Is this the best time ever to be a collector?

[DAMartin]

For me, the Internet has been good because I can know what other people think about stuff, but the online selling sites are keeping nothing in old stuff stores! I can't find anything because everything is being sold online! Roargh!

[Monkfish]

Before I'd got inter-net access @ home it often felt like I was the only person who still bought toy's in their adulthood & dispite being comfortable with it myself, I always felt a tinge of embarrassment to admit it to work colleagues & other people in general... people can openly boast about how pissed they got the night before or can get really argumentative about a [CORRECTION: fantastic ] football game & think it mature behavior, yet when I started to get enthusiastic about how Airfix had been saved from bankruptcy a few years ago a guy told me to "grow up".

That guy needs to grow up himself. I'm struggling to see how it's not grown up to want a long standing company, embedded within British culture, to survive and prosper. A company whose name has become synonymous with 'model vehicle'. A company that has captured the imaginations of generations of boys, and the only notable company in the field that tried to do the same with girls too (how I wish someone over here would do 'airfix for girls' - my eldest is crying out for something like that).

I know what you mean about the stigma attached to buying toys, and it comes even earlier. That same airfix-wanting-daughter is also one of the last kids in her class still heavily into toys - and she's only 11. She loves them and the day she decides she's too big for them will be a sad day. I contrast that with her cousin whose parents decided she was too old for her dolls house at 10.

[Chopper]

Seems I have a insider, T'shot. My wife's aunty helps out in an op (charity) shop. We went to visit yesterday and she had a Batman and Goth (boxed) for me and even better, a MAM racing car driver. Mwawahahaha......

Tis indeed a good time. Most of the people that I know, the blokes get it, the Sheila's don't. I had a mate come over last week who is around 50, he was gob smacked and in awe. Some people are just children, and then there are guys like us

[Red Laser]

If I hadn't have joined GIJoeUK then here through Jamar I wouldn't have had as a big a collection that I now have or would have done the customs that I have painted. I find that on-line buying has helped tremendously but I still find it hard to find some figures I want. The car boot sales I have been to never had any GI Joe or AF figures so the internet has been my main source. By joining this site I have broadened my interests and been able to participate in more than one colouring project.

[gung-hoeddie]

things like the forum has made a collecting hobby into a shared collecting hobby which in turn for me has made it more enjoyable.

[Lady Jaye]

I think with ebay and the internet we have it easy when collecting you can buy what ever you want without having to venture out of a chair.

And that my dear friend, I don't call collecting, that is just getting out your wallet ordering stuff. Where's the thrill in that?

I miss the old skool toy fairs

Exactly! And hunting on flea markets, toy fairs, etc. for that one single special item! I get a bigger thrill in finding a Tiger Force Tunnelrat for 1 pound, than buying one MOC on eBay.

[gung-hoeddie]

it is a sign of the times i'm afraid. The goal is the same but the medium has changed.

[Thundershot]

Don't worry about it Eddie,
You're doing it your way, I love e-bay as it has made life a lot easier, & has probably saved me a lot of money in traveling expenses...to me it's just a another weapon in the collectors arsenal to choose from, after all not every one is able to spend large amounts time scouring the area looking for "silly little bits of old plastic" (as I often refer to them ).

But you can't beat that little boast of adrenaline you get when you find a rare toy or long sought after piece you've been spending years looking for @ the bottom of a box fall of junk @ a toy fair, car-boot sale or charity shop, & for the larger part of my life that's all that was available when it came to collecting for me.

Am I alone in sometimes feeingl a bit of guilty when purchasing something for pennies @ a charity shop, if I know the item would demand a much higher value if sold via auction or by a specialist dealer?..but then it's not like I'm going to sell the item on for a large amount of personal profit, I'm just adding an item to my own collection or buying to swap with another @ a later date.
Besides the stock has been donated free of charge, & I've also been told that the larger operations like Oxfam have specialist valuers take a look & advise on values of certain items, that's why I prefer to shop in the smaller local charities.

[The Baron]

No, you're not alone there, but I remind myself of the occasions where I've stupidly spent far too much money on stuff, such as the ebay noob years. Look at it like that and it all evens out.

[Lady Jaye]

But you can't beat that little boast of adrenaline you get when you find a rare toy or long sought after piece you've been spending years looking for @ the bottom of a box fall of junk @ a toy fair, car-boot sale or charity shop

Exactly! That type of moment is exactly what I mean! That moment comes closest to the rush I had as a kid when my father allowed my to pick one! Nowadays I earn so many times my fathers' wage, I can buy whatever I want, but that when the mailman comes in and I open my parcel, there is hardly any rush. That's why I quit simply buying stuff. I rather wait a little longer and find it 'by accident'.

Of course the internet is really handy for communicating, swapping/trading stuff.

for pennies @ a charity shop

Why feel guilty? You can say the same about records, vintage clothing, furniture, etc. Like you said, they got it for free anyway.