League of Extraordinary Bloggers: My Biggest Regret...

So this week's League of Extraordinary Bloggers topic is decidedly NOT about Halloween, so that means extra post today! So what IS the topic you may ask?

Why did I buy that? Why did I sell that? My biggest regret is…

Which is to say: As a collector... what is my biggest case of buyer's remorse? 

Ahhhhh.... Let me spin you a tale my dearies. Once upon a time there was a toy line called Super Hero Squad. It was a series of mini-figures based on the Marvel Universe. These mini-figures were ADORABLE. They were done in a cartoon-y, chibi-esque style that suited the characters in an awesome way. And I LOVE MINI-FIGURES. 

Look at these things! If these had been around when I was just a kid... I would have simultaneously pooped and peed my pants while fainting. I would have screamed my throat raw and then, when I was mute, I would have picked up a sharpie and written "aaaaaaaaaahhhh" over and over again on any surface I could reach. These things are like all the best mini-figure lines of the 80's (Army Ants, MUSCLE, Battle Beasts) paired up with the MARVEL-F**KING-UNIVERSE!!! There was nothing I loved more than mini-figures as a kid besides maybe comic books. 

So as an adult, I amassed a large collection of Super Hero Squad figures:

These pictures are from my old apartment before we moved into our house, and they don't even show all of the Galactic Heroes (Star Wars), Combat Heroes (G.I. Joe), Robot Heroes (Transformers), Mystery Mates (Scooby-Doo) Toy Story Buddies, and DCU Action League mini figures I had in my collection back then as well. I have since pared down a LOT... but I still love the DICKENS out of these things. 

ANYWAY.

At one point in time, I wasn't picking up all of the packs. I was only picking and choosing my favorite characters. Well... that only lasted so long. I had much more disposable income at that time and I got very obsessive and completist. In the mean-time, a lot of the packs I had passed over initially got hard to find, as they were out of production. One of those was the Sue Storm and Doctor Doom 2-pack:

I had passed on this one initially because I wasn't buying all of the characters at that time. Well, when I started snapping up ALL of the characters, Sue and Doomy were nowhere to be found... except on eBay. On eBay, I watched the price on these two steadily climb. It was a hard to find pack, with two very popular characters, and there were a LOT of collectors of the line back then, fighting tooth and nail to find them. 

It felt like this except less... furry.

And I felt like I was desperate. So I did something incredibly stupid. I paid almost 50 dollars for this set of figures on eBay. Something I would NEVER do now... but an action I felt I NEEDED to take back then when my fever was at its very worst. It is something I regret to this day. First off because it was an incredibly selfish and frivolous thing to spend that money on. Secondly because I spent almost 25 dollars APIECE for two tiny plastic mini-figures. Which I think is stupid. And third...

They re-released the figures very shortly after. 

I had pegs upon pegs full of Super Hero Squad Sue Storm and Doctor Doom staring at me... taunting me at Wal-Mart. Laughing at me because of my impulsiveness and my foolishness and my selfishness. This happened back in 2006 or 2007, I can't really remember which exactly. But my spending habits have changed dramatically since then. Even my eBay purchases, on the few occasions I still make them, are only ever CHEAP. The only toy line I spend money on religiously at this point is the new TMNT line, and even with that, if I miss out on something... I'll just suck it up and wait for it to show up somewhere cheap. Almost (almost) everything else I buy I find on the prowl at Goodwill or at antique stores or thrift shops. I'll never make the same mistake I did when I panicked and bought those two Super Hero Squad figures. 

So that's it. That's my major regret. I'm sure there are others. Others I've blocked from my memory. But this is the one that immediately sprang to mind when I read the topic for this week. Susan Storm and Doctor Doom. Sue and Doomy. Soomy. Sue me.

Let's see what the other members of the League are regretting this week:

- Mason over at D.I. Treasures needs to LEGO his regrets!!!

- Patrick at Nerd Cantina has regrets from a Galaxy Far Far away.

- You'll MARVEL at Hobgoblin238's regret over at Monster Cafe Saltillo!

- You'll boo and H.I.S.S. right along with Michael Lynn P as she recounts her regret at Diary of a Dorkette!

- Nerd Out With Me needs to LEGO... wait. I did that one already.

- Jathniel's regret would almost be comical if it didn't involve some really cool comics.

- I only hope Yelinna from Travelling Pics can bounce back from her regret some day!

Well... regrettably, that's really it for tonight kids. I'll be back soon with some much less guilt-inducing Goodwill Goodies. Until then, Happy Haunting!