Toy Forum
Other Toy Boards => General Toy Discussion => Topic started by: EdenEye on Monday 09 August 2010, 06:38 am
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Sometimes I feel like I am hoarding with my toy collecting. Don't get me wrong, my house is clean and pretty tidy. Nothing like the people on the Hoarding tv show. However, when I go to thift stores I find that I am very very careful I don't miss anything good. Like if there is a bag of doll clothes, I can't leave it there because i feel like if I leave it there, I will be missing something good. Like a piece of clothing for a certain doll that someone has been looking for. I buy almost everything I want, and take too much home.
Yet I never sell anything or post anything for sale, even though I have lots I'd like to sell! Lol, probably because I hate having to get boxes and figure out shipping rates, only to find that the buyer doesn'y want the item anymore.
I have loads of boxes full of great vintage toys in my basement, I don't remember most of whats in them! And I have no where to display my toys. Going to thift stores has become like a drug almost, looking for the next great find!
Oh and another thing, it breaks my heart to think of all the toys that have been thrown away due to the recalls. So many vintage toys that we've all been looking for....were possibly just thrown in the garbage by thift store workers and other people. :( How does this make you feel?
Eeeek...anyone else feel like a hoarder sometimes when collecting toys?
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Yes!
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My parents are hoarders (like on TV).
I have loads of stuff -much of it packed away in sheds and I don't remember what is in some of them. I am the only grandkid that ever appreciated things and my entire family likes to buy things for me. I am also a tiny bit OCD which means clutter drives me nuts yet I can't stop collecting some things.
I did grow up in a hoarder house so I have gotten very careful when I see I have started to get too much and try to give some to a good home with kids or fellow collectors that would appreciate them. And I am trying to look into selling off my fast food toys, banners, displays, etc... So if anyone is interested in those...
But yes I feel horrible when I learn something has been recalled and therefore tossed out. I don't have kids so they would just go on a shelf with no danger to anyone. I even talked a friend that works at McDs into getting me all of the Shrek glasses, which I will be keeping btw. :D
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I like going out hunting at flea markets for toys but I have trained my self to just look for certain items or series that I collect. I buy a lot from amazon .com some days I feel bad for paying so much for toys but once my collection is finished I do not plan on collecting anything beyond that line. I had a ton of x-men junk but gave most of it away to the salvation army part of me wanted to keep it but I had to let it go. I was running out of room I still have my five inch figures so that what I am focusing on lately. I mean it when I said I had everything I had comic books five inch play sets ten inch mini steel toys ect. I am glad I stopped when I did . I will only add things if I have the room , but soon I am going to go trough my collection , and might sell some of it I will keep you guys posted.
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I'm starting to feel like that too. My family lived with my grandmother when I was little, and she not only hoards things, but hoards toys! She has tons and tons of antique and vintage dolls and toys, and it's awesome to go through her stuff. But as the upstairs of her house currently looks just like those peoples' on TV, I don't want to go the same route. It's just so much harder to walk away from a purchase at a thrift store or ebay.
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Glad to hear I am not alone. I love to go to thift stores looking for toys, but I am embarassed. I don't want anyone I know to see me there. LOL. I am always looking around....people must think I am being sneaky and trying to steal stuff. Lol. Today I found a Magic Nursery doll with dress, YAY! And some cool (recent) electronic handheld games. Also found the ponytails and pigtails board game. :)
catlover: I got all 4 new Shrek glasses before they were recalled. I also got the last 4!
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There are two thrift stores near me but they never have anything good in them at all.
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I'm the same way. My Half finished basement and my spare room are FULL of vintage things and other toys that came with the vintage goodies. My bedroom and the rest of my house are full of collection stuff. It's not quite like the people on tv.. but my boyfriend is kinda scared. I pretty much hit thrift stores 5 days a week. I have a run of about.. oh.. 13 or so stores. I don't usually hit all of them every day though. I have SO MANY extras that I really need to sell off, but that takes a level of organization that I have trouble with. I could really use the extra monies. I have tons of stuffed animals, MLP, Care Bears, SSC, My Child dolls ( well, 6 of 'em.) Moondreamers, Jem..
