Will you ever be finished?

[DarthOdette]

I have not been a collector of Marvel Legends for too long now.  During the ToyBiz days, when I was much younger, I was more of a pick and choose kinda guy.  If there was a cool character I was familiar with, I’d pick it up.  At this time, however, I wasn’t much of a collector of anything.  I loved Star Wars and Toybiz’s Lord of the Rings line, so I picked those up more frequently, but at this point in my life, these weren’t additions to a collection, they were toys that after a few days or a week, went into a bin or just sat on my bookshelf to collect dust.  The closest thing that resembled a collection at all, besides my bins of Star Wars, were Pirates of the Caribbean 3.75” figures, all of which were displayed on a black pearl playset on my dresser.

As I got older, I became a bit more picky with what I picked up, and back then, in the early days of Hasbro’s Marvel stuff, often times Mattel had better quality with their D.C. stuff.  I was big into Batman for a while, and was able to form a small collection of random Batman characters that fitted my liking.  But I still wasn’t a collector, I was just a guy that liked action figures.

I discovered eventually that figure collecting was something that I was going to be doing well into adulthood (I’m currentlt in my early 20’s) when I first ever got a few NECA figures and realized there was more quality out there than just kids toys.  The Clash of the Titans Persues they made (from the remake) and the original police station assault T-800 blew me away at the time.   

There were actually 2 different franchises you might not expect that really got me into the collecting habit.  The first was Character Option’s Doctor Who line.  I was never a major fan of the Doctor Who, but I did go through a phase where I really enjoyed it, and especially enjoyed the figures.  They were cheap, but had a high quality and were something other than the familiar franchises I was used to buying from.  

The other franchise was McFarlane’s 5” The Walking Dead comic and tv lines.  I know everyone has their opinions on McFarlane, but I absolutely loved those figures at the time.  I still love them when I look at them, simply because of the reminders of the good times collecting and remembering the days when the show was worth watching.  This line was a wonder to collect for me.  I didn’t become a fan of the franchise until the show was on its season, when I binge watched it on Netflix, then bought all of the compendiums of the comics and read them swiftly.  Then came the toy collecting.  At this point, there were 3 or 4 waves already out, with new waves coming once or twice a year between the comic and tv waves.  So I was able to track down the old and the new, making it some of my first real hunting experiences, aside from looking for one particular figure.

Dont get me wrong, these weren’t the only lines I was collecting.  I was a casual buyer of the early Star Wars Black Series, and was going back and buying a bunch of the Toybiz Lord of the Rings stuff I had missed, but it was The Walking Dead stuff that turned me into the type of collector that was a completionist, and introduced me to hunting for new stuff and old in various stores.  

By this point, I was full on collecting the Black Series, and a lot of NECA’s Aliens, but TWD was my lady love at the time.  Star Wars was always my soul mate, but TWD was a years long passionate love affair.  But then McFarlane decided to come up with the nonsensical Color Tops  wave which would mix various brands into one 7” scale series.  This brought an end to the comic line entirely, and turned the tv line into a 7” static crap festival.  And while they began to evolve into better figures over time, I didn’t want them, I had an almost complete collection in a different scale.  Eventually, the brand lost almost all of its popularity and now McFarlane doesn’t even touch it. 

But it was because of the death of my favorite line that I decided to reach out and see what exactly else was out there for me.  Now, I could’ve just stuck with what I had, continued buying Star Wars and Aliens and the occasional Batman figure if the desire struck, but I had a taste for collecting and didn’t want to stop.  

This is what drew me to Marvel Legends. This was around the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, so I was kind of high off of my first impression of that, and decided to buy the AoA Captain America.  I was kind of hooked, but not hook line and sinker just yet.  I decided to get the movie characters only.  That lasted for a little bit, until my girlfriend bought me the comic Black suit spidey and that was the end.  I had to get my favorite characters in various suits, both comic and movie versions, and I had to build my favorite teams.  From the moment I knew I was all in, I knew that I was never going to be a completionist.  If I don’t care about the character, or can’t fit it into my display, I see no use in buying.  If they weren’t on my list, then the only reason I would buy them is to finish a BAF or because I was surprised by how cool the character was despite me not originally wanting them (Bullseye, Black Bolt).

