Deep Thoughts

Recently, I was going through my whole collection of figurines that I purchased over the years and trying to improve on making my display more impressive and noticed something interesting. I am quite sure that seasoned collectors will have already known this by now but for someone who just started collecting about 4 years ago, it only hit me recently. The size and number of the figurines are inversely proportional to how impressive your collection will be. Let me explain, if you have collectibles that are scaled 1:6 and above, having just a few pieces in a display cabinet (with the correct poses) will be a treat to the eyes for many a collector. If you happen to put too many figures together, the display becomes too cluttered and one will not be able to pose them well, resulting in them just standing in 'default' poses (most likely straight up with arms at the sides). This causes the display to somehow lose its grandeur. Alternatively, having too few smaller figures (3 and a quarter inches - 6 inches) will leave too much gap in between the display cabinet (taking into account the same cabinet mentioned earlier). This will result in the display looking too 'hollow', like as though the figure was randomly placed, not fitting into the setting at all. So, to make the display more impressive, collectors tend to purchase more of such figures (usually the whole series) to 'bulk' up the display. Many people baulked at the higher costs of larger figures, but if you think about it, getting a whole series of smaller figures almost equates to the same cost. I guess the only fun in purchasing smaller figures is that one can purchase a few of them (meaning there is variety) instead of just having to look at one figure. On the other hand, larger figures tend to be much more detailed and are more articulated.

As a collector, it is almost impossible to collect every single toy available (unless money and space is not an issue). I always have to balance between getting small and large figures to ensure that my display cabinet is able to accomodate them. I think the fun comes in trying to pose them in a variety of poses to try and achieve the 'wow' effect. 4 years on, I believe that I am a more experienced collector and will not purchase anything on impulse, only to regret later on and have difficulty selling the items. Having said that, sometimes, I cannot help but buy something I like, even though I know it does not fit into my collection. Ahhhhhh, its so beautiful, I can't help it!