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Anonymous09/10/26, 14:12No.11896115toy addiction
>discover cool toy line
>"I'll only get a few"
>get addicted after first few and go back to catch up on old ones and preorder a bunch of upcoming ones
>within a few months have amassed a sizeable collection
>start to feel sick to my stomach thinking about how much money I've wasted and how many material possessions I am encumbered by
>every new purchase brings more feeling of guilt than enjoyment
>start selling things when I feel sick or depressed enough
>repeat cycle
This has happened several times in the last 6-8 years. And now I have become lazy about the selling things off stage as well so my plastic garbage collection just keeps taking over space in my home like a cancer.
I feel like I can't really enjoy toy collecting anymore. The high of getting your first figures from a new line or finding good deals on old stuff is so fleeting. Most of the time I just feel sick and disgusted with myself. This is basically an addiction at this point right? Things were manageable when I was sticking to characters I liked but ever since I started getting OCs or other random stuff that just looks cool, it feels like there is no end in sight. It's worse than ever now. My expenditure has never been higher and it feels like I am speedrunning collection burnout. I am scared.
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Anon09/10/26, 14:33No.11896128
yes, that is the spendcycle of toy collecting
no, you cannot escape
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Anon09/10/26, 14:33No.11896129
well we aren't these physical things so we'll never find satisfaction since we can only make ourselves happy, I've got 20 years of shit to unload too, my house is half warehouse, it's seriously retarded in retrospect but growing up, my parents refused to buy me toys and I had to borrow from friends, I feel just as lacking as before I started, same for video games, etc.
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Anon09/10/26, 15:18No.11896155
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Anon09/10/26, 16:40No.11896210
Yeah, it's a slippery slope and the less self-control you have the quicker you'll be overwhelmed. Once you start buying stuff you have no emotional connection to, you know you're in trouble because nothing's off the table anymore. I'm at a point where I don't buy a new figure without getting rid of an old one because I have more than I can currently display. I'll probably be moving in the next year or two and the thought of having to pack all this up only to set it all up again in the new house is discouraging.
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Anon09/10/26, 16:48No.11896219
I feel so different...
I'm always focused on just favorite characters.For example i collect transformers but i collect only characters i really like... And even if we are in this current Peter Cullen news i still just bought Beachcomber because it was finally on sale on amazon.
I still don't have SS86 Optimus. But i have SS86 Megatron. (Peter Cullen as a human wouldn't think that spending money on optimus toy was a good way to honor him - he was a good man and wouldn't think this way)Just... buy stuff you like.
But i see that you at least selling it - not just keeping it forever covered in dust. So you are not completely lost
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Anon09/11/26, 00:00No.11896503
>>get addicted after first few and go back to catch up on old ones and preorder a bunch of upcoming ones
Sounds to me like your hobby gave you that wake up call we all get. Real toy collecting is about buying only what you WANT but not what you NEED. You don't buy a toy because you saw the movie or something, you bought it because your personal perception of that toy goes beyond what media tells you. Also you should play with your toys. They're called action figures because they're figures built for action. Don't just put them on a shelf. Put them on a table and pretend they're doing something
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Anon09/11/26, 01:39No.11896577
Just give yourself a budget, it a number of figures per time. It's the unlimited nature that causes what you're feeling because you're having a constant mental battle with an undefined number of figures you're allowed.
When you have a rule to follow, then you've offloaded the worry onto the rule and can just enjoy it.
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Anon09/11/26, 14:47No.11897088
I've done a better job controlling my hyper-fixations and not getting into anything new I can't control. I've been fighting against getting too deep into G.I. Joe because I have no real connection or love for the franchise but I bought a Cobra Commander figure and have been fine with just that. It went out of control with Transformers though, I was buying all kinds of shit that i've since sold.
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Anon09/11/26, 15:53No.11897133
>>start selling things when I feel sick or depressed enough
Well as long as you do that does it even matter? Most people just hoard the toys but at least you can say "yeah I had that in my collection at some point"
>t. Hoarder who will sell stuff "soon, I'll sell it. I'm telling you it's only a matter of time."
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Anon09/12/26, 22:48No.11897971
Why don't you just play with them?OP, your behavior pattern is the definition of a surrogate activity.
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Anon09/13/26, 17:34No.11898338
I recommend trying ERP therapy.
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Anon09/13/26, 18:01No.11898347
You need to have limitations man otherwise you'll end up like Sean Long
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Anon09/13/26, 18:40No.11898374
While it’s not easy, one thing I learned is you have to sort of pick and choose your nostalgia. Case in point I just bought AOTP Fangry because it was triggering nostalgia of when I had the original G1 version. They also have pretty good versions of the Thunderzords from Power Rangers right now. I used to own the original, but I’m not particularly feeling like collecting that right now so it’s not something that I will get.
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Anon09/18/26, 10:12No.11901471
The trick is to become incredibly picky about all things and eventually most of what you already have will not be up to your personal standards. That makes getting rid of most of your crap hoard doable.
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Anon09/18/26, 22:33No.11901822
I know this all too well, currently I just have so many figures I bought that I took out once or twice but they ended up in boxes and I put those boxes in the closet or drawers, been a slow wake up call but I am finally going through selling what I dont want and tossing out boxes for the stuff I do want and actually display it, but its been a lot of selling and a lot of "why the fuck did I get that?"
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Anon09/19/26, 02:25No.11901998
"collecting" shouldn't be enjoyable. It's autistic behaviour for dopamine seeking losers trying to a fill the hole where life experiences and creativity should be. Buying plastic to shove on your shelf and feel "complete" will last moments, before you move onto the next obsession. It's not healthy. Look at photos of the few collectors who dare to show their face. Most of them are depressed, fat, dysgenic freaks.
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Anon09/19/26, 16:11No.11902321
Buy a figure, then return it. Depending on the store's return policy, you have 30-90 days to decide if you want to keep it. That's enough time for the honeymoon phase to wear off. I just bought the entire wave of TMNT x GI Joe line, but I'll probably just keep a couple figures and return the rest.