G.I. Joe Classified Series

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Whenever I see folks talking about their personal restrictions on buying I feel like I overdo it, but I'm not a completionist in any line, really, I just buy something if it gets my mind going. But I also didn't start seriously collecting as an adult until my 40s and I'm not 50 yet, so I don't have decades of stuff to stress me out. Since I lost pretty much every toy I ever owned in a house fire at 23, I've really only got serious collections of maybe five lines. I've done forays into a couple of TMNT lines, I bought some 3.75 anniversary Joes and Marvel but not more than could fit in a single shoebox.

Classified will probably be the only Joes line I EVER own so I just get what I want. Same with Legends though that hit the point of being like "okay now you're just re-buying things." Same with Star Wars, though with SW "rebuying" is limited to live five or ten characters max, everyone else is one and done. (MOTU is weird cos I started Origins and Masterverse at the same time, so I guess I have TWO of everyone I'll ever need, but I also am pretty close to having all I'll ever need there).

DC's the property that stresses me out because it's rebooted like four times since I started collecting and keeps shitting the bed before making a truly all-encompassing line. I could see divesting in my DC stuff if a DC line ever really cements its place as the perfect single collection for me the way Classified has.

(EDIT: Actually occurs to me that Joes I'm not restricting much on because IT DOES WHAT I WANT IT TO. Do I want a complete collection of Thundercats or Silverhawks or TMNT? Sure! But a line that actually fits perfectly for what I want doesn't exist. So it's easy to be like "Eh, I'll buy 1 or 2 and see if I like 'em" and move on. Actually that's a lie, if I test out a turtles line it's always "eh, I'll buy one set of the boys." Gotta half-dozen of those.)
 
docsilence said:
Whenever I see folks talking about their personal restrictions on buying I feel like I overdo it, but I'm not a completionist in any line, really, I just buy something if it gets my mind going.
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Well, and restrictions are just rules I guess, and that's yours. You get what you want. it's a really loose restriction, but you have one. It's breezy, heh. Being a completist stresses me out. No hate, good for the guys who can swing it but it would drive me mad.

I think the Classified line is what I restrict the least though. I don't get only figures I had as a kid, or only figures I didn't have. I don't have a cut-off year, nor do I only buy RAH or characters I'm familiar with. I may have to get there, but so far I guess I'm only getting real-worldish characters with light sci-fi (I have a BAT, and I did get Pythona, but my custom filecard leaves her origins kinda vague. Maybe she's a genetic mutant, or a drugged out nutjob, dunno). I mostly stick to one-per-character, but still have exceptions for that too damnit. In fact, there's stuff I'm purposely not laying rules for because it's gonna make me buy stuff I don't really want, like how I have most of 1985 already but I'm not going to get those last few. Not going for the original 13, etc. When they do Sneak Peek, I will end up with the six-man strike team the Joes sent to Cobra Island during the Cobra Civil War, but that's hardly anything heh. I guess my Joes are more focused on the anti-terrorist front rather than covering all military possibilities, so I won't be getting any DEF or Eco guys, space guys, or even Sci-Fi.
 
I have one Detolf, one fire escape shelf, and a very strict budget by design. I could go nuts if I let myself, but growing up in a hoarder-adjacent home really made me appreciate minimalism. It's actually why I started collecting Joes, I had genuinely convinced myself I'd stick with the main Cobra baddies and dip. I lied to me.
I have considered TMNT- some of Neca's stuff is painfully tempting- and Mythic Legions, but I always stop myself. Now if I could just get some of that self control to bleed over into fitness. Or diet. Focusing while at work...
 
+1 to "I just buy whatever I like". It's why I've never considered myself a collector. In my mind, a collector has a strict goal, and that's it. But I would be very unhappy with that setup. It doesn't seem like there's much room for self-expression or play.

Having said that, I can also appreciate clean, detailed toy collections. If you had the original 86 wave on one shelf, and next to it the Classified version of the 86 shelf, I'd think it's pretty damn cool.
 
The only time I really regret buying what I like without strong guardrails is that I can't have everything out at the same time, and I'll sometimes just have an existential crisis of "I truly love all this stuff, but sometimes some of it is stored in a box in my studio." But also one of my huge joys is taking a Saturday afternoon and swapping out my Marvel or Joes office display. Hey, Night Force for a few weeks! Or Oops All Animal Companions. Or whatever. So I feel less like hoarding and more like how my mom (oh no) is super into holidays and seasons and will completely swap out her decorations in the house every other month to match the time of year. I think I just figured out where I got it and now I wish I had a therapist on call.

Also, not just the house fire, I have gone minimalist twice in my life - lost everything in a house fire, and then got RID of everything when I moved to Ireland. Now that I'm settled, I'm getting older, I have a house of my own, and in this economy I'll probably DIE in this house... I'm more maximalist now, I guess. I did the own nothing thing, it was cool, now I'm greedy. (I also don't have kids, so... expendable income.)

Ru1977 said:
I think the Classified line is what I restrict the least though.
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We also, collectively, as a board, bully TF out of you to buy stuff. Specifically you. All the time.
WrathofTaco said:
Now if I could just get some of that self control to bleed over into fitness.
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This is how I know it's not a discipline thing for me. I work out 60-90 minutes every day, I plan my workouts if I'm on vacation, I militantly lock down time in my work schedule to lift and run. If I needed to discipline my buying, I would. (My partner actually WANTS me to buy action figures because it's the first time she's ever spend money on myself. Usually I just save money for when there's a house disaster or worrying about one of us losing our job. We had three huge home repairs this year I paid out of pocket for, so I know I've got discipline to save money when we need it. It's just taken 48 years to have income to not stress out about a 28 dollar toy.) I've got crazy self-control. Toy collecting is the one place I don't actually beat myself to a pulp over not enjoying life.
 
docsilence said:
We also, collectively, as a board, bully TF out of you to buy stuff. Specifically you. All the time.
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This is true, and funny... because it's true. But as it happens, or maybe by design, it seems to always be something I DO want, and maybe you guys pick up on which side of the fence I need to be pushed, but I haven't regretted any of the figures this happened with.
docsilence said:
Toy collecting is the one place I don't actually beat myself to a pulp over not enjoying life.
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This is really how it SHOULD be. And Classified actually got me there again.
DarthDre758 said:
I've gotten this gif more times than I can remember from him in text in regards to Classified figures.

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yeah, just yesterday I was talking to you about more Cobra trooper bits and options. My weird "cobra army building without admitting I'm army building because I made them all unique individuals" thing is really out of control.
 
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