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Collections/Minimates Real Talk (Possible "Retirement")


Gmonkey2k

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*Sigh* Here goes.... :(

I'll start at the beginning...I got my first Minimate about 7-8 years ago...A couple years went by, and I rediscovered it. After a bit of confusion, I found out what it was and I tried to get more. The AvX TRU boxset. 

Fast forward to now...

I haven't gotten a new Minimate (or any figure) for at least a month or so.

The last Minimates I got were from Luke (Thank you, again)

The last Legend I got was the Tech Suit Spidey, in June/July.

Collecting figures has started to becoming more disheartening, the fun and fulfilling..

I live in Maine. A small town in Maine. I need to drive about an hour to get to the closest TRU or LCS that carries minimates, or at least keeps getting new Marvel Legends.

Whenever SDCC, Toy Fair, or NYCC rolls around I get excited, but I'm not sure why... For example, The newest Wolverine wave. When I saw Mojo and Spiral, I thought "Holy shit, I'm buying this as soon as these hit!" 

I haven't seen those once.

Anytime I see a new figure or wave, I getting super excited. This excitement turns into disappointment when I realize that I'll never actually find them.

I have a job, but most (if not all) of my money, has been going towards saving for college. 

Unfortunately, I think my time has come. I'm just hurting myself whenever I see new stuff be revealed, and I just can't afford to ship them from all over the place.

Thank for reading my incoherent rant/ramble. I'll still swing by here and there (Probably all the time, because I'm stubborn like that)

Thanks for the good times....

 

-Gavin "Gmonkey2k"

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Yeah with your situation, it would be really tough to collect even one toy line, let alone two. I know one collector who was in a similar circumstance, and he got his collecting under control by only focusing on Marvel Legends of 90's X-Men. He passed on a lot of cool figures because they didn't fit into the rule he set for himself, but he was a lot happier, and he was able to afford to keep collecting, since it was only one figure here and there. Maybe you could try limiting your focus to certain characters or teams or eras? 

Whatever you end up deciding, I am glad to hear you will still swing by here. :)

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3 minutes ago, luke314pi said:

Yeah with your situation, it would be really tough to collect even one toy line, let alone two. I know one collector who was in a similar circumstance, and he got his collecting under control by only focusing on Marvel Legends of 90's X-Men. He passed on a lot of cool figures because they didn't fit into the rule he set for himself, but he was a lot happier, and he was able to afford to keep collecting, since it was only one figure here and there. Maybe you could try limiting your focus to certain characters or teams or eras? 

Whatever you end up deciding, I am glad to hear you will still swing by here. :)

Thanks Luke, I'll take that to heart :happy:

You know Deadpool is always my goal, and you helped me get my "holy grail" in terms of him.

Edited by Gmonkey2k
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Sorry to hear this, but I totally understand your struggles. I know that those of us that live in more populous areas sometimes take for granted how easy it is to pick things up. But you're a valued member of this community (at least by me) so I hope you stay around.

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I completely understand GMonkey! I'm in the same spot with collecting as well. My 1 TRU/ and Walgreens is the only place near me that carries mates and it's 40 minutes one way to get to one of them. It's REALLY disheartening seeing all of these releases and posts about "I just found these new mates on sale for $6" when I can't find like.... anything at my local Stores. Don't get me wrong I'm happy for them but I can't wrap my head around why companies make their products so hard to find. 

I'm lucky that I've had so much help finding exclusives by the people of this forum and Facebook but I find myself very much in a world of stress when something other than an LCS release happens. It shouldn't be stressful or hard to buy stuff. I definitely feel like there's more these companies SHOULD be doing for customers that are trying to give them money. I've written chuck about listing minimates on a DST website INCLUDING exclusives and just giving the other exclusive distributors a cut since they helped make it possible it but he didn't answer. 

minimates are my all time favorite toy line and If I didn't like them so much I would have quit already myself, but the truth is something's got to change because I'm close to quitting too :( 

If you need any help finding anything my TRU still has some Wolverine stuff. 

Edited by The Scarlet Spider
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Been at this game a long time. Not as long as BHM, who still has that complete mint-in-package set of first edition rocks, but a long time.

And I have many times taken many, many breaks from it. Be it to appease some High School girlfriend, (which bugs the heck out of me I did that, as I walked away from SP Cyborg in the wild... not something I like to dwell on) or I just couldn't afford it for a while. Heck, I missed most of 2015-2016 for minimates entirely, and all of Combiner Wars for Transformers (the later really hurt, as I had been waiting decades for updated Scramble City style combiners... but I again digress). 

Point being, if you feel like it's causing you to stress, if you're having trouble justifying the expense, then it's time to set yourself some limits as Luke suggested, or take a break until the situation changes and the finances improve. Being able to recognize when a hobby might be threatening a long term financial goal is a sign of maturity. Congratulations. Now you too have discovered "adulting" sucks.

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Thanks guys, I really appreciate the support :) 

I think setting myself some limits it what I'll do. It still keeps me relatively in the game, but not clamoring over every release.

I'm thinking....X-Men? Their waves aren't always popping up, so it gives me some time to financially get my bearings again.

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The internet, e-commerce mostly, helps with lack of local availability.  That said, these are toys that we do not need to survive and should not take precedence over family and life in general.  Do what you need to do and stop by when you can.

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  • 5 months later...

Bump...Because again, this is getting to disheartening and overwhelming.

I was fired from my job a few days before the new year...

My Mom's insurance was just switched (thanks to her work) so now all my meds are extremely expensive, and I may have to drop my insulin pump.

It really hurts dropping this all together, but I just cant do it....

I'd say something quippy here to lighten the mood, but I don't think anyone has said it better then Douglas Adams..

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That ain't right. Obviously health care comes before Minimates but I know too many people forced into similar positions, having to choose between prescribed medication and food.

 

I hate to see anyone go especially under these circumstances. As long as there's a Minimates Multiverse you'll always have a place here. Best of luck to you, G.

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I've been thinking about what to say since I read this last night. Please do know that, as PL said, you will always have an online home here. I wish that there was more I could do to help. Please, if you set up a GoFundMe page or something, make sure you post the link here, and I'd be happy to share the link via social media. Just remember that you're never alone, and that there's always people that care that can help you out, whatever it may be.

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Well, shit, that does sound pretty darn ugly. And here I thought I had it bad. I don't really have anything encouraging or original to say, but I will tell you this: After a while, you won't even think of the 'Mates. Hell, at some point you might even look back and go "thank fucking God I stopped wasting money on brittle plastic crack". I quit a few years back, and honestly, the only thing that changed is that I no longer obsess over being a completionist. I actually regret the thousands I dropped. 

But either way, bad as it is, I believe you'll make it, for what it's worth. I've had, and seen, my share of misfortunes as well, and things turn out good, more or less.

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And like HP said, if you set up a GoFund me page and whatnot, drop a link here. And when you get out of this tight spot, I'd urge you to not get back in the game. At least until you're financially stable enough for such things to be pocket change. It's a money-sucking habbit. To tell you the truth, in my case at least, it was much more addicting than booze.

PS: This might sound cheesy and not helpful at all, but keep a cheerful/can do attitude. Positive outlook makes a difference, and I know from lots of experience.

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