Geek Attack...

Look what arrived in the post this morning! Thank you ebay, £36 instead of £70! Bargain. Next up is the Spider-man...

When Does Buying Become Collecting?

I was thinking about this after we had a conversation at work the other day. When exactly do you become a collector? Now I buy and own A LOT of shit including DVDs, Comics, Cd's and Toys amongst other things. Even though I buy and thoroughly enjoy all of this stuff I wouldn't refer to myself as a collector of the bulk of it.

For a start I own well over 4 short boxes worth of comics but I really wouldn't call myself a comic collector more of a comic reader.

I say this because I'm not trying to have complete runs of stories, characters, appearances etc. This to me is the behaviour of a collector. I'm a massive fan of Ironman but it is not one of my missions in life to have every comic with an appearance from Ironman in it. I just happen to have the comics that I have because once I have read them there is nothing for me to do with them. I suppose I could a) sell them, b) throw them away/give them away or c) just wait for the trade paperbacks. Now both options a and b would just be me wasting my money and I like the fact I have the opportunity to re-read things. Option c is better but some things take ages to be realeased as a trade or never get released. I also like reading my books weekly as I know there is always something coming.

I am exactly the same when it comes to my DVDs. I do not buy new releases just down to the fact that it is too damn expensive.

I only buy films that I like (or get given ones I don't) and I only get them when they are cheap enough. Now for instance I have wanted both "The Departed" and "Children of Men" for ages and when they were new they were £22.99 and £17.99 but the other day I got them both along with "Garden State" for £20. If I were a collector surely I'd be double dipping all the time for the best version of the film?

The only thing I would really class myself as a collector of would be toys. This is really strange as well considering the fact that I don't actually own that many.

I rarely buy toys nowadays and I have to be really, really impressed with them but when I do I am reminded of why I do buy them. I suppose it is kind of like buying a piece of art that you can have to look at, enjoy and keep. Again though there is this conflict of whether I am a collector or not because most of my toys come straight out of the packaging and go on display. Don't collectors keep them in the boxes?

So when do you become a collector of something? Let me know because I really have no clue whatsoever.

Toy Tailoring

Isn't it amazing exactly how far we have come when it comes to toys? Take something as simple as giving an action figure real material clothing and look at what we used to get (and what still seems to be the norm now)

Badly fitting, saggy and disproportionate clothing and body parts. Spidey looks like he lost a good few stone since he started rockin' these new black digs! To be fair these two toys are aimed at completely different markets but just look at this

This is the new RAH Bruce Lee from Medicom and it is simply fantastic. High quality materials that fit the figure perfectly. Now this could just be me being anal retentive but in stuff like this its the details that make something nice to look at or can have the opposite effect and can make it look like a turd.

Like I said the two figures are aimed at different people but what difference to the manufacturer would it make to have the Spidey's clothes fit better? It wouldn't cost anymore in fact it may even end up being cheaper as they would be using less material. Sales may even go up because the real cloth version would look just as good as a painted figure. Maybe its for nostalgic purposes as all figures used to look as cack as this back in the olden days?

I can't wait to get my mitts on one of these Bruce Lee figures!