I have seen those and they are a very cool alternative to Barbie. I hope they stick around for a few years because my daughter is only a year and a half old. I can't justify buying them right now at any capacity haha.

Since I don't open anything, ever, some of that has little meaning for me. I buy it, it goes in a box, I probably will never see it again. I have 35 big boxes of figures now, haven't opened any of them in years.

You are the oddest toy collector I've ever come across.

Different strokes, I guess.

I'm a collector. I'm not a kid. I don't play with toys, I collect them, just like, as a stamp collector, I don't lick my stamps, I store them away. That's not odd, in fact, that's how most collectors are, as opposed to accumulators.

No offence to your style of collecting, but you actually sound like an accumulator rather than a collector. You said yourself that you buy and stuff them into a box. While a stamp collector puts thiers into an album and doesn't lick them, they also look them over, enjoy them, often will tell others about the history and stories behind it, ect. Yet, you said you just stuff them away and never look at them again. Just based on the meanings of the words, it would seem an accumulator would just like the aquisition and nothing else.

Monster High is great, easily the coolest thing Mattel has going right now.

I would also recommend the stuff threeA toys is doing with their various Zombies vs. Robots toys by Ashley Wood. And the Gothitropolis and Outer Space Men figures that the Four Horsemen make are outrageously fun.

You sound like a hoarder/accumulator not a collector, a collector will display their items, be it still MOC (Shudder) or Loose (Yahoo, free those figures from their plastic prisons) not buy them put them in a box and forget about them, what's the point apart from wasted space and wasted money.

What's the point of putting a coin collection in a safe deposit box or locking any other collection in a safe? If I wanted to display anything but a tiny portion of my collection, I'd have to add a wing to the house, there's just no way to do it and honestly, all the upkeep of doing it is far too time consuming. Besides, I'm really not interested in showing off to anyone, nor is there anyone around that would care what I collect. Add to that the fact that having them exposed to sunlight inherently damages them, I'd rather have them around for decades to come, not just throw them away because they're faded and falling apart. I'm an adult, I don't play with toys, I'm also not an investor, I don't care what they are worth, I buy them because they remind me of things I either have enjoyed in the past or enjoy today.

That's what collecting is all about IMO. YMMV.

To me Cephus your a accumulator (hoarder), you buy something to hoard away, just like James - Your stuff never sees the light of day again, what's the point - you yourself have said you have no intention of making money on it.

A collector is someone who collects then displays their collection, a accumualtor (hoarder) is someone who will buy whatever and then forget about it, just to get a cheap thrill for however long the thrill lasts.

I don't play with the toys either, and I am a loose collector, however I do display my collection, which makes me a collector, and not an accumulator (hoarder).

So anyone who opens their figs is a kid? All of us openers have it wrong?

You don't sound like a collector, you sound like a warehouse.

This is an interesting discussion. I have collected many toys over the years. I like them - and if given the choice would acquire them new in their original package. However, due to budget and the availability (especially of vintage) I get mostly used and loose toys.

Ironically, I found two loose Star Wars items that I thought looked very cool. I purchased them for a very low price. I came to find out they were from figures that I actually already had mint in box - but never knew what they looked like loose. This is true with toys that need assembly or ca be posed.

Meanwhile, I sell more toys now than I collect, and I set aside packaged toys exclusively to sell. But the loose toys have a chance to be played with by my grandchildren that visit (or make great gifts as they don't care if they are new in box or open and ready to play).

No doubt that some vintage boxes are worth the price (especially with great artwork) but modern packaging is often detracting.

I hope everyone can enjoy their collections or acquisitions. I will add that a forum like this benefits from people sharing photos and knowledge of their collecting experiences.

Enjoy !

each to their own i buy figures with the idea of keeping them MOC then when they arrive im consumed by a burning desire to rip them open and feel them and see them better and stand them up and things and lots of others do so too.

but for example im going to get marvel universe captain america series 1 and open him when he arrives but also going to buy him again and keep that one in packaging and will try the same with the hulks.

ideally id like a set of the figures i like on display and a set of the same MOC.!

I don't display because I don't have the room, I'd have to add a wing to the house to have enough room, plus the upkeep and cleaning on something like that is absurd. Therefore, I don't do it. I collect and preserve, not accumulate and play with.

But as you said, to each their own.

lol fair enough but displaying is different from getting figures out and rolling around carpet making battle sounds and having a civil war lol dont think anyones saying they play with them.