Joy of the hunt?

[26662]

I might be alone on this one, but I kinda miss the joy that came with toy hunting.  As an undergrad in 1997, nothing brought me more joy than taking a study break in the middle of the night to tour a handful of Walmarts down the mountain in hopes of finding the latest Beast Wars release.  Sure, I was driving around in a Chevy Celebrity that was on a fragment of its last leg, never knowing if I'd have to piss in the radiator to keep the engine from seizing, but those drives were always an absolutely magical experience - especially when the search paid off.  Fast forward to today, completing collections has never been easier, especially where it concerns what I used to consider grails.  For example, I picked up an MIB 1/55 Elintseeker and an MIB 1/55 Superostrich last week and the euphoria of finally having a 100% complete 1/55 collection barely lasted an hour;  I used to be able to ride that "high" for days, if not weeks.  And this is a goal I've been chasing for nearly 40 years.  Anyone out there missing the chase as much as me?

Edited July 17, 2022 by 26662
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[Big s]

I remember after weeks of looking around finding a mcfarlane toys Maxx actio figure.  I didn’t have a car and was still in high school, so I wasn’t looking for big ticket items. There was a Target store on the way home and they had it sitting right in front. A few of my friends were super jealous and didn’t find one until the collector shows started getting bigger and they really marked up the price on that guy. Oddly I’ve seen it occasionally at Frank and Sons for not much more than what I paid. For a few years it felt like I had found treasure.

as far as Macross toys, the good ones were only found sometimes in bad shape at swap meats and by random vendors that might be selling a mix of pots and pans, ww2 nazi junk probably smuggled home by their father at the end of the war and their kids toys that sometimes would be a hidden gem of awesomeness 

 

[Mog]

Nah, the toy hunts have become utter garbage the past decade.

Even when I was toy hunting in earnest, I’d be hitting up multiple spots to get one or two action figures.  Now, you’d be lucky to find anything other than peg warmers at most brick-and-mortar stores.  Add in the price of gas and the more limited time I have, and it’s just no longer worth it.

Regarding Macross stuff, Bandai’s pre-order hell takes a lot of the joy out of it.  I do miss the old days when there were a few more domestic dealers you could get your Macross fix from.  But it is balanced by it becoming much easier to purchase from online stores out of Japan nowadays.

At this point, there’s only a few “holy grails” left to fill out my collection.  And even then, there’s space and display limits to consider. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[jvmacross]

13 hours ago, 26662 said:

I might be alone on this one, but I kinda miss the joy that came with toy hunting.  As an undergrad in 1995, nothing brought me more joy than taking a study break in the middle of the night to tour a handful of Walmarts down the mountain in hopes of finding the latest Beast Wars release.  Sure, I was driving around in a Chevy Celebrity that was on a fragment of its last leg, never knowing if I'd have to piss in the radiator to keep the engine from seizing, but those drives were always an absolutely "magical" experience - especially when the search paid off.  Fast forward to today, completing collections has never been easier, especially where it concerns what I used to consider "grails."  For example, I picked up an MIB 1/55 Elintseeker and an MIB 1/55 Superostrich last week and the euphoria of finally having a 100% complete 1/55 collection barely lasted an hour;  I used to be able to ride that "high" for days, if not weeks.  And this is a goal I've been chasing for nearly 40 years.  Anyone out there missing the chase as much as me?

I guess it all depends on what your are hunting for....I was on a decades long hunt to collect the entire run of Takatoku Macross toys...and I was able to acquire everything Takatoku released for their Macross line...it was a lot of fun and at times almost felt like an impossible task....but that hunt ended and in the process many more began and still keep going....as I said, the thrill of the hunt depends on what it is you are hunting....at some point either the well runs dry or you complete your goal....if you find yourself hungry for more, just come up with another target

[arrow]

I feel like it was that thrill that kept my other tpy lines active. it became more that than the appreciation for that line.

[Big s]

1 hour ago, arrow said:

I feel like it was that thrill that kept my other tpy lines active. it became more that than the appreciation for that line.

