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roxybudgy · 2014-06-06, 09:48

Australian figurine collector here *waves* o/

My order for the Wolf Children figurine and another Madoka figurine arrived this week, yay!

Current collection: http://myfigurecollection.net/collection/roxybudgy

My mobile phone doesn't really take good pictures, especially at night under slightly dim down lights... http://blog.roxybudgy.com/posts/figu...play-may-2014/

When I started collecting, I bought a lot of stuff off eBay and websites such as YesAsia, PlayAsia and HLJ, with Volk's Holo and Alter's Yoko (from Gurren Lagann) being my most expensive purchases at around $300 or $350 each off eBay, and yes, they were the real deal in awesome condition, not bootlegs.

But seeing how much Volk's Holo now costs on eBay, I'm glad I bought her when I did. Of course, if I could buy her much earlier at a much cheaper price, I would have been even happier, but I started my figure collecting quite some time after she was released.

Which brings me to my question: to pre-order or not to pre-order?

After buying just about everything I wanted and could afford off eBay and Play Asia, all my purchases have been pre-orders. I worry that a figurine I like will sell out and end up costing much more than if I had pre-ordered (for example, Holo and Yoko). So by pre-ordering, not only do I get the figurine I want, I save myself the trouble of wading through the second-hand market (with their damaged boxes and non-pristine figurines) or scrounging the dark alleys of the Internet.

But the pitfall of pre-ordering everything is that I generally have to pay for my orders when they get released, which makes budgeting difficult, and now that I live with my partner in a house we bought together on a mortgage, good financial planning is more important than ever (when I started collecting, I lived with my parents and never had to pay bills). In fact, this is why I ordered the standard GSC Mikasa, instead of the limited edition one, man that base looks gorgeous but it won't be mine T.T

Then there's also the chance that the figurine can be found cheaper after it is released, in which case pre-ordering means you lost the gamble.

If I put my collecting on hold until the mortgage is paid off in 10-20 years time, then all the figurines I wanted would potentially be super expensive, rare, or worse yet... totally no longer available :O

So, how do you decide whether or not to pre-order? For those of you with adult responsibilities (such as a mortgage, maybe some of you have kids?), how do you handle your collecting hobby?

GSC's Arin (from PangYa) is on my wishlist and I saw her at a local anime convention, second hand in a damaged box. The seller wanted $70, I offered $50 but seller refused. At the end of the convention, she was still unsold but I wasn't going to pay $70 for a dusty second-hand Arin in a damaged box.

2014-06-06, 09:48	Link #5254
roxybudgy Senior Member Scanlator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Western Australia Age: 37	Australian figurine collector here waves o/ My order for the Wolf Children figurine and another Madoka figurine arrived this week, yay! Current collection: http://myfigurecollection.net/collection/roxybudgy My mobile phone doesn't really take good pictures, especially at night under slightly dim down lights... http://blog.roxybudgy.com/posts/figu...play-may-2014/ When I started collecting, I bought a lot of stuff off eBay and websites such as YesAsia, PlayAsia and HLJ, with Volk's Holo and Alter's Yoko (from Gurren Lagann) being my most expensive purchases at around $300 or $350 each off eBay, and yes, they were the real deal in awesome condition, not bootlegs. But seeing how much Volk's Holo now costs on eBay, I'm glad I bought her when I did. Of course, if I could buy her much earlier at a much cheaper price, I would have been even happier, but I started my figure collecting quite some time after she was released. Which brings me to my question: to pre-order or not to pre-order? After buying just about everything I wanted and could afford off eBay and Play Asia, all my purchases have been pre-orders. I worry that a figurine I like will sell out and end up costing much more than if I had pre-ordered (for example, Holo and Yoko). So by pre-ordering, not only do I get the figurine I want, I save myself the trouble of wading through the second-hand market (with their damaged boxes and non-pristine figurines) or scrounging the dark alleys of the Internet. But the pitfall of pre-ordering everything is that I generally have to pay for my orders when they get released, which makes budgeting difficult, and now that I live with my partner in a house we bought together on a mortgage, good financial planning is more important than ever (when I started collecting, I lived with my parents and never had to pay bills). In fact, this is why I ordered the standard GSC Mikasa, instead of the limited edition one, man that base looks gorgeous but it won't be mine T.T Then there's also the chance that the figurine can be found cheaper after it is released, in which case pre-ordering means you lost the gamble. If I put my collecting on hold until the mortgage is paid off in 10-20 years time, then all the figurines I wanted would potentially be super expensive, rare, or worse yet... totally no longer available :O So, how do you decide whether or not to pre-order? For those of you with adult responsibilities (such as a mortgage, maybe some of you have kids?), how do you handle your collecting hobby? GSC's Arin (from PangYa) is on my wishlist and I saw her at a local anime convention, second hand in a damaged box. The seller wanted $70, I offered $50 but seller refused. At the end of the convention, she was still unsold but I wasn't going to pay $70 for a dusty second-hand Arin in a damaged box.