Strange New Territory

Having spent the better part of my adolescence and all of my adult life collecting comic books to one extent or another, I developed a certain set of instincts and habits based on the shipping patterns of the stores from which I bought comics. Some of them were sensible, some of them are quirky, and some of them would make normal people cringe with embarrassment at the thought of how weird I could be.

I am now exploring a new realm, planet die-cast, if you will, and in a scant two weeks I've learned a number of hard lessons that's making me wonder what I've gotten myself into.

To maintain the planet analogy, planet die-cast is a strange, far less hospitable planet than planet comics. Its resources do not seem anywhere near as abundant, which is strange considering that there are tons more toy stores than there are comics stores, and the inhabitants seem a little more predatory. In short, more than the last "planet" I lived on, this one seems a more about survival of the fittest.

While I'm not even sure about most of the "lessons" I've learned of late, Ithink the one thing I can take to the bank is that the most important thing about collecting, especially when I have a specific line of toys/model in mind, is that I have to pay attention to my first instinct. It served me well when I snatched up those two Ford Shelby GR-1s, the like of which I have not seen anywhere since that day, except online and I will only go there when all hope is lost.

The one truly sensible rule of thumb seems to be: if I like something, and I think I can afford it or will be able to pay the credit card bill when it comes out, then I should, without hesitation, buy it. Rule One: on this planet, apparently, to hesitate on what looks like a good purchase is to die. I'm still banging my head on the wall over the last time I hesitated, which was barely three days ago.

Rule Two: it's every man for himself. It's not that I know anyone collecting the same stuff I am, but I'm not about to tell people what I'm looking for lest someone buy the item out then try to hawk it on eBay for three to four times its original value. I've had that happen too...

There are a couple of other rules I've formulated in my head, but for one thing, I'm not sure exactly how reliable they are and for another thing, to talk about them would be to violate Rule Two.


Gentlemen (and possibly some ladies), it's on. Planet Die-cast will soon have a new species of predator.