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Time to stop?


MiniMage

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Im not quitting on Minimates any time soon guys. But now I wonder. Were there ever periods of time when you thought you should've just quit this line of toys? Like maybe thought "What am I doing?". Or something like that?

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I quit Marvel Legends several years ago, during the Blob and Brood Queen waves. Walked away from Star Wars about 15 years ago. In both cases figures were just getting too hard to get a hold of. Anytime the hassle and annoyance of getting what you are looking for regularly outstrips whatever enjoyment your getting from a collection, it's time to stop IMO.

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Every now and then I get into a mood of "why am I spending money on toys?" And then take a small hiatus. Maybe a week or a month off from collecting.

I think it's good to collect multiple different lines of things. That way you won't necessarily get burnt out on collecting. I took a bout year off from minimates, only collected the things that appealed to me. Then thy came out with the battle beasts, walking dead among others and resparked my interest.

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I look at my collection I have on my desk at work added in with the various plastic bins I have of customs finished, in the works, or other and think the same thing. Then I realize how many people are dedicated to this hobby, the knowledge I learned from making customs and the happiness it brings others when I show them off. It really is worth it.

I had the same feeling about Marvel Legends- but that I went the opposite direction. Once Hasbro bought the line and it was getting harder to track down figures let alone characters I actually wanted to have, PLUS maintaining the shelf space/dust for them I quit cold turkey. I ended up putting them all on Craiglist and had a guy buy the entire lot. With minimates though, it's different, and the reasons why I still collect them to this day:

1. Size

(take up way less space than 6 inch figures)

2. Character selection

(a few stragglers, but they've pretty much made everyone at this point and to go beyond just super heroes with movies, video games, and tv was a brilliant move)

3. Consistency

(remember trying to collect a whole wave of figures back in the toy biz days only to miss one crucial character?--then finding him in another wave but a completely different scale? I HATED THAT!! :verymad:

4. Customization

(swapping parts was the first thing I did with my FF set, I knew it had potential, I needed/wanted to get more)

5. Luke Porter

(yep, without him I wouldn't have gotten into customizing or discovered this awesome forum)

6. DST's Zach Oat

(you know you have a great line when they actually care what you have to say and comment on a fan forum- that's dedication)

So there you have it. :lol:

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6. DST's Zach Oat

(you know you have a great line when they actually care what you have to say and comment on a fan forum- that's dedication)

Honesty for me, this means tremendous things for me. While I may have only had minimal amount of interaction with Zach, just him being A member here AND being such a frequent contributer, makes collecting minimates so much better. You rarely find a company that interacts on a daily basis with its fans. I can only think of 1 other line that does this (matty collector/toy guru). And while I can appreciate it, he is super vague and rarely answers anything directly.

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That's my only gripe about minimates- because they are so small, you can have a ton of them- but then it's almost more of hassle keeping track of them than 6" figures. It's a slippery slope but what other toy line do you know of that has reached 50 waves? The only other line I can think of would be Playmates Simpsons figures. I used to have all of those too- the talking environments, the halloweeen playsets, Lard Lad- you name it. Got rid of all of them and don't regret it. The only line other than minimates I collect is TMNT (NECA- stopped at the four turtles, Classics- heard a 2nd wave is in the works, and Nick TMNT- really looking forward to Baxter Stockman and Leatherhead figures).

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Um... not taking anything away from Zach... love ya, mean it... but it's not like DST completely ignored us before he was hired. While Matt wasn't quite as vocal as Zach, those code games of his were a lot of fun. Just don't want to see him forgotten in all the (well deserved) Zach love.

I only completely quit that one time, and that lasted almost a year. When I gave up on HML, well I replaced it with minimates. ML is back, but I'm staying with mates.

Edited by Mirymate
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I feel like we should produce one of those "When The Fun Stops" PSA brochures. Like, it could have a picture of a manic-looking guy with stubble, messed up hair, and a sweat-stained t-shirt pulling apart a Riot Attack Spidey in the foreground, and there's a woman hugging a child in soft focus in the background. On the inside, there could be a shot of a mangled TRU exclusive package next to a family picture with the glass cracked.

BHM, can we put your number down for the crisis hotline? :teehee:

Edited by Lobsterman
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I quit for a couple years several years ago due to having to raise kids and a teenage niece. It was difficult to walk away from and I kept up on what was still coming out. At the time, I had almost 200 mates and it felt like that was hard to walk away from. Now that I've gotten way over 1000, it would be difficult to stop and not regret it. I suppose i always think if I lost my job it would be an easy decision, but that's one of the few reasons I can think of that would push me to that point. If I was just a casual collector though, I think it'd be easy to stop.

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I always ask myself, "does this make me happy?" and go from there. Marvel Legends stopped making me happy a few years ago, so I called it quits and sold my collection. It felt fantastic. Same with Star Wars figures a few years before that. Life is too short to have a hobby that makes you unhappy. Minimates have made me happy for almost 9 years now, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. They say you shouldn't turn your hobby into a business, but running the toy store has not affected my passion for the figures. If anything it has made it stronger.

And thanks for the kind words. :)

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Minimates is the one line I've never once thought about stopping.

As for other lines it depends, space, desire, accessibility, time, and line ups.

When you reach a point where it's a hassle and burden to buy a new wave it's time to quit.

I recently stopped getting GI Joes, I have pretty much everything from the 25th era until now including club and con exclusives. I reached the point where I have pretty much everything I'd want and when the line was delayed cause of the movie I was happy to save the money. That was a big sign that it was time to stop.

