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Post by Boddah on Jul 16, 2014 17:54:17 GMT -6
Thanks for all the advice everyone, but I think I made the situation sound way worse than it actually is. I do have friends that enjoy DBZ, but they still think collecting figures is kinda weird. Most of my friends were never into action figures as kids so I don't think they can understand why an adult would collect figures. My best bud, who used to give me the most sh*t about collecting, caught a glimpse of my collection not too long ago and I think he realized I was self conscious about it so he kinda pretended to be interested and didn't say anything negative, so it's not as bad as it used to be. Another reason for hiding it is because I don't think most girls find action figure collecting to be appealing. My female friends haven't ever said anything negative about it, but I have asked for their honest opinion regarding guys collecting toys and they viewed it as a turn off. As for family, my mom has always believed that DBZ is satanic (no joke) so she usually has something to say about it when she sees my figures. The rest of my family views it as me trying to reclaim part of my childhood and most the time are indifferent to it, but I do get that awkward feeling when the subject comes up. Overall, I just feel that keeping it behind closed doors avoids a lot of awkward situations. On the positive side, it keeps my figures in good condition because dust doesn't build up, it avoids smoke damage, my dog can't chew on anything, and there's no chance of an intoxicated friend accidentally bumping into a shelf causing everything to come crashing down which has happened numerous times in the past with other possessions.
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Post by timone317 on Jul 16, 2014 21:58:35 GMT -6
I relate to everything you've said except the satanic part. I sincerely dread the day I wind up with a date and have to explain the absurd amounts of figures I have. There have been a few moments where I justified having so much by saying it's something I can pass on and share with whatever kids I may have but even then it doesn't really explain the huge stack of import figures I have. I don't like to think about but I've actually lost a couple of friends because of my collecting habit. You know...disregarding all that's been said about that...it's still bothersome. It's really a damn shame when someone can't accept when an adult wants to collect figures. To focus on something as trivial as that...it's so upsetting knowing it makes it easy for them to ignore all the good I've done and who I am as a person just because I have an odd hobby. It sometimes makes me wonder why I do and if it really matters to me as much as I say it does. I guess I'm in a bit of an arrested development situation but what can you do about that? I hate thinking about it.
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Post by smalldogjr on Jul 16, 2014 22:42:26 GMT -6
lol all my relatives tell me I should start getting a girl friend and not focus on collected. its more of the older people like my parents, aunts etc. but some of my cousins think its pretty cool except for one. I had this cousin Named Jonathan Baeza, hes this fat Jock guy who looks like fried Flintstone but 10 times fatter. well we use to be cool for years. then when he found out I collected figures, he stopped talking to me and started hating on me and telling my cousins bad things about me saying that "OMG he still has toys at this age!". he said even meaner things which I don't want to repeat on here.. things like that. its like what a jerk. Just because I collect things doesn't mean for him to hate me. But for the most part as for my friends back home, they didn't really care to much, they always thought it was pretty neat.
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Post by Branjita on Jul 16, 2014 23:07:13 GMT -6
You guys having "what if" fears about women or friends seeing your collections is kind of unnecessary. Of course if someone sees you have hundreds of figures, they are going to be shocked. Who wouldn't be? I went over to a girl's apartment a few years ago and saw that she let her dog pee indoors on a mat. I was shocked. I saw she had 8 hair brushes on her bathroom counter, one full of hair. I was shocked. Big deal though. (Sounds like I said "big dildo" Lmao) *ahem* anyway... people are going to be shocked no matter what you do. Hell, I've even been shocked just how boring many people live their lives. I have one friend who posted pics of his apartment on Facebook and you'd think he just moved in. He confidently said "I think I'm finally done decorating" and I was like... really? It looks like you still haven't gotten started. My point is, people are going to express their shock in different ways. Most people only see my DB collection because it's out in the open. If they like it, I show them the DBZ motherload in my armoire and blow their freaking minds. I rarely do that, because most people are just like "wow! they're so colorful, how'd you get started collecting them?" or "hey I used to watch that in high school! Awesome!" or "gee I bet those are worth a lot" and after that we go about our business. It's really not that big of a deal guys. I don't have that many friends over, but I constantly have an a/c repair man, a plumber, termite inspector. or some other repair guy over, and they either stand there and admire them or just make a short comment. I mean, as long as you aren't a total slob, girls, friends, co-workers, whatever aren't going to look down on you. Some collect stuff themselves, some wish they could (but a significant other and/or children run their lives now), and some are that seemingly boring person who works too much and has completely empty walls and only 1 item on each of their shelves like my friend who thinks he is done decorating. If somebody is judgmental about your collection, you have to wonder what their house or apartment looks like!  |
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Post by Branjita on Jul 21, 2014 9:02:09 GMT -6
