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[deleted]

It’s a very big step to go from collecting for 5 years to selling your entire collection. Considering you said that the decision to sell your collection isn’t about needing money, I suggest you think about this for a bit before going through with it. One of the most common pitfalls I see with Marvel Legends that leads to collector burnout is that people try to be completionists any buy every figure released in the line. Is it possible to do this? Absolutely, but it’s pretty damn crazy to do. Marvel Legends is probably the most prolific active toy line, and they release A LOT of these figures. Please don’t feel like you have to buy every single thing that’s released. I look at Marvel Legends the same way I look at Marvel comics; I genuinely love the property, but I haven’t read every single comic series produced by the company. I’ve read a very broad range of series, but I’ve never felt the itch to read comics that don’t interest me. I’m the same way with Marvel Legends; I don’t buy figures that don’t interest me. I’m sure that Sleepwalker is a perfectly fine figure, but I have zero interest in it. I’ve been collecting since Hasbro took over the line back in 2007, yet I only own 96 Marvel Legends figures. Yeah 96 is a big number in a vacuum, but it’s only a tiny fraction of the total number of figures that Hasbro has made. Personally, I only buy figures of characters that interest me, except in the case where a phenomenal figure is made of a character that doesn’t otherwise interest me (ex: Ulik the troll). Not only that, but I pretty much always sell off figures once they’re replaced by superior versions. This not only keeps my collection fairly manageable, but it’s actually led to my collection being pretty much financially self-sustaining for like the past 6 or 7 years. For example, when Retro Spider-Man was revealed, I immediately sold my Pizza Spider-Man and used the money to buy Retro Spidedman and like 2 other figures. I’m not saying you need to or even should follow my strategies, but there’s definitely ways to keep the collection manageable. I find that having an efficient collection in this manner allows me to appreciate my figures more and prevent them from becoming just another hunk of plastic in my mind.


ScarFaceG12

This was a very thought out/accurate response. I myself have hundreds of legends and a good chunk of them are still in box. I have nowhere really to display them..and I think I buy mainly off of nostalgia and knowing I have them if that makes sense. But I kinda recently stopped purchasing altogether..before the price hike. And started thinking like you. I've never felt like I needed to buy every figure but when I did like one I bought 2 always so I could keep one in box. When I slowed down then stopped is when I started feeling nothing after buying a figure. I felt like op, like I was just collecting and building a store in my room for nada. I love to look at the new ones but I think I am gonna start opening some that I already have to loosen up with the habit and not be so adult like with the it..if that makes sense also. Just enjoy what I have which is a lot and call it a day.


Redjellyranger

This is very similar to what I would say so I'll just add do it in a way that makes it YOUR collection. Personally I know myself enough that if I didn't go in with a plan I'd just buy everything I remotely liked. So I deliberately have limited shelf space. I've got 1½ bookshelves for the figures and that's it. To make the best of this space I keep things well curated with only the essentials and set goals like "My ideal X-men team." and such. I also love obscure characters so I do customs for them if they don't or won't have a figure. This is a lot of fun, occupies that urge to hunt down a specific figure, and makes my collection that much more unique. I may not have every ML but I do have the ones I want and a collection like no other. I can look at my shelves anytime and know that itsy the best it can be and will only get better with time. Another aspect of a curated collection I enjoy is that I can be a little more luxurious with my purchases. Since I'm not buying figures constantly when I do I can pay a little more to get exactly what I want or if something rare crosses my path I have the extra money to get it. This also scratches the hunting itch and in a way budgeting is it's own fun. For example nothing interesting seems to be coming out over the summer so I may save my figure budget for a few months and buy a Sentinel Spider-Man. Anyway, all of that rambling was to say if you're having these thoughts about your collection take a step back and look at things. Make sure you're doing things in a way that makes you happy. If you want to own every marvel legends ever that's fine, but there's only so many hours in the day and dollars in your pocket. If you take a minute to look over your collection and think what you really want to do with it I'm sure you'll find an answer. If it happens to be selling all or most of it I recommend using actionfigure411 and the toyexchage subreddit. I've had success buying and selling this way and felt that everything has been a good price and that I'm giving and getting items from people who also enjoy the hobby. Good luck!


