It has been a while since I’ve written a non-news article and something that has been on my mind lately are the figures I’ve purchased and do not love or value in my collection any longer.  What causes figure buyer’s remorse and what can you do about it?  Read on to find out!

Since moving to Chicago, I have way less storage room so I have had to really consider what I keep and add to my collection.  For me, the first thing I did was start thinking about figures I own that were disappointments.  Usually this was because the articulation was weak or the figure just wasn’t fun to pose.  My S.H. Figuarts Battle Droid was one of the first figures I thought of because posing it was so unfun.  The same was true of the Chris Nendoroid from Resident Evil.  I love his weapons and especially the rocket launcher but it is so hard to set it up that I plan on getting rid of the figure.  So figure disappointment is a totally valid reason for getting rid of a figure you hoped you’d like and unfortunately do not.

Another factor in no longer wanting to collect something is losing the ability to collect a particular figure line.  Perhaps the line is cancelled or it just isn’t financially feasible for you to keep collecting a certain kind of figure.  That can cause you to lose interest and no longer want to keep a figure too.  This happened to me with collecting Star Wars S.H. Figuarts.  I love the figures and the quality of them but I realized that the amount of money and space it took to collect them was too much for me.  In addition, there were a lot of releases I felt like I “had to have” because I am a bit of completionist but in reality, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed the figure because I didn’t care about the character (Captain Phasma comes to mind, for example).  Other times a figure gets released and you hope that other characters from that franchise will become a figure and they unfortunately do not.  Nendoroids have done this to me several times but Chris from Resident Evil is a great example.  I bought him hoping that they would do more figures from Resident Evil and it turned out that he was the only one that got released.  Part of the fun is building up a collection of characters from the same franchise is seeing it come together and having all of them on a shelf together.  When that opportunity disappears or never happens, that can make you no longer want to keep a figure too.

Finally, sometimes you just make a bad purchase.  You think you want to collect all of the figures in a particular line and you know you shouldn’t buy X figure because you don’t like that game, movie, or character but you do it anyway.  Eventually, you realize that you really don’t need that figure and that you probably should have never bought it.  For me, the biggest example of this is the Splatoon Amiibo 3-pack.  In my heart, I knew that I probably wasn’t going to be into Splatoon because I don’t like shooters and so rushing out and buying the Amiibo for a game I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be that into on release day was a foolish decision.  And yet, I did buy it and I have the 3-pack unopened sitting in a closet waiting to be appreciated.  This is definitely the worse kind of figure buyer’s remorse and it is always best to avoid it when possible!

If you ever find yourself no longer wanting a figure, then it is worth thinking about why you feel that way and how to avoid it in the future.  Sometimes it is out of your hands as to why you no longer desire certain figures and it is best to just move on.  Figure buyer’s remorse can happen to anyone and it is nothing to be ashamed of or deterred by!  You can always sell or donate the figures you bought and no longer want and go get some new ones.

Are there any figures in your collection you now regret owning or no longer want?  Which figures and why do you no longer want them?  Share your experiences in the comments below!