yourself why you collected those toylines in the first place.  If the reason no longer applies, then go ahead and sell or clear the toys away.  Make space in your home for newer things to come into your life and enrich you.

Sometimes, the toy collector still likes the toyline, but not the entire range of all the toys ever made and released.  They somehow just bought everything in the toyline so as to “complete the sets”.  In the end, the toy collector only likes certain characters and vehicles etc. only.  Hence trimming the collection of the unloved pieces and keeping only the well-loved pieces usually does the trick.

I hope this article has been useful to you.  For ideas on how to sell your collectible toys, you can read my previous blog posts about this topic:

How to quit your toy hobby

How to sell your toys online

How to sell your toys offline

How to manage your toys population

Happy toy collecting and managing!

I chanced upon this article on Seibertron.com some time ago and found it interesting.  It covers money matters, where to buy toys, discusses the emotions behind buying and collecting toys, more ultimate levels like toy fairs, methods of collecting, and coming to an understanding with your family members about your toy hobby. 

These are all topics I had covered  before in some way or another on my blog.  Now you get to read them from the perspective of collecting Transformers toys!  

Do you like to read more of such articles about toy collecting?  You see, most toy collectors go online to search for information of where to buy the latest toys they want, or to view photos of other people’s toy collections. 

If you want to read more articles about how to collect toys, or how other collectors manage their massive toy collections, do let me know.  I’ll post their links here to share with you whenever I come across them! 

Happy toy collecting!

I was at OG Orchard yesterday to pick up some of the heavily discounted G.I.Joe movie toys for an overseas collector.  I thought that it was going to be a quick toy shopping trip (I wanted to leave before the impending rain outside) until I encountered the Hasbro delivery guy busy unboxing all the newly supplied G.I.Joe movie toys there.  

There were some other adult male collectors ‘hovering’ around the delivery guy.  Some were in a clique, while the others were “lone rangers”.  It was interesting to observe how some of the very eager collectors ’swooped’ in for their ‘kills’ as soon as the G.I.Joe movie toys were unboxed and placed on a surface (e.g. on top of other merchandise, on the floor etc.) by the delivery guy.

For me, I was more like a ‘jackal’ who lingered along the fringes until the main ‘hyena pack’ had dispersed, before I could go in to pick at the ’scraps’, LOL!  For the G.I.Joe movie toy collectors who weren’t there yesterday, there are indeed new stocks, and not re-stocks! 

1) G.I.Joe movie 3.75-inch figures - Bench Press & Snow Serpent @ SGD 10.00 each.

2) SDCC 2009 G.I.Joe movie Destro-McCullen 2-pack (above) @ SGD 15.00 each.

3) G.I.Joe movie Senior Ranking Officers 3-pack - Cobra & G.I.Joe Teams @ SGD 14.90 each.

4) G.I.Joe movie Attack on the G.I.Joe Pit HQ boxset - containing 5 x figures & a repainted Mole Pod @ SGD 24.90 each.

5) G.I.Joe movie assorted Accessories Packs - the most notable are Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow on Bikes @ SGD 14.90 each.

Updates on previously reported G.I.Joe movie toy stocks there:

a) Night Raven, Steel Crusher APV & Cobra Gunship @ SGD 29.90 each, are still available, even after a customer called in to reserve 10 pcs of Night Ravens.

b) Smaller vehicles like Mole Pods @ SGD 17.90 each, have diminished to less than 10pcs.  But with the new availability of the glossier repainted and cheaper Mole Pod in the Attack on the G.I.Joe Pit HQ boxset, the single pack Mole Pods may not be as popular for now.

c) One of my blog readers asked me to name all the 3.75-inch figures (@ SGD 10.00 each) I saw there.  (Wow, he wants to test my memory skills is it, LOL?).  I’m new to this toyline, and I am still dazzled by the new stocks that came in yesterday.  Still, I do my best in what my memory could afford me:

- Neo Viper (Attack on the Pit)

- Cobra Viper (Desert Ambush)

- Duke (in brown army uniform)

- Heavy Duty (in army uniform)

- Zartan

- Cobra Commander

- Destro

- Bench Press (arrived yesterday) 

- Snow Serpent (arrived yesterday)

- Storm Shadow (Ninja Mercenary, just 1 pc but with bad face paint job) 

- Abel ‘Breaker’ Shaz (the techie guy)

- Duke (Reactive Armor Suit)

- The Baroness (Attack on the Pit)

- Ice Viper

For collectors looking for Storm Shadow (Paris Pursuit) and Snake Eyes (Ninja Commando), there are a few pieces left at OG Chinatown.  But their backcards are all badly folded.  Most of the stocks there are like that.

