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When I was a kid during the 70's and 80's I was in on the ground floor for all of the classic toys: G. I. Joe, Star Wars, Transformers, Voltron and Thundercats to name a few. I would tear open the packaging and immediately add the figure to my army. I always tried to keep all of the accessories, etc. and after a while I held on to the box or card as well. Eventually I started keeping things in their packaging for display.

Which brings me to my point. A couple years ago I started buying and selling toys on line and have discovered that there are two basic kinds of toy collectors - those who buy loose items and those who only buy carded or unopened figures. Now I would never suggest that one side is right and the other wrong so I ask you - what do you prefer?

Oh, I almost forgot about the third kind of collector. The Customizer! These people have some kind of imagination for starters and I suspect some type of obsessive / compulsive tendencies. Almost invariably I find one or two Frankensteined figures when I acquire a new collection.

I prefer a complete figure at the best price.
The overwhelming majority of my figures are displayed out of the package. I generally open all figs I buy within a couple days (usually as soon as I get them home or the delivery package is opened).
When I'm searching online I don't look for loose or MISB/MOSC, just complete and "cheap".

I do have a ton of earlier Manga Spawn figs that are still in their original packages though - I worked in retail and would scour the stock rooms and receiving area almost daily looking for chase variants...
I've got a few other miscellaneous figs in the package too, most I'm looking to get rid of like the Spawn figs.

I open most of mine for display. Keeping everything carded makes you run out of room quick. I do have a few which I kept carded but not many. Like last year I found at an estate sale a lot of vintage Star Wars vehicles loose with their original boxes at an excellent price. I have them in the box and displayed but it has to be something I remember as a child to make it special enough to take up prime real-estate in my office.

No doubt there - our utility/laundry room would be a lot more spacious if it weren't for all my previously mentioned late 90s 'speculator' buys.

Most of mine are still in their packages. Unless I get it off Ebay already open my stuff tends to stay "mint".

I tend to fall in the keep it sealed category. I'd say about 90-95% of my collection is MISB. I just love the way they look displayed on my wall. Of course I've run into the "real estate" problem and have to reconfigure everything so I can maximize the space. I was really into the McFarlane stuff in the 90's and early 00's and would sometimes buy 2 of the same fig so I could open one and keep the other sealed.

Funny little side story: My kids had a sleepover last weekend and when they showed their friends "my room" they asked: "Aren't you ever going to open any of them?" I quickly replied "nope." They just couldn't wrap their minds around a room semi-full of sealed toys.

It depends on the figure for me. If the packaging is really sharp looking and displays the figure better than I could opening and posing them, I will leave them in the box for display. Most of the time, I remove them from the box, pose them and store the empty box in a giant box in the back of my closet just in case I ever have to pack them away for a move or decide I want to display them in their box if the arrangement of thier current display area changes. Like Xylob, I usually purchase mine complete in box at the best price I can find. Even if it is in "used" condition, as long as it is complete and undamaged.

I find it is easier to dust when they are left in the box..a quick swipe with a swiffer duster and bam!

a can of air works quite well on the loose figs though

nuff said.

You wouldn't happen to be a Marvel fan, would you?

HOLY CRAP!




That's awesome!

That. Is. Awesome!

Wendy, you are my hero.

Howie

^^^ yeah, what he said, that is am amazing collection...

That is freaking super sweet!

I keep mine sealed. As a kid I used to rip open the packaging and toss them around, but once I realized theres value in them later on, I stopped destroying the packaging entirely.

I sold most of my old figures most are G1 transformers,& a Iron man here and there,but ever since i was a kid i have wanted my own Deadpool figure, anyone know how i can buy one here, all i get when i look up deadpool at the shop here is deadpool comics

There have been a few Deadpool figures over the years. The below are the ones that stick out in my mind though. I don't think any of them are available here on CCL now though:

3 3/4"
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Marvel Universe (3-Packs)

6"
Marvel Legends (Series 6)
Marvel Legends (Epic Heroes)