Your most recent Macross or toy purchase! General thread.

[Slave IV]

1 hour ago, borgified said:

@Shizuka the Cat: You know what's even worse that collecting Macross valks? Having other stuff that we collect also, albeit it may be in TFs, comics, tokusatsu, mecha, Lego, et all.. You get the jest of it.

Not long ago, I pre-ordered another 1/6 figure (to be out by Q2 of this year) and have funds actually set aside for this. The worst thing is to be in debt for the rest of your life and you can't even make the payments due to the interest that's slapped on it (and you keep in buying more stuff to satisfy your plastic crack habits; therefore going deeper into the debt pool).  Having a collection is one thing, just budget your expenses accordingly.

On a side note, I just pulled the trigger on a 1/48 valk last night as it actually the last listing available from the two that was listed earlier.     

    

Nice! What 1/48 did you get?

18 minutes ago, Shizuka the Cat said:

I finally decided to sit down and figure out how much I spent on Macross toys, as I had lost track with all the little purchases I made. Since starting on March 19th, I blew a grand total of almost $4350. 

That was both a bit shocking and sobering for me. The rough estimate I had been floating in my head was about a thousand dollars less than what I actually spent. Realizing I spent this much is actually freaking me out a bit. I think I really may be a shopaholic, have an addiction, and have gone a bit crazy. I am literally shaking a bit in panic. Not good... not good.

If there's a cure for this, I don't want it, I don't want it

[borgified]

46 minutes ago, Slave IV said:

Nice! What 1/48 did you get?

Got the VF-1s Hikaru as I already have the Strike/Fast packs already. I know that we had this conversation in regards of the 1/48 on the other site as I'm focusing on the ones that I want plus the price for it was reasonable (not more than $200 CDN). I was also watching the other sites like a hawk in regards to the VF-1s Hikaru as well.

Just so happens that I managed to catch the listing when I went back into the site and it was the last one available, that is when I snagged it.  

It's the one with the flaming box (version 1.1)

[Slave IV]

1 hour ago, borgified said:

Got the VF-1s Hikaru as I already have the Strike/Fast packs already. I know that we had this conversation in regards of the 1/48 on the other site as I'm focusing on the ones that I want plus the price for it was reasonable (not more than $200 CDN). I was also watching the other sites like a hawk in regards to the VF-1s Hikaru as well.

Just so happens that I managed to catch the listing when I went back into the site and it was the last one available, that is when I snagged it.  

It's the one with the flaming box (version 1.1)

Ah nice! Congrats on adding it to your collection!

[kajnrig]

4 hours ago, Shizuka the Cat said:

I finally decided to sit down and figure out how much I spent on Macross toys, as I had lost track with all the little purchases I made. Since starting on March 19th, I blew a grand total of almost $4350. 

That was both a bit shocking and sobering for me. The rough estimate I had been floating in my head was about a thousand dollars less than what I actually spent. Realizing I spent this much is actually freaking me out a bit. I think I really may be a shopaholic, have an addiction, and have gone a bit crazy. I am literally shaking a bit in panic. Not good... not good.

Then stop. No more jokes. Fun and games don't include panic attacks. You've called this an addiction, a bad habit, you're taking away from your food budget, and you just had a panic attack. This is not fun. You are probably experiencing and/or have experienced and/or will experience overwhelming anxiety over how to scramble your finances together to deal with how much you've just spent. You need to stop, and everyone here cannot be light and jokey about this.

I said it before: we here are not your friends and we do not have your best interests at heart. Get away from the forums for a while if you have to; the people here are generally enjoyable to be around, but I think it's fair to say we as a forum tend to celebrate excess a bit... excessively. Please, PLEASE, don't get suckered in by that.

Edited April 8, 2018 by kajnrig

[Slave IV]

29 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

Then stop. No more jokes. Fun and games don't include panic attacks. You've called this an addiction, a bad habit, you're taking away from your food budget, and you just had a panic attack. This is not fun. You are probably experiencing and/or have experienced and/or will experience overwhelming anxiety over how to scramble your finances together to deal with how much you've just spent. You need to stop, and everyone here cannot be light and jokey about this.

I said it before: we here are not your friends and we do not have your best interests at heart. Get away from the forums for a while if you have to; the people here are generally enjoyable to be around, but I think it's fair to say we as a forum tend to celebrate excess a bit... excessively. Please, PLEASE, don't get suckered in by that.

