Why do we do it?

[mister_e]

I was admiring my near-complete Yamato 1/60 collection (still no 1/48 , but that will be changing soon ) and my wife asked me a very rational question. She said "why do you keep buying the same toy over and over again?" Really, she's right. All the VF-1's are essentially the same toy with a different head or paint scheme. Even being aware of this, I still can't stop myself from wanting to have them all, and then have them all again in a bigger scale. Anyone ever wonder to themselves...why we do it?

[Majestic]

I collect because I was only a kid in the 80s and could never afford (or find) Valkyries. As a kid I always felt that the "veritech" was the best tranformation scheme ever and would look on with envy at the rare taka's at conventions and toy shops. I played with my friend's jetfire so much, I eventually broke it.

Now, especially with the much more affordable re-issues and the beautiful 1/48, I'm making up for those penniless years of wanting valks.

I suppose eventually I'll reach a saturation point of VF-1s, but by then the VF-0's will be out!

[UN Spacy]

If someone has to ask then they'll truely NEVER understand. But for me one can only collect so much, personally I don't think I'll be collecting Macross for much longer. After the Macross Zero line (by Yamato) is released that's it for me.

But, if they eventually release the SDF-1 I'll come back to the forefront and pick it up.

[VALKYRIE-EXCHANGE.COM]

Majestic basically got the point...

In essence--we are mostly deprived kids, now grown working adults, wanting to recoup fond child memories or missed opportunities...

When I was young, we were too poor to buy toys--never celebrated Xmas or even birthdays. My mom managed to get a Strike Valkyrie for me but it took her a few months to save for it ....I still have the very toy in my collection and cherish it....

Now...My mom thinks I'm nuts when she sees all 40 Valks on the shelf...

-K

[BoBe-Patt]

I collect macross because ever since I watched robotech as a kid, I just fell in love with those valks. I've always wanted to buy a valkyrie, but I just didn't know where to buy it. But now that there's plenty of valks around, I can take advantage of it and buy up all my favorites. And as for the question about why we buy the same valks over and over, I only buy the ones that I like. For example, I skipped a lot of the yamato releases, but I bought every bandai valk that was reissued. Don't get me wrong, I love the yamato valks. It's just that I grew up with a jetfire so I just had to have all the chunky monkey's!

[mister_e]

Thanks for the replies. Only BoBe addressed the true point of my question, which means I must've phrased it poorly. My bad. My question wasn't why we collect, but rather why we collect multiple variations of the same toy. Let's fact it, with very little exception, all of the VF-1 toys are basically the same.

[Toonz]

because it's MACROSS

[VF-0S FAN]

Like Kevin and Noel said...

Macross and Transformers toys were too expensive in the 80's : my parents worked hard ( and they still do ) to buy such gifts to my 3 brothers and me. I remember the must have : Transformers Jetfire the perfect toy between Macross and Transformers. I dreamt of that sucker which I never got : 50 euros ( 360 French francs in 1987 )

And now I gonna preorder a 1/48 VF-1J Super Valk and soon a Masterpiece Optimus Prime at ... valkyrie-exchange.com

[indigofx28]

Because as kids we were far from having any money what-so-ever. My parents couldnt afford the valks that I've always wanted. I had only got 1 taka and 1 1/100 bandai vf-1a. bot of which I play with soo much that it came to pieces. joints and all.

Now as grown-ups with ching-ching and the bling-bling. I just want to get all my childhood stuff back.

Then they re-issued all the valk's in the 1/48 's scale with all that detail oh my God! (SOLD )

Noel I Just so happen to have 3 Joke Machines in Mint Condition. 1 max DYRL blue, 1 hikaru DYRL red, 1 roy DYRL black. I think I had bought one from you two Years ago.

[Draykov]

"why do you keep buying the same toy over and over again?"

Shut up! Shut up and leave me alone! You'll never understand!

