A sort of Epiphany as a 'Toy Collector'

Maybe you don't want any more figures?

It never happened to me, but I guess you are missing to focus a final goal for your collection, or something like that. Maybe in your mind you are not sure why you are collecting, and missing space/room for your items might be a reason.

And that's the reason....

If these boxes are sealed and many of the items are unopened and not even visible, the thing in your mind is telling you "you don't want another box to pile up" because that's all that it is. If you have no display, or many items are sealed, you can't enjoy them. I don't mean you can't have figures that are MIB, but display them properly and realize what a great collection you have. There's probably stuff in there you didn't realize you had.

Then once you have a setup, take PGV's advice. You NEED a final goal with your collection. Is it a certain quantity? A certain amount of characters? A completed line of figures? A certain scale you follow? Find something.

Mine's a combo of two things. Every single character and a quantity of 1000. If you count useless characters like Ice Cream shop employee and the hundreds of civilians we see throughout the series, then there's close to 1,400 characters, which is why I use 1000 as my limit. Not only will I have every single relevant character including many that only appeared in one scene, but I know where my limit is. Every single custom and figure I get until then serves a purpose. So I never have regrets.

This topic is something that hits home for me. Others are sharing personal and humbling stories as to why they collect, or why they get satisfaction from such a thing and I think I will too.

My child hood was great. I was adopted by grandparents out of an abusive home and given the world. My grandparents showered me with love, affection and spoiled me relentlessly. These were excellent times. I honestly wish I could relive them, as things in my life have soured significantly. In the last ten years everything about my life that was good has died, been lost or been taken, in one way or the other. Without going into too much detail; my life was turned on its head many times over.

Growing up I was always nerdy. Things like anime, manga, comic books, Ninja Turtles, music and other things always captivated me. Now at the age I am, my mid twenties, I am without doubt as to why my hobbies are what they are. Like the OP said, I am trying to recapture something that made me feel good during my childhood. Some people don't understand this, I don't expect them too. What I do know is that my hobby makes me feel happy and it doesn't hurt anyone. I'm in a happy relationship and will be married some time next year. My fiancé certainly doesn't think ill of my hobbies. She actually encourages them.

I've thought long and hard about why I collect, why I like what I like and the reasoning behind my hobbies. I hope you do too. If you find your hobbies don't hurt anyone and are ultimately healthy, then why stop? If it makes you happy, then let it continue to do so. For some people, they may find themselves having issues with continuing a collection. If this is happening to you then think long and hard as to why this may be. You might need to take care of something personal and important before your brain will allow you to continue something like a figure collection. Take care of your responsibilities first, then the pleasures of collecting will be all the more rewarding.

I must admit, behind my deeper reasoning for collecting like I do, I really just like having some stuff from a show I love. Hahaha.