Share your biggest regrets for your collection

sunny wrote:

when I was young and we were moving I gave half my precious collection to a good friend. Years later when we met again, I asked where all the animals were that I'd given him (I was hoping to get them back), and he said he'd given them away. I learned a valuable lesson, never to give away what I truly loved to someone who didn't have the same passion as me, and I never did that again.
Now my collection is growing nicely and I cherish every single little being in it. It fills my life with joy!
I have always collected things my whole life, so these animals are just one of a few different things I adore and keep an eye out for. I love them so much that I know the ones I am wanting will make their way to me - how could they not ? they are coming to a home that will shower them with love and appreciation:):) every day is like xmas here

That must have been so annoying! I totally agree, it is such a joy to be a collector and every day is like Christmas!

Oh, this thread is interesting and heartbreaking and full of lessons to learn.

I have only been seriously collecting models relevant to this forum for about a year (besides Breyer), but even still, I have somehow managed to pass on a few things I regret. One of them was an ebay lot of Play Visions small mammals that went for a very reasonable price. I was following them but said, "I'm not focusing on those yet, I will find them again later." Foolish! Now that I do want to focus on Play Visions, I am learning very fast that the lot sold for an incredible deal. But well on whoever got them!

My others are all similar. Not buying a well priced auction for what turned out to be a hard to find model because I just didn't know yet. I'm sure I'll continue to do that as I stay in the hobby.

My childhood regrets, though. I have three that have stayed with me, and they were all for collecting My Little Pony. The first, I bought two at a yard sale, we returned to pick something up and I brought them back with me and then LEFT them there and never saw them again. The second, I had a choice between what is now a rare and expensive model and a set of two very cheap no-brand plastic horses, and I chose the cheap ones simply because there were two instead of one. Alas, childhood reasoning. And three, I customized what is now also a rare and valuable model. Less regret here, though, because I did it as a gift and the receiver still has it, and likes it, even though I made it when I was probably 12 or 13 and it is not very pretty. :) (In the same vein, I customized some Breyer G1 stablemates as a teenager and I regret that very much now. )

I think many of us here have similar "learning curve" regrets... but that is the hazard of this hobby I think. We also tend to focus on the BAD things that happen in this criteria and forget the good (i.e. I remember a k&m red wolf pup auction I missed out on that broke my heart, but shortly after I happened to buy a lot that had 2 very rare old papo gray wolves I didn't know what they were at the time... I kept one and traded another to a great friend here and really only later realized how special that was, I have NEVER seen another for sale).

George wrote:

My biggest regrets are always the models I didn't get, due to seller error or outright scam!

The ones you've seen, decided to splash out on, bought and paid for, then don't ever own after all. Every time I see one, I think 'I should have that', and it's not my fault I don't.

There's two Breyer models which come to mind as irritating and disappointing regrets.
Kodi, a pinto special run, which I didn't get because the seller turned out to be a scammer, having 'sold' a lot of models then not posted a single one of them. Because I'd been strung along with excuses about why it couldn't be posted yet, I was beyond ebay's 45 day money back guarantee limit, and had to open a case with paypal's own investigation team to get a refund.
The second one was Rocket, a Breyerfest special run, which I bought Buy-It-Now and paid for instantly, only to be messaged three or four days later saying they didn't have the model any more and would refund me (a friend who's on Facebook tipped me off that the seller had sold it to someone on there instead!)

I can cross one of these off now, after my successful second attempt at buying a Rocket - this time from a lovely seller who was pleased to send him off to an appreciative new home. Nice to have made up for that negative bit of my hobby experience. Here's hoping some more of you get second chances on things you missed, or had then lost.

I can definitely feel the frustrations! But it's really interesting to read about other collectors' experiences, it makes you realise you certainly aren't the only one!

I love to hear the antithesis stories to these, George. So glad you got a Rocket!

My best story like that was finally replacing as an adult the model my brother exploded with firecrackers and gasoline when I was a kid.

I definitely have some EXCELLENT non-regrets as well. Like being gifted what turned out to be a super rarity later on, and what not. Is there a thread for that, too? Maybe we need one.

Jill wrote:

I love to hear the antithesis stories to these, George. So glad you got a Rocket!

My best story like that was finally replacing as an adult the model my brother exploded with firecrackers and gasoline when I was a kid.    

I definitely have some EXCELLENT non-regrets as well. Like being gifted what turned out to be a super rarity later on, and what not. Is there a thread for that, too? Maybe we need one.

That would be a wonderful idea!

I just found a lot of goldfish I DON'T have, and really can't spend that much!

The worst!

How frustrating!!

My biggest regret was waiting too long to get the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Australovenator, missing my chance to get one, but at least @Loon managed to get one of the last ones so it's in good hands.

