Has anyone ever tried to stop collecting?

[RAMChYLD]

Well, let's just say I went through this during my last meltdown. It didn't stick. It started out fine, but in the end my old instinct won over.

[relcelestia]

problem is..deep down..its an addiction....break one collection and i find myself going crazy with another collection..and eventualy find myself back full circle....

QFT

[ThriftyPony]

I go through hills and valleys of collecting. I have never wanted to sell off my entire collection though. I am at a slow spot right now and haven't bought any ponies in six months or longer aside from swaps. My house is just too small to really have a place to display my ponies. Right now I have them in a closet that has multiple shelves. I can't justify buying more when I can't really enjoy them right now. I am strongly considering downsizing, majorly, but it's a lot of work to sell them so I am being slow about it. I wouldn't sell many (if any G1s) but some of my fakies need to go. My fakie collection is pretty big. I probably have 100 or so fakies, which is a lot for a closet, lol. It's just so hard to decide which should go and which I should keep. I love them all. :/

[Varkolak]

No, but I've burned out and stopped collecting for several years at a time. I always get the interest back. I learned my lesson from selling my old collection and regretting it that I should never part with my ponies again.

this! you'd think i'd learn my lesson about selling old collections. i sold all my tamagotchi's to buy ponies and now i want all the tamas back!!! haven't tried to stop collecting ponies, and don't really want to!!! lol

[Yuitsu]

I have a bit of an obsessive slant with collecting. For example, I rebought the Rainbow Brite I got for my 1st birthday, and discovered all the small dolls. So I collected those. I sold those on again within a year..


Sandman stuff I haven't bought any in a while, mostly because it's expensive for the older stuff or I just don't like it (The newer statues of him look wrong, apart from the DC Chronicles one.)

I've managed to get the obsessive side of things under control, I have a strong urge to surround myself with the toys of my childhood (it's a mental safety net thing) so toys I know I had before..1995. I've just bought the Cupcake doll I remember buying when I was about 9 with my birthday money.

Problem is, sometimes I'll see a lot on ebay with something I remember and I can't find the item seperately. So I end up with a big box of stuff to try and sell on!

[Gingerbread]

I have thought about it, but never done it. I haven't bought any ponies in a while apart from some G1s I got at a bootsale but I know realistically I need to slow down a bit, mainly because I have moved house a few weeks ago and although I have a ponyroom, it needs decorating, shelving etc. So non of my ponies are out

Collecting ponies makes me feel really guilty. I also collect shells/crystals/fossils etc and the guilt for them is only slightly less. I've just got into MH and the guilt is there rampantly. I don't know why I feel guilty - collecting makes me happy, but every time a parcel turns up I feel like I'm a bad person and am going to be in trouble. I hide parcels from my OH and know he won't notice new ponies when they're on the shelves. I know this is irrational but I can't help it

[Visage]

I only have tried to take breaks for 1 or 2 months!
That's the longest I can obstain from buying..

[QueenGusty]

Not so much *tried* but I've gone trhough a hiatus for four years. The Core 7 line and then the G3.5 just did not appeal so I rarely got new ponies nstead ocncentrating on my daleks.

Now, I've just spent about £80 in the last month on ponies. I also attended a brony meet on Saturday.

QueenGusty? Yeah, I'm back. Ya miss me? :fourth wall wink:

:flees before all the "who are you?" questions start and her fragile ego is destroyed once more:

Carrie

[lovesbabysquirmy]

After I deactivated my Paypal, it was REALLY easy to stay off Ebay.  :-p 

Now I just search in thrift stores and sometimes people give them to me.

[BrightSide]

Not at all.  But I've stopped it from being a 'desire it, obtain it' thing and turned it more into a rewards system, and a coping mechanism.

Ponies are a pathway to a different place to me, it's innocent and it's an escape. They make me happy. So I use them as self-support, something to help me along the way (as well as the intense medical support). I believe I may have to invest in a display soon, though..

[Moonracer]

I initially had a plan to stop collecting after I get all the main G1s from the US and Euro line. But we'll see how that turns out in the long run...

[lochnessmomster]

I did stop collecting at one point (well almost).

When I was 20 my life changed quite abit and thus my pony collecting interest faded. Or well, it didn't get prioritized anyway. I still picked up a pony here and there in the stores, but that was it. A HUGE difference from earlier when I religiously checked Ebay every day for good pony deals and bought several ponies online and every single one in the stores as they released new ones.

I never had a single thought about selling my collection though. Even if I were to stop buying ponies completely I could never part with the collection I cherish so much. I've had too much joy from collecting them and even if my interest were to completely fade away I'd still remember all the joy they brought me while aquiring them

It was actually only about a month ago that my pony collecting interest came rushing back to me to be honest. And I'm loving every minute of it, learning all about the new ponies, getting involved in the comunity again, re-learning everything I once knew about the MLP's, watching the old and new shows again... I think it's safe to say I will never cut ponies out of my lfe completely considering how much I'm enjoying everything around them

I can relate to a lot of these comments, but this one really strikes a chord with me.  I fell in love with MLP as a girl but when I stopped collecting, I didn't think of it that way so much as "growing up."  I don't even remember G2s being sold in stores, but when I started seeing the G3s I bought one here and there for nostalgia and because I never did quite grow up. Then I got married and had two sons, and just didn't think about it as much anymore.  But last year we had a daughter.  And you know what THAT means.

Also, a few months ago my husband found a few G1s with bad haircuts at a charity shop and scooped them up because he's such a sweetheart and knows how much I used to love MLP.  Well, he had no idea what he started... I've been collecting ever since and have built up quite the pony army in a very small period of time.  There are some I'll sell because they are extras I won in a lot, but otherwise they are mine... all mine, mwuhahaha.
 

[rtattles]

I do have periods when I've burnt out, and there're also times when I try to actively  get out of collecting. Sometimes, I just feel so cluttered, I felt I needed release by selling off my ponies, but every time I open up my storage and start going through all my ponies, I can't bear to sell or give away any of them. In fact, that only encouraged me to go onto ebay to buy more. lol The vicious cycle continues.

[Pinkie21]

I tried to give up collecting ponies after the new show began.  At least, I tried to stop buying in-store ponies.  But in every single wave, there's ALWAYS that one pony I can't not like.  I hate it, seriously.
And actually, today I decided I'm going to stop collecting for at least a little while.  Ponies are nothing but trouble for me lately, so I think it's time to toss 'em, maybe re-buy some when they no longer make me unhappy.

[GazeboMouse]

I have numerous collections, I have downsized a few but it was rather painful! And I sold my childhood Care Bears on Ebay and 10 years later had to buy replacements!
But one of my largest collections was my black baby doll collection, I eventually sold about 25 to get some Artist baby dolls, like Lee Middleton babies. I miss the ones I sold, but the dolls I managed to afford made it all worth it. If you are thinking of selling off some or all of your collection, buying something specific with the proceeds helps, as you have something to show for it that you wouldn't have otherwise.