Edited October 27, 2003 by Draykov

[EXO]

Each scheme has a personality that was greatly imbued by the seres/movie. When you get the Skull Leader, what you are really buying is a Roy Focker action figure. You see his personality in the toy itself. You may also get the same character in different points of the series or movie. That's why people are buying the Hikaru 1S even thought they already have the 1A, and why people are crying out for the Max 1S. Unfortunately they haven't released one of my favorite characters/valks, which is the Max TV 1A which along with the Hikaru 1J represents the highpoint of the series for me. That's when Roy ruled the sky and vermillion team was still a whole (I'm not holding my breath for a Kakizake 1A). Another thing that's a dream for me would be a TV style Quadrono armor.

I don't know if any of you guys collected He-Man and the MAsters Of the Universe action figures in the 80's. But it was almost the same thing. There were two sets of bodies at first and each one just had a different head and different armor, yet we were compelled to collect each one. Later on they added more variety but they were still essentialy the same.

[Deadzone]

I guess for the same reason peole collected all the Decepticon jets. That was even worse. It's the same toy with only different color schemes. However, different colors give different personalities to each toy. Yeah, I don't plan on buying every single valkyrie that comes out. Some people might just to complete their collection (that's what collectors do). I only buy the ones that I like in particular. To me, a skull leader may have the same body as a VF-1J, but the color scheme gives it an entirely different feel. Now, for the people who buy ten skull leaders because they just can't get enough I definitely won't become. Yeah, it's cool to have ten skull leaders, but the money to me would be better spent on buying other things.

[SuperSkylineGTR]

Good question...

Anyway, I suppose the same as everyone else mentioned... I always wanted a transformable Veritech/Valkyrie. I never did get a Jetfire and I was denied a Matchbox VF fighter when it first came out in the 80's (although I did get it later when ExoSquad re-released it. God, that thing sucked. It didn't even transform!).

Although I have to say, it's time I let go. Once the YF-19FP comes out, I'm done. I have no more space (it's going to be tricky finding display space for the YF-19 when I get it in '04), plus if I'm going to get my G35 coupe, I'm going to have to start making budget cuts and anime looks like it will be effected the most.

Edited October 27, 2003 by SuperSkylineGTR

[Myersjessee]

Ill add another vote to the "I never had them as a kid" pool. Its gotten a bit (or more! ) out of hand...but they make me smile still...which is the point!

[tom64ss]

I'm a member of "the never had them as a kid and was jealous of the people who did" camp.

Why do we keep buying the same toy repainted? Here are my 3 answers:

-One VF-1S on a shelf by itself, can look tough, but when he has the whole Skull Squadron to back him up, he looks like a bad ass.

-How else can we display one in each mode? IMHO, seeing any VF in only one mode, doesn't really convey just how f***ing cool these toys are.

-Because Yamato keeps making them, and we're a bunch of Valkoholics.

[mister_e]

-Because Yamato keeps making them, and we're a bunch of Valkoholics.

I suppose we can justify it any way we want to ourselves and others, but in reality, I suspect that this is the closest to the truth.

[tom64ss]

-Because Yamato keeps making them, and we're a bunch of Valkoholics.

I suppose we can justify it any way we want to ourselves and others, but in reality, I suspect that this is the closest to the truth.

Very true.

I don't think any of my answers were justifications, just excuses.

[Vermillion One]

I didn't really even know the Takas existed as a kid.

So collecting valkyries, especially the 1/55 reissues was my focus.

Then Yamato came around...somehow I have found the strength to part with my 1/60 collection (although I really am hoping for 1/48 GBP so I don't have to break the trend).

But now it has gotten way out of hand.

Edited October 27, 2003 by Vermillion One

[Black Valkyrie]

Like all you guys said it`s Macross und we grow up with it. I my self had 2 Taka VF-1S (I took them from a friend of mine but they were badly broken) and a Jetfire in the 80`s and a 1990 Super VF-1S. I`m wondering when I bought Jetfire, it came in Strike VF-1S box any idea, did it happen to any of you ?

