Managing an Anime Collecting Hobby

Set a budget

Like your food, clothing, & other daily spending, set a budget of how much you should spend on anime stuff.  It can be yearly, monthly, or even weekly.  For me, I set a monthly budget.  I usually set it around CDN$150.  That's enough for about two PVC figures coming overseas with the shipping costs.  It may seem a lot for a year ($150 X 12 months = $1,800), but it isn't really.  I don't go & blow the $150 every month.  You shouldn't use up all your budget every time. 

There will be some case where you won't touch your budget at all cause the products that come out may not interest you.  There are times that I do go over, but I make up for it for the next months.  If you do go over your budget, just set it lower for the next round.  Always make sure you set your collecting budget to allow the important essentials of life to come first.  Also, don't set your budget so low that you can't buy anything.

Know the products' release dates

It's always best to know the release dates of the products you want.  By knowing their release dates, you can set your budget accordingly.  There are times where toy manufacturers will push the date up & could affect your budget.  Here's a tip to help you out. 

Based on my personal experience, most products tend to come around the Fall & Christmas season.  This is usually where toy companies make their money.  If the products have their release dates pushed, they most likely still fall under the current season they were in.  Products that get pushed mostly are PVC figures, coldcast figures, special plushes, & action figures.  Trading figures rarely have this situation & gashapons & UFO prize items hardly get their dates pushed.

What products are good for beginners

Depending on the anime & manga series you like, it varies.  Also, this varies to personal preferences.  I started my collecting by building Gundam model kits.  It was when I started collecting figures that my hobby skyrocketed.  Usually, you go by the anime & manga series you like as your guideline of course. Usually anime & manga toys are based on characters, mainly female ones.  Although there are mecha series, they usually have figures too.  Like Gundam for example. 

In some cases, you may be like me.  If you have seen my Collectables section, I buy products from series that I don't like, have little knowledge about, or know nothing about it.  The decision isn't easy.  To avoid complications, let's keep it simple.

Gashapons

Perfect for those setting a small budget.  Buying these figures go easy on your budget, especially when going for a set.  One would think they are small, but they aren't really.  A lot of gashapons are priced at the ¥200 mark & the sizes of those are usually at the 11cm mark if they are in a standing position or sitting on something on top.  They are a bit smaller than trading figures.  The same applies to the ones higher in price.  The ¥100 ones are usually smaller with sizes around 3 - 5 cm.

It's best you get the popular gashapon sets as soon they are released.  Because of the limited production runs to make them, they can be hard to get.  Collecting basically follows some part of the economy's Supply & Demand principle.  If demand for a product is high & the market supply for it is low, prices will go up.  One good example is K&M's Chobits Volume 1 gashapon set.  That set was highly in demand even though the popularity of the series was going down a bit.  Last I check from a long time ago, the set was going for US$100.  However, there are situations where a popular anime series don't do well in this department.  A good example of this is Yujin's Ai Yori Aoshi gashapon set.  The series was quite popular at its time, but the sale of that gashapon set didn't do well.  Stores that have this set are currently getting rid of it.  I have seen the price go as low as CDN$5 & hardly anyone touches it.

Regardless if the prices for the gashapon will go up or down in the future, it's best that you purchase the sets you want immediately when they are released.  The gashapon market is quite hard to predict in terms of its pricing.  Be aware though that most of these gashapon figures require assembling & some aren't too easy to do.  One thing to keep in mind also is that a lot of companies are slowly moving away from this field.  So, selections from this area is getting smaller.

Trading Figures

Also perfect for people with small budgets.  Although they are a bit higher in price than gashapons on a per figure basis, the quality & size makes up for it.  Usually these are more easier to find in stores than gashapons.

The problem about buying trading figures is that they are packed in blinded boxes.  You won't know which one you will get.  Although you can probably guess which one you will get based on the weight, chances are it won't be easy.  Some stores won't allow you to shake or weigh the contents in the box & you won't get the chance to use this method if you are ordering online.  Also, some toy manufacturers are smart enough to add weighted parts or junk in the box to prevent figure guessing.

