There comes a time in a collectors life that makes you take a good hard look at why you collect. That time has come for me. I am having a baby.

Nathan's Ultrasound

My first instinct was to say, "That's it, I'm done. No more Ebay, no more flea markets!" but we all know that is not going to happen. So I had to prioritize, regroup, and redisplay.

Banpresto Andromeda

The first step was to go through what I had and decide if it was really something I wanted to collect. I ended up selling a good amount on Ebay and other things are still in plastic tubs in my laundry room. There was a lot of stuff that I looked at and thought to myself "Why did I buy this?" A lot of "toy Crack" fell into this category.

Ebay Lot (sold)

Then I went about re-displaying what had passed the muster. I had recently finished remodeling my basement, and I was now ready to fill my toy room. When you go back and visually handle and re-sort the pieces you have, it gives you a new perspective and focus. I thought I was done with Jumbo Machinders, but once I re-displayed them, I fell in love all over again.

Nook

I then decided that none of my future purchases would be impulse buys. I would research, decide if it meets all my criteria, and find the best price. I find I buy fewer toys that way, and I am generally happier with what I have.

Sometimes collecting can feel like an addiction. If you find you are trying to scale back your collection, and you have these urges or needs to buy something for your collection out of habit, take a deep breath and try to think if you really need it. You will find that by being selective n your purchases, you will have a quality collection years down the road.

Curio cabinet