When I first started collecting Legends 5 years ago, I had a list, a very daunting list that I thought would go on for years and wouldn’t be finished in all likelihood.  But this year and the last were such amazing years for legends, and with the 80th collections and all of these fantastic 90’s X-Men coming out so fast, my list has gotten into the single digits.  Doctor Doom is on the horizon of 2020, and aside from some characters like Thunderbird and Warpath and a true 90’s Emma Frost, and a damn classic Doctor Strange, Power Man, and Iron Fist, my marvel legends days seem to be numbered.  The movies will continue to pump out, so they may keep me interested in new figures, but the list as I knew it is getting very small.  

So when, exactly, am I to stop?  Ought the list I set out for myself be the end of what I have built?  Should I set up rules for myself and limit my hobby and passion?  It’s not like I’m going to stop collecting other lines?  Or should I?  With Star Wars coming to an “end” similar to the MCU coming to and “end” or at least the end of an era, my big tent-pole franchises are ending fast.  Soon, my Star Wars list will be shorter and shorter until it too has ended.  So should I stop collecting entirely?  I mean, I’ve just finally gotten into imports and anime stuff, so maybe those will be the new focus.  It’s a very strange time in the entertainment industry, and that equates to the toy industry.  Big franchises are “ending”:: game of Thrones, avengers, Star Wars.  It feels cathartic in a way.  Would I ever even consider limiting collecting if these eerejrb weren’t ending? 

I know that more brands are coming. I know more lines are always coming.  Maybe I shouldn’t stop collecting, but should stop this era of collecting.  Look to new brands, diversify.  Get anime stuff and Harry Potter stuff, go head first into McFarlanes new DC stuff, go where I haven’t gone before so that the hobby is in uncharted territory for me.  I know avengers and Star Wars and all those franchises aren’t really over.  No one’s ever really gone.  I guess I wonder how you folks feel?  If you even got this far.  When is it a right time to end?  When is it time for a change.  To keep the passion alive... 

[michiganjfrog]

I can see myself slowing down with collecting ( I kind of already have) but I don't think I would ever call it quits per say, I would still keep up with new releases and be open to diving back in when needed

[memocromatico]

I guess you should stop collecting like we mexicans know when to stop putting spices on our food. When our ancestors tells us "ya mijo, así está bien".

No, but seriously, I guess you should stop when you don't have anything else you'd really like, or anything that makes you go "woah, that's really cool!". I think being goal oriented (having a list, for example) is a great way of limiting what you do and don't buy, I sure as hell would benefit from that. And accomplishing goals may give you a sense of satisfaction, and you could set new ones, so you'd never have to stop. Then again it may cause frustration when your goals don't seem at hand, I don't know what your take would be on that. 

I'm sure I'll stop one day. I've already run down Star Wars down to just a few more characters, DC to another 2 or maybe 3, Marvel I'm only missing 7 figures I REALLY want made or to find. At least for now. Who know what next years movies will make me want. But yes I can see me slowing down to a complete stop in a few years, only to buy a couple figures per year. But not in a collector mode as I am ATM.

[Lord_Scareglow]

Honestly as a collector of toys in general with so many things I collect I'd say no, but I'd say I'd never quit the legend game it's too much fun, the only way I'd finish is if the Line itself did, but I'm not a completionist so I only pick and choose the figures I like, and as long as I like the figures I will buy them.

[bashpics99]

Even though it feels like i have most of the major characters represented, i think as long as hasbro continues the ML line i'll at least be buying an occasional figure here or there, be it comic or mcu.  I've definitely slowed down a bit this year compared to the past few years, although with all that's hitting right now it doesn't feel that way.  Even now i'm usually good with 1-2 figures per wave.   I will say that i think i'm kinda with completing any new "teams" like new mutants or alpha flight, i mean i'll get members of those teams if i like the character/figure but i'm not really worried about when hasbro will make more members or anything. 

