It doesn’t matter whether you collect baseball cards, coins, Beanie Babies, or even Pogs.  One thing about collecting that everyone thinks about and at times struggles with is what are my current collecting goals?  These can be hard to figure out when you first start collecting and even experienced collectors can find their goals change or evolve rapidly over time as changes happen within their hobby.  Goals are vital to collecting because they give you something to strive for and give you that sense of satisfaction when you achieve a collecting goal.  For these reasons, it is worth thinking about your own goals and setting some as a figure collector whether you’re brand new or a seasoned veteran.

One thing you’ll quickly realize about collecting is that if you don’t set a goal, it is too expensive or time consuming to get everything out there for whatever you want to collect.  Not only that, but you probably won’t enjoy everything that is available either.  This is especially true with figure collecting.  There are tons of Nintendo figures out there to choose from and you need to decide which ones will bring you the most enjoyment.  This article is not going to go over all of the types that are out there, but in the near future, there will be a series of articles covering specific characters or Nintendo franchises to help achieve this goal.  Instead, this article will give some suggestions that might help you decide a collecting goal.

The first thing to think about what is the coolest looking figures in your opinion?  If you see something that really catches your eye or thinks will be amazing to own, then that is a good sign you should start there.  You want to collect something that you get excited about buying and will enjoy owning so this is important.  You could focus on statues or action figures or several other types of figures, but this is something you can and should decide on your own.  Another factor to consider is how expensive is the figure or series of figures?  If you have a limited budget then you may have to make some sacrifices or make sure you set a goal that you can financially reach in a reasonable amount of time (maybe you buy one $40 Nendoroid a month or one expensive figure every other month if that is all your budget allows).  Obviously, collecting cheaper figures lets you buy more and that may be a reason to stick with Amiibo or World of Nintendo for example.

Once you’ve decided these two things, you’re already on your way.  You might choose to collect the figures of a character you really like.  So for example, you may want to get a Link figure from every game across different action figure lines.  Another possibility is to collect all or most of the figures in a particular line.  This is best done if you can get in on a figure line when they first release or are widely available because once they disappear from retail, the price unfortunately always goes up online.

It is important to keep in mind what is realistic and what can you actually achieve when it comes to collecting as well.  This is partially why I mentioned cost before, but if you want to collect every World of Nintendo figure, but will only pay retail prices for them, you’re setting yourself up for an impossible or nearly impossible goal since some of the older figures cannot be found in retail anymore.  The real problem is that you will lose steam or feel frustrated when you cannot achieve this goal.  That is why I cannot stress enough that you want to collect something that is attainable and will be enjoyable for you to collect.  In addition to collecting figures, I collect video games.  Many people who collect video games collect all of the games for a system like the NES, Nintendo 64, or even recent system like the Wii.  While this may work well for them, my number one rule when it comes to collecting games is that I will only buy games that I think I will enjoy because they are highly rated and are in a genre that I enjoy.  This means that every new game I buy, I play and try my best to enjoy.  Fortunately, for the most part, I am able to have fun with the games a buy and if a game doesn’t end up being fun, then I get rid of that game.  This rule has helped me enjoy collecting video games and keep my goal more reasonable at the same time.

Ultimately, setting a goal is something you should do for yourself.  It is important to follow your heart and do what you enjoy most.  This is your collection and it only matters what you think of it.  As you work on your collection, it is important to make sure you are still enjoying both what you collect and reaching whatever goal you set for yourself.  If you are not, then you may have to adjust it or create a new goal altogether.  I have talked about Amiibos on this site and how I went from collecting every one that came out to just focusing on ones that I know I will enjoy owning.  This change has saved me some money and kept it so I don’t have a bunch of figures I’m indifferent towards.  While this has worked out well for me, I still find myself struggling with World of Nintendo and I don’t have a clear collecting goal for it.  I have mostly bought whatever figures look interesting that I see in retail stores, but haven’t not really followed any consistent goal or rules.  This is okay too and eventually I’m sure I’ll figure out what my goal is and stick to it.  I mention this only because I’ve been collecting for many years and it shows that things are often fluid and you don’t have to always have a big goal in mind to enjoy collecting.  If you stick to what you enjoy and don’t spend too much too quickly, collecting and more specifically, collecting figures will be an enjoyable hobby for you.