I do think I was more excited about toys when they were harder to find, but I feel like I don’t spend as much money or time on those and have more time for other hobbies or entertainment. I feel more proud of building a ten or twenty dollar model than purchasing a 100 dollar toy. And now I got some time and cash to do real life things like go to a couple big concerts every now and then. I’ve been sitting on a couple of tickets to Rammstein   In September with all their fire and glory, that I bought before the pandemic rescheduled the world. 
I guess toy hunting wasn’t a super expensive hobby when I was really doing it. Now the better ones are premium buys and realistically only cost a day or two worth of work, but it sometimes can be rough deciding on what to buy and what to skip. When I was younger the cool action figures and toys only took skipping lunch for a couple days. 
 I guess now the anticipation is more of the waiting game to see when the item you ordered is finally gonna show up or if you can get a decent price on a sell out item 

[Slave IV]

Used to do it all the time. A friend and I used to drive all around town to hit up every spot within 50 miles several times a week. Nowadays, it isn’t so much fun. I considered preorder madness the new hunt these days. 

[nightmareB4macross]

The hunt is still out there, only when I find those rare gems that are must haves, i will buy them.

I don’t collect as much as before. My wife for one is happy about it, but I too find myself somewhat relieved. In amassing this collection I playback the fond memories of my experiences and acquisitions over time. Lots of fond memories. Nowadays I seem to collect mostly newer releases just to remain up to date, not all mind you, but enough to keep a strong display at Super Dimension Convention. buying online makes this easy, too easy in most instances.

Not sure where this will end since really rare items are far and few and because of this it chips away at my interest to continue from time to time.

Coworkers and I would all together go out to the nearest Toys R Us, Time Travelers Toys, and Bog Lou’s and a few people ther great spots. Always finding something and having a blast while doing so, then setting our trophies on our desks at work. Got a lot of nostalgic conversations going in the office and would even bring down our president to discuss fond memories. 
 

Hunting brick and mortar stores is still fun, but again I just don’t buy as much anymore so a lot is left behind for others to enjoy. 

Times have changed, and so have I.

[physioguy]

In the early 90s (Vancouver, BC, Canada) I remember there was a comic, hobby & toy collectors newspaper that was published from time, and some of the stores would list in super fine print what they had in stock.  A store in a neighbouring city (Victoria) had a die-cast destroid monster.  Made my day.

We also used to drive over the border to Washington state and just hit every Toy's R Us, K-Mart etc... to find toys.  The best trips were when the Exosquad/Robotech stuff was out.  So stoked to find Battlepods, Khyron's Battlepod and Invid toys.... Good times

* I use the Robotech terms as they were Robotech branded.  Don't worry, I use Macross, Regult, etc

[Radioguy]

Oh boy, growing up in New York City every turn brought something new. I remember seeing some of the Bandai and Takara as early grey market exports before some were folded into the latter Transformers and Go-Bots lines. Then Matchbox's Robotech stuff too.

What was great, was that the dollar stores and closeout liquidators were full of KOs, even brand name stuff closeout from stores folding, and I was able to score some real oddities and bargains before I knew how lucky I was. Sadly, the old story holds true for me too. Mom, or rather Grandma, tossed out most of this stuff when I got older, and when I came to realize how lucky I was, discovered they were trashed. That included some of the early Revell Robotech kits (remembered I actually did get those), plenty of ExoSquad bots, and the aforementioned Transformers and GoBots too.

These days, such finds just don't happen but for maybe garage sales, thrift shops, or estate sales/storage auctions. The latter category I just don't frequent for it would make me feel like I'm benefiting off someone else's unwilling loss. Garage sales though? I drop everything if I can to stop because you never know...

[Slave IV]

I got a ton of things from some garage sales. No Macross but GI Joe and Transformers goldmines for next to nothing. My friend got a complete Jetfire for $10 and I was cool with that since I still have my original but damn sure I would have swooped on it if he didn’t want it. 

[Radioguy]

3 hours ago, Slave IV said:

I got a ton of things from some garage sales. No Macross but GI Joe and Transformers goldmines for next to nothing. My friend got a complete Jetfire for $10 and I was cool with that since I still have my original but damn sure I would have swooped on it if he didn’t want it. 

