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!

As a follow up to yesterday’s blog post on how to quit your toy hobby, here are some tips on managing your toys population and keeping you happy with your toy hobby:

Toy population control tips

Most toy collectors I know, do not collect just one toyline.  They tend to ‘jump’ from toyline to toyline due to fads and effective marketing gimmicks by the media, especially for movie toys.  Hence they end up with lots of toys over the years.  ideally, older and “out of season” fad toys should give way to “new fads”.

So it’s best to periodically cull your older toylines that you no longer like.  You’ve got to treat them something like old clothes.  They’ve served their purpose in your life and they should be passed on to others who appreciate them.  This will free up some space for new toylines into your life.  

Toy storage tips

If proper toy storage is a big issue for you and you don’t wish to cull so many toys, and that you are very sure you still want to keep on collecting toys, then you can consider investing in some creative and fun ways to display and store them.

Some toy collectors have literally customised their homes to suit their toy hobbies.  Here is an example from Singapore:

@lex Gen X 1:6 Hardcore and his Toy Haven!

You don’t have to revamp the entire interior deco of your home for your toy hobby, but just dedicate a section of it to store and display your toys aesthetically would be good enough!

Do let me know if these tips have been useful to you.  If you have more to share, feel free to add them here.  I’d love see your contributions!

This blog post is a modified version of an email reply to one of my blog readers.

My Toy Story

For me, I’ve been collecting toys for over 10 years.  At several points, I wanted to quit due to lack of proper storage space, and declining interest in some toylines that I used to like.  Sometimes it was due to stress at some points in my life.

I started in the mid-90s with Toy Biz X-Men action figures, which I still have (I think no one collects them anymore).  Then I went on to collect vintage 80’s My Little Pony (MLP) and all to the current MLPs.  The MLP global online collecting community is very active, so I can clear some of my unwanted pony herds quite conveniently, though sometimes at below cost, since I open most of my toys.

Toy quitting tips

If you really want to quit this hobby completely, it’s better to let it ‘die off’ gradually than do a sudden drastic ‘kill’.  After all, you probably have collected them for many years by now, which means they are a huge part of your life.

Before you quit your toy hobby, you’ve got to find another fulfilling hobby to replace it.  A new hobby that fits in with the current stage of your life, and one that would take up so much of your time that your toy hobby will not such an obsession as before.

The learning of your new hobby and the toy selling tips above should ideally run concurrently.  If you have a new hobby to occupy the newly freed up “toy void” in your life, the chances of really moving on are greater.  In other words, if you have no new hobby to replace your 20 year old toy hobby, you are likely to revert to the toy collecting cycle over and over again.

Last but not least, stay away from places that sell them, or places where you know toy collectors tend to gather (both online and physical venues).  Do not tell yourself that you are only looking and would not buy.  Chances are that you will eventually end up buying something if you keep looking at it and that will likely kick start your toy collecting hobby all over again. 

Toy selling tips

- Forums

If the toys you collect are still popular with collectors today, your best shot is to find the leading online forums for those toylines and join them.  Introduce yourself first and contribute meaningfully & regularly in their discussions.  Share your toy collecting knowledge and experiences with the others when they post queries. 

Then after a few months (you use this time to take photos and compile toy descriptions etc.), you may post your toy sale list for others to see.  You can also include a link to a webpage of toys you have for sale in your signature.  Don’t post your sale list too soon after you join.  People may get put off.

- ebay

Read and follow ebay rules, terms and conditions for selling there. 

- Consignment

Find out if your local collector’s toy shops have this service.  Some of them do, provided if they think your toys can sell and they have the shop space to spare.  Terms and conditions at their discretion would apply.

In Singapore, I do sell my toys on consignment at Toy Outpost.

Tomorrow, I shall post some tips on managing your toys population!  Be back to read them!

Junko Mizuno Designer My Little Pony

This pretty gal is currently on my laptop wallpaper.  It used to be Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) Human Alliance Bumblebee with Sam on my wallpaper but I switched them away mainly because Bumblebee’s robot mode transformation in that photo isn’t ‘complete’.