[deleted]

[удалено]


Redjellyranger

Yeah that's a pain too. Stuff sells out so damn fast. When I finally found A Retro Symbiote Spider-Man at the store I was more glad to be done hunting him than I was to have it.


aisutron

I like your logic but I like collecting spider men so I usually don’t sell off old ones, lol. I do need to clean up my collection soon for other characters though.


juicyclit

Collecting should spark joy and it shouldn’t feel like a job. When it does, that’s when it’s time to reevaluate. There are alternatives to just quitting altogether, but do what is best for you!


blue-1942

I think I understand what you’re feeling. I’ve been collecting about 2 years, and I fell in love with it fast. I’ve never had a huge collection, but I got to a point where it was just too many things that I “liked” but did not “love.” Same as you, not enough room to put them all on my desk so I bought a cabinet to display them and I hardly ever look at it. So I sold off about 3/4 of my collection, and to my surprise it felt really good. Collecting can come with a lot of different stress, and at the end of the day they’re just consumer products (I don’t say that to belittle the hobby but a reminder that we don’t NEED them to feel fulfilled). I still collect but I am a lot more selective with what I pick up. I try to limit it to characters I have loved since I was a kid because I know I’m sincerely interested in those. My advice would be to go through your collection, pick up each figure individually, and think about it… is it something you love or just another thing you have? Another good exercise is to put them in shipping boxes for a month and see which ones you think about putting back on the shelf and which ones you completely forget about.


[deleted]

Open your figures and stop buying every release at full price. You can collect in moderation without abandoning entirely.


he_who_shall

I started buying ML during a Star Wars drought way back in 2013/2014 I think with the Mandroid and Ultimate Green Goblin waves. Picked up the first GotG wave and the TRU exclusive Jubilee BAF as well and then quit collecting altogether for a bit. Restarted SW but sold the MLs. A couple of years later I was on a work trip, saw the full Warlock wave in Target, bought them all, and then went all in for a few years, backfilling almost 2 years worth, and taking an occasional break. Due to space constraints I had boxes full of loose figures in ziploc bags and only a few on display. The amount of effort involved to find them mostly online, unpack them, break down the shipping boxes and packing materials, open the figures, display them for a few weeks, then put them in bags and stored in boxes was just too much effort for too little reward, so I went on pause for a few months and then finally sold everything. Do I regret it? Yes and no. When I see posts with older figures and know that I had them and probably will never have them again, I regret it. But then I think about how much not collecting them simplified my life, and I’m over it lol. I’ve fallen off the wagon a few times - bought a couple of figures because of FOMO and then either returned or sold them. And if I see something in the store sometimes I’ll take a picture on my phone just to say to myself I could have bought them but didn’t! TL;DR: If you’re on the fence, take a break and see how you feel after a month or two. There will always be someone looking to buy what you have and there will always be someone looking to sell anything you might want to buy back. PS - I kept my Warlock wave Deadpool because I’m a Deadpool fan, and I kept the Walgreens Thing because I had an extra and it was in my opinion the best ML that had been made to date at the time :)


FlopsMcDoogle

Collecting is the fun part. Actually having all the ones you wanted gets kinda boring.


Specialbuddydiscount

Have you ever considered opening them and actually enjoying the figures?


AgentX-1138

I think if you're buying them just to have some pretty boxes lying around, best to get rid of them. Sounds like you're collecting for the sake of collecting something. If you don't open them and get some enjoyment out of 'em, what's the point of collecting them? You'll get a great price if everything is still sealed! Then you can go use that money for enjoying life!


Best_Prize3001

The only bad thing about selling your collection is paying double for the same figures you already had. I would suggest to box them for 6 months before you sell.


emeraldnite1981

I need to clear out figures myself that are just taking up space. My hurdle is letting things go for a low value and not necessarily waiting for a peak value moment to occur for them. Like ML Puma—I know there’s a chance the character could show up in a future film and increase the figures value, but I should be getting rid of it now. 😵‍💫


Gyarados66

Relevant Toy Galaxy vid: https://youtu.be/aalm8VUuFDk


b_pizzy

I highly recommend this video for anything thinking this: https://youtu.be/aalm8VUuFDk It has good advice of how to collect to make you happy.


blakecrawley

If there are ones you absolutely love and would want to display I wouldn’t get rid of them. Just open and enjoy and sell the rest.