Very good advise. 

We are all just having fun here but when it comes time, there are people who will put things in real perspective. We can't be responsible for anyone else here and just have to assume we are all adults who can take care of ourselves. Many of us joke about exploding wallets and selling organs for this stuff but again, just jokes. If this becomes a real problem for anyone, best thing to do is get off the internet and reflect on your real life. 

For me personally, I don't care about money...I hate it and the whole system we live in that puts it above all else including our own lives. But I understand the need for it in our reality. I live my life how I want and don't worry about the money part. If I need more money, I just make more money. Not everyone can sustain that lifestyle though so you have to look at yourself and your own perception of reality. 

[Lolicon]

If you can afford to spend thousands of dollars on toys, then great. Don't worry so much about it. Just don't put yourself into debt or funnel money away from more important things (like food, rent, etc.) If you're doing either of those things, then yeah you need to dial back the toy purchases.

[Shizuka the Cat]

Thanks for all the great advice guys.

I apologize for freaking out earlier and panicking. I think I have calmed down a little bit.

I managed to be a little bit productive today..I wrote 2 more paragraphs for one of my research idea papers! YAY! I also performed surgery on a Yamato v2 valkyrie, replacing its broken shoulder joint with a new Shapeways one. That was oddly relaxing. I think I can sort of understand the appeal of model building now.... but I  think I will politely steer clear from that money-costing hobby.   =)

Now that I have an accurate tally of my Macross toy expenditures, I will try to be more diligent with my finances until I graduate and find a job (hmm... I wonder how much starting computer science professors make?). Plus, I figure if I get desperate and need an influx of cash before then, maybe I can sell some of my bags, shoes, or jewelry.

I think I will be okay... so long as I keep things under control from now on.

Edited April 8, 2018 by Shizuka the Cat

[HardlyNever]

As other said, this forum is great for enjoying the hobby and sharing info, but it is definitely an enabling source.  Also keep in mind everyone's disposable incomes and time collecting range wildly here, so definitely don't try to "keep up with the Jones.'"  Some people have collections that have taken decades to amass; don't think that they bought these multi-thousand dollar collections in a few months.

I'm not going to pretend to know your finances (or want to know), but I know when I was a grad student, I could have never afforded this hobby.  If you're buying this stuff with student loan money (and I'm not saying you are)... don't.  In fact, I started collecting right when I paid off my student loans (which took several years).

As far as comp sci professors are concerned, that is going to range pretty substantially, but I can tell you as someone that works in higher ed, no one is making serious money right out of grad school.  It usually takes several years to establish yourself and move up to decent paying jobs.  But you can research that on your own (just don't assume the average is what you're going to be making, that is the average between new, experienced, and everyone in between).

[Sanity is Optional]

I highly suggest budgeting out a certain amount per month for spending on hobbies (including valkyries), and using that as a guideline.

[hachi]

1 hour ago, Sanity is Optional said:

I highly suggest budgeting out a certain amount per month for spending on hobbies (including valkyries), and using that as a guideline.

I do that. I make a specific budget about 4 months in advance--I make sure I allocate money for food, phone bills, insurance, some savings and other forecasted expenses. The rest is divided among my various wishlists--toy wishlist, book wishlist, etc. The only problem is that my wishlists keeps on growing lol. Right now I got major expenses mapped up to the end of the year. Some months I project some savings, which can be useful for surprise announcements of new toys or just normal real life emergency expenses. But yeah sometimes I just overspend when I'm stressed  But I don't use credit cards for that.

[Sanity is Optional]

4 minutes ago, hachi said:

I do that. I make a specific budget about 4 months in advance--I make sure I allocate money for food, phone bills, insurance, some savings and other forecasted expenses. The rest is divided among my various wishlists--toy wishlist, book wishlist, etc. The only problem is that my wishlists keeps on growing lol. Right now I got major expenses mapped up to the end of the year. Some months I project some savings, which can be useful for surprise announcements of new toys or just normal real life emergency expenses. But yeah sometimes I just overspend when I'm stressed  But I don't use credit cards for that.

I mean deciding, for instance, every month there's a net $300 for spending on toys. Any extra carries over to the next month. Putting it in a separate checking or savings account with an automatic transfer would make it pretty easy to control.

[Shizuka the Cat]

I actually buckled down and finished my round 1 draft of my research idea paper for one of my classes. YAY, I was productive tonight!... finally. (still a little annoyed at myself for not finishing this paper 2 weeks ago) 

Anyways, 1 paper down, 1 to go!