That’s all folks, happy toy shopping!

Update: The above toys are indeed there on sale as of 12 January 2010.  On any date after that, I cannot guarantee.  You’ve got to go there and find out yourself.

While browsing at OG Chinatown today, I chanced upon the 2009 G.I.Joe movie toys on further clearance sale (at last!).  Their prices have gone lower than the first round of discounts during the 2009 Christmas period.  I don’t remember all their exact original prices already, but most of them are now on sale at close to, or more than 50% discount!

The basic 3.75-inch action figures (above) are going for SGD 10.00 each.  The 2-pack Combat Heroes figurines (non-poseable) are selling for only SGD 3.00 each.  The 10-inch action figures are at only SGD 14.90 each (unbelievable!).  The 12-inch (I think he’s around this height) electronic Snake Eyes action figure is now at SGD 19.90 each. 

The following G.I.Joe movie vehicle toys were also spotted on sale and there were plenty of stocks when I saw them.  However, I can’t guarantee if there will be many left now.  There are fans and collectors who like to collect multiples of the same vehicles, and of certain ”troop” figures to ‘build up’ their ”Cobra” armies especially. 

G.I.Joe movie vehicle toy - Mole Pod @ SGD 17.90

(It still amazes me how the Cobra Mole Pod squad could drill their way undetected into the underground G.I.Joe pit headquarters in the movie).  Anyway, the rest of the vehicle toys in the same wave were also available.

I found some relevant video reviews on YouTube to help you decide if you want to pick up these discounted G.I.Joe movie vehicle toys or not, especially if you still sitting on the fence, like me. 

And notice that these vehicle toys come with stickers for you to stick on the specific parts of the toys.  It reminds me of some playset toys I used to have during my childhood!

G.I.Joe movie vehicle toy - Steel Crusher APV @ SGD 29.90

Note: The side missiles are indeed removable, as shown in other video reviews of this toy.

I deliberated on whether to pick up this vehicle for my small collection of 3.75-inch G.I.Joe movie action figures, some of them are the “Paris Pursuit” ones.  I know I don’t really have much space at home for it but the price is so tempting that the dilemma just tore my heart in 2 directions!  It was awful standing there holding up the box to read every word and scrutinize the pictures on it, while hoping that I would have made up my mind to buy it or not.

Then I had this great idea to go buy some pillows and cushion covers for my home first, and then return to the toy department later to decide on buying this toy.  It was a ‘brilliant’ move on my part.  I completely forgot about the toy until I was on my way home.  And then I spent the rest of the day at home sort of ‘regreting’ not being decisive enough on the spot. *Shakes my head in disbelief as I type this post*

G.I.Joe movie vehicle toy - Cobra Gunship @ SGD 29.90

Note: All the Cobra Gunship toys I’ve seen locally come with the red helmet pilot figure.

I’ve seen and ‘played’ with a loose piece of this toy before (I borrowed it from someone) and I must say that the toy is a disappointment compared to the APV Steel Crusher above.  The interior behind the side doors are ‘wasted’ by not making it hollow to fit in more figures, or at least contain some accessories.  The color of the actual toy is also a little dull.  But for display purpose only and at this price, you wouldn’t want to fault its shortcomings too much.  Just get it if you like it.

G.I.Joe movie vehicle toy - Night Raven @ SGD 29.90

This baby’s a steal!  I was shocked by the price and I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw its discounted price tag.  Other than the landing gear wheels not being able to roll, I can’t find anything else to criticize about this toy.  Its dual design as a toy jet and as a “toy gun” is cool!  I like the fact that all the side missiles can be rotated and fired in turns.  Genius!  The electronic sounds are awesome as well!  If you have the space at home, I’ll recommend this toy! 

Last but not least, the Mobile Pit Headquarters playset is now going for SGD 99.90.  If you have the budget, plus the space at home, and also the strength to lug it home (the box is huge, and the playset can be ’expanded’ to become larger than the box!) , by all means go ahead and get it.  However I do expect the price of this ’giant’ playset to be further reduced in the coming weeks.  It seems to sell very slowly because of its price, and of course its sheer size!  Nevertheless, its hollow interior makes a great storage space for the rest of your G.I.Joe movie figures and toys!

