The Collector's Itch

If you collect anything, you know the feeling.  The powerful drive to acquire that item that is missing from your collection, and the wonderful sense of fulfillment once you have.  The accomplishment that comes from finally finishing a set is second to none.   For me and many other action figure enthusiasts, it is one of the most enjoyable parts of the hobby.  
My "collector's itch" was really honed by the genius marketing that was displayed on almost every toy I got as a child.  On the back of a figure's blister pack was not only some art and a short bio of the figure included, but (and here's the genius) pictures and names of the other figures in the series.  Here's why it is so clever:

From the moment you hold a figure in your hands in the toy aisle, you're confronted with the concept that toys can be part of a larger collection.  The other figures shown on the packaging could be the rest of the set, figures from other stories that are part of the same line, or maybe only one wave of figures from a much larger series.  As you take that figure home, you realize you've only bought a fraction.  No doubt it's an amazing, fun, exciting fraction, but hovering over that excitement is the itch to "Collect Them All!"

This isn't an inherently good or bad aspect of collecting.  Like most facets of a hobby, it can become good when tempered by moderation.  When it gets out of control, only then can it turn an otherwise healthy hobby into a bad idea.  Every collector must, at some point in his collecting career, decide how to manage the powerful urges his or her hobby gives them.  When diversion becomes obsession, an activity meant for fun can become harmful (and sometimes, stop even being fun).

Here are some of the ways I mitigate the strong impulses of being an action figure guy.  Ask yourself these questions when having a tough time deciding on a buy:

--- Do I really want the figure, or am just in the mood to buy something?  I'll often find myself excited at the prospect of buying a new figure, although there are none I really want.  But as the yearning to purchase rises, figures I had previously decided I did not want start to look more and more desirable.  You've got to ask yourself, "Do I want a figure, or this figure?"

--- Can I afford it?  Now, this might seem like a matter of, "Is the price acceptable for the toy?", but there is actually more to it than that.  A heavily discounted figure might still be out of your budget, and therefore is, despite the huge value, a bad idea.  Budgets also fluctuate, meaning a figure that, at one point, was not within you means, has now become a worthwhile purchase.

--- Do I have room for it?  Another resource you have to budget is physical space.  Do you have the shelf or storage space for the figure?  If you do not, consider not getting it.  It will only become a stressful item until you find a place for it, which might never happen.  A shelf with too many action figures on it only serves to detract from the majesty of each figure.

--- Can you subdivide the collection?  If you feel pressure to complete a set because you want or already have parts of it, see if you can make subsets from within the set.  Maybe you can realize that it would be fun to only collect the heroes from the set or only one figure from each wave.  A figure that is part of a large set can bring a lot of baggage.  Buying your favorite Justice League Unlimited member, Batman, might be a fantastic idea, but will having only him compel you to buy the entire series?  Breaking such a set down into smaller chunks you can really shrink the collection commitment a figure can bring.

--- Is it, or will it become, redundant?  I love the anime Gundam 00, and have a large Gundam 00 collection repping that show on my shelves.  But, I soon found I had many, many different versions of the main character's mecha.  I had the super-deformed version, the hyper-mode version, the damaged version, the model kit, the gashapon, the prize toy ... and they all looked so similar.  I really only needed a few versions (or maybe even one).  So now, no matter how cool the newest release of that same mecha looks, I consider that I already have numerous, almost identical figures before deciding.

There you have it, my heuristics for deciding if a figure is good enough to make it into my fabulous collection.  Do you have any other tricks you use?  Have you gone too far down the dark path of obsession?  Not enough?  Let me know in the comments.