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I forgot to mention the availability thing too. Back when I was collecting Simpsons and Marvel Legends I'd waste so much time cold calling stores asking if they had the latest shipment (and getting so steamed when they didn't know what I was talking about) or character- then getting psyched for the upcoming releases from Toyfare (the mag, not the event) and the process would start all over again. Definitely don't miss that headache now that I can just order minimates online. Saves me the gas money that's for sure.

I still enjoy going to TRU once a week don't get me wrong- but it's more of a 'ooo...this is new' and wandering the aisles than the salivating toy collector I used to be.

Edited by Jeff
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I just finished off selling a 100% complete Marvel Universe collection. Hasbro is just the worst with distribution, character selection, price vs. quality, etc... It was a wonderful line for a while but the figures were so hard to find. Add in the fact that the paint apps were often horrible and the actual build quality had begun to really drop off with serious price increases and it actually felt like a relief when the last of the figures were gone. I've seen new figures on the pegs since then and didn't have the slightest urge to pick them up. And I haven't had a single regret with letting that collection go. That's how I knew it was a good decision. I didn't rage quit because I didn't like the new wave or over con exclusives or anything like that. I just didn't care about the hassle of collecting the line. Like others have said, the balance tipped far more to the unhappy side than the happy side. At which point it feels like a waste of time and money.

As far as Minimates go, it has been a great replacement so far. I've only been collecting for around a year but I've enjoyed the process immensely. The sense of community that I've found here has been a big boost. And the level of communication from DST is a *HUGE* factor as well. I really appreciate how much info they give us. Even when it's bad news. Having completely cut out all Hasbro buying, I was looking for something to replace the larger figures of MU and ML. I have been very happy with DST so far so I've been looking into their Marvel Select line. After trying to price what the cost would be to pick up the older and more expensive figures, I had several sites opened up and was ready to pull the trigger on purchasing a good number of figures. But then I read a recent Q&A by DST Chuck about the Select line. In it, he stated that Vision would be a "long shot" as a figure in the Select line. I'm not a Vision super fan, but to me, Vision is an A list character. The fact that he would be a long shot and figures like Barbarian Hulk are being made caused me to pause and rethink things. While the Barbarian Hulk is a cool looking figure, I am more interested in a line with a nice selection of characters to choose from. I didn't like the answer given, but the honesty was something I really appreciated. DST Chuck saved me a lot of time and frustration. That's something you never get from the big companies. And while it stopped me from puchasing Select items, it definitely added to my feeling of happiness when buying Minimates. It seriously helps to appreciate the company as well as the license.

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Define normal.... :)

Normal is what everyone else is and you are not.

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Haha. True, but can you quantify it? One mans normal is another mans 700 Hulkbusters worth of abnormal.

I wish I could claim credit for the clever retort, but I was just quoting Dr Sorin (sp) from Star Trek: Generations. shrug

Seemed appropriate.

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I had at least three of every character produced at one point, and was even lucky enough to own one of the Gold Spideys that I actually won at Wizard World Chicago. I bought Minimates by the case as well as picking up extras at comic stores, Target, TRU,etc... I was well on my way to becoming the US version of BHM, but then a few things happened that I needed money for, so all the extras were sold off, but I retained a complete loose collection. Then, another year or two later, I discovered Hot Toys figures, and ended up selling my ENTIRE collection to fund my Hot Toys habit. A move I truly regretted, but what's done is done.

I currently own fewer than 10 Minimates, and it sucks because I've never enjoyed collecting a line of toys more than I enjoyed collecting Minimates. I'm sorely tempted to jump back in, but I know that I will never be able to replace what I once had without spending a ridiculous amount of money. :/ At the very least, I need to buy the Venom 4pack so I can give myself a proper avatar.

Edited by minivenom
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Yeah - I've had a similar experience with Marvel Legends. I don't want to totally blame it on Hasbro, since they have produced some stuff that i've liked since taking over (AoA Sunfire was pretty freaking awesome), but i feel like i have been a good deal less excited about the range since they took over.

It has been years since i saw a wave that was excited by... I've been buying the occasional figure here and there just to 'keep up' my X-Men collection. I just got the Hasbro Mystique figure - although she is under my bed & still in her package.

And it's not like Hasbro don't have a reasonable character selection.... the MU line is dishing out heaps of figures that i like - but for some reason, their ML's just don't thrill me any more.

Maybe ToyBiz lost the license for a reason? Perhaps they knew that they couldn't keep making such great figures and keep the costs down? Maybe they knew they were going to need to head even further into serious retread country to keep the line going?

Whether it's the more 'plasticy' look & feel of them, the serious price hikes, the retreads or the fewer pack-ins (comics, accessories, BAF parts) i think i'm finally over Marvel Legends.

Reading others comments on here have helped me to feel a bit more at peace about it too.

Luckily, Minimates have really kept me going over the last 4 or 5 years. There is always at least one wave a year that blows me away... and even the waves that i don't *LOVE* are still pretty good. They have gotten me to buy characters that i never thought about collecting before.

If Hasbro was able to produce as many waves a year with as much diversity as DST does.... maybe i'd still be exited by Legends.

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I've never thought about quitting minimates, but I have quit manically collecting other lines. Now I just buy whatever figures I want from whatever line. Marvel Select is a good example, because even though they are really excellent figures, I own one. Deadpool. And he was a gift. But soon enough I will actually have my second in Rhino. For me, it's just about knowing what I want to have taking up space around my house. Space I am perpetually running out of, as it were.

1355961299[/url]' post='254594']

At the very least, I need to buy the Venom 4pack so I can give myself a proper avatar.

If you just need a picture, let me know, I can probably help you out with that one.

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