What are your prop collecting "rules"...?

[darthwhitey]

Here are a few of my personal "rules" for prop collecting...your mileage may vary.

1. Less is more, don't clutter things up too much.

2. Most of the time, display stands take away from the realism of the prop.

3. Stick with movies you love, unless the piece is such a work of art (or unique) that you can't resist!

4. If the wife doesn't know the price, go ahead and buy it!

Again, just my 2 cents

brad

 

[Rusty85]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

Here are a few of my personal "rules" for prop collecting...your mileage may vary.

4. If the wife doesn't know the price, go ahead and buy it!

Again, just my 2 cents

brad

I like this one. Mine is don't ever sell any to pay bills because you'll regret it later. Of course I just had to. I HATE that feeling.

 

[SSgt Burton]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

Mine is simple-

Pay the bills first, then collect toys.

The collection is worthless to me if I default on a mortgage payment one too many times and lose my house.


Collecting can be great, but it can also become a very dangerous addiction. It can make you "happy", but this "happiness" has to be carefully balanced with real life. Doubly so if you are married.

And you can't take it with you in the end anyway.


Kevin

 

[darthwhitey]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

Mine is simple-

Pay the bills first, then collect toys.

The collection is worthless to me if I default on a mortgage payment one too many times and lose my house.


Collecting can be great, but it can also become a very dangerous addiction. It can make you "happy", but this "happiness" has to be carefully balanced with real life. Doubly so if you are married.

And you can't take it with you in the end anyway.


Kevin

Listen Kevin, I'm taking mine with me! With me, you hear!?

Mooooo-hahahahahahah :lol

OK, just kidding. Of course you're right. This is all just crap that could be taken away anyday, and that's fine with me. You can't let this stuff rule your life, it's just a hobby. It's all about priorities!

Plenty of guys are big sports fans who go to all the games and have a basement full of football helmets or autographed jerseys...everybody's got a hobby!

**in my basement I just happen to have a life-size bust of Hellboy. lol:lol

brad

 

[Michael Bergeron]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

Mine is simple-

Pay the bills first, then collect toys.

The collection is worthless to me if I default on a mortgage payment one too many times and lose my house.

This is my #1 rule. I've lost count at how many posts I see in the JY saying "need to make my car payment so I'm selling this". I understand though that much of it is due to people who lost their jobs in this economy.

If I buy something that isn't a need it had better not interfere with my ability to pay for my needs.

Other rules?

- Have a plan for what you buy. This means a place to display it!

- Only buy what you love. If I'm tempted to buy something just because it's neat or clever I close the listing immediately. I love Doctor Who, I love the OT Star Wars movies, I *like* Batman. Therefore there is no Batman stuff in my collection (okay, I have a Two-Face coin, but it was a gift and it's nice and small).

- Be specific in what you want to collect. I'm overly tempted to buy everything I possibly can of the things I love so I try to narrow my interests to things that won't have me chasing forever. For instance, OT lightsabers is my current project and my collection will be limited to 8. Obi, Luke, & Vader from SW, Luke & Vader from ESB, and Luke & Vader from ROTJ. Number 8 will be my Holiday Special Luke saber... It counts as original!

 

[Lichtbringer]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

It has to be Star Wars. :love

And it should be a technical item (blaster, ....., long nothing, then maybe something as lightsabers or droidcaller...).

 

[berger]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

if the girlfriend asks how much something i just bought was, it was 100 bucks.

 

[hellboy120]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

if the girlfriend asks how much something i just bought was, it was 100 bucks.

Love this method :thumbsup

 

[Monteburns]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

I prefer quality over quantity & a nice variety of my favorite movies rather than one specific theme.

I do most of the work/paint/hairing myself to keep the costs down on lifesize pieces & treat each project as a fun learning experience/process.

I like to finish & personalize most of my pieces to make them unique for my own personal taste & favorite aspects of the movie.

 

[aceofknaves88]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

Well, these rules don't just apply to props, they apply to my other few hobbies as well:

#1 NEVER buy something I can't afford. And not "can I afford it right now?" either, because sometimes I can afford it right then and there, but still can't afford it overall. I'd hate to buy something and a month later sit there and go "I really shouldn't have bought that."

#2. Love it. If it's just "neat" or something I look at and go "oh wow" but then lose that first impression on a second viewing, I won't get it.

#3. Control quantity. This sort of goes hand in hand with #1 and #2, but it's separate in that I see a lot of things that I can both afford and love, but really shouldn't have because of space.

