Looking Back at 2014 - Part 1

I mentioned this on Twitter a a couple weeks ago, but in case you don't follow me there (and if not, why not? I mostly only post pics on Twitter now), here are a few stats for my 2014 purchases. And lest the results frighten me more than they already do, I won't do too much maths on it.

I bought around 180 items last year, some were multi-packs, so the total number of individual figures will be a bit more than that, however, several things I bought last year were then also sold last year, so the increase may actually be a little under 180. Of my purchased items, 70 where SH Figuarts releases, including bikes and effects sets. Counting figures in two packs, pretty much half of the action figures I bought last year were Figuarts, which matches up to my impression that all I collected last year was the SHF line.

However, for every Figuarts I bought, I apparently bought another figure. I bought 14 Gundam model kits, mostly High Grades, 12 Transformers (10 3rd Party, 2 official), 11 Cloth Myth figures (plus the 10th Anniversary Stage set, which costs as much as a cheap Cloth Myth figure), 12 Figmas, only 6 Eaglemoss Star Trek ships, 7 Marvel Legends, 9 Star Wars Black 6", 6 Play Arts Kai, 2 ArtFX+ DC figures, 2 DC Statues, a mere 3 Robot Damashii Gundam figures (WAY down from 2013), and a few other misc figures/items.

Some things surprise me when glancing over this list. The Eaglemoss Star Trek ship line: I don't remember off the top of my head how far into the line we are, but for me to only have 7, either a ton came out in 2013 that I bought, or I don't have nearly as many of those as I would expect. I have been cherry picking the line, and trying to force myself to be as picky as possible, but I love Star Trek ship designs, and given an infinite amount of money, I would buy all 70 planned ships. Robot Damashii. I think got into Gundam in 2013, and I went a little crazy with the RD line, buying something like, IDK, maybe 30-ish, maybe a few more, that year. For me to only get 3 of them this year is a big improvement. More so, one was a gift, and one I sold, along with maybe 10 more of the 2013 buys. I like the line, but I also enjoy building the kits, so I'm slowly moving my Gundam collection that way. There are still plenty of kits I want to buy, but I doubt I'll buy nearly as many as I would like this coming year. I will try to get a couple Master Grades, though.

ArtFX+ DC figurines/statues, whatever they call them. These are beautiful, non-poseable figures of DC characters, and while the line is still going reasonably strong and several of them tempt me, I'm done with it. The two I bought this year cap off the collection I started in 2013, I have all I set out to get, so I can stop here. I'm probably also done with the Play Arts Kai lines. If they do the latest Harley Quinn design (from Arkham Knight or Arkham Origins, something like that) I'll buy it, but I don't think I'm feeling the Harley from the DC Variant line, and the price on these has risen FAR past their actual value. There's still one I'm trying to hunt down at a good price (DC Variant Supergirl), but other than that, I'm done.

I bought a THIRD Double Driver, from Kamen Rider Double. I LOVE the show, I love the Gaia Memory/belt gimmick, and apparently I'm incapable of going more than a few months without owning the belt. I should sell it, because I never use it, but I know I would eventually feel pressured to buy it, yet again, so why bother going thru that. I'll keep the one I've got and be happy with it.

I finally yielded to the temptation I've felt over the Saint Seiya Cloth Myth line over the years, and am both glad and not-glad I did. The figures are beautiful, the EX line is very well executed, poseable, tons of accessories, everything I look for it toys. Except they're freaking expensive. Again, there are a handful I'd still like to get, and I may try and pick up a couple this year, but they will continue to be few and far in between.

I'm cutting back even more on Transformers, especially 3rd Party TFs. They continue to be far more fulfilling to me than anything Hasbro does, and I usually find the value justifies the cost, but my wallet cannot handle the cost, so I will be dropping pretty much all of them. I do hope ToyWorld finishes up their not-Throttlebots combiner though, I'll still pick up those. Additionally, I'd like to get at least two more Masterpieces, Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus (or KFC Citizen Stack instead), but only Wheeljack is even remotely likely with my 2015 financial situation.

Finally, Figuarts. Again, in my mind the only thing I really collected this year was Figuarts. Clearly, that wasn't an accurate impression, but I think it will be even more true in 2015. Since I will be cutting back in the extreme this year, I'll have to be extra choosy in what I buy, and SH Figuarts continually proves to have the best cost to value, in my opinion, and consistently be the figures I'm most pleased with. But I still need to cut back on them. I will not be getting into the Drive line the way I did Gaim (ie, MUST BUY THEM ALL!). I will not be going back to pick up past releases I have missed out on (thankfully, there's no longer many of those left for me to get, so hopefully this will be an easy achievement).

I will do everything I can to get the remaining Gaim figures, and other high importance figures (Renewal Kuuga is already paid for, and NOTHING will stop me from buying Kiva, if Bandai ever gets around to him). The Star Wars line will probably be hard to pass up on, since I'm not especially pleased with Star Wars Black 6", and I plan to sell all of my 3-3/4" Hasbro figures this year, but I will likely not be able to be completist. I'll focus on my main Star Wars loves, the Imperials. I love all of those designs, I have Vader and the Stormtrooper paid for, I'll be first in line for things like the AT-AT Driver and Royal Guard, but those seem unlikely in the first year anyway, so hopefully I won't be missing out on too many figures I want. The Ranma 1/2 line will also be hard to pass up, I love the show, and have been watching through it this last year and lamenting the lack of poseable figures. The Figuarts line is right up my alley. As with Star Wars, hopefully they'll be spread out enough I can get everything I want without selling my soul or turning to a life of crime.

So, I won't have my normal plethora of new toys to post pics of on Twitter, so I'll have to make do with pictures of stuff I've already got. Hopefully I can be entertaining with that. I also intend to do more photo galleries for TokuNation, and I should do more video reviews for the fun of it.

So, that's a summary look at 2014. I hope to have a more in-depth look at several of my most and least favorite purchases of the year in the near future, so check those out, if I ever post them. :)