[DarthOdette]

44 minutes ago, memocromatico said:

And accomplishing goals may give you a sense of satisfaction, and you could set new ones, so you'd never have to stop. Then again it may cause frustration when your goals don't seem at hand, I don't know what your take would be on that. 

In years past, I have a list of like 40 things to buy across various lines and companies, and I’ll start to pick stuff up, dwindling it down, and then a toyfair or an SDCC happens, and all of a sudden, I go from 32 to 55.  It’s daunting because like you said, there’s a pride in achieving those goals you set for yourself, but if it’s a never ending finish line, it’s like a goal that is fruitless.  

Before SDCC this year, my list was like 40 pieces long, then all these companies show stuff off and it’s into the 50’s.  But this year I said enough.  I looked hard at my list and despised to dwindle down figures I really want or not.  Like The Dude Thor BAF, I would love to have, but I thought ‘is this really going to replace the Infinity War Thor I have on the shelf right now?’ And the answer was no.  So I’m trying my damnsest to keep this list as small as possible so that I can feel a sense of catharsis when it’s over.  That being said, i 99% doubt that that will be the end of my collecting hobby.  But it’ll definitely help to keep my focus straight.  I’m not made of money, and I’m not made of space

[DarthOdette]

44 minutes ago, Lord_Scareglow said:

Honestly as a collector of toys in general with so many things I collect I'd say no, but I'd say I'd never quit the legend game it's too much fun, the only way I'd finish is if the Line itself did, but I'm not a completionist so I only pick and choose the figures I like, and as long as I like the figures I will buy them.

Just out of sheer curiosity, what would you do if in like 2 or 3 years, Hasbro loses the license and it goes to somebody like Mattel or McFarlane?  Would you still collect or would you consider that an end of the line?  Even if the next company continued the legends banner like toybiz -> Hasbro  

[Lord_Scareglow]

Just now, DarthOdette said:

Just out of sheer curiosity, what would you do if in like 2 or 3 years, Hasbro loses the license and it goes to somebody like Mattel or McFarlane?  Would you still collect or would you consider that an end of the line?  Even if the next company continued the legends banner like toybiz -> Hasbro  

It all really depends on how the figures looked, if say mattel picked up the line and continued exactly on the way hasbro has sure i'd not consider it anything else other then a continuation, but if say they started putting out entirely new figures (new packaging re-making , new sculpts) I'd probably collect them if they looked great, but I'd say they were not the same as the Hasbro legends, I don't even consider the TB Legends, the First batch Hasbro or the Infinite all the same series, I don't collect anything that wasn't released in the "Infinite" series anymore not the same but thats just me , if a new reasonably affordable marvel figure line started coming out today I might just start collecting them as well

[DarthOdette]

8 minutes ago, Lord_Scareglow said:

It all really depends on how the figures looked, if say mattel picked up the line and continued exactly on the way hasbro has sure i'd not consider it anything else other then a continuation, but if say they started putting out entirely new figures (new packaging re-making , new sculpts) I'd probably collect them if they looked great, but I'd say they were not the same as the Hasbro legends, I don't even consider the TB Legends, the First batch Hasbro or the Infinite all the same series, I don't collect anything that wasn't released in the "Infinite" series anymore not the same but thats just me , if a new reasonably affordable marvel figure line started coming out today I might just start collecting them as well

Interesting, I’ll probably pose this question as an entirely new post, just to hear everyone’s opinions 

[Benn]

6 hours ago, DarthOdette said:

No one’s ever really gone.

Touché.

I'll probably reach that point with Black Series. I'm a much more casual collector of that line than I am of this one. I'm actually pretty damn close to that point already, to be honest, with most of my existing wants picked up, and only a few explicit wants heretofore unmade. With Marvel Legends, I'm a little more ravenous, collecting every X-related figure in the Infinite line, so it's hard for me to imagine just feeling done all of a sudden. I'm only a few figures away from being totally caught up to current output, but I'm still in it for the long haul on new figures.