I have to keep these rules in mind a lot, especially lately when I'm not working a whole lot and I'm paying bills and trying to save up some money to move out of my parents' house. These rules also helped me pick out which hobbies I wanted to focus on the most (example: I gave up action figure collecting. I still have a few left that I consider my favorites, but I've sold a lot and haven't bought any in quite some time. Once in a while I consider buying one, but then I think of the rules and my decision and I put the figure back or click away from the page) Like others have said, hobbies are addicting, and I have an obsessive compulsive hoarder in my family, so, genetically, I'm prone to coming onto boards like this and going "OH MAN I WANT THAT!" I've even considered leaving the hobby for a while until I could afford it, but now, with these rules, I've got it under control. In fact, these rules are what's led me to the decision to finish the costume I'm working on and then be satisfied for a bit (we'll see how that goes. LOL!)

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

I guess mine would be stick with Star Wars and only weapons and equipment.

I'd like to collect/build ST, B5, Fallout, etc. if I had unlimited funds and time. If I didn't stick to one thing I'd never get anything built.

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

Only recently have I "focused" my collecting power on a single property - Indiana Jones. I love the Indy movies and it is nice to see a wide array of replicas from those movies in my collection.
For too many years, my collection was going in so many directions, I had a lot of little things (and a few big things) that I eventually sold off becuase I really didnt love them all that much in the end.
Right now I am focusing on the items that I remember the most from the movies I love - the most iconic props that stick out in my mind.
It's fun to see great prop replicas hit the market that are even affordable by some sense, but I have to think twice and decide if this is something that represents a movie I really enjoy or not.
It's an expensive and addictive hobby - and no, there really is no "enough" stage to reach.
My first and only rule right now is to NOT buy anything on credit cards...that got me in debt over the years and I will only buy cash from now on.

 

[blubeetle3]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

Rule Numero Uno: ALWAYS keep your word to a fellow RPFer!

Everything else is negotiable!

 

[Larry Young]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

1. Nothing but spacesuits.

1a. OK, that Geordi VISOR kit looks awesome!

etc

 

[Kenobi]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

1. Treat yourself once in a while, at least you have something to show for it

2. Never disclose to friends/family what you paid, only what you could sell it for (that said, I have never made any money on selling off props, I always sell at a loss)

3. Nothing is forever!

 

[SSgt Burton]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

This is all just crap

No it's not "crap"... It's "stuff".

Plenty of guys are big sports fans who go to all the games and have a basement full of football helmets or autographed jerseys...everybody's got a hobby!

Certainly! And those fanatics could just as easily be in the same boat- spending thousands of dollars they don't have, just to get that "high" you experience when you finally buy that long lost item.


Greneral Frosty's rule of only using cash is an excellent one! Unfortunately I learned the hard way that a credit card should really only be used for large purchases when carrying an equal amount of money in your pocket isn't wise or feasible. It should NOT be used as a method to finance a large purchase and "pay it off as you go." The interest will kill you in the end. :unsure


As for me I have a basement full of Trek, Aliens, Batman, Matrix, die cast planes, 1/6 figures, 8" (McFarlane sized) figures, and about 20 custom made costumes.

I'm no stranger to overspending. :$

These days I'm just paying off my credit cards. :lol :cry


However were I to start collecting again, I think I would just stick with "high end" items rather than getting "everything under the sun."


Kevin

 

[darthwhitey]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

#2. Love it. If it's just "neat" or something I look at and go "oh wow" but then lose that first impression on a second viewing, I won't get it.

That's been my big problem in the past, then you got a closet full of stuff you don't really LOVE but really, really like and respect the talent that went into it!

Then you end up selling it in the JY for about 75% of what you paid...lol:lol

 

[Simmon M]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

Your family, bills and savings should always come first.

Once you get past those and you still have a few dollars left than my suggestion would be to collect what you *love*.

Quality should never ever take a back seat.

Believe me, I've learned the 'quality' thing the hard way. My biggest mistake early on was picking up things that I thought were cool but had a moderate interest in. As Brad noted, I ultimately ended up unloading the majority of it in the Junkyard at an incredible loss.

 

[TheDoctor]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

Family, Religion, Friendship - These are the three demons you must slay to be successful in prop collecting!

 

[Zombie_61]

Re: What are you prop collecting "rules"...?

Well, these rules don't just apply to props, they apply to my other few hobbies as well:

#1 NEVER buy something I can't afford. And not "can I afford it right now?" either, because sometimes I can afford it right then and there, but still can't afford it overall. I'd hate to buy something and a month later sit there and go "I really shouldn't have bought that."

#2. Love it. If it's just "neat" or something I look at and go "oh wow" but then lose that first impression on a second viewing, I won't get it.

#3. Control quantity. This sort of goes hand in hand with #1 and #2, but it's separate in that I see a lot of things that I can both afford and love, but really shouldn't have because of space.

These pretty much sum it up for me as well. Every great once-in-a-while something will come along that will tempt me to "challenge" #1 but, fortunately, this doesn't happen often.