Boxes

When I first starting seriously collecting action figures, I always held onto the boxes they came in.  I kept the original box, all the plastic trays, and even the twist-ties.  I'm not sure why I kept them.  Perhaps it was because they were very well made.  Bright colors, see-through windows, and on the back, a bunch of cool shots of the figure in various poses.  Maybe it was just another way to scratch that collector "itch", or maybe I was feeding my packrat tendencies.  A sense of, "If I throw it out now, I can never get it back ... and I can always throw it out later."

Well, later eventually came.  As my collection grew, the pile of boxes grew even faster.  As a box must contain a figure, it is usually bigger.  I tried breaking them down in a way that preserved them, but it was no use.  I threw them all out in one big dumpster.  The accessories contained in them were put into hobby trays (usually used for beading, I believe.)

I was surprised by how little loss I felt, after trashing them.  In fact, opening up the closet space they took up was a big relief.  Now, I throw away a figure's packaging as soon as I'm finished opening it.  After all, the figure is what I'm after anyways.  And making more room means more room for more figures.

Now, some people never even open their figures.  This practice has always befuddled me.  Even despite my attachment to boxes (as admitted above), I still do not understand collectors who do not open their toys.  I do not judge them - whatever makes them enjoy their collection is just fine, and some figure boxes are incredibly well made and good-looking.  I, however, just want to pose and display the figure so much, I can't fathom keeping it locked away.

In the 90's, children's toys from decades past started to make waves in the secondary market.  Star Wars toys from the 70's, rare transformers from the 80's, and hundreds of others were fetching huge prices on eBay and at friendly local comic shops.  This lead to rampant speculation by adult collectors, buying up toys they predicted would be valuable in 10 or more years.  These collectors were planning on selling the toys eventually, so keeping them in the box made sense - a figure in original packaging is worth much, much more than loose.

Does this feed into the reasons collectors nowadays don't open their toys?  A sense of lost value?  It is a one-way ticket.  Once opened, a toy cannot become mint-in-package again.  I guess it's about loss aversion.  You might want to play with the toy, but can't bring yourself to incur a perceived permanent loss in value.  I suppose this is the same mentality that caused my reluctance to throw the boxes away.

How about you?  Do you open your figures?  Why or why not?