There are some stores that sell trading figures as sets, but chances are they will be expensive.  This is mainly because the stores took the time to open the boxes & make sets.  Plus, they are taking a risk of trying to sell the extras.  There are times some trading figures won't sell well due to the character's popularity.  Because most stores go by the collector's price, they take a loss in those figures.  Usually trading figure sets are priced higher than gashapon sets.  Technically this makes sense due to the per figure cost basis, but some are overpriced due to their popularity.  They can be priced two to three times more than most gashapon sets.  Sometimes, they can cost more than one PVC figure.

Buying one trading figure at a time versus buying a whole set at once is actually expensive to do.  If you are lucky, it may be cheaper at times.  But getting lucky isn't easy.  In most cases, some toy manufacturers like Bandai have one complete set in one box.  For example, Bandai's Bleach Characters Volume 1 Trading Figures contains four figures in a set.  The box has eight pieces inside.  It's possible to get one complete set with extra figures by buying one box.  In this case, it's possible to get two sets.  However, this only works if the box is new & not tampered with.

There are some cases were buying one box won't get you a complete set.  For example, Bandai's Haro Collection product lineup has increased the number of Haro figures in their sets.  A set usually has 12 + x number of figures & one box only has ten pieces.  If you are aiming for a set, this will force you to at least buy two boxes.

My suggestion is to buy one trading figure first than going for a set.  See if you like it or not.  If you do, I would suggest looking for sets than continue looking to build a set by buying one trading figure at a time.  This way, your budget will work well.  But be careful not to go overboard when trying to complete a set.  As a side note, trading figures require some assembly & it's not too hard as gashapon figures.  Nowadays, some trading figures are complete & only require you to put them on their bases if included.

Action Figures

When I say action figures, I mean figures on blister cards or with packaging that allows them to hanging on those shelf hooks.  UFO prize catcher figure items also fall into this category.  Some of these figures have some articulations.  Figures that have them are usually creatures, mechas, & some character figures.  Out of those, most of them has accessories to allow you to change the appearance, pose, or add weapons to the figure.

Another type of blister card figure is the static figure.  They are usually simple in design & come with accessories like the articulation ones.  Figures found in this category are the same as the articulation ones.  UFO prize items are usually classified here as well.

Lastly, the last type of blister card figure is the static PVC figure.  What makes them different from the previous type is that they are usually made from one sculptor & better quality of materials.  These tend to be more pricey than any type of blister carded figures.  The BOME collection would fit in this area.  All of those figures in that series is designed by the same guy.

I really can't make a suggestion in this area since it totally depends on your anime & personal taste.  Some anime series aren't made into figures with articulations.  They usually are made into those PVC figures.  The price range for blister card figures vary.  They can be as low as CDN$12 to as high as CDN$60.  It totally depends on the figure type.  These type of figures are best suited for people with a medium budget range.  This can be from CDN$50 - CDN$100.  Although those UFO prize items are usually made as sets, I recommend those as a good start.  The quality of those aren't bad & are up to par with those ¥1,500 figures.  And the price of a set, usually two to four figures, is roughly the same as one blister card PVC figure.

Model Kits

Yes, model kits make great collectable items.  If you willing to invest some time in building something, model kits are your best bet.  Gundam mecha fans would take this approach since almost the whole model kit market is dominated by Gundams.  The other minor that makes up for this market is Five Star Stories, Virtual-On, Evangelion, & Super Robot Wars.  There are many others as well, but they make up a very small portion of the market.  These kits provide articulations & are usually mechas only.  Although the instructions are Japanese, you don't need to know the words.  The diagrams are more than enough to tell you how to build them.