So there you have it, my toy observation for the weekend.  Happy G.I.Joe movie toys shopping!  Go ‘flood’ your homes with even more discounted toys.  Buy, buy, buy!  While I regret, regret, regret (LOL!)…

Update: The above toys are indeed there on sale as of 10 January 2010.  On any date after that, I cannot guarantee.  You’ve got to go there and find out yourself.

The remaining Marvel Universe figures are on sale in my Toy Lockers at Toy Outpost.  Currently there is a 20% discount for them there, while stocks last and till further notice at my blog!

Many of us are very specific on which toylines we collect, based mainly on our likes and dislikes.  Hence regardless of if there is a trend or craze on those toylines, we still collect them.

Trends tend to arise more prominently especially when certain blockbuster movies are screened in the cinemas, or certain shows and cartoon series are shown on TV.  The toy companies would roll out the movie toys in the departmental stores to coincide with the release of the movies and shows to cash in on the so-called hype.  Quite often, such temporary toy craze work their magic (or hex) on both the hardcore and casual fans and collectors alike.

Many fell for the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) toy craze in the past few months.  I’m sure the feeling of being ‘toy possessed’ is gradually wearing off on some fans and collectors by now.  Some of us even start to wonder what happened to our minds back then.  It’s like being possessed by some kind of toy spirits.

Currently, there is smaller scale trend on G.I.Joe toys due to the screening of its live action movie (G.I.Joe Rise of the Cobra) in our local cinemas.  Certain more popular figures of its movie toyline are said to be quite hard to find in the stores here.  Apparently there is demand for them, but for how long more?  The movie is almost near the end of its screening period.

There are fans and collectors who get very upset and frustrated when they can’t seem to find the in-trend toys that they want during the craze period.  Some even go through a stage of mild panic and pour out their woes, as if their lives have been greatly disadvantaged by being denied the opportunity of being among the first to lay their hands on certain in-trend toys. 

Hey these days, toy companies like Hasbro tend to re-release all their toys in revised waves.  Hence a short supply now will be made up for later.  So what if you do manage to complete your movie toyline for now?   Do you really like these toys enough that 6-12 months later, you still feel as obsessed about them as like during the movie screening period?  For some fans and collectors, the novelty of owning certain movie toys wear off soon after the craze dies down.  If this is the case, they are more likely trend chasers than hardcore fans. 

What about you?  Do you chase the toy trend as well?  Or do you stick to your main toyline collections, regardless of whatever toy trends there are?  Feel free to share your comments here!  I’ll love to know what you think!

After buying and bringing home your latest new toy, let’s say you decide to open the toy package and remove the toy from its packaging.  For the plastic bubble parts, it’s very straightforward as many of us will toss it into the rubbish bin.  These plastic bubble are not recyclable for now.

Then how about the backcards and boxes that are printed with the nice photos, pictures and background information of the toy character?  Do you throw them all away as well?

These days the art and deco in the toy packaging can look so nice that you become reluctant to throw them away after you have taken out the toy.  Face it, they are supposed to look attractive for the main reason of enticing you to buy the toy.  After that when you eventually take out the toy, they have virtually done their part and need to move on in the next stage of their existence - to the recycling bin!

My past experience:

For me,  I used to keep the original backcards and flattened boxes of the toys that I bought brand new in packaging.  Usually it’s the art and deco that attracted me to keep them.  But after a while, I realise that I do not even look at them anymore since the day I stored them away, much less appreciate whatever artwork that’s on them.  Hence, I ended up sending almost all of them to the recycling bin.

My current habits:

These days, I still keep the backcards of certain toylines (maximum size - Transformers Deluxe toy backcards) since they are already flat and do not require additional folding for easy storage.  If ever I sell away those toys, then their respective backcards go along with them to the new owners too.  Anyway, I still have the option of recycling them some day should I ever change my mind about keeping them.

I no longer keep flattened boxes, no matter how attractive the box art are.  Even if you flatten some of them, they still have very big surface areas.  As such, where am I gonna find a place big enough in my cupboard to store those large flattened boxes?  After a while, even accumulated flattened boxes can become a thick pile!  Furthermore, too much of these can be a fire hazard!