ACK, It's almost 5:30 AM? Already?! 

Okay... time to browse eBay for Macross stuff for a few minutes before I take a nap. Don't worry, I won't buy anythi.... oooh, Tamashii display stands for my HMRs? *drool*

[hachi]

3 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

I mean deciding, for instance, every month there's a net $300 for spending on toys. Any extra carries over to the next month. Putting it in a separate checking or savings account with an automatic transfer would make it pretty easy to control.

Spending what's left is easier on my conscience lol. It makes me think harder over which item to prioritize buying. That really restrains me from buying too much toys/books. At the end I realize I really didn't want or need some of the stuff on my wish lists so it works out great for me.

[Podtastic]

9 hours ago, Shizuka the Cat said:

Thanks for all the great advice guys.

I apologize for freaking out earlier and panicking. I think I have calmed down a little bit.

I managed to be a little bit productive today..I wrote 2 more paragraphs for one of my research idea papers! YAY! I also performed surgery on a Yamato v2 valkyrie, replacing its broken shoulder joint with a new Shapeways one. That was oddly relaxing. I think I can sort of understand the appeal of model building now.... but I  think I will politely steer clear from that money-costing hobby.   =)

Now that I have an accurate tally of my Macross toy expenditures, I will try to be more diligent with my finances until I graduate and find a job (hmm... I wonder how much starting computer science professors make?). Plus, I figure if I get desperate and need an influx of cash before then, maybe I can sell some of my bags, shoes, or jewelry.

I think I will be okay... so long as I keep things under control from now on.

Well since people are giving free advice...

Two ways I keep control of my own hobby fanatism is to have a list of what I REALLY want and to ONLY buy that. More importantly I only purchase what I ALREADY have the disposable funds for, which must account not only for expenses but also the maintenance of an emergency reserve.

 Once you land that well paying permanent job its not a bad idea to invest in property and then pay it off asap by pumping as much you can spare into the Bond every month to save on YEARS of interest. You can also rent it out and get income which helps to pay off said bond. (I dont know if property ownership is the best investment nowadays, but it certainly worked out for me.)

The other thing you need to do once landing that job is to start saving for retirement, its never too early.

[MacrossMania]

I used to use credit cards for this hobby but after carrying the debt for several years realized that it wipes out any value in the item.  Now I'm just careful to make sure that I have enough budgeted to make the purchases I want to make.  With all the items that are coming out these days, that means I have to make sacrifices and count myself lucky to get only some of these items.  I mean this year alone is crazy!  Bandai's 1/48, all the HMR's (ostrich, Elintseeker, 1S etc.), Delta 31A, Sentinel's Mospeada bike armor, all the Fix Figuration and Metal Builds including the gundam wing this month, the latest SOC variants.  The list goes on and on.  And that's all the official lines that I collect (and some that I don't).  Not to mention all the little goodies like HMR Dougrams that I don't collect but want to.  The reality is that I could never afford all this so I have to pare down my collecting instincts and choose only those select lines that I really want, and go from there.  And even then, I don't go that far because I could never keep up with all of Arcadia and Bandai's releases.  That's just the reality of collecting these days.  We're in a toy renaissance, but the downside is that it feeds really bad collecting habits and prevents completists from getting anywhere close to completing a line (unless you have 10's of thousands of dollars to spend).  

 

And not for nothing (not that's any of my business), but spending over 4 thousand dollars in a buying spree is really cause for concern.  I don't take these threads too seriously when it comes to my collecting habits.  I peruse these boards the same way that I browse ebay.  It's window shopping.  Toy porn and nothing more.  I don't get caught up in all the glee when it comes to sharing etc. because I know where that rabbit hole goes.

[Saburo]

I picked up this gem! I lost my copy  a few years ago and now I have an upgraded version.

[Scyla]

Well since it is advice time here we go:

To me it was important to figure out what a collector I want to be. There is so much awesome stuff out there that no sane person has enough money and more importantly space to own and display everything. 

When I started toy collecting as an adult I saw so much new items I had no idea existed that I just bought everything I could afford. Now a decade later I pinned down what I want to collect and it helps me to keep myself restrained most of the time.

While I am not a fan of rules that are a) set in stone and b) arbitrary they helped me to keep my collection focused. For example: while the Hi Metal R line is cool (love the enemy mecha stuff) I knew the size is not for me so I said no Macross stuff that isn't in the 1/60 scale and not a transforming piece.

