Letting go of collections

[BlackCurtains]

Throughout my life I've always been a collector. I think the earliest thing I collected were rocks Later I collected gemstones, so I guess I never gave up on pretty rocks

None of my collections are active. I was recently wanting to add some ponies, but my money situation changed fast, so that's out.

Now I'm thinking of selling my ponies, and other things.

When I made the decision, a weight lifted. Granted, I haven't started the process yet and my ponies have been in a box for three years. Once I start pulling them out and seeing them again, this might change. But at this very moment? I'm okay with it. Now I'm thinking I can sell my childhood toys. I've dragged them with me across three states, and they never left the bins they're in. I'm attached, because when I look at them I have memories. Memories I might forget if I got rid of them. But I think it's finally time. The last time I checked on them, they had degraded quite a bit being in the Florida heat.

My Playskool Definitely Dinosaurs are a great example. These are kind of sought after. Years ago I may have been able to get a decent amount for them, but now they are broken and suffering from severe cases of age spots and plasticizer leakage. I'd be lucky to sell them as a TLC lot.

My other childhood toys are mainly animal figures. Again, in a bin that's taking up space. It's the same thing about the memories. But you know, I can always take pictures of everything to look back on and bring those memories up.

There are, of course, other collections, like my Kenner LPS, that I am not willing to give up. In fact, I'm thinking (if/when I have money again) I can replace ponies with LPS and get some of the sets I'm missing. I'm only missing a few but they are the hardest to find and very expensive >.>

Anyway, I started this topic to talk about letting go of physical items, and how it makes you feel. I never hopped on that 'spark joy' bandwagon that was going around. I don't think I was ready.

[Flitter]

Deciding to sell or donate things is both freeing and frustrating for me. I love the feeling of having plenty of space and letting go of things I no longer use or actively enjoy, and curating what I own, Then there's also a feeling of wondering will I regret it or should I have never got this in the first place.
Overall, I've been through several moves as an adult and with that several expansions and contractions of various collections but have had very few regrets. I feel it's healthy to grow and change and let go.

As far as childhood toys. The only thing I've kept is a single Troll doll. The last childhood collectible thing I think I held onto was my Kitty in my Pocket collection. I had most of Series 1 and decided in around 2016 to get the few I was missing off ebay. Somehow though once complete, I found I wasn't really that attached and sold the whole collection. I get nostalgic about Littlest Pet Shop, Grand Champions horses and a few other things I once had, but don't think that means I need to own them.

As far as toy collecting as an adult. For many years the only thing I was active in was Ball Jointed Dolls. 18 or 20 have come and gone since I started collecting in 2006. I currently have 4.
I started collecting MLP in 2011. That collection at it's height was over 300 ponies and got decreased to 4 ponies by 2018. I'm now rebuilding it back up starting this month. Now that I'm in more permanent housing with enough space, I think the brushables were something I got caught up in decluttering and minimalism and trying to save money and probably should have held onto. But also, I feel like I'm rediscovering my excitement for them now.
I've gone through Re-Ment, Azone Ex-Cute dolls, Ever After High, Zelfs.
Right now I'm only really active with Rainbow High, getting back into MLP, and very little into BJDs, and I'm keeping all those relatively small and intentional collections. I'm a lot happier with a few things I like a lot and have display space to enjoy.

I question my relationship with "stuff" a lot, probably to a point of overthinking. For the hundreds and hundreds of items I've gotten rid of, even things I felt emotionally attached to, I do occasionally have a feeling of "Oh, it'd be nice to still have that." but that feeling is often fleeting and in times it's not I have re-bought a few things. My track record with re-buying things though is actually really poor and I've more often than not ended up selling again.

It sounds like you are putting adequate thought into letting some things go and if that decision is feeling like a weight lifted, as you say, it's probably right for you. 

[Gator]

I’ve been get getting rid of art and sketchbooks.  They are taking up space.  Nothing is going to be done with them.  They won’t mean anything to anyone else.  I never became a children’s book illustrator like I wanted.  I’m throwing it out now so that when I’m gone there’s less for my parents to go through.

I love books, I love owning books. I like going back and re-reading books that I read a couple years ago. But I have been cleaning those out as well. No reason to hang onto them other than the ones I really like. I just donated almost all of my VHS collection to a rescue, that is about to have a yard sale. I was a big Disney and animation fan, so I had all these VHS cassette tapes from over the years. Now with everything online and streaming services, there’s really no point in having these. So they’re gone.
So as I’m getting older, I am getting rid of things too.

[Ponybookworm]

It's simple: if I don't want it, need it, or have a use for it, it gets bagged & ready to go on Tuesday.
If I do it goes where I want it to go.
The thing is, with my Ponies & their stuff, I'm kind of attached. The same with Bakana & the sharkies. A few other kinds of plushie also matter & will never leave me.
I've had stuff stolen from me in the past & I hated it!!! I've put a great deal of effort into getting a good load of it back, as well as time searching & money to buy it. So though I get it with some things, with others I'm a real "this is staying" person.

I'll have to update my stereo as the CD player lid just popped open & won't close... I'll deal with that when I have more money...

[BlackCurtains]

Gator, that makes me sad but I guess I'm in the same boat with my old artwork.

[Gator]

Black curtains, the weird thing is the night after I wrote that post, I had a dream where I was back at school and an old teacher of mine had all these old art pieces/sketchbooks of mine.  It was weird. 

[tornadoe]

dont rush anything. once they are gone, you will never get them back and even if you buy new ones, they wont have the sentimentality that yours have..

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Usually there is a goal in mind or the collection itself is causing me stress. 

