Starting a Collection, Part 1: The Value of Clearance

So, you're looking at these pictures, you think action figures are cool, or maybe you saw a friend's collection and fell in love.  Whatever the reason, you've decided you want to start a toy collection.

Now what?

Well, you could run out to your local comic store or bring up eBay and get started.  But if you jump in unprepared, you're going to spend a lot of money and you might not end up with much of a collection.

If you're a new collector and you are not wealthy, I'd advise caution.  Unless you know exactly what you want and are willing to spend anything to get it, bide your time and watch for sales.  If there is more than one toy store near you, start stopping by to glance through the selections.  Look at the new releases, but shop in the clearance sections.  Compare prices, so you know who's offering the best deals.

But here are a few things you should know: if you end up collecting seriously, in a few year's time, half of what you buy now will be buried in boxes.  As you build a collection, both your tastes and your displays will change.

Even shopping sales, I spent a lot on a collection of six inch Lord of the Rings figures.  I still love them, but there's just no room to display them.  The sculpts and paint are good, they're highly articulated, but it's tough to make them stand.

Now, just to be clear, I don't regret the purchase.  These are very cool figures, and I'm happy to have them, even if they spend 90% of their time in a cardboard box.  But, had I paid full full retail for these only to see them half off a month later, I'd feel kind of foolish now that I don't even have them out.

When you're starting your collection it isn't the time to be seeking out complete sets or spending whatever it takes to get a hold of a new release.  No matter how exceptional a toy is today, it's likely that something just as good is going to come out next year.  Will it be the same?  No.  Will you regret not having bought something when you started collecting?

All right, all right.  In the interest of full disclosure, there are numerous toys I passed on five or ten years ago that I regret not buying.  Some I've picked up off eBay for twice their original price.  Take Sally, for instance (she's in the first picture at the top of the page).  I held off when she first came out and waited for her go down in price.  Didn't happen: instead, she vanished from every store, and I paid a premium years later.  Does it suck?  You bet.  Do I wish I could travel back in time and pick her up for $13?  Of course

I do.  But I wouldn't go back and change my philosophy: even accounting for Sally, my strategy has saved me a lot of money over the years: for every figure I dished out big bucks for after the fact, there are a dozen toys where I was glad I waited.  Either I realized years later that I didn't actually need it, a better version came along, or I found it later for half price (or cheaper).  Like those Kingdom Come figures to the right: I bought most of them for between five and eight bucks a piece.

When you're starting a collection, you want to experiment.  Find out what YOU like in an action figure.  You can read a hundred reviews, but, in the end, your tastes are your own.  And the only way you're going to learn what kind of collection you want is to buy

a large number of toys and set them on your shelf for a few months.  Eventually you'll find out what you want in your collection.   Then it'll be time to start prioritizing certain figures.  You might find yourself spending some money on a few choice items, but in the long run you'll have saved hundreds.

That's the first and best piece of advice I can give to those of you starting out in this hobby.  Of course, I don't always expect you to follow it.  For that reason, Part 2 will provide some advice on NOT following this rule, on tracking down and spending money on something that's going to cost you... but might just be worth it, anyway.