And hence I now make my toy hobby and life easier with the above practices.  Last but not least, I strongly recommend that you send your unwanted toy packaging (I mean the paper and cardboard parts) for recycling.  Pack them into a recycling bag for your local recycling company to collect. 

Even if you don’t have a recycling collection service from your doorstep, it doesn’t kill you to drop off your recycling bag at the nearest recycling bin you can find.  If you have the energy to go toy shopping and lug new toys home, you have the energy to lug the paper wastes to a recycling bin.  Be proactive about recycling, instead of expecting others to make it convenient for you to do so. 

Remember, we only have 1 planet earth, and as toy collectors and consumers, we are already indirectly ‘contributing’ to excess packaging waste through our demand for toys and other items.  So this is the least we can do for the environment in return!

And with these, enjoy your toy hobby and your life!

Whenever toy collectors buy new toys and bring them home, they go through some of the following scenarios:

1) Open the toy immediately or within the next 24-hours to enjoy, display or store them away;

2) Leave or keep the toy still in original packaging to savour the ‘newness’ of it indefinitely and for possible value appreciation;

3) Leave or keep the toy still in original packaging to await a day of ’suitable’ mood to open it;

4) Buy 2 of each toy, 1 to open now to enjoy and the other to keep in packaging for admiration or possible value appreciation. 

Option 1 is most preferred as it saves space in the home from being taken up by excess and unnecessary product packaging.  Even if you do store away the loose toys, at least they take up less storage space than before.  But you’ll miss seeing its original packaging.

Option 2 takes up a lot of precious space at home, and needless to say, you can’t touch the toy at all!  You might as well open a musuem to display all of them for others to see.  If you are waiting for the toy value to appreciate to sell off in the future, you’re probably better off learning how to invest in the actual stock market instead.

Option 3 is quite as bad as Option 2 because for many of us, that ‘another day’ takes forever to come or never comes.  This is usually an extension of procrastination.  If you accumulate too many toys to open at once, it gets too overwhelming for you to enjoy.  Besides, a lot of toy packaging these days come with pesky twist wires to irritate the hell out of you. 

Option 4 seems like a brilliant idea that gets you the best of both worlds, except that you now have twice the space cluttered problem at home.  Bravo!

So which is actually the best option? 

Well, for a start I recommend using your home space as a guide.  Most of us do not live in very large accommodations and we also tend to share our living space at home with other people. 

Some people cannot stand untidiness in the house, and that includes seeing toy boxes all stacked up against the wall etc.  Walking space invaded by clutter at home also has a depressing energy on you when you attempt to move about at home.

Hence before you buy your next toy, ask yourself this important question: Where am I going to put this?  On the floor with the rest of the untidy piles of previous unopened toy purchases?  Or a proper shelf or storage space that you have already allocated to it in advance?

If the new toy is not going to have a proper place to fit in your home, then it’s just gonna to add to the clutter you already have.  However it’s not a lost cause that you can no longer enjoy your toy collecting hobby like you used to.

This usually means that it’s time to clear out the older toys you no longer love as much, to make room for the newer toys.  Think of it this way, it’s someone else’s turn to enjoy those older toys you no longer want.  Things come and go in our lives. 

Collecting involves the emotion of “attachment” to the toy.  Clearing and selling them away involves the exact opposite emotion of “letting go”.  Learn to manage these 2 very important emotions and your toy hobby will become much more enjoyable and manageable!

In the next post, let’s talk about “to keep or not to keep toy packaging”…

I love these cute little Marvel Universe action figures.  And at the same time I ‘hate’ their existence too for they caused my emotions to be torn in 2 directions, that is, to collect them, or forget about them and stick to collecting just a few toylines. 

In this 1st wave that I completely missed out when they came out in our local departmental stores early this year, I like all of them except for The Punisher (his head is too big).  No wonder they re-released him again in wave 3  with a differenct head sculpt and slightly variant costume.

I think the staff of our local departmental stores are quite surprised that these little non-Star Wars action figures can fly off the shelves despite the high price tags of SGD17.90-18.90 each. 

Toy collecting is like being addicted to smoking and even drugs.  Once you’re in it, your emotional need for immediate gratification takes over your head and tosses out the logic thinking part out the window.  It’s like “who cares what other people think!?  I’m gonna buy them all now!  Hahahah……!!”  In Chinese, we call this stage “too deeply poisoned”…