What's your biggest prop regret or guilt?

[redinight]

I would say I struggle with this hobby... I have not one friend that understands my obsessions, my wife hates the time I spend on my ipad... Now that I've joined the big boys and the prop world is open to me it's only going to worsen !!! I seriously have a manageable mortgage so I can buy stuff.

I am done with modern toys, Hasbro, blew it last year and I decided quality over quantity. I REGRET not deciding that years ago, so I didn't have to lose out on so much goodness. My first was an impulse MR Dooku $250.... I loved it and considered diving in. I decided to devote ten years on and off on the Indy gear. I wanted the costume since I was 5, and I've spent nearly 4 k on it since 2002. Now, I have fourteen licensed SW, when added up several Raiders costumes, and a handful of unfinished and finished one offs of my own make. Sometimes I regret the multiples of Indy gear but still....nothing leaves

 

[Kubla Kraus]

not necessarily a regret, because I didn't get to do anything, but when MST3K shut down production and sold off everything, I was still in school and completely skint. I would love to have gotten a little piece of that show... also not shopping around more, I tend to buy the first new thing I see and find it half price somewhere else the next day.

 

[MikeyFraz]

Oh man, this is a pretty nostalgic one. When I was about 14 or 15 I was really into Dick Tracy. At one point I told my grandfather about how I had found a replica of Tracy's communicator on Ebay. I had said how bad I wanted it but that it was way too much money. He told me that when I found one again, he would buy it for me, however much it cost. Obviously I scoured Ebay for a while, but they're so rare and I never found another one. He died four years ago, but it is still a mission of mine to find one of those GTI communicator watches!

 

[Dr who props]

I bought the universal tenth doctors sonic screwdriver remote and took it to my friends house as a joke he put it on his pocket claiming it was his sonic toy it was my remote and so i tried getting it out of his pocket little did i know the head would break off

 

[RobI]

My biggest mistakes have been accidentally going to bed before certain auctions ended and looking at the ending price the next morning while bashing my head against the wall.

 

[Bigdaddy]

My biggest prop regret so far...not realizing this hobby existed until I was 40! :lol

 

[stormtrooperguy]

The screen used can of peaches from Serenity I bought a few years back. It wasn't that expensive... couple hundred bucks with shipping. I was super happy about it, until it exploded.

Turns out they wrapped those big metal cans of pineapple juice with new labels. They didn't drain the cans though, nor did I, since I didn't want to take a can opener to my new screen used item.

After about a year, the bottom of the can gave out, flooding 2 shelves of Firefly collectibles with rancid pineapple juice. Most of it was salvageable. The Jayne T shirt replica that was under the can was the only part that was a total loss. I opened up the bottom and cleaned the can out. The label is now badly damaged, so it was essentially a waste of not only the money spent on the prop, but also on the shirt it killed.

 

[skiffy]

Some real horror stories (and sad tales) in here!

I built a SW stormy outfit from white card back in '77. It was really quite accurate but I couldn't get hold of (or afford) a helmet. No pictures were taken. D'oh!

Also, I missed out on a cheap deac Sterling in 1980. Decided to buy a stereo system instead.

Not really a regret - but I recently sold my Aoshima Aliens dropship and APC which I miss having. I don't really mind though since the guy who bought them is Phil Rae - collector and modelling guru who worked on the first Alien movie.

 

[osric]

My biggest regret is not carting my props around with me from house to house. Somewhere along the line my big box of early '80s Doctor Who props vanished from storage. It was full of action figures, playsets, comics, Target novels, and autographed cast photos (including Tom Baker, John Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and Lis Sladen!). It also had my 16-foot 4th Doctor scarf that I knitted over winter break in 1983. You just can't replace those things today

 

[TomVDJ]

My biggest mistakes have been accidentally going to bed before certain auctions ended and looking at the ending price the next morning while bashing my head against the wall.

I know the feeling: in the past there were some auctions that I followed, and told to myself: "Don't forget to place a high sniper-bid in the last few seconds of the auction, to snap up this beauty.", but the day itself I totally forgot about the auction, and while wachting TV suddenly it hit's me: "Damn, that auction!!!!" and when I start up the computer, the auction is already over for about an hour or so, with only one bid on that great prop I wanted. On times like these I wished I had a real time-machine...

