To put it plainly, I like to see a personal passion that is evident when I see a collection.

As a result, I actually disagree with most of the comments already made.

Rare figures tucked away in tubs are impressive. Large numbers of figures lined up in neat rows are impressive. Great dio scenes are impressive. Figures that are customized are impressive. All of these things are often quite revealing about the person's personal interest in G.I.Joe.

At one point, I saw someone's tackle box full of every released Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow that I could think of. It had the blue Funskool one, Invasor (no, no white Mortal, but this was before he was known) and while it was kept tucked away to keep the items in good shape, this was all the guy really wanted. His interests were very specific and he did an outstanding job of collecting and making himself happy. It was nice to see $5 figures treated with great care alongside figures that are now worth several hundred dollars.

I don't think that disregarding the dollar value of something is synonymous with "really" enjoying it. If that is the case, every museum artifact should be in use rather than behind glass. Quite often, the real value of an item has nothing to do with dollars, but has everything to do with a more intrinsic worth. Some people who choose not to do a dio are often treating Joes more as a museum treats its collection. Putting a figure in a dio can expose it to paint, glue, and any of a number of other possibly harmful elements.

But on the other side of the same token, if you have never felt the joy of actually playing with a Joe, I doubt you will ever have the same appreciation as someone who has.

I've seen a few collections and many online. I think that if every person lined up all their Joes and only bought large numbers, that would be boring. But if no one was doing that, we would be missing out on something quite impressive. I don't army build. I don't set up dios. But I love seeing both.

So I'll agree it isn't about the dollars, it is more about the dedication.

I think it's one that I say "Wow" when I see it, for whatever the reason. I don't think I can quantify it any way more than that.

Each collection has it's strong point, and hopefully the owner sees that.

I've seen a few collections that have some nice items, but the display is thrown together in a disorganized/chaotic way that the collection does not show any "pop", but there are also the collections with common figs and a personalized display base that look really good without the standout item that defines the collection, just the show of enjoyment and care of the owner.

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I have to go with the dedication as well, where ever that dedication lies. Diorama scenes are very cool to look at. Army builder numbers of some of my favorite army builders look cool even just lined up. Nova's Crystal Balls always make me smile and he seems to have a little bit of everything from customs to lines to creative dios going on with them. One of my favorite displays is the guy here, sorry I can't remember your name, who had all of the Joe dogs because that is where his passion is. The Mike's is always fun to look at too because on top of Joes he has so many, many other collections going on. Batdan's isn't the largest collection I've ever seen but his groupings as well as his display ideas really inspired me and what I would like to do one day.

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To me, an impressive collection has to have the following criteria:

Mainly vintage. Seeing tons of new stuff just says someone's good at shopping. Seeing a thoughtful vintage display along with new stuff shows a deeper dedication to the hobby. That isn't to say that new stuff doesn't have it's place. But, seeing 100 TRU infantry figures standing in a row isn't anywhere near as impressive as seeing 50 vintage Cobra Troops in the same formation.

International - I look for some international stuff. It doesn't matter if it's common stuff and it doesn't have to be expensive. But, again, collections with some international figures show that the collector is in this for a longer term. (One of the most impressive collections I recall from recent times wasn't that large, but the collector had a Reptil do Ar on display. It's a $25 figure at best, but you simply don't see them. So, that was something that showed the collector had a little more dedication to his collection than just buying what's hot on Ebay.)

A capstone - this doesn't need to be expensive, but every collection should have a piece that makes it stand apart. Maybe it's a shrine to one figure. Maybe it's a piece of artwork. Or, it could be anything else. But, without a capstone, it's just a bunch of guys standing around collecting dust.

Scope - impressive collections should have a defined scope. It could be every VvV Snake Eyes. Or, it could be every figure released in the US and all foreign countries. But, the scope helps to define a collection and make it unique to the individual.

All in all, I've seen some impressive collections in my day. I've also seen some collections that the owner thought was quite impressive, but I thought was nothing more than large quantities of crap thrown together. Display and storage are important aspects, too. But, it is the culmination of many of these criteria that make collections impressive to me.

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This is a thread that needs pictures. . .








not so much. . .

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Wow ! narceron are those all yours ? especially the clone troopers ?"

Some great points Mike, although I will say in all fairness to the new collector, some guys are getting into the 25th figures as a new hobby and the line, with its fine details in the toys and its tributes to Action Force and MASK promises to be a future classic in itself. So a new collector who collects the new stuff is still a collector. You got to start somewhere.

Your best point is about the capstone. This is a great point. And its always the most interesting thing to see in anyone's collection - in a way it's their Holy Grail. It's the subject within GI Joe that makes the hobby endearing to them. Its the point in their collection room where they stop - pick up a piece and tell you a personal story. Every collection needs one.

For me, I suppose, my capstone is non-action figure GI Joe licensed products from the early 80s. Walkie Talkies, Bike horn, sheets, sleeping bag, halloween costumes, wrapping paper, Snake Eyes Spy kit, etc. And also the 82-86 box art.

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I like seeing international figures in the collection pics, as it at least shows that someone has that more "in-depth" knowledge of Joe, and at least cares to seek out those figures (irony: i have none of them, lol)

And forgot the non-figures stuff that people have. Personally, for nostalgia's sake I wish I had the old kid's costume with the plastic greenshirt/grunt mask and the painful rubber band on it. While i was too young to wear one, my brother got to have one, and that thing was full of awesome until mom threw it out that spring lol.

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errr, sorry, these are just pics from my folder "collections" from when people post their stuff.

the last one was a google, lol.


To be honest, I love seeing pics like this, but after the outpouring of hate for the guy that had 100 vipers last year, I thought examples would work without names. But no, these aren't mine, I didn't mean to make that assertion.

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Don't feel bad. I think the fact that you were using examples and complementing the first two collectors displays was blatently obvious to 99.9999999999% of the human race, probably even including most aboriginal tribes that may have never had contact with other humans, with all the Whopper Virgins, and possibly even a few species of dog, wolf, horse, and monkey.

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To me for a collection to be truly impressive it needs to be displayed well and it needs to be unique in some way. To me the armies of newer figures aren't really that impressive even though I buy some of the new figures in bulk myself. If a collection is displayed well and has something in it that catches my eye due to the uniqueness of it then it is a winner in my book.

Just my 2 cents. For some reason I am attracted to items that are unique even though most people don't collect them. I'm still trying to figure out why, and so is my wife!

Dan

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