Anyway, I was feeling the mood for some fashion theme toy photos, except for Barbie doll photos.  So Junko Mizuno Designer My Little Pony settled nicely for me to begin the new year of 2010!  I used to own this pony for a short while only last year.  Then I let another local collector have mine when our bulk order was short of 1 pony.

I believe that many toy collectors tend to decorate their PC or laptop wallpapers with photos of their favourite toys, or the current most desired toys on their want list.  The more they are exposed to those enticing toy photos each time they start up and shut down their computers, they more they feel ‘compelled’ to get those toys.

How about you?  Is your PC or laptop wallpaper adorned with the photo of your favourite toy now?  What made you choose that toy photo for your current wallpaper?  If you are comfortable about sharing about it here, go ahead!  If it’s something you prefer to keep private (LOL!), we respect that too!

How to pack your toys when you move house - This will greatly depend on how ‘fragile’ or ‘durable’ your toys are.  If your toys can be dismantled, then do it to reduce the size and protect the finer parts from damage during the move.

Generally 1) for loose toys like action figures and My Little Pony, you can pack them and their accessories together into Ziplog bags of suitable sizes.  Then pack the Ziplog bags into large carrier bags or carton boxes. 

2) For loose vehicle toys like cars and spaceships that you no longer have the original boxes, bubble wrap them and pack them into carton boxes.  Then fill up the empty spaces in the box with smaller loose toys that have been packed into Ziplog bags.  The aim is to minimize movement of the box contents when the boxes are being transported.  The remaining empty spaces can be filled with soft packing materials (if you have them), or with small folded face towels.

3) You can also mix hard material toys with plush toys in the same carton box.  Just make sure you minimize the chances of the hard material toys from knocking into one another during handling of the cartons.  Use bubble wrap to protect the hard material toys if you have them.  If not, wrapping them with small towels also works.

4) Label all your carton boxes and keep a record book of the contents in every carton box.  

5) If you move house very often, keep your toy collections to a minimum to make your life easier and moving house more manageable!

How to remove light dust from your toys - You can use make up brushes with soft bristles (non-branded ones will do) to brush off light dust from your toys.  The make up brushes come in many shapes and sizes to suit your toys.  Paint brushes on the other hand tend have bristles that are too hard. 

But this method works provided that the dust is non-sticky and has not formed a stubborn layer on your toys.  If it is that bad already, then light brushing won’t work.  You can use wet wipes to rub off those stubborn sticky dust layers.  How much of the dust layer you can clean off will depend on how ‘durable to rubs’ your toy is.  In short, don’t display your loose toys in the open for too long.  

How to sell your toys offline - 1) If you know some toy shop owners well and they are willing to, you can consign your toys with them for free.  But this is usually at their terms.  2) If you are prepared to pay some rental fees upfront, you can consider getting a stall at your local flea market, or 3) selling them in special consignment based toy shops such as Toy Outpost (if you are in Singapore). 

The offline methods will involve transporting your toys for sale, to and fro your home and the selling venues.  The options to sell your toys are vast, but no matter which one you choose, they will be tedious in some way or another. 

If you’ve been in this hobby long enough, you’ll realise that buying toys is easy but selling them off can be tough.  So do consider carefully whenever you want to buy a new toy!

How to sell your toys online - 1) Select and list down the toys that you don’t really like, or want to sell.  2) Take clear photos of them.  3) Check and note down the condition of the toys and be truthful about it.  4) Decide on the selling prices based on current fair secondary market toy prices, and also based on the cost price (that’s why you need to keep a set of toy accounts to refer to).  5) Sell them online at toy forums you frequent, your own website, your blog, or on ebay.  6) Reply email enquires and check for shipping rates if necessary. 

The above steps sound tedious right?  There are options to sell your toys offline too.  Come back again tomorrow to read them here!

Have a monthly budget for buying toys - If toy collecting is a big part of your personal life, you can set aside about 10-20% of your monthly income to indulge in this hobby.  A budget will help to keep your monthly toy expenditures in check, and not let your home be so overrun by your toy purchases that you can’t cope.  If you can, keep a record book or an Excel sheet record of your toy accounts.  I know it’s a bit tedious but trust me, it’s a good habit to cultivate when you collect toys.  It’ll come in more handy when you decide to sell off your toys in future.