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Do you collect anything? I'd like to know about it. I've been a short term collector all my life. Meaning, I become obsessed with one fandom or hobby and collect merchandise hardcore for a few months then lose interest completely. One thing I've always had interest in though were comic books and figures/toys. However, I never had the income to get a collection going although I hope to start my figure collection soon by purchasing some Gundam model kits (the simple prepainted ones to start with).
Does anyone here have extremely valuable collectibles?
I found out recently my girlfriend has a HUGE amount of Sailor Moon merchandise and her and her father share well over 10,000 dollars worth of Marvel/DC Comics and action figures. She has 2 cardboard boxes filled with comics and two mantles and a shelf dedicated to her action figures (mostly female superheroes such as Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, etc.)
I didn't know this about her until last night and I can't lie, it made me way more attracted to her. Now that I know she's a bit of a geek I'm gonna try to get her into Magic The Gathering/YuGiOh and D&D which I've always been interested in. But it also made me realize how bare my room is and how I've never really stuck with a collection or saved up money to have any kind of stuff I can be proud of or that I put any work into. So I've finally decided to start collecting figures (and to a lesser extent, comics since she has a buttload and I will share them all with her when we get a place next year) like I've always wanted to. I guess I'm a bit jealous to be honest. She has way more nerd stuff than me even though I'm a lot more knowledgeable about the various fandoms but she was spoiled and I was definitely anything but that as a kid. So, tell me about what you or your friends/family collect and show off your collections with pictures if you can!
Also if you collect figures (anime/superhero/video game related figures in particular) I would love some suggestions on quality brands or places where I can get good deals/discounts online.
 
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I was always too poor to collect stuff (and did not have any place to put them).
When i was 8 i had a collection of 100 small cars (toys), that's about it.
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The problem with me back then and now is that I'm too much of a "completionist". Every game I buy I will complete every single achievement/level. Similarly, everything I tried to collect, I'd get frustrated that I couldn't get everything :p. So yea, I didn't really end up collecting anything for more than a week.
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when I was young, I collected hockey card, like everyone in Quebec 
I still have them but it worth probably a total of 300$ 
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I collect Charlie Brown Comic books.
Still going from the 1950s to now 1980s
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1999-2003 hockey cards. got it signed by an entire slovakia team in 2002.
unfortunately i sold it for 300 euros so I could by a new comp for CoD4.
I dont really mind because my passion for SC2 is way bigger than for hockey : )
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Used to collect pokemon cards
Now music like everyone else, and funny pictures
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Ha. I am a huge comic collector. I have many rare books as well as highly rated books which only a few exist at said rating. That is really one of my main passions. My wife has made fun of me. One time I bought a 9.8 rated book for 25 bucks when it first came out. This was a variant which only had 2000 printings. Now, just a few years later that one book, which I bought a few of at 25 bucks a piece you cannot find for less than 125 bucks.
I think of all this as investments. A lot of what I have is not worth a ton, but between some rare books, plus complete series collections of Web of, Spectacular, and Spider-Man series including the 1st print variants and everything else, it more than covers the cost of the stuff that is not worth anything. Comics are great, but you have to know what you are looking for and what you have. Most people have comics and they aren't worth shit. It is the same with cards and whatever else. 98% of it junk and only worth sentimental value, but that last 2%, if you are paying attention, can really do you well.
The beauty is that in this collection, I have learned why I love reading comics. I have a ton of books that are not worth anything monetarily, but I love reading and rereading them. As long as I can enjoy my comic habit and still retain the investment side of it, then it is all worth it.
Here is a link to my collection database: http://comicbookdb.com/collection.php?ID=12592
EDIT: On a side note, that book that I mentioned with only a couple thousand copies, I continued to buy and still buy when I find them at good prices. I currently own a decent percentage of all in existence. It started just as a huge fan of the writer/artist, but turned into a decent investment.
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Blazinghand
United States25550 Posts
I collect ladder points from the bloodstained corpses of my enemies. <3
Actually, though, I have an enormous collection of mtg cards. Like, several boxes full and a couple of binders. I'm sure there's people with more than me, who do a better job of preserving, but it's nice just to have something that you've collected, right?
I also save the magazines I subscribe to and organize them on several bookshelves. I don't ever read them but it's cool seeing them all lined up.
