Hey Buddy, Can You Spare Some Room?

I spent a better part of last weekend doing some much needed clearing up of my room. I did this for a few reasons. A-My room had gotten really cluttered. B-I wanted to swap out stuff I had in my closet for future blogs for stuff I had already shown. C-I wanted to see what I had. What should have taken a few hours had taken a couple of days and it was shocking and frustrating.

I had boxes and bags on my dresser, chair, desk and other places in my room, so I packed all of the stuff and opened my closet door to put all my stuff away. When I opened my closet, I realized I had a problem that you would think you could only find in cartoons or comedies. My closet was already filled with boxes upon boxes of sports cards, unopened and opened figures, as well as boxes for most of my bobbleheads. That is when I realized I was in big trouble.

I had just about run out of room and I was stuck holding the bag, literally.

What started out as collecting what I liked had turned into an episode of Hoarders, starring The Sexy Geek. It was an unplanned and most unwanted appearance. I had to figure out what had happened and how I could stop this slippery slope I was on before I was left blubbering over an intervention by friends and family because I was sneaking in a moldy issue of Amazing Spider-Man #500 and a Mego Robin with a broken leg...wait I have one already. Oh God, Help me! (drops to my knees, crying hysterical as I hold Robin in my arms, whispering to him that everything would be O.K)

Alright, seriously, I know how I got here and it's a pretty simple explanation. What started as my collecting stuff I actually loved grew into my picking up something of anything I remotely liked. I have my sports collection which consists of anything Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Islanders and Devils as well as a few player collections. In my sports collections, I have cards (a lot of cards), autographs, bobbleheads, figures, pins, yearbooks, programs and other stuff I can't remember. My pop culture collection consists of Batman, Spider-Man, The Beatles, The Monkees, Luke Skywalker/Star Wars and Back To The Future.

Now, the problem is not only do I have a large collection of stuff that I like, but I have managed to start side collections of stuff I that while I like, don't have the attachments that I have to my favorites. For instance, I love KISS, but did I really need to buy a huge Love Gun Mister? It's never even been out of the box. Granted, the box is wrecked, which is why I got it for half off at Spencer's, but I honestly didn't need it nor have I used it. Plus, I really don't go out of my way for KISS stuff anymore.  I have a side Iron Man collection. I was never a huge Iron Man fan when I read the comics. I fell in love with the character after I watched the movies and then started reading the books. I'm a huge WWE fan and I never even started a collection save for a few Roddy Piper and Steve Austin figures. Imagine how messed up I would be if I had?

Because I really cannot afford a storage room, I have some boxes and rubber maid bins that have toys, video tapes, autographs, books and other items. I also have my T.V., DVD's, Blu Ray's, clothes and other things. As you can imagine, room is very limited in my area. I'm lucky I have room to move around right now, but if I keep adding stuff I may not.

What I am going to have to do is step back and take a bit of a break from collecting. Reestablish my collecting goals and focus on that. Anything else, I may either put away, trade or sell. I would have to figure out just what I would be willing to part with. That will not be easy. I always did not want to be the collector you all saw on Collector Intervention that would have a hard time letting go of a piece, but the more I think about what I may or may not part with, I can now understand why they always had a problem with letting go. But I also realize I need to take control before the collection takes control of me.

If I decide to let anything go, I will throw it out to you guys to see if there would be anything anyone wanted. I would rather anything I have would go to a good home and a collector who would appreciate it before I give it to Goodwill or turn to eBay. It sucks that I let things get out of control, but at least I was able to catch the problem before it was too late and that is always a good thing.

Showin' Off The Swag-Iron Man

After writing this blog for a while, I thought it might be time to start showing off the swag I have accumulated over time. Originally, I wanted to wait until I was able to display everyhing, but unfortunately, life has other ideas. So, for now, all the swag is boxed up, waiting for the day they will get to be displayed in the man cave I have dreamt of.

So, from time to time, I will be showing off pieces of the collection. One day, it might be a super hero, another it might be a sports team. Cards, toys, bobbleheads, all of it will be shown. So today, lets start off with something small. A collections I just started to build.