[DJ_Ole]

13 hours ago, DarthOdette said:

I have not been a collector of Marvel Legends for too long now.  During the ToyBiz days, when I was much younger, I was more of a pick and choose kinda guy.  If there was a cool character I was familiar with, I’d pick it up.  At this time, however, I wasn’t much of a collector of anything.  I loved Star Wars and Toybiz’s Lord of the Rings line, so I picked those up more frequently, but at this point in my life, these weren’t additions to a collection, they were toys that after a few days or a week, went into a bin or just sat on my bookshelf to collect dust.  The closest thing that resembled a collection at all, besides my bins of Star Wars, were Pirates of the Caribbean 3.75” figures, all of which were displayed on a black pearl playset on my dresser.

As I got older, I became a bit more picky with what I picked up, and back then, in the early days of Hasbro’s Marvel stuff, often times Mattel had better quality with their D.C. stuff.  I was big into Batman for a while, and was able to form a small collection of random Batman characters that fitted my liking.  But I still wasn’t a collector, I was just a guy that liked action figures.

I discovered eventually that figure collecting was something that I was going to be doing well into adulthood (I’m currentlt in my early 20’s) when I first ever got a few NECA figures and realized there was more quality out there than just kids toys.  The Clash of the Titans Persues they made (from the remake) and the original police station assault T-800 blew me away at the time.   

There were actually 2 different franchises you might not expect that really got me into the collecting habit.  The first was Character Option’s Doctor Who line.  I was never a major fan of the Doctor Who, but I did go through a phase where I really enjoyed it, and especially enjoyed the figures.  They were cheap, but had a high quality and were something other than the familiar franchises I was used to buying from.  

The other franchise was McFarlane’s 5” The Walking Dead comic and tv lines.  I know everyone has their opinions on McFarlane, but I absolutely loved those figures at the time.  I still love them when I look at them, simply because of the reminders of the good times collecting and remembering the days when the show was worth watching.  This line was a wonder to collect for me.  I didn’t become a fan of the franchise until the show was on its season, when I binge watched it on Netflix, then bought all of the compendiums of the comics and read them swiftly.  Then came the toy collecting.  At this point, there were 3 or 4 waves already out, with new waves coming once or twice a year between the comic and tv waves.  So I was able to track down the old and the new, making it some of my first real hunting experiences, aside from looking for one particular figure.

Dont get me wrong, these weren’t the only lines I was collecting.  I was a casual buyer of the early Star Wars Black Series, and was going back and buying a bunch of the Toybiz Lord of the Rings stuff I had missed, but it was The Walking Dead stuff that turned me into the type of collector that was a completionist, and introduced me to hunting for new stuff and old in various stores.  

By this point, I was full on collecting the Black Series, and a lot of NECA’s Aliens, but TWD was my lady love at the time.  Star Wars was always my soul mate, but TWD was a years long passionate love affair.  But then McFarlane decided to come up with the nonsensical Color Tops  wave which would mix various brands into one 7” scale series.  This brought an end to the comic line entirely, and turned the tv line into a 7” static crap festival.  And while they began to evolve into better figures over time, I didn’t want them, I had an almost complete collection in a different scale.  Eventually, the brand lost almost all of its popularity and now McFarlane doesn’t even touch it. 

But it was because of the death of my favorite line that I decided to reach out and see what exactly else was out there for me.  Now, I could’ve just stuck with what I had, continued buying Star Wars and Aliens and the occasional Batman figure if the desire struck, but I had a taste for collecting and didn’t want to stop.  

This is what drew me to Marvel Legends. This was around the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, so I was kind of high off of my first impression of that, and decided to buy the AoA Captain America.  I was kind of hooked, but not hook line and sinker just yet.  I decided to get the movie characters only.  That lasted for a little bit, until my girlfriend bought me the comic Black suit spidey and that was the end.  I had to get my favorite characters in various suits, both comic and movie versions, and I had to build my favorite teams.  From the moment I knew I was all in, I knew that I was never going to be a completionist.  If I don’t care about the character, or can’t fit it into my display, I see no use in buying.  If they weren’t on my list, then the only reason I would buy them is to finish a BAF or because I was surprised by how cool the character was despite me not originally wanting them (Bullseye, Black Bolt).