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Sometimes. Whenever I watch that show, I throw things away. I really have to limit myself to what I keep. I'd like to have a rummage sale where everything sells, but nobody is buying anything. I priced some antique and vintage things at dime and quarter prices and still didn't sell it! Some lucky lady got some vintage strawberry shortcake stuff at prices that made me want to cry, but I had to get rid of it. It doesn't help that I attain so much from friends who find things for me at thrift stores. As soon as it gets cold enough outside to withstand the attic, I'm putting stuff on craigslist. And it going to be buy the whole bag for $5 or whatever price. No picking through.
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Hi why not post stuff on here? If youve got good prices, i know i'd buy a bunch!
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Oh man, if I had the money, I'd probably have a problem. XDD!
-Em
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I am also a tiny bit OCD which means clutter drives me nuts yet I can't stop collecting some things.
This actually isn't all that unusual... a lot of hoarders are actually obsessive-compulsive*. Not necessarily the clean-freak variety of OCD, but even the clean-freak types can suffer from the hoarder mentality.
I myself am OC, and I do have a tendency to hoard, though nowhere near as bad as the types that end up on those shows. I like things organized, too; it can be overwhelming at times, trying to keep everything neat. And when I am around other peoples clutter, the need to organize their mess becomes intense (as I discovered during my short move to California).
I collect waaay too many things, and am constantly wanting to add to it, though some stuff I currently have been contemplating selling (like my Breyer Horses). A good portion of my stuff is packed away in storage (things were out of hand, and I was moving), so I haven't been able to go through any of it and decide what stays and what goes. I did organize it all when I packed it up though, lol!
I don't have a job right now, so I can't really add to it... I was for a while, but realized I had to stop. Thankfully I left Ebay, there aren't flea markets (that I know of) in Alaska, the thrift stores here stink, and it's been raining most of the summer, so not many garage sales. Makes my life easier... I just have to avoid certain stores. I haven't quite checked out Craigslist yet... probably a good thing! ;)
I too was put out by that whole recall thing that caused many thrift stores to throw out toys. None of the Salvation Army stores here carry plastic toys anymore, only plush (if at all), and it seems Value Village gets picked through before I get there. The Pack Rat Mall (awesome place) very rarely has any of the toys I am looking for, and the one time they did, the seller was overcharging ($15 for a Rockin' Beat MLP with chopped hair and permanent ink marks all over).
* Not saying you are a hoarder, just pointing it out that OCD and hoarding are not mutually exclusive.
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That really sounds like me too! I had started collecting 80s toys when I had my kids and I started out buying toys I remembered playing with becoming important to find, so I could pass on happy memories for my two children. BUT.... They have never been allowed to play with them and my collection is getting bigger and I still keep telling myself I am buying for them and I suppose it's kind of sad that they were meant to be played with but I'm frightened that my kids will be too rough and part of me wants to save the toys from being forgotten aswell and the only way I can change them from being just a memory is to physically own them and store them safely. God! I'd hate to think what some psychologists would make if they analysed peoples reasons for collecting toys. Well! I guess I could be addicted to a lot worse things than hapy little toys. (I'm not a great fan of realistic feature dolls though but I love my child etc)
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I reassure myself that I'm not a hoarder because I'm organized, and someday I will have the room to properly display everything I have in drawers... mmm, toy museum!! But yeah... I feel you. I think the quantity of toys I bring in (as seen in my show and tell thread) shows how much I feel you :)
Also, what somebody above said about getting mad when there is nothing to buy on ebay and getting mad when there is? That was gold. Soooo true!
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When I first joined this web sight to identify toys I thought, " Bunch of freaks"... I don't want to be rude but some of those toy collections are CRAZY!!!! I do let my little girl play with the few toys I have, but then they have to go back on the shelf, I don't want them to get mixed in with her toys and I feel that displaying my treasures helps her to take care of her stuff because it's special.... and as far as having stuff in boxes, makes me think of the other people who are searching for childhood memories and it's probably a multiple of something that one of you have in a box somewhere... I've always wanted the whole LLL collection so if someone has extra AND in good condition to I WILL PAY. But not alot.... I could never afford any of that NIB stuff but would love to someday... I have a small shelf I keep special stuff on but when or if it flooded off of that shelf I would definitely examine myself.
