Hal you are a stromng man ! I could never sell my JLU but guess what ? You did the right thing ! These figures are going to dry rot from cheap plastic trust me in like 20 JLU figures will be even rarer because they will all have turned into piles of moldy debris so do not beat yourself up over it. Take the money and have a good time with your family!

Well, thanks guys, for all the support and encouragement. I really appreciate it. Here's what I sold on eBay $475 BIN w/ free shipping:



After paying eBay fees and shipping, I pocketed just under $400. It kinda makes me a little sick, I didn't set the price a little higher, but hey, hopefully I made some collector happy... (and if not, I'm still going to pretend it was a fellow collector and not someone looking to part it out).

But, it's over and done with. It's gone, and there's nothing I can do about it now. I'm still on the fence about whether or not to rebuild it later. I think Dan's right. I need to let it settle and give it some time before I make that decision. Although, the more I sit on the fence, the more the grass is looking pretty green on the side of letting it go.

Here's an excerpt from my blog about it:

Justice League Unlimited: Mattel's initial DCU "Budget" toy line has made a remarkable streak. Some of the rarities in the line are fetching big bucks on eBay. The animated style is fantastic, and the selection is great, but the figures are just... shoddy. Not worth the price they're going for. I recently parted ways with my entire JLU collection for a steal (which shocked even me). At first I was uneasy and regretted the decision, but the more I think about it, the more I'm glad it's gone. JLU is another line that just won't ever be complete... no matter how many figures Mattel would have put out. "If only I had a *insert character name here*."

Thinking long and hard about it, I don't think there are any characters that I consider truly essential that I can't get (or don't already have, for that matter) in DCUC. I guess we'll see, eventually. Still a little back and forth.

Thanks guys!!

-J

I'm sure your wife loves you and will support any decision you make in the future

I think every collector at one point or another goes through something like this to some degree. A few years ago my wife pointed out to me my spending was out of control and I was like "Yeah, right" and to prove her wrong I went to see my spending habits, she was right. Thing of it is I tend to avoid exclusives (with some exceptions) and don't go for much that scalpers offer either. In other words I was just buying that much stuff and wasn't paying attention to how much I was spending on it.

When I started looking over my collection after that I kind of figured out where the problem was, I didn't need every version of one character out there was a major point. Armies were a bit of a problem but not near as bad as I thought (and easy enough to curb as I just stopped building my armies up after that point). But so many of the same character presented a huge HUGE problem with space and with money.

What I ended up doing is looking at what I had, why I had it and what about it appealed to me and what characters I wanted in what looks. For simlicity I will use Spider-Man. I really like Spider-Man and had a ton of his figures. When I got to looking though, most of the figures of him I had were just cause they were kind of cool, but really I could stand to live without. So I went through all of my spideys (and that was a tall order) and settled on those "Iconic" looks I felt were the ones I needed (Basicly his orignal costume, Black costume, and movie costume, not sure on this new one, jury is still out). Anyway I ended up selling ALL the spideys but those and one more I just thought was cool. I did this with nearly every figure I had and every character I had (from Iron Man to Superman to Batman, to Cobra Commander, to Snake Eyes, to Darth Vader, to Louke Skywalker, to Green Lantern, to Wolverine, to Boba Fett and on and on), it felt great and sorted out tons of access bagage I had accumulated. Also it made my collecting overall much easier to manage.

Now if a character I have comes out with a new look I weigh out my thoughts on it, and if I deside this is a much improved verion since the last I sell off the old and keep the new. The only figs I kept that don't fit this catagory are many from my childhood, but those were what got me into all this in the first place.

But I have also found everyone has a different way of handling this and whatever works for each person is what works.

When my wife used Quicken to show me how much I was spending, it was a real wake-up. Then we had a kid and suddenly a big part of my disposable income went away. Then my health failed. Long and short, I sold off a huge portion of my comic collection, and I do absolutely regret parting with some of them. I managed to reacquire decent copies of the old DC Green Lantern and Mystery in Space comics that had deep personal resonance for me...but I am glad that I broke the hoarder mentality and got rid of a bunch of stuff that was never going to be worth what I paid for it. Over the years, the toy collection has started to get a little out of control. Like Ben said, too much stuff sitting in the basement un-played with and un-used. As my daughter gets ready to leave for college, money is tighter still, so it looks like eBay for a big chunk of the toy collection. I appreciate your sharing your stories; I consider them to be cautionary tales and I will try to be wiser in what I keep and what I part with. I will keep a lot of DC stuff for sure, especially JL. But I have so much SW, Trek, and other flavor-of-the-month items that I got just for the thrill of finding what many were looking for, and now it all sits in tubs in the cellar. Gotta let some of it go, or I'm going to wind up on A&E one of these years.

I can sympathize. Years ago when my first wife and I were divorcing, I was forced to sell my entire Superman collection to make ends meet. That was like someone kicking me in the gut. In restrospect, I think my obsession with the hobby was one of the many reasons my wife wanted to leave.

Thankfully, I recouped most of the important items. I also married my second wife, who is very supportive of my hobby. In respect, I try to keep the items to a minimum. I only keep the most respresentive pieces.

JLU, however, is the only section of my collection in which I am a completist. After all the time, effort and money I've put into it, I couldn't image having to sell it.

The moral of the story I guess I'm trying to say is that you've got to have a balance in your marriage. Pieces of plastic should not be more important than your wife or family, but at the same token, your wife should be supportive of your interest. After all, your interest makes you, you.

I couldn't agree more!!

J, I admire what you're doing for your family - and not just the financial aspect. If you truly regret selling your JLU collection, you can (and should) accumulate just the characters you want - not "need" - to have. I mean, honestly, how many figures of Aquaman with a mullet must one have??

A funny story kind of related to that, not to take the thread off topic, but it's kind of related.

This weekend I was looking at the new MU figs and saw Beta Ray Bill whom I love and want. My wife saw that look on my face and said "OK what is it" and I showed her, she was like "OK that is an odd looking Thor." (Keep in mind my wife only really knows what she has seen in the movies and is not a comic geek at all).

So I explained the whole story about how Bill got the hammer and ultimatly the power of Thor and all and she lookd at me for a second like I was nuts, then her expression changed like she had processed the whole thing and said "Well that sounds cool, maybe they will put that in the next movie." I just laughed.

Mr. HalJordanist, you are a lucky man. I'm sure you already knew that before you sold your toys and before your supportive mrs signed up on your toy board, but sometimes it's nice to hear it anyway.

Don't I know it.

Mrs.HalJordanist - Welcome to AFi, and thanks for posting here. I think you both know how lucky you are.

"What will you do?"

"Rebuild it. Just the way it was. Brick for brick."

We have the technology. We can rebuild him.

Good luck!

This is such a heartwarming story. Your wife sounds a lot like mine, in that she's very supportive of you and your interests. Best of luck to you.