Parents/Wife etc OK with collecting ?

[young1nj]

So here is my situation.

Back a few summers ago, I picked up the collecting hobby again. The parent's were OK with it, but they still felt I wasted my money on them. This was when spy troops, and venom vs valor came out. I collected them as a form of entertainment, not because I really wanted them badly

So I pretty much stopped collecting Joes after that summer when money wasn't available as much,

So when the 25th line came out I stayed away for a bit, but being how they closely resembled the ARAH line and they were "25th anniversary" I was quickly pulled in.

Now I spend money I realistically could be using for better things on Joes.

Im a poor college student and mostly play for everything on my own (why i'm poor) except my parents help me out with a few health bills. The thing is they don't know I started collecting Joes again, and haven't seen my wall of 56 single figures, 12 comic packs, and not to mention the vehicles i have boxed up in the closet.

When I moved i had the joes all purposely packed up so the parents didn't see them. But now the parents are coming up for a visit.

Now I have the hunch there going to look at the wall and say something along the lines of: is this why I help pay your health bills.

This is where things take a turn for the worst and the parents give me talk about wasting my money. Quite frankly a situation I would rather avoid if I could.

Have you had this put on you by your wife/girl friend etc. And is there an easy button for this.

I really don't want to have to take down all the MOC figures from the wall whenever I think the parents might drop in.

[ladyhump]

I've got a room and a half with my toys. We're looking at moving and I dread finding a place that'll work for our income and being close to our workplaces, mostly because the place we've got now is plenty big and I can afford to spread my stuff out. I'm guessing I'll need to downsize, dump my stuff at my parents or get a storage unit. My wife is cool with my collecting though. At least, to an extent. Joes are fine compared to the prices of Japanese TF's.

[DOC]

You could Lie and Say you got them on ebay for like $100 bucksIn a auction. I know that is totally Impossible,....would they really know How much they truly go for?

[mister_e]

Well, I'll only give you my opinion on this because you asked. But if you are spending money on GI Joe when you should be paying bills or other debts, then I say you should stop. You need to get your priorities in order. If, however, you are paying all your bills and your debts are taken care of and you are single, then what you spend your disposable income on is your business.

[dawg99]

my wife doesn't mind at all i keep trying to convince her to search for joes but she says she has no idea what to look for

[morgana08]

My Mother is sort of understanding about the collecting I do. Notice the term sort of. I live at home due to illness with her and my brother since my Dad passed away a couple years ago. I pay my bills and help out with the home bills and other things when I can. After that, medicine, etc I use on the Joes, comics, books, whatever else I collect.

She occassionally makes a comment but doesn't say too much as I don't go out much. Now my brother and sister are a different matter. I get the 'wasting money' tone everytime from them. There is no easy button in this situation. You can try the reasoning tone and calmly state you only get what you can afford. They may point out what they help you out with which is a problem. The easiest way to avoid this is remove the collection from view when you know they're coming and then slowly bring it up by having one or two figures out when they come. Don't let them see everything at once until you can decide on a way to handle it.

I wish I could help you more. My Dad was like that a lot too but I had an easy way around him since he gambled his money away. Kind of silly for him to have lectured me. Good luck.

[young1nj]

Well, I'll only give you my opinion on this because you asked. But if you are spending money on GI Joe when you should be paying bills or other debts, then I say you should stop. You need to get your priorities in order. If, however, you are paying all your bills and your debts are taken care of and you are single, then what you spend your disposable income on is your business.

I like a good honest opinion.

I kind of look at it this way. I deserve some spending money to do stuff I like.

I also think that a lot of other college parents help there kids out more than my parents do money wise so I'm ok with it.

All work and no enjoyment will make one go crazy I tell ya

[young1nj]

My Mother is sort of understanding about the collecting I do. Notice the term sort of. I live at home due to illness with her and my brother since my Dad passed away a couple years ago. I pay my bills and help out with the home bills and other things when I can. After that, medicine, etc I use on the Joes, comics, books, whatever else I collect.

She occassionally makes a comment but doesn't say too much as I don't go out much. Now my brother and sister are a different matter. I get the 'wasting money' tone everytime from them. There is no easy button in this situation. You can try the reasoning tone and calmly state you only get what you can afford. They may point out what they help you out with which is a problem. The easiest way to avoid this is remove the collection from view when you know they're coming and then slowly bring it up by having one or two figures out when they come. Don't let them see everything at once until you can decide on a way to handle it.

I wish I could help you more. My Dad was like that a lot too but I had an easy way around him since he gambled his money away. Kind of silly for him to have lectured me. Good luck.


I think the idea of letting a few figures stay out so the parents can warm up to them is a good start!

