It's hard to believe I started this blog way back in 2011, with the then new Universal Dominator Unicron. (The post about Transformers #80 was done retroactively sometime later). I was excited to begin exploring this new (for me) frontier of social interaction, and I really enjoyed the journey. Despite having my account hacked and having to re-create the blog from scratch, I feel it has been such a positive aspect of my life, one that I am sad to see go.
This began as an outlet for me. Not really anything else, just a way for me to put my feelings and thoughts about Transformers out there for anyone to listen to. At the time I had few people to discuss it with, and let's be honest, I was much more engaged four years ago. But too much time with anything will cause burnout, and it happened at least twice that I'm willing to admit. Probably more. And burnout leads to disgust, and ultimately rejection.
I managed to avoid it though, with careful breaks here and there, and a culling of my collection. A MASSIVE culling. It began as a space issue, I no longer could cram any more figures in my room. But eventually it evolved into an aesthetic requirement, I didn't want things to be so cramped to my eye. And it was getting out of control. But with the help of friends I've made through this blog and locally, I realized what my true goals were. I wasn't a collector, but a curator; someone who takes care of a collection, displays and maintains it in the best way possible. And that required refinement, it required discipline, and it required a lot of boxes and bubble wrap.
I've sold almost 65% of my collection, from Beast Wars all the way through Classics. I even dropped a bunch of G1 figures that I only kept for completion purposes. But the new me didn't want to be a completionist. He wanted to enjoy everything he had, not hoard. I feel like I have accomplished that goal.
All of the new cases are up (though many are still missing doors, those will come later) and everything now has its designated place, which will not change. In some cases figures get entire shelves, sometimes they get two (Sixshot), but you can see it all now. It isn't so cluttered. And when I'm done, every figure will have a label, for those who visit and would like to know more about a particular piece. It is no longer a collection to me. It is a museum.
Now on to what you've really been waiting for: the pictures!
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| First the "empty" section. For many of these figures I haven't yet found their boxes or doubles. An ongoing goal. |
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| One corner of the "Detolf Square". Masterpiece figures dominate this section with room to expand. |
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| Generation One figures fill the perimeter, everything else is in the middle. Here are the few Movie and Prime figures I kept. |
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| A better view. You can also spot my three remaining Alternators and a couple other random figures. |
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| Looking at the wall you encounter when you first enter. G1 is organized mostly by year, with a few exceptions. |
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| The Beast Wars corner. I kept all the show characters, and a few other figures I liked. |
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| The first Decepticon case is in the background. You'll notice the SCF collection to the left. |
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| Unfortunately Fort Max and Scorponok wouldn't fit in the cases, so they had to go in Detolfs. G2 is behind them. |
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| One of my favorites, Targetmasters and Headmasters. Still a few holes to fill. |
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| All the Autobot cars on the left. I managed to fit them all in one case! |
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| Another favorite: the Japanese G1 case. |
As you can see I still have a lot of work to do, but the main bones of the room are in place. I'll wait to do all the doors until I've completed more of the later years of G1, but once it is all done, everything will be under glass. No more dusting! Also, every case is lit, and they are all on one switch, so it is just a matter of flipping the light to turn everything on!
I'll admit, I've been putting off this post for a while, because I knew it would be my last. My last update was December of 2014 for crying out loud! I unfortunately just don't have the time or desire to update anymore, but I don't necessarily consider that a bad thing. There are plenty of other blogs out there that can do it bigger and better. And that's great, I'll continue to visit them all to see what is new. But for me, this blog has served its purpose and its time to close shop. I want to thank everyone who has ever visited for taking the time out of your day to read, comment, discuss and debate with me. It has been a wonderful experience and I am grateful for all the friends I've made, many of whom would not be in my life had it not been for this blog.
I would leave you with the traditional Transformers send-off, but that seems over done. So I'll just say thanks, it's been fun.
-Eric (Arkvander) Warren
See Also:
A Preview of Things to Come
Back in the World Again
Collecting Rules
A Quick Video!
Man, that looks amazing. Burnout is a very real thing, and I've experienced it quite a bit. What starts out as a passion project can quickly become a job. And if you have a wife, kids, and everything else going on in life, it can be overwhelming. I see no fault in your wanting to step away. Besides, I think that a museum is a great way to stay involved and further the passion. Just make sure that you keep the joy going, although I'm sure that talking to anyone that comes to check out the collection will be invigorating.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to get boxes for every G1 figure? Have you thought about getting doubles of the Masterpiece figures as well? Also, where did you get the cases from? I really like the way they look. Did they come with the glass doors, or are they custom made?
I agree. And I wouldn't say it so much a burnout now, its just that I've become comfortable with Transformers being a smaller part of my life. Before they took up a lot of my time and energy, but now that has changed and they occupy a smaller part of the pie as it were.
DeleteI plan on getting boxes and cardbacks for every figure I have displayed, which is most every G1 figure with a few exceptions: Action Masters, Micromasters, Deluxe Insecticons and a few others. I briefly toyed with the idea of doubling up the MP figures as well, but the amount of space it would require would be horrendous and I still need space for future figures. If I had a larger room, there's a good chance I'd do that though.
The cases are all from my local Ikea, Billy bookshelves with glass doors and lights installed. The doors are also from Ikea and come separately, which is nice because it allows me to spread the cost of everything over time. I think the doors are called Morebo?
Looks good E, I get what you mean with the burnout, I got close to that this year. After what I have in place to grab, I'm going to be taking a hiatus from buying for a while. I'll still be active elsewhere though
ReplyDeleteThanks! I don't blame you, you've been going hard lately!
DeleteImpressive indeed.
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteI have GOT to get over there again soon to see this in person. Very impressive. I know you've put a lot of hard work into this.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm sad to see your blog go, I can completely understand. I guess the best thing about my new position at work is that I'm so busy now I don't have time to get burned out! Actually it's been refreshing in a way to be forced into taking a step back. I'm not going through any massive collection purge or anything (though I did sell my MOSC GI Joe Cobra figures that lined the top of the room), I'm also in no hurry to do much of anything. I've got enough sealed stuff waiting to be opened to keep me plenty entertained for the next year.
We were just at IKEA last weekend buying a few things for the house and Katie remarked at how nice the Billy bookshelves were. I told her those were the ones you were using, but I didn't know you had added the glass doors and lights. I like the direction you are taking your collection. It seems to me that you are enjoying what you have a little more than now maybe in the past. If I had the room (and money) I'd love to have a more "professional" display look, but for now I'll just admire your photos.
Keep up the great work...and if you ever decide to brush the dust off the blog I'm sure there will still be a few of us here waiting.
Yes you do! I need to throw another party, lol.
DeleteI think it is good for your hobby to be a distraction from things and not your main focus, so I think you're right, you are in a good place. You've got something to retreat to when you need a break.
Billy shelves are the best, though they aren't very deep, I wish I had another 3-6 inches on the inside. Also they've stopped selling the lights I used, I had to hit eBay to get the last six sets I needed. But they just redesigned Billy so they are more sturdy and use better quality wood. I had a few of the old ones but they didn't really fit anymore so I replaced them. The glass doors are nice, but one costs as much as the entire bookcase! A long-term goal for sure.
Thanks for all the props, you were one of the main reasons I started this blog in the first place!
Thanks for taking us through your journey via your blog. I didn't discover it until the end, but had a lot of fun going back through your posts. Are you planning on keeping your historical posts up or shutting your blog down completely?
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome! I plan on leaving everything up, I see no reason to take it down, plus I like going back through every now and again and reliving the journey :)
ReplyDelete