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I used to collect stamps, but that's one of those childhood things you start and keep up for a couple years then completely forget about later. Well, that's how that turned out.
When I first moved to Toronto I used to collect subway transfer stubs for every station, and some special ones (like day 365 and 001 at Union Station). Later I found out that these stubs were printed the same way faxes are done - something to do with heat printing - and that meant that the print would "evaporate" or disappear from the stub after a certain period of time. Lame. Threw that away (most stubs with super faint to no text) long time ago.
I didn't get very far with Pokemon cards... kind of wish I tried harder, lol.
I also have an amateur collection of coins, looking to expand that throughout my lifetime!
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Bof I can't really give much first hand advice because I've never really been into dumping money into something that's ~kinda useless~ just because I want a collection....
So I'll advise you to do what I've done with the collections I do have, which is to choose to collect something useful. By useful I mean something that you can use to have fun with, from which you derive more pleasure than just letting it sit on a shelf/pile. IMO (not to shit on your hobby bro! :E) is it a worthwhile use of your (in my case "limited") funds to spend them on something, who's only ultimate use and value is resale-ability?
I don't think I'm making sense, so here iz exampl:
I collect 2 things mainly. Logitech Mini Optical mice (I've got 6 [!!!1!1!] including one still in the box [!! $50 on amazon, but was worth it] ), and Rubik's cubes. Ok I don't have ALL that many of either category, but I feel it still counts as a collection, because when I think of "what I would spend $100 bucks on if it fell from the sky/a cereal box" it'd be (in this order) a new cube (or 3 q; ), item of clothes/shoes, and if ever another logitech mini optical.
What I'm trying to say is, spend your money on something that's worth your money and I'm sorry (again if you like it all power to you, gl hf), I've been to Gundam stores and entire figurine-stories in department stores in Japan, and they all seemed quite pricey for something you're only gonna enjoy how many times? 2,3, 4 max? [sidenote=Ah yes and I also have 3 distinct copies of Stacraft (not SCII), garrage sales ftw)]. My shoes (I'm a guy but it's a guilty pleasure, 50% off is your friiiieeeenddd) I wear every day and I've got a pleasing selection. My mice, well, they're great for LANs and I also use them more than my shoes (: . And my cubes, well, about that...
I'd say if you want to, again, dump cash into some hobby and wacky pursuit, do it for something you can play with for heaven's sake! My cubes my cubes...
Ok Rubik's cubes, I love 'em. Right now I picked up the one on my desk (DaYan Guhong stickerless <: ) and did it in bad lighting (can't really tell Yellow and White apart) in 22.12sec. I'm not trying to brag ooooh I'm so good, no. But it's a hobby that I really enjoy. I've 'got history' that's rather long and dreary with doing the Rubik's Cube, I'll just say my older Brother was a BAUS the last time he visited China and brought back the cube i just solved to give to me for Christmas. At the time, it was semi-illegal (copyright), and was also the best cube in the world, having been used to break the 3x3x3 world record (6.62sec iirc). The most important thing about this story, and why I'm telling it is: that cube cost less than $15, and that's as expensive as 3x3's get. And it (was) is the best model in the world. From that I went into larger cubes (up to 7x7x7) which cost a bit more, but even so, I really don't need another 3x3 because the one I've got is already amazing. Hence I say I collect them, because now I'm craving the newer DaYan model and once my international credit card is set up I'll be a happy man.
Allright I did my research and it turns out that's the same price-range as Gundam figurines...... BUT THE POINT IS it's a hella lot more useful than a ~doll~ and it's a lot more fun too. I'd only ever practice on the train and tram commuting to class (45min 1 way) and that plus a little help from my friend the internet gives me a skill (that I didn't need to invest all that many class or cash points into) which is stimulating, fun, impressive, great for passing time and never really gets boring because each scramble needs a different solution.
So I challenge ya, next time you want to spend $15 on a kit, get just one quality cube for the same price. Ah yes benefits include great ice-breaker, making people thinking you're smarter than you actually are and freeeee beeeeers!