Today I have only 2 reissues (VF-1A, VF-1S), one Yamato VF-1A [Max] and of course VF-19F but no 1/48 till now because of my budget, I plan to get more reissues when they have Item Sales at HLJ.

Till now no matter what you say about 1/55 I STILL LOVE AND PREFER them , to bad Bandai won`t reissue the rest

[Chebosto]

i find it interesting to see that macross still has such a large following, even after the show's initial airing on TV...

i liked it because of the fact the toys transform-- i'm an engineer by trade and i just think its pretty neat that they were able to come up with these ideas way back in the day w/o the help of CAD or something like that..

i'm kind of scared from the fact that some of these members have like every single valk yamato or bandai ever produced in every color shape n stuff...... i mean.. thats alot of money for something that just sits there and stares at you... but who am i to say.. i have three different sized VF-1S strikes, ... [the 1/48, 1/60, and the bandpresto] along with the exception of the bandai's that i had when i was a kid..

my gf asked me the same question, why do i collect toys.. i just asked her why do you buy so many shoes... same answer for the both of us.. because we like em.

but i'm curious of ppl do with these toys besides put them on the shelf and think they're neat.. i really dont have time to transform it.. i sorta have other important life stuff to do.. but they're good to bring back memories of my childhood....

[Isamu Atreides 86]

i collect mostly because something interests me or just plain looks cool.

Edited October 27, 2003 by Isamu Atreides 86

[Godzilla]

I'm a member of "the never had them as a kid and was jealous of the people who did" camp as well. But I don't think that it is the reason why we buy the same damn valk with a different head and colors. I think it is the child at heart. We collect all the different valks because we have to have the characters' VFs. We want them because we want to replay the scenes we saw in Robotech/Macross/DRYL. That is the point. Having just one and pretending it to be someone else just doesn't work. Especially now when we are adults making money and we can actually make purchases on impulse rather than begging to mom and dad for getting it for us.

You should ask you wife why should she collect the barbies (if she does). It is the same damn chick with different colors and hair scheme. Even better with the different clothes. You should ask your wife that as it should be the counter question. I'll put money down that she will give her reasons by saying, "well, that's different..."

[EDIT: Grammar and speeling mistakes corrected.]

Edited October 28, 2003 by Godzilla

[vf1_soulja]

To fullfill a childhood dream (mom can't say no this time around), ...

And because I gotz the money to buy each and every version that is produced .

[Radd]

I've reached my VF-1 saturation point. I want variety now. I have all three of the 'DYRL?' Skull Squadron Valkyries in 1/48th and plan to get the Hikaru 1J, after that I don't plan on getting anymore 1/48ths until something other than the VF-1 is made, or they release significantly different variants like the GBP armour, the Elintseeker, and the Super Ostrich.

I'm considering starting a 1/60 collection for that purpose, and only buying the really unique stuff like those, and picking up a FAST pack set for my single Max VF-1A, and moving on to the enemy mecha and destroids (if Yamato makes Destroids).

I'm seriously considering selling off most of my Transformers and some of my Bandai reissues for that purpose.

[Wabbit]

Each scheme has a personality that was greatly imbued by the seres/movie. When you get the Skull Leader, what you are really buying is a Roy Focker action figure. You see his personality in the toy itself. You may also get the same character in different points of the series or movie. That's why people are buying the Hikaru 1S even thought they already have the 1A, and why people are crying out for the Max 1S. Unfortunately they haven't released one of my favorite characters/valks, which is the Max TV 1A which along with the Hikaru 1J represents the highpoint of the series for me. That's when Roy ruled the sky and vermillion team was still a whole (I'm not holding my breath for a Kakizake 1A). Another thing that's a dream for me would be a TV style Quadrono armor.