When I first started collecting Legends 5 years ago, I had a list, a very daunting list that I thought would go on for years and wouldn’t be finished in all likelihood.  But this year and the last were such amazing years for legends, and with the 80th collections and all of these fantastic 90’s X-Men coming out so fast, my list has gotten into the single digits.  Doctor Doom is on the horizon of 2020, and aside from some characters like Thunderbird and Warpath and a true 90’s Emma Frost, and a damn classic Doctor Strange, Power Man, and Iron Fist, my marvel legends days seem to be numbered.  The movies will continue to pump out, so they may keep me interested in new figures, but the list as I knew it is getting very small.  

So when, exactly, am I to stop?  Ought the list I set out for myself be the end of what I have built?  Should I set up rules for myself and limit my hobby and passion?  It’s not like I’m going to stop collecting other lines?  Or should I?  With Star Wars coming to an “end” similar to the MCU coming to and “end” or at least the end of an era, my big tent-pole franchises are ending fast.  Soon, my Star Wars list will be shorter and shorter until it too has ended.  So should I stop collecting entirely?  I mean, I’ve just finally gotten into imports and anime stuff, so maybe those will be the new focus.  It’s a very strange time in the entertainment industry, and that equates to the toy industry.  Big franchises are “ending”:: game of Thrones, avengers, Star Wars.  It feels cathartic in a way.  Would I ever even consider limiting collecting if these eerejrb weren’t ending? 

I know that more brands are coming. I know more lines are always coming.  Maybe I shouldn’t stop collecting, but should stop this era of collecting.  Look to new brands, diversify.  Get anime stuff and Harry Potter stuff, go head first into McFarlanes new DC stuff, go where I haven’t gone before so that the hobby is in uncharted territory for me.  I know avengers and Star Wars and all those franchises aren’t really over.  No one’s ever really gone.  I guess I wonder how you folks feel?  If you even got this far.  When is it a right time to end?  When is it time for a change.  To keep the passion alive... 

TLDR

[monron999]

I also was never intending to be a "Collector". I picked up what I liked, but Toybiz's WCW Wrestling was an innovative lone in my day and when they started doing Marvel I had to have them all. Years later I though I was done when Hasbro took over, but lo and behold, after a rocky start and a failed attempt to usurp the 6" line for a 3.75" line they finally got their act together. I never intended to be a completionist either but there are very few waves I have not completed. The whole "bonus" figure is just a concept I have much adoration for.

As for when I'm done, I assume until I lose my cognition or financial capability to support my habit. I've slowed down a bit due to the sheer amount of prodhuct being put out and the increasing difficulty to find some of them. I'm at a "what I want" point but unfortunately I still want nearly everything because almost everything they're doing is being done so well.

I Hasbro would ever lose the license it may shut the door for me. At this point in not starting a new collection nor do I want to wait around for figure Hasbro may have never got to. It may be a blessing in disguise.

I still collect other things, particularly things movie wise like NECA's movie figures or vintage comebacks like Masters of the Universe, but nothing has the affinity to me like Marvel. I guess I'm fortunate that I only have one true line that I "have to collect", but until Hasbro drops or loses the license I'm in for the long haul.

As for Star Wars, don't you worry. Disney knows how to ride a gravy train and get the most out of a franchise even after they've effectively run it into the ground. I personally think SW as we know it is dead but they'll keep it alive in CGI form similar to the Edge of the Spiderverse movie. There's so many characters and subplots built into the history so far that I could foresee it going on forever. The good thing for SW collectors is the CGI style movies allow for a lot of cool and imaginative design and development, hence leading to cooler and more diverse toys.

[DarthOdette]

5 hours ago, monron999 said:

I'm at a "what I want" point but unfortunately I still want nearly everything because almost everything they're doing is being done so well

This is exactly how I am!  I know a lot of people have given me flack for that, for not being a completionist.  I don’t care though, I’d rather save my money for things I actually want.  I collect much more than just Legends.  And as for Hasbro losing the license, I too would probably be done, especially because they’ve given us almost everyone I’ve wanted, so I wouldn’t need to start over.