I had the Marvel Legends Iron Man ever since it came out in the first wave. I recently picked up the Marvel Universe Iron Man and the Avengers Iron Man at a toy show, blogged about earlier. The Mini Muggs Avengers Iron Man was a gift and the 2 smaller Iron Men were bought from Brian over at Cool and Collected. Would love to pick up the Wal-Mart Exclusive Iron Man figure as well as a statue or two and a figure of my favorite armor, the Mark III, which had the horned helmet. That's just off the top of my head. Also, not shown here, are 2 Iron Man T-shirts I bought from Old Navy.

I have always liked Iron Man. I remember first noticing Shell Head as a kid, watching the Marvel Superheroes on WPIX-TV. Yes, the animation was crude, there was barely any movement by the characters in this show, but it had some of the catchiest themes and Iron Man's was no exception. You can see for yourself if you don't believe me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wn4iYoMcAA&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL3790C4DA68631D71

I really need to learn how to attach video on my blogs.

But, to be honest, I really didn't really gain an appreciation for the character until the Iron Man movie. It was just so well made and, aside from Christopher Reeve, no one was born for a superhero role like Robert Downey Jr was. Seriously, I can't imagine anyone else playing Tony Stark but him and that to me is a huge plus when it comes to comic book movies. Seeing the armor on the big screen and what it can do has made me want to learn more about Iron Man. I just finished reading Marvel Essentials: Iron Man Vol. 1 and Avengers Vol 1. I need to grab the next volumes of both as well as the Iron Man Guide Book I saw at Barnes N Noble. I flipped through it and it's a must get for me. Once I seen Iron Man 2 and then The Avengers, I knew he would be a hero I would be collecting.

The collection is small, but it will be growing. I have my eye on some Iron Man goodies I hope to pick up in the upcoming months.  I don't think it will be as large as my Spider-Man or Batman collections, but there will definately be an Iron Man pressence in my display case and I can't wait.

Spidey Shelves

Kinda behind schedule on my blogs. My internet went down for a while and I am behind on my work. So today, I thought I would let the pictures tell the story. Here are shots of my Spider-Man collection. It's not the full collection. I have some figures I haven't put up on the shelf yet, but this is most of it.

Enjoy.

Why I collect what I collect.

So, the other day, my buddy mentions the White Plains Card Show, which will be this weekend, May 15th and 16th at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY, and lets me know that Scott McGregor is signing for free there. I pretty much say no thanks. His response is never turn away a free autograph, which has some validity to it. However, there is a reason behind my response of no thanks. which is not a commentary on Mr. McGregor, who was a good pitcher for the O's.

When I first started collecting, I was collectiong everything and everyone. If I had a card, It would get signed. If there was a card set, I tried to complete it. After a year or two, I realized I was trying to do too much with my collections and wasn't having fun with it. I was too busy trying to see if I can get a shortstop I never heard of, who played 2 games at the major league level for the Montreal Expos to sign a card I had. I sat back, thought things through and decided to alter the way I collect and what I collect.

I'm a die hard Yankees fan. Have been since 1976. I love the Jets and have since 1981. I enjoy watching the Knicks and have been a fan since 1983 and when it comes to hockey, I love watching my Devils. That love affair started in 1990 and I also follow the Islanders. That said, I decided those were the teams I would focus my collection on. Instead of putting together complete card sets, I would work on team sets. I would go after autographs from athletes who played for those teams. I would buy bobbles from those teams only. Figures, pictures, apparell. Only from those teams. I will admit to some rules with the autograph collecting.

My first rule is they have to be wearing a Yankee, Jets, Knicks, Devils or Islanders uniform in the picture or card I add. Secondly, they have to have actually played with the team be it an at bat, shift, or down, they have had to had physically played with the team. I will admit to owning autos of players from the farm that never played for any of my teams. I put those in my farm team collection and try to wait until they hit the majors before pursuing. I'm no prospector, but I sometimes will try to get a player to sign before they hit the big time and become an impossible auto.

With bobbles, As my collection grows, there may be teams in my collection that I don't collect. Reason for that will be whenever I go to watch a game, I will pick up a bobble. I will either pick up a mascot bobble or a generic bobble. I already have generic bobbles from the Brooklyn Cyclones and the New York Mets from Shea Stadium. I would like to add a Mr. Met from Citi Field this season.

So, based on all this, my collection is more personalized and I enjoy it more. Plus, there are tons of stuff from these teams that will have me pursuing new autos and items to add to my collection for the rest of my life and I will love every second of it.