ARE WE ADDICTED TO COLLECTING?

The adrenaline rush of buying a figure be it on the company site or after a good hunting and negotiation on eBay or Facebook is awesome and all collectors I believe experience that. I know I do. Closing an excellent deal or finally grabbing that XM figure you sought for so long is a great pleasure. As is receiving the box from the mail. The ritual of opening, assemble and examine the piece is the icing of the cake. But once the thrill is over and it goes after a short period of time once having the figure (ever shorter the more figures one have) and you (and me) are already thinking about the next thrill. This is imho means you (and me) are addicted to collecting.

SDCC and the other toy fairs and conventions are like drug spots where dealers – the companies – highlight us all the pleasures to come. The next thrills. Not to mention the customs side market. Many find special pleasure in doing business with their statues, so their collections are always rotating with old figures being substituted by new ones in a never-ending cycle. By new I don’t mean only new releases but figures that were never possessed before. There are those that even sell or trade a figure to regret and acquire the same figure later, possibly for a higher value. There are all kinds of behaviors regarding collecting but when they turn compulsive is where the problem begins. When the urge of the thrill becomes relentless. If one compromises his/her finances in order to acquire figures I guess it's time to seek for help. It means one lost control of the habit. I had very compulsive collecting moments. I spent a great deal of my father’s inheritance in three months buying figures on eBay on a time figures weren’t as expensive as they are nowadays. I entered in the manic cycle of my bipolar disorder and went completely out of control. Sold the majority of them afterwards, some grails, in terrible negotiations because I happen to be terrible in business. From 2016 to today I managed to acquire “only” six figures but given the figures prices nowadays I’ve spent a great deal of money, around $4k. Not counting the shipping.

From the rest of 2017 to the end of my life I intend to buy just two more figures, SS Swamp Thing and the new Red Sonja. The hobby just went out of my financial reach and I believe I don’t have more room to display properly the figures I acquire. I cancelled one order to be able to accommodate these two new figures in my collection and because I found the painting of the final production piece disappointing compared to the prototype showed on the site. Thank god I buy only Sideshow statues, apart some Bowens and one Gentle Giant piece I have. I would be in big trouble if I collected XM and in a huge trouble (pun intended) if I collected Prime 1 pieces. I happen not to like their styles I cannot exactly say why. I feel only blessed I think this way or else I would be on a much bigger trouble. My last acquisition was the Hulk LSB (my most expensive piece ever) and I have a problem since I live in Brazil. The custom taxes here are 60% over the declared price of the product plus shipping. I generally send the figures I buy to my brother’s home in US and he brings me one every time he comes to visit us or I bring another when I go visit him (what only happened once at the time being).  But with the Hulk LSB I won’t be able to do that because the box is too big to fit checked luggage specifications. So I’ll have to ask Sideshow to ship the figure directly to me what will cost me around $800-850 in custom taxes if the shipping cost is akin to Deadpool LSB. Apart the shipping cost itself of circa $300-350. It’s a very heavy hit. I will pay well more than twice for the figure. I won’t give up because it will be the centerpiece of my collection. I believe it is the best Hulk portrait ever done and I need a Hulk in my collection and I want the best. Or, in other words, I just fell in love with the statue as I only did with the new Red Sonja, Gentle Giant Babydoll, Bowen Man-Thing, and with Hatsune Miku Mebae Version. Yes, I collect PVC and vinyl figures as well. My collection is pretty varied. I happen to have even a Hot Toys Jack Nicholson Joker though I’m a terrible poser. Lol. On the other hand, regarding Hulk, this “in love” thing maybe mean I’m still on the thrill of acquiring it. The thrill of addiction. I cannot say for sure.

I cannot say for sure if I’ll buy Swamp Thing out of addiction or because he is my all-time favorite character. I don’t know if when I fall in love with a statue I’m on my “addicted mode” which I believe so. I don’t know if I will be able to quit after acquiring these last two statues I intend to buy. I don’t know what the next SDCC has in store for me. All I know is that my room is not yet prepared for display my statues and I’m planning to reform it in 2018. At least reforming costs are a lot cheaper in Brazil than is US (and in most first world countries for that matter). Sure won’t be cheap as well. However is a sad collection one that is being kept in the boxes. The only figure I dared to take from the box and keep out of it is my SS Daredevil because right now I only have space to display him in my room and because most of my figures are still in US. It’s an even more sad collection one kept in the boxes thousands of miles away from the collector. My brother won’t come to visit us this year so only god knows when I will get my hands on a new statue of mine. In addition, my brother already said to me “no more statues at my home”. That’s another reason why I want to send Hulk directly to Brazil. But my brother is such a good person I think he will forgive me for three more statues to come, Malavestros, Swamp Thing and Red Sonja. At least he will not receive the gigantic Hulk LSB box that would certainly piss him (and especially my sister in law) the most.

Then I guess will be it. However, when planning my room, I will try to leave space for a couple more statues. You know the addiction. One never knows what the next con will bring. But the only thing I could devise to tempt me is another beautiful female character. Other than that there are no more characters I want. I guess. Swamp Thing and Hulk were the last of them. Though I love Alan Moore and Watchmen is the best comic ever to me, statues based on its characters wouldn’t appeal to me. Nor even V for V for Vendetta would appeal to me even though is my second favorite character. So I guess there isn’t anything Sideshow could bring to the table that I don’t have already. And I can only wonder how high will be the prices next year. So I really hope I’ll be out of the game by then. Still I’ll try to leave a some space left. After all, one never knows what may come down the road. Moreover, there’s one thing I’m sure about addictions: once a addicted, always an addicted. You can quit but you’ll always be addicted to it. It’s like a dormant beast, if you tease it, it may wake up hungrier than ever. I’m addicted to other things. I quit them all. I guess collecting will be the easiest one to give up. And the prices are pushing me out of it already. Still the spaces will be there. Maybe for an Iron Man MK III Maquette, or a perfect comic Iron Man (maybe I end up buying a Bowen), a perfect Beast (which was already launched as a custom, that one will be tough to beat, and I missed it…), or a perfect Joker or… well, I thought there wasn’t nothing more I desire but you know the drill, you know thrill…

There is one addiction I couldn’t and don’t want to quit: smoking. I just changed to e-cigarettes. And I even happen to smoke one real cigarette when I wake up and another when I go to sleep. Is collecting another addiction I don’t plan to give up? I honestly don’t know. But I certainly would like to. And about you? Are you addicted to collecting? What makes one person addicted to it, in your opinion? Do you plan to quit someday? When and why? Is it really a bad thing if you can afford it?

One may wonder why I posted these making of images of Swamp Thing. Well,
because it's one of the figures I intend to buy and to remember that these figures
are a form of art of sorts and should be regarded so.

On a side note, there’s something in common about collecting and other types of addiction, most people don’t understand and even have prejudice about it. My family and friends just don’t get my hobby and don’t understand why I spend so much on it. They see my pieces as toys or junk I’m accumulating. It’s a bless to have these Facebook groups to share my passion and being understood in our addicting hobby. The only downsides are the desirable new pieces shared that tempts myself getting but it’s good to train one’s will power. Lol. Jokes apart these are places where I feel right at home and can discuss and share my opinions without being afraid of prejudice since we’re all on the same boat here. A boat we all love sailing.