[Taffeta]

Downsizing/getting rid of ponies is not ever really an option for me, aside the fact I don't think I'd know what to do if I did get rid of them, since I've had MLP since I was 2 and never really parted from them (I still have all my childhood ponies). My collection is kind of joint with Naynie, so unless it's  MIP item, which she doesn't collect, we both know that we wouldn't sell anything without consulting the other, not with G1 anyway. Other gens are fair game.

But I have had and got rid of a lot of secondary collections over time. I did have a lot of 80s toys from carbooting. I have next to none of these now aside the ponies. I have downsized my MH dolls somewhat. I do have a whole box of them waiting for me to do something about selling them, but ebay is stressful so they're still sitting here *sigh*.

I removed all the Jem/Jerrica and Rio dolls from my Jem collection (aside one boxed Mexican Jem) and sold off the fashions I didn't like. I was close to completion but had been jaded by the behaviour of other fans and now I like my collection more. It's interspersed with fashions I made, had commissioned, and they all fit inside the cabinet which was built for them anyway. The IT dolls have pushed the space a little, but I only have a selection of those. Eradicating Jem/Jerrica was very cathartic after years of dealing with two-faced and shallow Jem fans. (It's always the Jem fans, never the Misfit fans.)

I'd like to have more space, I'm still working on moving out into my own place and doing something about that. But I also know I have strong emotional connections to a lot of stuff, and, maybe unfortunately, can usually remember what/why I'm attached to something.

Over the years I have got rid of a lot - clothes, books, and 5 boxes of stuff from the attic - but there is a lot more.

I have *all* my writing from when I was a kid. It's embarrassing, but I have it all still in folders in the wardrobe. I've always written, but from the age of 13 I started writing a 'series' for the first time, which of course I never did anything with, but between the ages of 13 and 15 I wrote about 60 stories which were all about 20-30k and all interconnected.

...So yeah. I still have those.

[BlackCurtains]

I get it. I still have all my poetry, short stories and my "novel" that I started at 13. Never finished it though.

The more I think about it, the more I think selling most of my ponies will be good for me. Like I said, they've been boxed up since I moved and one reason (that I kept telling myself anyway) was that I wanted better shelving for them. I finally did buy the shelves I wanted, not too long ago, but they still stayed in the box. I'll be happy with my childhood ponies, my Raincurls and some orange favorites, and I'll still continue to collect Raincurl stuff.

I was thinking today about all the clothes I could sell too. I have some old (20+ years) wrestling t-shirts that might be worth something. And I just have so many clothes I don't wear. Either they don't fit or I'm never going to wear them anyway. Might as well make a few extra bucks.

I think I can let go of some of my books too. I used to read a lot more than I do now. I would reread books even. But I honestly can't remember the last time I opened a non-fiction book that wasn't about animals, nature or science. Oh wait, yes I do. I tried to read the Southern Reach trilogy. I didn't really care for it and stopped around page 200. Well, that's one I can let go of!

[BlackCurtains]

Just bumping this to give an update. I've sold a lot of my collection so far. I've been okay with it mostly. Some people have sent photos of my ponies in new homes and I admit it makes me sad. It's like the final proof they really are gone. I did end up keeping a bunch though. I'll still have my orange wall, it will just be smaller now.

[SilverLinedStars]

I totally get this. I took pictures of everything before I sold a good portion of my collection and the only ponies left are my childhood ponies and the few rereleases I picked up. I was sad to see a lot of it go, but I was ready to part with most of it and I needed extra cash at the time. Lately I've debated on parting with everything else. Everything has been in storage for the better part of 7 years & when I last checked some if it's not aging well. There were other collections I've parted with over the years. I find I want to have less stuff in my house as I get older.

[TimeDance]

I've moved a lot much of my adult life, so it's forced me to keep my collections lean. Everything I buy I always think "I'm going to have to pack this up one day." So being able to get boxes of stuff OUT of my place makes me feel like I'm giving less work to myself in the long run. I also have people who are low key hoarders in my life, which have also caused me to be mindful of what I bring in.

I don't want to ever be that person who hoards things, but doesn't enjoy them. If they're packed in a box somewhere and I haven't looked at them for years, why have them? I try to go through my collections and do the "Does this still spark joy" thing at least every two years, if not every year. This also includes cleaning out old art and sketchbooks and getting rid of books I don't plan on reading again.

There is a lightness that comes with spring cleaning. And selling off nerd stuff gives me extra money to buy other nerd stuff. We are always changing. As we grow older, we love new things and maybe lose love for old things we used to love. It's okay to change and alter your collections to change with you. Granted, I do feel like my way of curating my collections is a little intense for some people who are also taking stock of their collections in a healthy way.

I have sometimes gotten too hasty about getting rid of things and regretted it. So what I do now when I'm cleaning out stuff is I set aside the things I'm considering getting rid of, whether donating or selling. And then I let it sit for a bit while I marinate in that decision. Sometimes I've fished a few things back out and sometimes I've added other things in. And ultimately I do feel better about my decision when I finally let it go.

Ultimately, you should only be letting go of the things you don't love anymore. If you still love it, if you would be sad to part with it, keep it. If you are sad to see ponies go to new homes, maybe it's not time yet.

[tikibirds]

My ponies have been in storage since I left Alaska in 2012 but I will never sell them as it was such a big part of my life. Plus, ive spent the last several years in China so its not like I am willing to haul all that across the planet, just to haul it all back.

[BlackCurtains]

It's okay. I'm fine with it, really. I can still have fun collecting Applejacks. One of my grails is the Japanese figure of her (sorry, I forget what they're called). I want the regular version, not the orange skin version (it looks weird). I found it for under 100 bucks, but I can't afford it for a while.