[Scoop]

Hey young1nj,

Don't you remember when I "gave" you all of those Joes for your last birthday??? If your parents have a problem with that just have them PM me...LOL!

I look at it this way. They are right if you are spending money on Joes and not on your health bills. It's almost like going out and buying drugs and alcohol instead of taking care of your responsibilities. Tell them to look on the bright side though, at least you are not a drunk or a drug addict. Well at least I don't know if you are or not. Also assure them that you can sell your collection if you need money for an emergency and maybe make a profit. Worse case scenario is you get back what you paid for them.

I try to explain this to my dad and he is a heavy gambler. When he comes down on me about my collection I tell him at least I can make a profit or get my money back if I need to sell. I show him what things go for on ebay, but he thinks it's fake. You know old people don't get the internet...LOL!

Then I ask him where his losings are at. He has nothing to show for it. He can never get them back. I doubt he will ever break even as well.

[Agent-GHQ]

You just gotta manage your finances with school and your hobbie you'll do alright bro.

[Dr. Henry E. Miller]

If your parents can't accept your hobbies there may be a stronger underlying problem here. Also I was a broke jerk living in an apartment once also, I didn't free-wheely spend my money on stuff I didn't need like action figures.

[VIPER 48]

My mother was not surprised when i started buying the Valor Vs Venom and Spytroops lines. She always tells me that men always try to hold on to their youth, that is why they collect toys and date younger girls. She didn't agree with it and always told me to spend my money on something else...

Since the 25th line, my wife has gotten a lot better when it comes to finding and buying these things. In fact today i was planning on watching the race and not leaving the couch. She had a couple errands to run and asked if i wanted to go and look for joes. I was shocked and decided to go with her. It isn't often she wants to hunt with me. She even made me a spreadsheet on the computer to show what i have and what i need. That is cool...

My mom still knows i collect and knows i collect for my son. She still laughs at me to this day and says men just want to hold on to their youth...

[darthZartan]

Scoop is right. You could be spending it on a lot worse things. Box em up for the visit. Good luck!

[young1nj]

I can just imagine my mom after I say I don't have enough money.

Oh why don't you go sell that yellow guy( MOC yellow stalker) you said was selling for $300 on ebay.

LOL.

[young1nj]

She had a couple errands to run and asked if i wanted to go and look for joes. I was shocked and decided to go with her. It isn't often she wants to hunt with me.------VIPER 48's quote

Thats HOTT!!!

[Rivan01]

Hey, everybody has the right to collect things and Joes are yours, as long as you cover your expenses, they can't argue in what you spend your money, tell them this is much better than going to bars and spending the money in alcohol or drugs.

Besides, at the end its your hobby and no one can take it away and remember, parent will always complain about something so if its not this, it will be something else.

[VIPER 48]

She had a couple errands to run and asked if i wanted to go and look for joes. I was shocked and decided to go with her. It isn't often she wants to hunt with me.------VIPER 48's quote

Thats HOTT!!!

I know. She totally blew my mind when she asked me that...

[Lantern_Lad]

I'm pretty fortunate, everyone in my family, as well as a number of my friends, help me collect my stuff. They've all seen my collection and seem to want to contribute in any way they can. Leads to a lot of duplicates, but I'm always grateful.

On the flip-side, I also see your dilemma. My financial situation is nowhere near where it was a couple years back now that I am a full time student. What I did was cut seriously back to only purchase the 'necessities' of what I 'need'.

For instance, once the Joes hit, I cut back on my comic book collecting, completely halted my Transformers collecting and stopped picking up Prequel Star Wars figures.

I also decided early on not to pick up the comic packs unless they contained two completely new figures (or they contained an Iron Grenadier and Tripwire). Chances are pretty strong that somewhere down the line Hasbro will release individual figures of all the comic pack figures... they are the kings & queens of the re-pack!

[young1nj]

Lantern Lad.

I stopped collecting comics, stopped getting my hair cut for $12.


and now I think I am really close to being able to say no when I see Joes I want at wal-mart. DAMN you hasbro!!


...boxing up my joes now..well most of them

[Lantern_Lad]

stopped getting my hair cut for $12.


Heh... me too...

Now I have my mom cut it for me... saves money, she's happy because I'm hanging out with her, and the conversation usually ends with "so, any toys I should be on the lookout for?"

It's when you stop having enough money to eat... that's when you should worry. ;)

[young1nj]

Heh... me too...

Now I have my mom cut it for me... saves money, she's happy because I'm hanging out with her, and the conversation usually ends with "so, any toys I should be on the lookout for?"