I don't know if any of you guys collected He-Man and the MAsters Of the Universe action figures in the 80's. But it was almost the same thing. There were two sets of bodies at first and each one just had a different head and different armor, yet we were compelled to collect each one. Later on they added more variety but they were still essentialy the same.

I'll go with this one, it's the different personality, even if the toys are basically the same. We have the War Hero who was involved in the development of this fighter, the green Squadron Leader who gets shot down every time his mind is focussed on Minmay, the unbeatable Ace, the sexy alien wife of the Ace who can holds it's own in battles exceptionaly well and even in some collections the clumsy but affable Big Guy.

The reason we are still hooked on these toys is childhood magic. Which series had esthetically good looking mechs, piloted by humanoids with cool uniforms (both sides), a relatively good storyline which makes it an anime space opera with nearly no competition?

When I was a kid I got only a glimpse of the original Macross, dubbed in Chinese when I saw a cartoon-tape, from the local Chinese video rental. It was the first episode and I was totaly under its spell. The ending with that photoalbum and the ballad would still haunt my mind in the years to come until I get the AnimEigo DVD's this year. (Thanks again JsArclight!)

Then Robotech came on a foreign network (Super Channel), little did I know this was a ripp-off of the original, but I tried so see every episode I could and taped it until the network was thrown out of the cable company after a few shows of the Mospeada arc.

Now we have internet and one of its benefits is to gather people with the same interests, in this case, our love for Macross!!!!

And we buy VALKS! And we are proud and happy!

[Mr March]

I own only two Valkyries and have had my first for well over a year and a half. I don't really collect them at all.

The reason I purchased the Yamato was for several reasons. Macross has been a rather large part of my life for most of it. I've been a Macross fan longer than I've been friends with some of my best buds...15+ years. I wanted a memento of my fandom of Macross, something I could enjoy beyond just the films and series themselves. Also, Macross merchandise is still notoriously difficult to obtain. The way things are going, Macross could easily become more available or less. Now was the time to make the most of being a Macross fan, so I purchased all the stuff I could and all I wanted.

I'd do the same for my other favorite interests like film or literature. The remarkable longevity of those few stories in my life that I'll never stop enjoying deserves a special something worthy of commemoration...and it's not a pen or plate

[Blaine23]

Why do we drink, chase women, eat, sleep, and breathe?

It's what we do.

[Toonz]

Why do we drink, chase women, eat, sleep, and breathe?

It's what we do.

i like this one!

[Godzilla]

Why do we drink, chase women, eat, sleep, and breathe?

It's what we do.

Aint that the damn truth.

[Caufield]

Why do we drink, chase women, eat, sleep, and breathe?

It's what we do.

Amen to that. Preach on Brother Blaine23!

Edited October 29, 2003 by Caufield

[MicronianDevil]

Because I love SDF Macross and the VF-1 Valks.

Also, they just look too damn cool in my display case.

[nench]

.. My precious, yess, yess, we have found it! My treasure.....

Edited October 29, 2003 by nench

[Mr March]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA

I loves it my precious!!!

[Toonz]

that's a funny pic! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[Dantec]

I became fascinated with Japanese Robots in the late '70s (I was in 30 age

group then) and started buying them for my two sons. Frankly, I was more attracted to them than my children. I started with Voltes V DX, then Daiturn,

Leopaldon, Danguard Ace, Daikengo........ Now they are called Vintage Japanese Robots. The '80s and '90s came and went, the toys forgotten, given away to less fortunate relatives. Until I met and befriended a 28 year old vintage japanese robot collector and also I found the Voltes V DX intact in a

storage box.

Now that I can "Afford" to buy them and would like to reminisce the old times,

I am now a vintage japanese robot "collector". I enjoy the conversations when my children (now in their 30s) would also talk about how they enjoy these toys when they were young.

But I only collect vintage toys or re-issues for the period 1974 to 1985.

Enough said.