[greenlucario]

Yeah I really never saw myself collecting at the level I'm at now either.  I started out very sporadic, picking and choosing figures but with Marvel and particularly Spider-Man being a longtime obsession of mine, the old ToyBiz Spider-Man Classics stuff was the tipping point for me.  It was a lot of pick and choose of the ToyBiz ML stuff for me, until the BAFs hit, and as the years went by and I got deeper into the Marvel Universe I started focusing on iconic characters and teams, and well...it's grown considerably from there.  

Will I ever be done? I doubt it, I'd like to definitely slow down though, the recent influx of top notch figures these last two years makes me hopeful that I will return to a more discerning mindset now that many of my favorite characters have that one definitive figure made.  With Lightning Collection out there and ramping up, it's only a matter of time before it and Legends come to blows. 

[memocromatico]

18 minutes ago, greenlucario said:

 With Lightning Collection out there and ramping up, it's only a matter of time before it and Legends come to blows. 

That time came for me. I can't commit to Lightning because of Legends, so I won't even start. Priorities, I guess.

[DarthOdette]

8 hours ago, greenlucario said:

Will I ever be done? I doubt it, I'd like to definitely slow down though

In a nutshell, I think that’s exactly how I feel.  

[Starlord67]

1 hour ago, DarthOdette said:

In a nutshell, I think that’s exactly how I feel.  

 

1 hour ago, DarthOdette said:

In a nutshell, I think that’s exactly how I feel.  

I agree...Id like a bit of a breather to catch up money wise. Seems like July and August has just seen an onslaught of product.  Wonder what they will Suprise us with for Christmas?

[DarthOdette]

2 minutes ago, Starlord67 said:

 

I agree...Id like a bit of a breather to catch up money wise. Seems like July and August has just seen an onslaught of product.  Wonder what they will Suprise us with for Christmas?

I haven’t made a purchase since July 4th simply because there’s so much it’s a bit overwhelming at times 

[greenlucario]

13 hours ago, Starlord67 said:

 

I agree...Id like a bit of a breather to catch up money wise. Seems like July and August has just seen an onslaught of product.  Wonder what they will Suprise us with for Christmas?

Hopefully nothing besides those X-Men sets.  

[greenlucario]

22 hours ago, memocromatico said:

That time came for me. I can't commit to Lightning because of Legends, so I won't even start. Priorities, I guess.

I'm still very selective about the Lightning Collection, but some of the figures are just too good to pass up.

[DarthOdette]

30 minutes ago, greenlucario said:

I'm still very selective about the Lightning Collection, but some of the figures are just too good to pass up.

I haven’t bitten the bullet and gotten the white ranger yet but I’m alsways super tempted 

[greenlucario]

6 minutes ago, DarthOdette said:

I haven’t bitten the bullet and gotten the white ranger yet but I’m alsways super tempted 

It is easily one of my favorite figures of the year, the articulation and sculpt are that good.  I've always been more a a green ranger fan, but the white ranger figure really is that good.

[DarthOdette]

17 minutes ago, greenlucario said:

It is easily one of my favorite figures of the year, the articulation and sculpt are that good.  I've always been more a a green ranger fan, but the white ranger figure really is that good.

I’m also a green ranger fan, waiting for a regular release version of him.  Apparently that 2-pack version has a different helmet than the traditional, appearing in like one scene or one episode.  But take what I say with a grain of salt, it’s been years since I was full into power rangers 

[komododragin]

I don't think anyone should ever stop collecting unless the companies stop making figures, if someone falls on hard times, or if someone loses interest in a line. If a line is making good figures that you like, there's no reason not to get it.

[DarthOdette]

11 minutes ago, komododragin said:

I don't think anyone should ever stop collecting unless the companies stop making figures, if someone falls on hard times, or if someone loses interest in a line. If a line is making good figures that you like, there's no reason not to get it.

I feel that way most of the time too, other times I feel like it might be nice to have that feeling of completion whenever you feel like you’ve gotten everything you set of for.  But then, they always announce something else you want.  That’s the name of the game