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Me a doll hoarder? NOooooOoo. ...... *looks around in panic* Those dolls over ther on the shelf, oh well I had a few and they needed friends (that's why I used to have 6 of them and now have 80). No, it's not an army of them they are just happy and like to group together (the more the better and look I saved a lot of these from uncertain doll futures). Those numberous big drawers of dolls and the other drawers of doll clothes- uuuuhhhh.....I plead the 5th. No that big bucket of dolls I'm not collecting. I'm just putting them there until I decide to repaint, reroot them and no I won't keep them I promise. And no I won't collect any other dolls besides this series, and that one, and those, and a few of them, and of course I had these since I was a kid and will pick them up ONLY if I see them and cheap....... Ok,........I guess I'm a hoarder. But a happy one. lol
I do have dolls and toys I want to sell though. Been getting better at not picking up just anything. I used to do that with Barbie things but I've done well and sold a lot off already. Unfortunately I love to uh "foster" certain dolls lol. I'll have to make a list of stuff some day to post here. :)
By the way part of the part I love to collect is I love to sort and id stuff!
-Jamie
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Edeneye I know how you feel about being embarassed buying doll or toy stuff. Within the last few years I've gotten over most of that myself. Yes I used to say I was buying for some imaginary child of a friend of mine's but now I even let people I work with know. I figure they can know me better and plus they might remember the things I collect and want to talk about it or better yet maybe they have some still and might sell (who knows, it could happen!). I guess I came out of the doll closet. My poor husband tolerants my dolls. I'm lucky he does. He just wants them organized, out of his way, and for me not to quiz him all the time about which Jem character has certain hair colors (yes I was training him to know dolls/toon of Jem better lol. and btw he does pretty good answering now if I can get him to answer me lol).
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I get worried about that too.
But . . .
I have some rules:
1. Appreciate each toy, give it respect.
2. Be picky about what you collect (don't collect things that you remember but had no personal connection with)
3. When it stops being fun and makes you feel ill, take a break.
4. You have your whole life to collect, there is no need to buy everything RIGHT NOW.
5. Make sure to get a good deal. That item will come around again in time, but your money may not.
6. Only display a bit at a time (my personal rule) makes me appreciate everything.
7. Do not talk about toy collecting with people who wont support it.
Years ago I told my whole family about my obsession with Care Bears and I got attacked. I was seen as a baby and childish and immature. Since then I have hidden my collecting from everyone except those who live with me and my mom because she is a collector too.
I figure, life is full of pain and hardship, why not fill it with something that makes me happy . . . toys! When I have had a hard day I am instantly made happy if I go down and look at my toys. It's an easy fix. Don't let other's ideas of how you should live and spend your money affect you.
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My mom hates my dolls. I don't care that she doesn't like them since she doesn't have to come over and see mine if she doesn't want to lol. Since she is also crafty like me I have had to discuss with her before that I don't care if she "hates" them as long as she can appreciate my reroots and repaints for the work I did on them and not just the fact it's another doll I have. She's gotten a little better but I have to set rules up for her if we go garage selling together or to an antique store. I tell her she can ask me if I really need the item and if I say yes then she has to drop the subject but if I ask for her help on deciding the item then she may talk about it lol. I like my husband to go with me since I ask him if I really need something and he helps me think it over and I usually put it back then since I got to hold it for a little bit and then was happy to put it back down and walk away. He knows what I'm really looking to collect and helps me find them sometimes. I in return make sure if I buy something big like a Gene doll that I get rid of as many spare barbies as possible. I have a ton of them to sell now which is good and he likes seeing the gene dolls around then he likes the barbies. He tolerates my collecting. When asked which doll he likes best he says none and won't answer though hehe. When I ask which doll he'd like to destroy the most he says "all of them" lol. He never would harm them though. :)
I agree with your whole list AngelBear. I do try to follow them myself except for the talking about dolls to people. I like to talk about it if I ever find anybody to listen lol.
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Yeah I wish I could be more open about my toys. I am hoping *someday* :) That's why we have places like this message board.
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If it makes you happy and you aren't hurting anyone, who can say it's bad?