It's when you stop having enough money to eat... that's when you should worry. ;)

i got the home haircut kit. have hadd a few un intended buzz cuts

[Lantern_Lad]

i got the home haircut kit. have hadd a few un intended buzz cuts

That's all I have her do... cuts back in the cost of hair-care products! ;) Where there is a will, my friend...

[pud333]

My parents think it's silly that I collect, but they are okay with it since I have a decent job and I pay my bills and save money. I don't go overboard, I am very choosy and picky about the ones I buy.

My girlfriend gives me grief about them when I start a new line. When I was starting up Transformers again, she was like, "Okay, but that's the only kind, right?" Then it was, "Revoltech? I thought you were only collecting Transformers!" Then it was, "G.I. Joes? You said you were stopping with Revoltech!" And so on, and so forth. :) She rolls her eyes and sometimes makes fun of me, but ultimately she knows it makes me happy.

Last Christmas she got me the Ipod Convoy player. More recently when we were looking for new furniture for the place, she asked if I wanted to get a better display case for the figures instead of just using the bookshelf. And the other day I tried to slip out of the house to go hunting, she caught me, and asked if she could come along. She sort of usurped it to shop, but at the end of the day, when I came home empty-handed (stupid TRU being out of stock all the time!!!), she was understandably sympathetic.

Our one year anniversary is coming up so I bought her a bracelet from Tiffany's. At the end of the day, she knows I'll take care of her and my collection is just a hobby, and that so long as I appreciate her with gifts and attention, and I don't dip into my future home downpayment funds, it's not such a big deal in the end. I mean, they're just toys; it's not like I'm drooling after other women. I think she gets it. :)

[young1nj]

I want to tell the mom is her fault i collect them because I didn't get my fill when I was younger.

hahah..that would get a look

[young1nj]

I think the girl friends are more easily understandable about the toy collecting than the parents

[Scoop]

Hey Lantern_Lad & young1nj,

What do you guys cut your hair with?...The Flobee...LOL!

Just kidding guys. I haven't paid for a haircut since 1998. I've been using electric clippers for the last 10 years and it's turned out great. I don't even remember what it's like to even go into a barber shop anymore.

Right now I'm using clippers that have a vacuum built right in to suck up the hair clippings. Well there are not as much as there used to be since my hair is growing less and less as the years go on. That's why I shave it all bald and end it. I'm not letting my hair win this battle, so I beat it to the punch. =P

[young1nj]

is $15 for a haricut these days and that doesn't include a tip!

after 10 years of cutting your own hair you get a good feel for it.

no need to throw out $15

[VIPER 48]

Hey Lantern_Lad & young1nj,

What do you guys cut your hair with?...The Flobee...LOL!

Just kidding guys. I haven't paid for a haircut since 1998. I've been using electric clippers for the last 10 years and it's turned out great. I don't even remember what it's like to even go into a barber shop anymore.

Right now I'm using clippers that have a vacuum built right in to suck up the hair clippings. Well there are not as much as there used to be since my hair is growing less and less as the years go on. That's why I shave it all bald and end it. I'm not letting my hair win this battle, so I beat it to the punch. =P


It is funny you should mention that. My grandpa is a barber. In fact he has been one since the military when he was a teenager. He has done nothing since. He still has a shop to this day but he only has 3 or 4 customers left and they don't have hardly any hair. It makes me laugh every time i see one of them come in and pay 12 dollars for a 10 second haircut...lol...

[numb007]

I collect G.I. Joe and Marvel Legends; along with many comic books. My fiance collects Cabbage Patch kids and we are trying to figure out something to collect as a couple when we get married. So sometimes you don't have to lie about what you collect. Many times people understand.

[Syn3sthesia]

You know your bound to get a lecture on why that crack plastic is a waste of time. So take them down and when they leave put them back.

[CURRAHEE CHRIS]

I think you may be playing with fire here. You need to ask yourself what problems you could find yourself in if your parents yank the money out from under you to sort of teach you a lesson. If they are providing money to you to go to school, take care of health issues, then yeah, they got the right to yank it out from under you if you are using the funds to buy Joes.

I was broke like a mug back in college- was married with a young child on the way. I couldn't afford to buy much of anything. That was back in 93-97. It seemed like the end of the world then but look at the situation now in 2008- we got these 25th Anniversary figures to buy- kind of makes the 90's stuff look pretty insignificant. The point is, this stuff will always be around- either at retail stores like now, estores like Brians toys, BBTS, or even EBay. Put it all in perspective and you will do just fine.

I also agree that rewarding yourself occassionally is a good thing too. Next time you knock out an A on a paper, go grab a figure (not a case mind you :)) but a figure or so.

That's the best I can offer- take care and good luck with it all.

CC