Death of the toy soldier collector. (3 Viewers)

[aujj65]

This year I splurged a bit and bought several connosiuer Crusader figures from AeroArt and other St. Petersburg Collections retailers. All are superbly painted and in my opinion works of art. In the recent few weeks I have seriously compared them with my K&C Crusaders and Saracens and I have come to the conclusion that the additional cost is just not worth it to me. I will continue to purchase the K&C Crusader figures and I hope that 2009 will bring new additions - for me they are still more than affordable. However, I believe my excursion into the more "pricey" collectible figures is over. I am even getting ready to assemble and paint my first 54mm metal kit - a Hospitlar Knight made by Pegaso.
Mike

Mike, good for you others will back me up when I say there's nothing like painting your own. look forward to it.

Jeff

 

[marco55]

This year I splurged a bit and bought several connosiuer Crusader figures from AeroArt and other St. Petersburg Collections retailers. All are superbly painted and in my opinion works of art. In the recent few weeks I have seriously compared them with my K&C Crusaders and Saracens and I have come to the conclusion that the additional cost is just not worth it to me. I will continue to purchase the K&C Crusader figures and I hope that 2009 will bring new additions - for me they are still more than affordable. However, I believe my excursion into the more "pricey" collectible figures is over. I am even getting ready to assemble and paint my first 54mm metal kit - a Hospitlar Knight made by Pegaso.

Mike

Good luck on the knight Mike.If you do as well painting as making a diorama it will be great.My self I have historical figure kits I'm going to have painted,finish out my JJD BOSS,And get some figures that catch my eye.I hope Britains puts out some FIW matte figures in action poses that would compliment my historical kits at 54mm.Jenkins is just too big to go with them.Also Britains sell single figures which would be more affordable at this time.
Mark

 

[THE SHOOTIST]

I'm sort of fortunate in the fact that I'm an old school Yankee. Yeah, I love the K&C stuff, but I've never been able to justify the expenditure. I'm a D.I.Y. sort of guy who enjoys the hours spent with my son and daughter painting, and fabricating dioramas from mostly discarded junk. Plastics are suiting us just fine for now, and cruising the "bargain bins" at the local Toy Soldier shop and at the shows are part of the fun. I guess as with anything, moderation is the key.

 

[Jagdpanther]

I use to paint plastic 54mm figures I may be going back into it. However I dont paint that great but at least good enough for me to enjoy.

 

[Njja]

Collecting has always been a somewhat expensive hobby, when I first started

with Lionel Trains you picked up fairly inexpensive items. As your expertise

grew you moved up to nicer items, selling off a few lesser items to buy a nicer

piece. Eventually you built up a nice collection of items as time passed.

This influenced my strategy on collecting, today as prices rise and the

economy slips most collectors have to make decisions based on financial

family needs.

It is certainly a bonus if some of the older sets a collector purchased a few

years ago can now be sold to finance a few sets he might like today! A

collector might have the pleasure of trading one or two older sets for four or

five new sets!

Everyone wins, the manufacter sells new products, the dealer makes some

money, even the person buying the older sets gets to add something that

was missing to his collection.

This is why to me the secondary market is so important to our hobby.

Take the recent sale of the SAS01 for $613 one nice set could provide the

funds for quite a few new sets someone had their eye on! And the winner of

that auction is certainly eagerly awaiting his new prizes arrival.

So, no one should be considering abandoning the hobby, a better choice

would be how do I modify my collection so it is still a source of pleasure and

no additional financial burden.

Just my opinion!

 

[thebritfarmer]

For me it has never really been a "must have the complete set" type of hobby. I buy a piece here buy a piece there. Last piece I bought was in June and it was a retired piece from 4 years ago. If money were no object I'd be into all kinds of series and have everything complete.

I take great pleasure in displaying and looking at what I do have. I look at it this way, I have another 40 years left of collecting at least and it's always fun to look out for that elusive figure.

 

[Go for Broke]

I started collecting around 1996. At that time KC would produce WWII stuff only a few times per year. Although I was making a lot less money and still had to budget for the stuff I wanted, choices were limited. Now, WWII products come out every month and are excellent. I want to buy everything, but is impossible, which causes frustration. I, too, am scaling back. However, its better than when I was a kid looking at the Sears catalog drooling over the Marx playsets and never getting it.

 

[cantinetozzo]

I started collecting Dragon Armor (60 or more tanks)..then i discovered K&C ..my idea of collecting too is to take a piece here and there not looking much at the period (but i have 3 favourite ranges nonetheless FoB, 1776, and Crimea)..i think that even if now is out of my mind selling the pieces i bought in this first year of hobby maybe if one day i'll take this decision i know they can be sold at good prices..from january i'll limit my budget too, but when i see some piece i can't resist..i think it's all a matter of priorities..we can resist (it's hard i know) to Rall, Galland or the Helferin(much harder)..and complete the 1st Ny..or buy that beautiful piece (BR052..why i didn't buy it on my last order??now is sold out!)...so...everyone knows his business ..but i don't trust you when you say you stop collecting..

 

[Larry Allen]

Happy Holidays Everyone;

I think "Go For Broke" has an important point. We get frustrated when all the fantastic items hit the shelves and we can only afford (because of $$$ or space) a small amount of them.

I am still a newbie (Toy Soldier collecting only two years) who thought he was going to get multiples of everything. Well that idea went down in flames. Then I had seven series that I was collecting, but that has quickly dropped to four (AR, BR, AK and EA).

