How do you deal...

[Droidustin]

...with the fact that some variants you will probably never obtain? I look at some of the flocked and holographic variants and, as a perfectionist, it drives me crazy. Are any of you like this?

[Peachtree]

Personally I just cry. A lot. Pro tip: cry in the shower because that way you can't see your tears!

[FunkoNewb]

Not really. I've been collecting since the start, so I've been fortunate to get every piece I needed at retail price. Guess it's the perks of starting early.

[HowardTheDuck]

Yes. Somehow, you just learn to realize you will never have that variant.....

[Sarcasticguy]

Gotta learn to cope.

[TulaBug]

I picked the ones that were of importance to me and saved the money until I could afford them. The Disney flocked I could not do without.

[Billy Witch Doctor]

You either learn to cope, save up, or try to make yourself some custom pieces!

[grendelscott]

This is something that I learned to deal with several years ago as a comic collector. You can actually look at it completely different. Sure, you'd be happy to have all of those pieces but you might find it a little boring. Before eBay came along, it was an amazing feeling to walk into a comic store and see that one Silver Age book I had been looking several years for (especially if I had the money to buy it that day!). It's a little different now with sites like eBay, where the value jumps up so quick from flipping etc. but you still get that feeling of "Yes! I finally got this!" when you eventually save up and grab that grail piece.

[Droidustin]

Well said, dude. Going by your signature, I'm a vinyl record buyer as well!

[kikiblanko]

Yesterday, i have sold my sw collection to one person.. I was only missing the sdcc all-star line ;( .. (shadow, holo maul, flocked chewy, biggs, 501 clone and boba droid) and i really wanted to complete.. But with the load of variants of tfa movie and the unobtainable all-star line missing, i have decided to stop collecting sw and sell my collection..

[Droidustin]

I'm not going to let it bother me too much.

[Justin-Lovejoy]

Fortunately for me it is not something I have had to cope with much. I collect Marvel, Star Wars, Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters. Only piece I am missing is slimed Ecto-1. I still look it up time from time and wish, .

[booboo79]

This is something that I learned to deal with several years ago as a comic collector. You can actually look at it completely different. Sure, you'd be happy to have all of those pieces but you might find it a little boring. Before eBay came along, it was an amazing feeling to walk into a comic store and see that one Silver Age book I had been looking several years for (especially if I had the money to buy it that day!). It's a little different now with sites like eBay, where the value jumps up so quick from flipping etc. but you still get that feeling of "Yes! I finally got this!" when you eventually save up and grab that grail piece.

Well said

[martynuss]

Second job?

[martynuss]

Second job?

[Ben]

The thing that bugs me is the GitD variants.
So hard to decide whether I should purchase a GitD pop or its non GitD counterpart. I don't see much of a reason to own both near identical pop!

[bloodcoxcaburial]

I get everything I want because I work hard for it. Second job, selling on side, etc.

You not getting what you want is your own decision.

[saul_damascus]

...with the fact that some variants you will probably never obtain? I look at some of the flocked and holographic variants and, as a perfectionist, it drives me crazy. Are any of you like this?

Thankfully I am not in to variants. I don't need them bloody or glowing in the dark or metallic

[BigM]

Second job?

Third job?

[bathtub-tigers]

1) wait (the most important imo)
2) hunt
3) pray
4) learn to cope

also, befriend funatics bc you never know who can help you out.

[dishsnthings]

I get everything I want because I work hard for it. Second job, selling on side, etc.

You not getting what you want is your own decision.

I think thats so cold! Some people who have $10 for a Pop make the "decision" to put a macaroni and cheese on the table for their kids!! You dont know what the posters circumstances are. Congratulations on getting everything you want.

[PopVinylJunkie]

Personally, I hate the idea of variants and exclusive figures. Why release something in limited quantity that next to nobody can obtain? To me that alienates your fan base and upsets collectors. I can see if factory errors that got out into the wild became sought after because that's a quality check issue, but to release something with the intent to make it hard to find isn't fair in my eyes. If you want to make a variant then go right ahead, but make it in the same volume as the original for people to own.

[JsinLegacy]

The thing that bugs me is the GitD variants.
So hard to decide whether I should purchase a GitD pop or its non GitD counterpart. I don't see much of a reason to own both near identical pop!

I just buy both and typically just give the one I don't want to my son... haha... or I just end up keeping both..

I think some have said it best. Find the one you want, the average cost, and then save up until you have enough to pursue it. Sometimes doing that and the patience for waiting will lead to a really good price/find on the item. This has happened to me a few times...

[treswright]

I've shared this before, but not too long after I got into Pops I started collecting Walking Dead. I didn't initially set out to be a completist, but at some point I decided I wanted them all. I collected the HTF variants first because I liked them the most. Then I went after the more common variants, and finally the commons. Frankly at some point it ceased being fun and was more about filling the missing slots. And to do that, I had to chase pieces I really didn't want that much. I mean if I have a 9" bloody Daryl do I really need a 9" non-bloody one just because I need to have a complete collection? And then after I got them all, I started putting them all in a case and realized that some of the variants are so subtle you can't tell them apart on display ( many of the bloody versus non bloody zombies for example). So I ended up displaying some and leaving others boxed in storage.

That was a long story but the point is being a completist isn't everything it's cracked up to be. When it comes to SW I just collect what I like and that has been much more satisfying then being a WD completist.

Being a completist can get expensive too, just ask the Batman completists who now have to contend with what to do about the HT employee reward exclusive that goes for 500-900 on eBay. Or the Stan Lee completists who were slapped in the face with 1:10 exclusives that were 500 retail and go for 4 figures on eBay.

[funkystark]

I enjoy it, it's all part of the fun and keeps collecting fun! If you could easily obtain everything you want there's not fun in that.

[Droidustin]

Thanks for all the input, guys and gals!

[cswhite]

The main variant I want, but probably won't get is the Thor: Dark World Thor with the helmet. I'm hoping that around Thor: Ragnarok they'll release a new helmeted Thor pop that'll be just as cool if not cooler than the Dark World pop.

[Squird]

Pick your spots and priorities.

You don't have to have them all to be happy.

[Kitzka]

I tell myself this is not Pokemon. I can't get them all. I'll never own everything in a given line. Will just enjoy what I have, what I am able to get as well as hope I can obtain a hard to find piece one day.

Lara

[kevin87]

die a little inside and move on?

I know there eventually will be some I can't get, just like there's some that retired/vaulted before I started collecting... I think the only one that HURTS is that darn SDCC Regina. That heart she's crushing is actually mine

[zaghawk]

...with the fact that some variants you will probably never obtain? I look at some of the flocked and holographic variants and, as a perfectionist, it drives me crazy. Are any of you like this?

I realize unless I win the lottery, I can't afford to buy everything I want to buy in life. So I just make choices about what I want the most and be happy with it. Maybe you can't afford to own ALL the Batman POPs AND the Star Wars POPs, and you just choose Star Wars or just Batman. Or even just the variants for one specific character etc. Anyway, I understand on the current market some variants are ridiculously expensive, but if you want it bad enough, make it happen and sell/trade off the other pieces to make it happen.

Basically it helps you change the perception that instead of CAN'T have that particular piece, you choose not to have it, because you'd rather keep/have something else with your money. I mean I could tell myself I CAN'T have CWO, but honestly I'm sure if I sold my entire POP collection I could come up with a figure high enough to convince one of the current owners to sell me theirs, but I'd rather have my current POP collection than CWO. So I've made that decision, and it doesn't bother me.

[r2d2]

They are a goal to continue working hard

[therenegade]

I go after the POP's I want and ignore the rest. Sure, I'd love to have all the chase POP's and some of the cool variants out there but I'm not going to shell out huge bucks for a glowing version, flocked version, or for some exclusive that isn't going to add anything to my collection other than having the same POP with a slight difference to it. I will however pay out decent money for a rare POP that I really want that isn't a variant, such as POP's from the Rocky series or Masters of the Universe, but those are just normal POP's that haven't been modified.

Personally, I'm somewhat against the idea that a company would intentionally make a product rare or exclusive knowing that it'll skyrocket in price almost instantly. I can't just take a week off of work, buy a plane ticket, book a hotel for a weekend, spend hundreds on food, and buy tickets to a comic con just to secure an exclusive POP. But because of that I'm expected to pay 10 fold for a POP that was only sold at said comic con that they probably only had a handful of anyhow....? Yeah, no thanks. The only way I'd pay that money is if I was such a huge fan that I absolutely had to have it, or if it was a part of a larger bundle where I was basically paying for that one item and getting a bunch of other POP's that I didn't have for next to nothing.