My biggest regret? A couple years ago when I got back to collecting Schleich and I missed out on a lot of schleich animals by trying to buy only the schleich in the lot (see picture from the ad). The lady selling them wanted 400nok or about 40 euro for the whole lot. I asked if i could pick about half of the animals for 20 euro, she replied "I have to think about it, since i want to sell them all as one lot". A day later the ad was marked as sold, and someone smarter than me bought the whole lot  I learned a valuable lesson from that, and since then I have been able to buy many different schleich lots for cheap. But im still missing many of the figures from this lot in my collection

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OHHHH .
And the seems to be some nice New-Ray models also, and I think I see a couple of Reislers.

Well, this lady should have learned to sell the good stuff , and give the "china" to charity a shop.

If they is mixed up, I will think that it has not been taken good care of

I think she sold them because her child was no longer interested in them, and probably forgot what she paid for them in the first place. I see this a lot on the platform where I buy most of my schleich figures from. People tend to think that a model is a model regardless of how it looks or where it comes from, and put them in the same lot as "china models". Resulting in a low price, now I usually buy the whole lot and give the cheap figures away or to a charity shop :)

I won't tell you what 40 Euros represents for this lot to not make you feel even more regretful but those things happen often. Not exactly the fact that we want a part of the lot but for any circunstance we can't get a tempting lot like this one.

Great topic, didn't notice it before, but comes in handy to share a profound regret I have been feeling lately related to the Safari Ltd reptiles I have recently been trying to acquire.

I regret not buying the SAfari LTD Great Big Gator or "Giant Crocodile" a year ago or more when I had the chance. I was already hunting down the 1996 - 1998 Safari Ltd reptiles and amphibians, mostly the snakes and lizards. I had never even seen a picture of the so called "Great Big Gator" as it was listed in Toy Animal Wiki. Then one day a listing appeared on eBay for a Safari LTD "Giant Alligator". The picture showed a cool realistic model, unusual and seemed special, for 60 dollars plus shipping.

The titile of the listing said it measured 28 inches long, but in the pictures there was nothing to compare it to, it was in a white background. Although I tought it could be the Great Big Gator, i was not sure. I checked Toy Animal Wiki, saw the name was different, as the seller only listed it as "Giant Alligator". Also I had heard the "Great Big Gator" was way larger, about a meter long. So I tought it was not the same model. But the fact I didn't find much information on the so called "Giant alligator" should have been my clue it was a special piece.

I almost bought it the day I saw it, but I was saving some money to bid on a snake lot that had the Safari LTD Rhinoceros Viper. The auction would end a few days later. So I was afraid to buy the gator and in the end not have enough funds to bid on the snake that was something I really wanted. I had missed the chance to buy that snake a few years ago and didn't want to do that again.

I kept checking the gator listing for a couple of days, I think I even offered the seller a lower amount for it. Of course my offer was refused. By the third day, when I finally decided to buy it, it was too late. Had been sold. On the positive side, I eventually got the Rhinoceros Viper and that regret now has been compensated.

I guess you could say that one regret (not buying the Rhinoceros Viper snake) led me to miss the chance of buying another rare item, and that has become another profound regret I am trying to remedy, hunting down a copy of that "Giant Alligator".

By the way, if anyone have a Giant Alligator that they would sell, let me know   

@ikessauro, A real story of the collector's life
I am so sorry you didn't get it, but you are still young. Perhaps some other time ?

I think I have not even heard about such a huge model from Safari, - almost 1 meter long

Do you know when it was in the range ?

SUSANNE wrote:

@ikessauro, A real story of the collector's life  
I am so sorry you didn't get it, but you are still young. Perhaps some other time ?

I think I have not even heard about such a huge model from Safari, - almost 1 meter long  

Do you know when it was in the range  ?

Yes, I hope someday, rather sooner than later, I'll find one for sale. Probably for a price that isn't as good as the other one, but I have hopes.
It was a model from the Incredible Creatures line, from around 1996. Here's a couple photos of another collector.

Patrick, I listed the Big Gator on TAW and I gathered the information from a very old catalogue picture. If I'm not wrong, it was a little girl with the big gator in her hands. I thought it was that kind of figures we would never see for sale. I even considered it was just promoted but probably never went for sale. Now I know it exists and one escaped from you. Don't get frustrated, be patient and keep checking. I believe you will be able of finding another one.

Roger wrote:

Patrick, I listed the Big Gator on TAW and I gathered the information from a very old catalogue picture. If I'm not wrong, it was a little girl with the big gator in her hands. I thought it was that kind of figures we would never see for sale. I even considered it was just promoted but probably never went for sale. Now I know it exists and one escaped from you. Don't get frustrated, be patient and keep checking. I believe you will be able of finding another one.

Yes, I have that picture now (I didn't when the listing was on ebay unfortunatelly).

Ohhh, they are ever so lovely all of them. A shame only the baby iguana has survived untill now

Monstruous gator. I was refering a different picture but I can't find it anymore.

SUSANNE wrote:

Ohhh, they are ever so lovely all of them. A shame only the baby iguana has survived untill now

It really is! I would LOVE to find the gila monster & monitor! They are such beautiful looking models