As collectors and designers, we have all heard the same questions and comments from friends and family about the things we collect….
”You paid how much for that?”
“I don’t get it.”
“Who the hell buys these things?!”
I am sure we have all thought the same thing at some point as well. I know I have and often still do. Ha.
Before I got started, I was a collector of mainstream toys like Earth Worm Jim, The Simpsons, Spawn, Toy Story toys, and the like. In 2004, I exhibited at my first San Diego Comic Con and just around the corner from my booth was something that blew my mind. It was the Critterbox Toys booth. I had no prior knowledge of designer toys, so their booth had me awestruck. The toy designs exhibited there were amazing and unlike anything I had ever seen before. There was no doubt I HAD to possess them, so on preview night of my first convention I bought my first designer toy – Pip and Norton from Critterbox.
The next year, a good friend and I walked the SDCC floor together looking to add more toys to the many we had already purchased. I picked up a rifle toting bear and he a swearing, bird flipping bear. We both cracked up over each other’s pick-ups, thinking we each overpaid for something silly. That right there pretty much sums up collecting designer toys from the outsider’s perspective.
The thing about designer toys is: it’s like a swimming pool. At first you dip your toes in to test the temperature of the water. Next thing you know you are standing on the first step ankles deep in the water and then the next step and the next, and soon you are splashing and swimming around. I think the toughest adjustment for me was the cost of the toys. Making that leap from the more affordable mainstream mass produced toy to the often high priced limited edition toy took some time to comprehend. Once I adjusted though, I took off my floaties and began looking for all the toys I had missed out on.
Over time, our tastes change or evolve, but there is always something in the toy scene to accommodate us. I began purchasing designer toys in 2004, and I don’t think it was until about 2007 that I bought my first Japanese vinyl toy. The gateway there was Super 7’s Ghostland figures. I recall picking up a few at VTN, along with a Pollard, and the next few days I spent playing with them. I just love the feel of soft vinyl.
Oh collecting…..you are so fun and so so evil.
The Collector (Taneleer Tivan) is an anecdotal character showing up in American comic books distributed by Marvel Comics. Appearing in the Silver Age of Comic Books, the character has been highlighted in almost five many years of Marvel progression.
The Collector shows up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, depicted by Benicio del Toro, in a cameo in the mid-credits scene of 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, and in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy.