Obsessive collecting disorder

[zebedee]

Whilst sat doing nothing I wondered about the way we collect, I was thinking about variations or just collecting one make of toy. Why are we never happy to just have one version of a toy, let's say you own a silver zoomer robot why are we drawn to getting a blue one or say the pogot robot lots of colours and variations to collect . I like the yoshiya venus and jupiter robots I have the red wind up variations but now I'm looking for the remote versions and the telsalda robots but why, I know they're different colours but basically the same toy, where does it stop, why must we have all the robby robots or all the sparky robots all the horikawa gear robots, as my wife would say you have one why do you want another........

[Jonydroid]

Well, I think that because there are variations and slight changes available, I think that just one version of a color is not enough when there are several colors, I think that different things are consumption alternatives, for example someone goes to buy a new car and chooses the color but there is another color that is also interesting so you are undecided because there is a choice, but if there was just one color, just one model you would be forced to have just that one and it wouldn't make much sense, I think it's interesting to have several choices, 

 

but it seems that humans are by nature a being that is never satisfied with the one thing they have and it's not just in robots, in some cases it even happens with wives as soon as they get tired of one thing they exchange for another and so on with various things , but, it's interesting how sometimes we stop to think about these issues, and the fact that consumerism and ease are favorable to this consumerism or collecting

[zebedee]

Good words jonydroid,  I like the car theory but we wouldn't own a silver car and then buy the exact same car in green while still owning the silver one just because its a colour variation, mind you I've known some crazy vw enthusiasts that go the extra mile to own rare and beautiful cars but with this hobby there are so many variations of just one robot for example the yoshiya planet robot that has multiple versions yet we never seem to be able to be satisfied just having one of them I myself would love to own the many different styles but why??....its also cheaper to buy robots than change wives. 

[robert]

While I don't strive to own every variation of every toy out there, I do enjoy owning some variations for different reasons. For example, there are two Yoshia saucers that i have that each have one variation that is desirable. The Z-26 saucer most commonly comes in silver, but there is a rarer blue version that is highly desirable and hard to come buy, so I definitely wanted both versions. Then there is the Yoshia X-15 saucer. Same thing. There is the common red/ white version, very easy to find. But the green version that matches the artwork on the box is extremely rare as well. So I enjoy having both rare and common versions of toys if they are available. 

Other variations reflect production changes over the life of the toy, generally to keep the costs down some parts that were tin become plastic, or some functions are reduced. KO Planet Robots are a good example of this. Originally produced all tin with claw hands in several colors, then rubber hands and then plastic hands, head, etc. Not sure how many variations there are altogether. maybe 15? I just have five that reflect the actual physical modifications rather than a bunch of color variations.

So while there have been vintage 50's - 70's toys produced with modest color variations, mostly to set apart the different distributors lines of the same toy, we did not have the current explosion of color variations until the 90's and 2000's. OTTI produced many color variations of their Mechanized Robot reproduction for example. The original Mechanized Robot was black, but a rarer silver edition was produced as well. And the current trend in reproduction robots seems to be to produce as many colors as possible.

But back to your question: where does it stop? Only you can answer that. We all have our own limits, be it financial, availability or desire. I just encourage people to do what works best for them and enjoy it!

 

[Hymie]

Excellent observations, but let's face it, collectors (of anything -- from robots to baseball cards to comic books) are odd birds. I don't think our motivations to collect can be explained in terms that would ever make sense to non-collectors (that is, to 99.99% of the earth's population). I'll bet psychologists who've studied the collecting phenomenon would say that we're just very specialized hoarders -- perhaps a more sophisticated and socially-acceptable variant, but hoarders just the same. But, hey, that doesn't bother me.

 

That said, I feel like I may be a little different from many of you guys. I notice that many Alphadrome members (as alluded to above) enjoy chasing all the variants of a given model -- variants that in some cases a casual observer (a layman, as it were) might not be able to detect even if it was side-by-side with one or more additional variants. Of course, I know that variants are often easily distinguishable, but you get the idea. My point is that many people seem to enjoy recognizing the subtle differences and hunting down an example of each variant. That makes perfect sense to me, but it has never been my approach. My collection vision has always been to gather together the widest variety (manufacturer, mechanism, size, body design, etc.). Kind of a Baskin-Robbins "thirtyonederful flavors" approach. I admit that this may be because I just don't have the funds to expand significantly within a given make/model. I have to diversify "vertically" rather than "horizontally," so to speak. I guess my point, though, is that while collectors have a lot in common, we also diverge. As they say, de gustibus non est disputandum!

[zebedee]

Thank you gentlemen for your replies, it helps me understand what and why we collect the way we do, it basically was the ko action planet robot that brought up this topic as there are so many variations of them and deciding whether or not to purchase another one but with rubber hands to go with the plastic hand one I own. 

[Jonydroid]

In the end we collect as many variations of the robots we like but when we don't like we don't buy them, even if there are 10/20 variations. 

[David Kirk]

Does anyone feel like they've got about enough? I finally got the Mr. Atomic that I had bought for myself when I was seven in1962, back in my collection. That was ten or fifteen years ago, and I haven't  needed to buy much more since. Part of it is the lack of anything turning up on eBay in the past decade, but I don't think that's all of it. I see things I used to want  and now I can live without them. On the other hand, I haven't wanted to part with anything I already have, and I'm still either planning or working on some new robots to make. Also, Lego robots! Does anyone else make them?

[zebedee]

Wow Mr Kirk, that top middle is outstanding,  beautiful colours,for some reason I'm thinking of the yellow submarine cartoon, I will have to give this a go, was it the actual Mr Atomic that you owned and got back into your collection that would be a great feeling to own it again after all those years. 

[David Kirk]

Yes, the very one. I sold it in 1981. Griffith got it a day or two later. Enzo got it after his auction at Sotheby's, where it didn't sell. I got it back from Enzo's auction at Morphy's. I was very happy I had been able to keep track of it. A person who ended up being a great friend of mine got a few of my other robots from the stinker who I sold them to in 1981, so I'm happy about those. The rest were dispersed who knows where. 

[zebedee]

Thats wonderful, and to think you kept it for so long and then sold it only for it to go on a journey of being in some great collections and then back to its rightful owner,  what did it feel like owning it again,  I can't imagine the joy it must of bought to you. 

[6Stelab9]

1 hour ago, David Kirk said:

Yes, the very one. I sold it in 1981. Griffith got it a day or two later. Enzo got it after his auction at Sotheby's, where it didn't sell. I got it back from Enzo's auction at Morphy's. I was very happy I had been able to keep track of it. A person who ended up being a great friend of mine got a few of my other robots from the stinker who I sold them to in 1981, so I'm happy about those. The rest were dispersed who knows where. 

Why did you sold them ? A lack of interest in your childhood toys (as a young adult) or a need of money? maybe both? i'm just curious sorry

[David Kirk]

At the time, I lived in NYC in a stressful situation. I was much too poor to live there and quite hated it. I wanted to live in a house in a quiet, pretty place. My robots were very dear to me, but I felt I should grow up! I sold many of the ones that were the most expensive, and even at that, I sold them much too cheap. I had about eighty I'd collected up to my teens and sold nearly twenty. I'm sorry about it to this day, even though I've replaced all the ones I need.

[zebedee]

Thats a sad story David shame you felt you had to grow up and sell your beloved robots I think we all go through that faze in our lives but I'm glad it all ended with a happy ending and I hope you managed to find the quiet, pretty place that you were looking for 

[6Stelab9]

The circumstances of life not always lead you to the best decisions. At least, you kept sixty of you childhood robots and managed to bring back some of them. Many people didn't keep anything  from their youth. You've got a great collection full of remembrance and I fully understand that you don't need much more robots. Nice bunch of lego bots otherwise David .

 

Regarding collecting the variations, besides aesthetics considerations, It may have to do with addiction. It provides the excuse  to carry on hunting. I'm not sure it is easy to cure.