 

[rundown]

I was waiting for a stormtrooper helmet that was sitting in costums. They sended me a letter that they were going to destroy it before a specific date.
I slept over that day at a mates place and didn't check the mail. The day after I get home, read the letter... literally the day i read it they were destroying it.

 

[TomVDJ]

I was waiting for a stormtrooper helmet that was sitting in costums. They sended me a letter that they were going to destroy it before a specific date.
I slept over that day at a mates place and didn't check the mail. The day after I get home, read the letter... literally the day i read it they were destroying it.

Destroying it? They only do this whit counterfeit goods, if I'm not mistaken. But in that case, there's nothing you can do about it anyway. If they have it in customs and they need paperwork to clear customs, than normally, when you don't send the paperwork, they send the item back to the sender, they don't destroy it.

 

[rundown]

Destroying it? They only do this whit counterfeit goods, if I'm not mistaken. But in that case, there's nothing you can do about it anyway. If they have it in customs and they need paperwork to clear customs, than normally, when you don't send the paperwork, they send the item back to the sender, they don't destroy it.

I did send those letters twice, descibing what the item was, how mutch i paid for it. Still baffled that this actually happened really.

But i bet you know how Bpost can be in Belgium.

I have a giant record of stuff they messed up, thats why i only buy things through a decent courier nowadays.

Oh and this package had a dirty footprint on it when I recieved it...

 

[TomVDJ]

Damn, that's bad... . Luckily I seem to have a great postman over here. It's rare that an item arrives damaged due to Belgium Postal service. If something arrives broken, it mostly is because the sender didn't pack it properly... I live in Oost-Vlaanderen. Maybe quality of service differs from region to region?

 

[rundown]

Damn, that's bad... . Luckily I seem to have a great postman over here. It's rare that an item arrives damaged due to Belgium Postal service. If something arrives broken, it mostly is because the sender didn't pack it properly... I live in Oost-Vlaanderen. Maybe quality of service differs from region to region?

Same, i'm from Gent. Had another package today through bpost, you should see the box -_- fml

 

[nickjm007]

Holy crow. It's crazy that postal workers would destroy a box like that. Maybe people should start packing with metal spikes?

PS: Don't start packing with metal spikes.

PPS: I kinda want to start seeing people pack with metal spikes.

 

[Angus Mesmer]

For bad postal service, I remember buying the Unseen University scarf (gods, ten years ago already.) A rather thick woolen scarf, made by a company who handles actual UK universities' scarves. As

 

[Luke0312]

Collecting too big of a variety.

I wish I would have really just focused on a couple of films/series and stuck with those, it would have allowed for a very focused collection with only the best pieces and saved a ton of money.

 

[Angus Mesmer]

For bad postal service, I remember buying the Unseen University scarf (gods, ten years ago already.) A rather thick woolen scarf, made by a company who handles actual UK universities' scarves. As a soft item, it was in an envelope, and lots of tape around it. Good thing that tape was sturdy, because the postman decided that since it was soft, he could just push it through the slot of the mailbox. Great service.

I regret not having had the money to buy some Stargate props when the show stopped. There were some great things.

One thing I regret buying was the "Collector's edition" of the Doctor's Watch from Family of Blood.
It was expensive. I think around £70, and yet was a very cheap item, typical low-cost Chinese watch, with the plating peeling on the loop.
When I contacted the shop about a return, with pictures of said loop, I was told that if I didn't have the money to afford it, I could just have not bought it, instead of making things up to be able to return it. Definitely not a good experience.

 

[TomVDJ]

I also regret starting my movie collection with the large-scale / 18 inch movie maniacs + NECA figures, before actually collecting props. I have a few dozens of figures in boxes, no place to display them, and continuously wondering if I would sell them. I have all 5 18 inch McFarlane MovieManiaces in mint condition with original packaging, also in great condition. This collection is worth quite a lot (I could get $500 for all five figures, without a problem), but I just can't get myself to sell them. If I didn't buy them in the first place, I would have more storage room now, and should not wonder if I will sell them or not...