My point is that no one ever said that a collection has to have 100's or 100's of figures to be a great collection. For proof look at the superb dio's that are on Treefrog web site (and others) with just a few items. So if I can only add a set or two every few months then that is what I can do.

Yea, I still pout when I see all those incredible sets and figures pop up, and new series appears. But a hobby is suppose to to be enjoyable and not cause stress. Dam, there is enough of that in every day life.

I hope that you stay around Simpson and always lend us your comments and insight. But important just have FUN
Larry

 

[erniesstudio]

Since,our Aussie dollar nosedived ,I now have cut back radically as the prices have, for me at least become cost probitive..Luckily i have a large collection,and specilize in visual dioramas. So for the present my collecting will be limited to pre orders only......Ern.

 

[Gazza]

I think the increases in cost are a challenge but we all just have to live within our means and for me, Larry hits the nail on the head...

But a hobby is suppose to to be enjoyable and not cause stress. Dam, there is enough of that in every day life.

 

[noli-poli]

You need a strategy for this hobby.

I've been buying in doubles, triples and sometimes in quadruples+ depending how I think the item will re-sell in the future. The re-sell (thru e-bay and other auction sites including international networks) paid-off my current collection.

And when selling, do not discount the international market. It is opportunities galore (but you may want to check with USPS onhigh risk countries)!

My KC and other collections are now worth more than the interest I earned in my 401K.

 

[OldCelt]

The Death..Is a strong call. The Hobby has slowed down from time to time.
However it has been around in one form or another for almost 200 yrs.
I remember a few years back alot of people were wondering about the graying of the Old Britains collectors. I still see them selling for good prices.
Prices go up thats a fact. We find ways to deal with it.
I'm eating more PB&J sam'iches. I've had nothing but Cheerios for breakfast for the last ten years.(I'm used to it.)
I will retire in three weeks and my income will be halved! My 401k is now a .0401z.
But I wil contiue to collect even if it's dents and damaged, or out of the 2 for $5 drawer.O.C
HAPPY COLLECTING Y'ALL!

 

[Deitz]

I have always tried to budget my for collecting habits. I try to put $10 to $20 a paycheck aside for collecting, sometimes more, sometimes less, but I always try to put something aside. I also put all my spare change in a jar and cash it in for the Chicago show. You would be surprised at how much you can accumulate this way. The trouble is not to raid the stash everytime you see a great figure.

 

[Vezzolf]

i know money is tight, but george is right that things will bounce back. my problem is space. there is so much out there to buy but where do you put it. i have been collecting since 1993 and thus have a good size collection. my problem is that i hate to have things boxed up. i want things displayed. thus the room issue. tack on all the boxes you have to store and space becomes an issue. and as a collector i could never dream of selling any of my treasure. what is one to do. i have even contemplated selling all the unbuilt models i have collected over the last 40 yrs. any suggestions?

You may have to resort to an addition to the home or purchase a second house to be used as a toy soldier museum as Louis has done..

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

I have to agree with "Warrior". My business - WWII Action Figures - has never been better. I was preparing for a down Christmas, but it's looking like it will be my best holiday season in the last 9 years. Yes collectors are spending a little less per order, but I have seen lots of new customers in the last year. My overseas business is still very strong. My theory is that people have so much crap lately in their everyday lives (work, bad economy) that they will find some money to indulge themselves. The only bad thing is that the better my business is, the more I seem to spend on Toy Soldiers

 

[Canadian Samurai]

I'm definitely in the process of scaling back, I haven't bought much since September when our dollar went to pot. If it doesn't recover I'll continue to divert more time to other more affordable hobbies which I've already started to do (though some manufacturers in them have gone belly up too). But certainly I'll also be spending more time enjoying the toy soldiers I already own, and finally getting around to setting up some of those dioramas I've always wanted to do and taking pictures of my collection etc. So in my case slashing of spending does not lead to the death of this hobbyist, just a reorientation of how I spend my time. I'll continue to follow this hobby with interest even if I don't buy half as much.

 

[6th Wisconsin]

Well, I definitely picked one of the worst and best times to expand from Civil War to WWII. Lots of incredible items out there but prices to match. It has prompted me to buy more CW and slow down on the WWII expansion. I really want the new King Tiger, but instead I picked up an American halftrack and tank destroyer with enough left over to buy a couple of figures for the same price. I may eventually get it. The same thing with the wounded Sherman. If it was about $30 less I would have bought it already, but I probably will get that one down the road.

 

[storch]

I keep up with the WWII reenactor world, and occasionally buy WWII repro items. This used to be a thriving business since virtually every SS division is represented by reenactors in the the US and Canada. However, one of the premier suppliers of reenactor clothing is shutting down at the end of this month. The toy soldier business will survive, but there will be casualties.

 

[Sans Culotte]

Hard times make you become more selective, but I doubt if they ever kill the true collector. Present economic circumstances have left me dead in the water as far as toy/model soldier purchases are concerned, but I also know that things will improve before long. I've been in these situations before. Also, being ill for years with congestive heart disease, before finally receiving a new heart in June, taught me further lessons in patience. While some of you will turn to painting your own figures, that is something that I cannot do, as my current anti-rejection meds give me the "shakes." Patience, in my case, truly is a virtue! Better days are coming ..... and no, I don't mean Saturday & Sunday!