As always, hope you're doin well, u (and all other BW'ers) should come on iCCup when the Race Wars Everyday thread calls, sorry for that rant that's worth a blog in itself (you'd be amazed how much you end up writing on TL when you've got really heavy but important stuff to do instead), and sorry that I prefer collections that are worth more to you than lookin cool on a shelf, having a lot of them, or being valuable because they're rare. + Show Spoiler [Sidenote on Sentimental Value] +I fuckin love the cube I was talking about. ok go .. 21.01sec this time, this makes me the happy (:
The number of times I've taken it apart, cleaned every piece, taken them apart too, glued them together, re-assembled it, lubricated the whole thing, tightened/loosened the screws etc. I don't even know it's been so much. But the thing still works perfectly, better than it ever has, and it's one of my most prized possessions. First cube I ever solved blind-folded, first cube I ever got a sub-20sec solve on, first to solve with my nose (2nd with feet).... a whole bunch of wacky stuff I've done with it. It's worth SO MUCH MORE to me than the, what, $15, that it cost, most importantly because it's the kind of thing that I use often and play and interact with regularly, it doesn't just rot in a box/display, I actually use it.
Ugh this is long srry 'bout dat bro
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When I was in elementary and middle school I collected coins, stamps, and bottlecaps. The first two fused with my dad's old collections and is in some pretty sick binders at home. Nothing crazy-valuable, but respectable. The latter might be in a coffee can in my parents' attic somewhere but I have no idea.
In high school my non-musical extracurricular love affair was Magic the Gathering. I played from the Odyssey and Onslaught and Mirrodin blocks. I didn't keep up with it because I got to the point where I was really only interested in playing Type 1 or 1.5 (I'm not really sure what the difference between Legacy and Extended is so I use the old terms) and had neither money to support that or time to go to tournaments or friends with similar interests. I still have my old decks/reserves/binder somewhere at home, and someone gave me a bunch of Zendikar block cards in a bag. I don't know anyone who plays anymore though, so they sit in a box and occasionally I look at the good rares online when a new set comes out. It was a game for me, not a collection, but I've got at least several hundred dollars of cards. On the other hand, I wouldn't enjoy MTGO -- it was the awesomeness of sitting across from your friend and shuffling up your deck wondering what those cards in his hand were that made it fun, and a computerized version just seems like a tedious text-based adventure game to me.
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The only thing I've ever collected were pokemon cards (most of those were false, because they were a lot cheaper lol) and things which were in snacks like Cheetos, Lays etc...
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i will say this my brother is a huge collector
im not though
anyways his collection consists of about 1000 games form systems which a few are super nintendo, sega genesis, playstation 1, nintendo ds, regular nintendo, and dreamcast.
he also has over 700 pokemon cards and some extremely rare ones.
he has over 1000 magic the gathering cards and some extremely rare ones as you can imagine.
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I collect Visual Novels and have 3 externals full of titles =P
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When I was younger I collected Magic: The Gathering cards like crazy. I owned tons of super rare shit, Black Lotus and so on. I learned from that, that I'm a total collector. Like someone mentioned above, getting everything in a game like achievements and completing stuff is almost an obsession. If there are upgrades in a game or random item drops (I curse thee, Diablo 2!!!) I want all of them! I also collect books, sort of. I've always been a big reader but nowadays I sometimes buy books just to have them. Not that I don't read them, but buying them is almost compulsive (Yes, I need Huckleberry Finn and Don Quixote at home, what are you talking about?!). Flea markets will be my financial downfall eventually. 
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I was more of an in-game collector. I was collecting tabards and pets in WoW, Ears in Diablo, etc. The only thing I collected in real life was Magic cards but those days are long behind me.
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I collect Donald duck comics, have about 320 books i think. (yea books, not magazines).
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I have a shit-ton of Beanie Babies.
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FuDDx
United States5006 Posts
Ive collected many things.
Video Game systems
From Pong (4 versions)
to Xbox (when I stopped and sold it all off)
Magic The Gathering (started playing in Alpha stopped after all my play decks/sideboards got stolen from my car, Right after the jokey set I forgot the names)
Comics ( got into comics when Image was getting started was a huge fan of Image stuff)
Movies ( I worked for a used bookstore that had videos, video games, books comics etc, was easy to collect stuff there)
Books
Currently I collect Magic magazines/books/dvds/tricks etc and Ballooning stuffs
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EPT
