Sunday, February 16, 2014

Completionists.

completed set of Dazzle Bright ponies (2005)
I'm not really a completionist when it comes to my collection.  While some people collect with the intent to acquire all the ponies in a set, just as many people cherry pick their favorites from here and there with no real rhyme or reason to their selection.  "Why collect an entire set when you don't even love them all?" they ask.  And I mean, it's a fair question.  Why waste money acquiring ponies that you think are ugly, just to get the whole set?

There's a lot of discussion about what makes a collector's mind tick.  Do people with certain traits tend to be collectors of things?  Personalities?  Situations?  Is it a hoarding behavior, is it just the good feeling of getting stuff (not dissimilar to "retail therapy")?  Giving in too much to nostalgia?

As a collector of something, there's often a certain satisfaction in the act of acquiring itself.  Sure, at the end of the day, the ponies on the shelf are your reward, they're what really makes you happy.  But the hunt is a big part of it too.  There's a major satisfaction in saying, "Well, I have them all now."  It's very nearly impossible to collect ALL the ponies!, especially so for most collectors.  So we go by sets.  I have all the first and second set of Rainbow ponies.  I have all the Flutter ponies.  Maybe even better than the feeling of owning those ponies is the anticipation when you just need two more, just one more, and when you get your hands on the last one.

And see, that's okay.  I'm not knocking that.  At all.  There's nothing wrong with that (unless of course you're going broke because you want to collect every So-Soft in mint condition before Christmas).  It's one of the joys of collecting.

When the G3s were coming out, I was collecting them as they hit the shelves.  But I missed a few, especially early on.  I missed about half of the first eight main characters in 2003.  I don't even like Wysteria all that much, but I really had to have her to complete that set.  I still need Sweetberry, I think she's the last one, and I don't like her at all.  But I just can't shake the feeling of needing all eight together.  The feeling that they need to be reunited (let's face it, I personify my ponies way too much).

I made sure to get the entire Dazzle Bright set pictured above.  I had three, I might as well get all six, I reasoned.  It irked me to have the set half-finished.  So I got the last three, and I felt good for a while.  Then I noticed just how many G3s I was amassing.  And I started weeding out a couple to get rid of.  I don't like Ribbon Wishes but I kept her.  I couldn't break up the set!  I got rid of a few more, some that I liked a little more than Ribbon Wishes, even, but I kept her with her sisters.

Bleh.
About a year after I first considered getting rid of her, I finally did.  And... it was hard.  And I don't even like her.  But that stupid collector's brain kept nagging me.  To shut it up, I also got rid of Beachberry and Coconut Cream, both of whom I kinda like.  (actually Beachberry's still in the outbox and I keep considering putting her back on the shelf, I can't decide if I wanna keep her or not!)  And the nagging need to keep the set together slowly subsided.

Then there's sets where I have one pony from it, or two or three, and I don't think twice about it.  I'm not sure why I feel committed to completing some sets and not others.  I don't like Star Hopper but dammit I have to get both variations of her or I'll never die happy, you know? (it's those sparkle ponies, they're addictive)

I still feel good when I look at that group picture up there, though.  Something about having complete sets makes me ~feel like a real collector~ as if that's even a thing.  I feel... competent?  Dedicated?  I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it feels good.  And I still regret getting rid of them at times.  Not a lot, just enough to make me sigh and pout for a few seconds before I get over it.

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