Happy Monday Everyone! So I thought I would post a few questions I get ask pretty regularly about my toy collection. These are questions I have answered so many times that I wanted to have this list up to direct people to, because as much as I don't mind answering questions, I just don't have the time to keep answering the same ones. I'm to the point where my answers are silly and made up just to entertain myself. These are my serious answers though :)
1. How long have you collected toys?
My entire life. I still have quite a lot of my toys from when I was a child. I use to freak out if I had to get rid of something for one reason or another. I remember trying to confiscate toys from a garage sale my parents had when I was maybe 6 or 7. I was not good at letting go of things. I guess I'm a toy hoarder.
2. How in the world do you dust all of your toys? You must be cleaning all the time.
Do you see those grey shelves my wall of toys are sitting on? Well they are grey for a reason ;) it's good at hiding dust. But in all seriousness, I've answered this question more times than I can even count and my response is always the same. If dust bothered me, I wouldn't collect objects. It's never been an issue for me. Sure, there is dust, but I move things around a lot. If you dust a few things off every now and then it's not overwhelming or even an issue really. I don't live in a place where lots of dust accumulates in my home. I never dust everything all at once. There is just too much to clean. I don't seem to have any dust allergy issues so it must not be too bad in my house. I would love to have a lot of thing behind glass someday but until then, I will live with it.
3. Do you make a lot of money to afford your collection?
I hate this question. First, it's not appropriate question to even ask someone but I will answer it here, this one time only. I've collected toys and art my entire life. When I moved out to go to college and had my own place to decorate is when it started getting larger. Of course when I had a full time job after college, I was able to buy more things but I'm far from rich. So for over 15 years I've collected toys regularly except more recently I haven't been able to collected much. Everyone has things they enjoy, sports, traveling, going out to bars and clubs. Well instead of spending money on those things I collected. That's how I have a collection like this. It's truly my passion. I was unable to travel or do other things because I was a caregiver for most of my adult life. Collecting toys is what gave me joy.
4. Hey, I can't seem to find this toy anywhere. Will you sell me your?
Nope! I can't find things I want either. That's just the reality of collection objects that are usually limited editions. I've searched and hunted just like everyone else for things I like. I don't sell my collection. I bought them because I loved them. There are few times where I have duplicates of toys so I will sell those and I have a few from blind box toys that don't really interest me so I may sell them but that's it. Please don't ask me to sell you a toy of mine. I've never collected anything because I thought they would make me money someday.
5. Where do get your toys?
Everywhere. When you are a collector, you have to willing to hunt for what you want. I do what anyone can do. I figure out what the toy is, who made it, and then start searching. There are lots of sites out there that sell designer toys, vintage items, message boards where you can trade or purchase from another collectors. It's extremely easy to find things now a days. Google is your best friend. Before it was so easy to track things down I still did a significant amount of my purchases through on line shops. I have since 1999/2000. I don't live close to any shops that sell things I collect except for when I collected Todd McFarlane toys which I still have. Occasionally comic book stores or toys stores will have things I'm looking for but you can usually find them cheaper on line. Also, if you find an artist you like, check to see if they have their own on line shop. I get a lot of things directly from the artist. I will post a list of some shops I like and places I've purchased from in the past here soon. I absolutely love to support these shops in any way I can. They are all hard working awesome people.
Have an amazing day! Thank you for stopping by!
XOXO