Depending your skills, some model kits are easy & some are difficult.  If you are starting out or don't want to spend too much on models, go for those SD Gundams or 1/144 scale HG Gundams.  The sizes of the SD Gundams are usually 5.5cm & the 1/144 scales are 12cm.  Price wise, they range from CDN$7 to CDN$20.  The SD Gundams can be built in ten minutes while the 1/144 scales ones can take around 45 minutes if you don't paint them.  These kits are suited for the small budget people.  Plus, they aren't too hard to build.

The 1/100 scale HG Gundams are more to the medium price budget people that range from CDN$50 to CDN$100.  These kits are more for the intermediate builders, the ones that like to build things & have some experience.  These kits are only a bit harder than the 1/144 ones due to the skeleton system.  If you find the 1/100 HGs aren't challenging enough or are willing to try something harder, the 1/100 MG Gundams are good.  These require more skills as you will be doing more details on the skeleton.  My personal advice is to stay away from MGs until you practice enough on the HGs of any scale; preferably the 1/100s the best.  You will probably be frustrated with the complicated instructions & give up along the way on the MGs.  Best to spend your investment on something to practice on first.

The 1/60 PG Gundams are a beauty & heavy on your wallet.  These are mainly for the one time model kit purchases that will last you for the next few months or people with big budgets of CDN$300 or more.  Even if you have a big budget & never built a model kit before, I strongly recommend to stay away from these.  These are designed for expert builders & do take a lot of your time.  You need a lot of practice on MGs first before tackling PGs in my opinion.  The PG market seems to have stop though.  I haven't seen anything new from that grade for a long time.  I don't know if Bandai has stopped producing this grade for new Gundam or any mechas.

PVC Figures

PVC figures are come a long way really.  These started popping up after the vinyl figures died out.  PVC figures are mainly copies of the toy company's or homemade garage resin kit figures at lower prices.  Thanks to those lower prices, it makes collecting more affordable & the hassle of building & painting is taken away.  Also, some PVC figures have new designs not found in resin kits.  Although they have attractive prices, these are good for people with medium budgets of CDN$50 to CDN$100 or higher.  These are a popular choice for any collectors.  I strongly recommend getting these as these are good products to own, even if you are a very light collector.

The prices of PVC figures are usually affected by the size &/or popular of the character or series it came from.  When buying these, spend your budget wisely.  Lately, a lot of PVC figures have been popping up from almost every series from anime, manga, hentai, & games.  With a huge selection, don't go buying everything you see.  Control yourself or else you will blow not only your budget, but probably your life essential budgets as well.  This is the area where I go over my budget at times cause of the huge selection.

Know how to spend

Although there is a lot of nice stuff out there, you need to set your limits.  Setting a budget will only do so much.  You may end up increasing it for reasons like "I don't have enough money to buy that, but I'll just increase my budget for it."  This hobby is just enjoyment, not a life essential.  You don't need to collect these stuff to begin with.  However, you still need to fulfill your leisure wants somehow.

Don't buy everything you see.  Sacrifice one item over another, especially high priced ones.  I myself making those choices every time.  I give up some items just for one item.  There are times when I don't purchase anything at all, even if I think it will get expensive later & will be hard to get soon.   Most of the time, those are items I really want.  Decisions like that will save you money & shelf space.

In closing....

There are many more types of collectable products out there that I didn't list, but those won't make great collectable items for beginners.  The list here is good enough for starters.  Let's recap what was said here.

• Always set an appropriate spend budget for collectable stuff.  Make sure it's set that you don't face life problems due to poor spending habits.

• Know the release date of the products you want.  This way, your budget is set accordingly & you know when you get them without paying possible high prices in the future.

• Depending on your taste & budget size, they are a lot of products out there that can fit your decision.  Trading figures & gashapon sets are good for small budgets, action/blister card figures are good for medium sized budgets, & PVC figures are excellent choices for medium to large sized budgets.  Personally, I recommend PVC figures because of value.

• Control your spending habits.  Make sacrifices as these products are really just for leisure.

Last updated on February 19, 2008