I've prayed for a similar opportunity. I STILL don't have him!

[Slave IV]

20 minutes ago, Radioguy said:

I've prayed for a similar opportunity. I STILL don't have him!

Well, good thing is you can get a Bandai reissue Valk, which is basically the same thing but I think better. Not for that price though. 

[Radioguy]

1 hour ago, Slave IV said:

Well, good thing is you can get a Bandai reissue Valk, which is basically the same thing but I think better. Not for that price though. 

I saw this, and love it, but I gotta get a G1 Jetfire though.

https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/the-macross-thread.101574/page-3623#post-20419604

[Slave IV]

8 hours ago, Radioguy said:

I saw this, and love it, but I gotta get a G1 Jetfire though.

https://www.tfw2005.com/boards/threads/the-macross-thread.101574/page-3623#post-20419604

Yeah, that is beautiful work right there and it would be amazing if Bandai released an official version of their DX in that deco. The original toy is still better though so I get you. 

[Mog]

Funny you should mention customs, because I think that’s where I get the most “joy” from nowadays.

Whether it’s a slight tweak or a complete repaint and overhaul, I find myself gravitating back to those custom pieces I’ve done over the years.  Remembering the challenges, all the thought and choices that went into the design, and the exhilaration of seeing all the work finally coming together in the finished product.

[nightmareB4macross]

Customs are really my only big drive at the moment.  I think my collection has changed priority and now I look for what I consider art.

Sure these pieces are much more expensive but damn are they worth it.

[Lolicon]

Nice. Are you customizing them yourself or are you having them commissioned? 

[nightmareB4macross]

Just now, Lolicon said:

Nice. Are you customizing them yourself or are you having them commissioned? 

I do both.

[Radioguy]

7 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

Customs are really my only big drive at the moment.  I think my collection has changed priority and now I look for what I consider art.

Sure these pieces are much more expensive but damn are they worth it.

Can we see more of these?

[26662]

4 hours ago, Radioguy said:

Can we see more of these?

Yes, please!

[sh9000]

@nightmareB4macross your collection is even more awesome in person.

The joy of the hunt these days has now become the joy of not leaving the store each visit without at least one cool toy or figure.

[nightmareB4macross]

1 hour ago, sh9000 said:

@nightmareB4macross your collection is even more awesome in person.

The joy of the hunt these days has now become the joy of not leaving the store each visit without at least one cool toy or figure.

Thank you. I strive to make the best representation possible of what and from who I collect.

I’ll take better pictures later.

[nightmareB4macross]

Pic as requested. I had put some away last weekend. But for now this will do. I often cycle my display.

[sharky]

I'm at a point in my life where I need to spend more time enjoying what I have and less time going on the hunt.  Personally, I think the internet, in several ways, pretty much killed the hunt.

[Radioguy]

I still hit thrift shops (not expecting Macross stuff), and sometimes find the odd piece of vinyl I'm after and don't yet have. Finding something makes me feel like I did out of school when I spent hours doing stuff like that. Like a prospector finding a gold nugget.

The internet, eBay especially, only fulfills when you find the odd item mislabeled and you score a bargain that others missed. That's like finding a platinum nugget (not so likely).

[nightmareB4macross]

2 hours ago, Radioguy said:

I still hit thrift shops (not expecting Macross stuff), and sometimes find the odd piece of vinyl I'm after and don't yet have. Finding something makes me feel like I did out of school when I spent hours doing stuff like that. Like a prospector finding a gold nugget.

The internet, eBay especially, only fulfills when you find the odd item mislabeled and you score a bargain that others missed. That's like finding a platinum nugget (not so likely).

Not only eBay, but MW sales as well.

For a while, I was hitting a wall with collecting as I hadn’t found anything really interesting. A few odd and ends but not really what I wanted. 

Now that Bandai has brought on a slew of new items and Arcadia’s VF-5000 I have taken on a breath of fresh air that has me resurged to collect more.

The hunt continues.

[nightmareB4macross]

The hunt continues.