Coincidentally, I have two dragonball figure collecting stories to tell, both from the last few days. On Thursday, I had an air conditioning repair man over, somewhere within 5 years of my age, and when he was done, and we were right next to my customizing table, he commented "Man, I just love this stuff." And I was like "you mean painting?" and he replied "No, I was a fan of Dragonball Z for years. I was actually just watching Dragonball GT a few years ago, and now my son is into it, but even more into Bakugan". Turned out his son doesn't buy the figures and neither does he, but it sure was a surprise after how I told you guys that I've had repair men comment on it pretty often. He admired my DB collection for a minute or so. I didn't show him my DBZ collection. And yesterday, I had a date with a girl I've known for several years, but haven't had over before. I was giving her the tour, and she stopped by my customizing table, was looking at the Goku-Ginyu I have there, right next to a print out of pics of him, and said "Oh wow... do you make these yourself?" and I said "Yeah, I've been doing it off and on since high school" "Wow, that is so cool! Where have I been all this time? I had no idea you did this!" "Yeah, well I don't really broadcast it, it's just something I do for myself". "So do you make up your own characters or what do you do?" "Oh, well the toy companies didn't make every character, so I make the ones they didn't, so I can fill in the gaps" "I had no idea you did things like this! I wish I had artistic talent" "lol I was actually kind of famous in high school because some of my figures ended up in magazines and I was one of the better custom figure makers back then" "Wow! Is there a community of other people who do this?" "lol yeah, I'm not the only one" and then, since we were running late, I promoted us to hurry up and leave, so we went off. Kind of funny how I was just talking about this stuff a few days ago. My date was definitely shocked, but shocking them isn't bad. I mean, it's better than my dog pee and hairy hair brush story I mentioned in my last post. It's definitely a conversation starter, and in my opinion, it brings down some walls... makes them more comfortable being themselves because they saw something so personal to your life. She definitely talked my leg off about her personal life on the 20 minute drive to my friend's house. Some of you guys have bigger collections than I do though, particularly on visible display. Even I'd be overwhelmed walking into some of your rooms. I can't think of any members here, but some collections I've seen elsewhere are so cluttered a person can hardly walk through the room. I think that's probably pretty negative to a date/friend. I know I'd be a bit negative about it... until I saw some things I don't have and then I'd be like oooooooo |
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Post by Adrenaline on Jul 21, 2014 9:30:22 GMT -6
Awesome! smalldogjr Screw your cousin. Sorry, but just let those people have an influence in your life. You'll have time for a girl. It only takes a few failures to finally succeed. Branjita You didn't tell me she said something about your customs lol that's pretty cool. That's mainly how my responses go. My sister-in-law around my age saw my collection 6 months ago or so and I dreaded the fact my brother brought her into the room to see, but her reaction was really cool. She really liked it and asked questions. Of course, she could have just been playing along to not embarrass me, but it seemed like a genuine fascination. I've never had a real negative response, though my cousin in NY hangs his Gi-joes and he still lives in my passed-Grandma's old house and he's like 34, single, and with a rough past. I have no problem with it, but some of my family makes fun of him for it, and it makes me 2nd guess how they feel about mine (though my parents, oldest brother, and oldest sister haven't seen it in years) I'm just glad my wife took it well. I did wait until we were married over a year to show her though haha |
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Post by Branjita on Jul 21, 2014 10:05:16 GMT -6
It wasn't a negative experience at all. I didn't particularly want to talk about it because I wanted to leave though. We were like twenty minutes late to go with my friend and his girlfriend.
Dealing with the shock is what makes you wonder if it's going to be positive or negative though. I was wary at first. Particularly because she focused on my custom figure table... which was a mess... instead of everything else I showed her... which was spotless and freshly vacuumed. The table is a disaster, as I didn't have time to organize it.
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Post by hgcollector on Jul 21, 2014 19:04:21 GMT -6
My dad and brother both collect things as well, and anyone else that's seen my collection has thought it was cool. My dad actually has more things than I do. He mainly collects Marvel and DC stuff, and he has over 9,000!!! comics. Sorry, I know this is late but over 9000!!!!  On topic: I keep my figures stored to keep them safe. It avoids dust, younger siblings and random tumbles causing scuff marks. I also don't have a good place to display them. I envision myself having a man cave with them proudly displayed one day. It doesn't come up organically in conversation, sometimes I try to bring it up but most people aren't interested. I do find people relate to online shopping, searching for deals, buying and selling on ebay etc. so that is usually where the conversation goes. My collecting ranks pretty low on my girl's list of complaints, haha. Joking aside, she doesn't bother me anymore. The key word is anymore. My family has always known me to be a anime/dbz fan so it isn't really shocking for anyone that I am still into it. The person who makes the most comments by far is my little brother. I am 27 he is 10 and he can't understand how I have more toys than him  . My friends could care less, but we are all adults. As far as girls or judgemental people. I have found that most people respect a genuine person. Plus the day you bring a girl home and she flips out over your DBZ collection you know you hit the jackpot, plus I've never met an anime chick that wasn't a freak  (so thats a double jackpot). |
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Post by Marvelous Mark on Jul 26, 2014 20:29:33 GMT -6
My dad is always saying he thinks it's a good investment, but I should sell some, lol. I don't think my mom thinks it's an investment though, just that I should sell 'em. My brother used to watch a little DBZ and bought some of the Irwin's back in the day, but he just likes checking out characters he's never seen before, or doesn't rmbr. What few friends I have over have never said anything negative about, although my main buddy likes to say "dolls" then says "I mean figures", lol. A nurse that used to come for my Grandmother saw it and thought it was pretty cool. She said her husband collected Star Trek stuff. And a dude that must've been close to my age came to install satellite internet one day and he was pretty amazed by it and asked if he could take some pics to show to some folks he met at some convention in Atlanta or something, I said sure, go ahead. I'm always in my own head about what is this person thinking. Not that I care one way or another just what it is, but I still wonder. Just human nature I guess, but in the end, I gotta say f*ck what they think, their opinion is irrelevant. If you don't like it, then don't like it. I like what I like.  |
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(so thats a double jackpot).