As others said it also helps to have a set budget for each month as a guideline on how much you can spend. I have a handy Excel sheet that helps me with planning and also to keep track of my collection (and as paperwork for my insurance).

Sometimes I like to test out other toy lines so I make up more arbitrary rules on the way. I want to check out the Super Robot Chogokin line: only  (Great) Mazinger/Mazinkaiser toys in the Kurogane line (which there are two items). See what the Soul of Chogokin line has to offer: only mecha from Gunbuster, which is only the Gunbuster.  Want to test Gunpla, only the MG Ver. Ka kits.

Of course it is hard seeing reviews (reviewers are the devil!) of the SoC GaoGaiGar or the Seninel Ironman line and not buy it immediately but after my rules helped me to withstand the initial buying impulse the desire to own it slowly wanes and mostly goes away. At the moment I'm super tempted by the Transformers MP Beast Wars line but I have to say no! If you really really really want the item after that initial impulse is gone you usually can buy it on the secondary market if the desire is still there. Sure the item price is usually higher but I made the experience you save money on the long run if you're not buying everything you fancy. As a bonus that means the purchase will satisfy you on a deeper level.

Once I was a more disciplined collector I could soften the rules a bit. The transforming Koenig Monster from Bandai does not really fit with my 1/60 collection since it is roughly 1/100 scale but it completes my Frontier collection very well. Same thing with the SDF-1 but it is only one ship and acts as the center piece of my collection.

My rules also help me to get back once I notice I went overboard with purchases and I feel I need to cut back on it.

I'm not suggesting that a system like that is for everyone (maybe it is just for me) but I had to learn that the hard way what works for me. I have many items from when I was beginning to collect toys that now have no place in my refined collection that clutter my storage space and I wished I hadn't bought on a whim.

Maybe this will help a new collector making toy collecting a more fulfilling hobby where you don't have to worry about the food budget next month or paying back your student loans.

[hachi]

6 hours ago, Saburo said:

I picked up this gem! I lost my copy  a few years ago and now I have an upgraded version.

Where did you get this and how much did pay for it? I wish for the day stuff like this gets reissued (and in English if possible).

[ChaoticYeti]

Finally got all of the pieces together to make this over the weekend.

https://buildbetterbricks.com/products/custom-lego-ucs-guardians-of-the-galaxy-milano-instructions

 

Not sure if it was a parts list import issue, or if I was shorted a few pieces from the bricklink sellers, but I was missing a few pieces throughout that I had to steal from my kids.

[Shizuka the Cat]

1 hour ago, ChaoticYeti said:

Finally got all of the pieces together to make this over the weekend.

https://buildbetterbricks.com/products/custom-lego-ucs-guardians-of-the-galaxy-milano-instructions

 

Not sure if it was a parts list import issue, or if I was shorted a few pieces from the bricklink sellers, but I was missing a few pieces throughout that I had to steal from my kids.

Is that some kind of valkyrie built in Legos?

[seti88]

1 hour ago, ChaoticYeti said:

Finally got all of the pieces together to make this over the weekend.

https://buildbetterbricks.com/products/custom-lego-ucs-guardians-of-the-galaxy-milano-instructions

 

Not sure if it was a parts list import issue, or if I was shorted a few pieces from the bricklink sellers, but I was missing a few pieces throughout that I had to steal from my kids.

OOOF thats a nice milano display piece! 

[Shukenzero]

3 hours ago, ChaoticYeti said:

Finally got all of the pieces together to make this over the weekend.

https://buildbetterbricks.com/products/custom-lego-ucs-guardians-of-the-galaxy-milano-instructions

 

Not sure if it was a parts list import issue, or if I was shorted a few pieces from the bricklink sellers, but I was missing a few pieces throughout that I had to steal from my kids.

That's beautiful. I have the normal GOTG one. 

[Sildani]

Hobby Master’s Su-35 model landed a couple days ago. Paint is awesome and it’s very well detailed. Parked next to my Valkyries and it’s easy to see where Kawamori got his inspiration for these later versions from!

[seti88]

Nice pickup @Sildani. Are you gonna apply the included numbering stickers?
How are the quality of those?

I kinda passed on the 35 at the moment due to macross seriously eating into my budget. Might pick them up another time.

[Slave IV]

1 hour ago, Sildani said:

Hobby Master’s Su-35 model landed a couple days ago. Paint is awesome and it’s very well detailed. Parked next to my Valkyries and it’s easy to see where Kawamori got his inspiration for these later versions from!

Nice! Is that a prebuilt model like Calibre Wings? Is it diecast?

[ChaoticYeti]

Hobby Masters are pre-built, painted, and diecast.

[ZorClone]

Lol awesome Milano build.  I'm hoping QMX or someone will actually issue a nice size prebuilt model one day, like the Q-fig they teased in 2016

 

@Shizuka the Cat You've clearly been riding the honeymoon adrenaline of this new collecting/show&tell hobby you're in.  Thus, I highly recommend a) Never ever buy anything with the notion of hoping to impress this forum, only buy what helps you enjoy and characterize your own collection and b) set aside an automatic bank transfer to a paypal account of disposable income and only use that paypal account for collecting--and don't use credit cards for it unless you can pay it off each month and just want the points.

Again to reiterate... If you ever find yourself thinking "oooh, those guys would really 'ooh' and 'aww' if I got this!" and that's the only real impetus for that purchase... don't bother with it.

[Slave IV]

2 hours ago, ChaoticYeti said:

Hobby Masters are pre-built, painted, and diecast.

Ah thanks! Just looked at your adapters for model kits. I have no idea what to use for the F-14 I just got. I noticed it came with a Flightpose type stand. Maybe someday you can get a deal with some manufacturers to have your stands included as factory stands?

56 minutes ago, ZorClone said:

Lol awesome Milano build.  I'm hoping QMX or someone will actually issue a nice size prebuilt model one day, like the Q-fig they teased in 2016

 

@Shizuka the Cat You've clearly been riding the honeymoon adrenaline of this new collecting/show&tell hobby you're in.  Thus, I highly recommend a) Never ever buy anything with the notion of hoping to impress this forum, only buy what helps you enjoy and characterize your own collection and b) set aside an automatic bank transfer to a paypal account of disposable income and only use that paypal account for collecting--and don't use credit cards for it unless you can pay it off each month and just want the points.

Again to reiterate... If you ever find yourself thinking "oooh, those guys would really 'ooh' and 'aww' if I got this!" and that's the only real impetus for that purchase... don't bother with it.

Only reason I would recommend using a credit card is that you can find ones with no foreign transaction fee and that goes a long way if you are buying a lot of toys from Japan. I always pay my balances in full every month. Unless of course I have a 0% interest deal because free loans are something worth taking advantage of.

[ZorClone]

Those savings on transaction fee's are a drip in the debt bucket if you can't otherwise control your credit card usage, however.  Everyone will have an ideal solution.

[ChaoticYeti]

4 hours ago, ZorClone said:

Lol awesome Milano build.  I'm hoping QMX or someone will actually issue a nice size prebuilt model one day, like the Q-fig they teased in 2016

A studio model would be amazing.

https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=264335

[ZorClone]

And probably $6k

[Lolicon]

9 hours ago, ZorClone said:

Those savings on transaction fee's are a drip in the debt bucket if you can't otherwise control your credit card usage, however.  Everyone will have an ideal solution.

Yeah, I wouldn't advise it for someone unable to pay off their card in its entirety every month or keep a rein in their spending. 

I put everything on my one card since it has no foreign transaction fees and I get the actual exchange rate, and not PayPal's bloodsucking rate. I also rack up tons of points for travel this way. My next two international flights are already free. 

I also pay off my card entirely every two weeks so I don't carry over any substantial debt.

It's all about knowing your financial limits. Remember kids, only Batman has no limits! 

[Kuma Style]

Alright, so just got the GigaBrain giga Gokin Final Dancouga (not the regular release.) Huge grail and only a Revoltech Dancouga away from being done with the collection. It's pretty rad and the wingspan is pretty damned big.



But now I'm wondering where the heck I'm going to put it...

[F360]

due to the current vf-31a situation, I've been more active on hunting for stuff.

ended up buying this: below 

 

Gundam is angry at you...... N-Y, Nin-Nin, MyKombini ,etc. 

[MacrossMania]

2 hours ago, F360 said:

due to the current vf-31a situation, I've been more active on hunting for stuff.

ended up buying this: below 

 

Gundam is angry at you...... N-Y, Nin-Nin, MyKombini ,etc. 

An angry purchase!  That's a new one.  I like it.