How did Your Collection Look Several Years Ago?

After the amazing idea of Susanne, I decided to make this topic!
It would be so interesting to see how everyone's beautiful collections looked in their earliest days, I know that Paige has some old photos which would be so interesting to see, and I think Adam mentioned that he had some too! It's always so fun to look back and really see how a collection has changed, it makes you realise how far you have come and how wonderful the hobby is!
And I'm really looking forward to seeing your old collections- I'll see if I can dig out some photos too!

Here are some photos from November 2019

I'm just looking, and I see how small it looks compared to now

This is when I kept my figures in storage boxes at my grandparents, and their conservatory would always be a sea of animals

Wow, wow, wow!!
I love how you call that a small collection! It is huge, and so amazing, so many animals to look at! They look beautiful altogether, I now need to go and look at them all over again and try and spot some dogs!
Thank you so much for sharing this- and I'm really looking forward to seeing your updated collection on your topic, with the close- up pics!  

There are no domestic dogs in these photos as this was my wild/sea life collection

And this is only your wild/ sea life collection!
I am very excited to see the rest!

That's such an impressive and huge collection, Adam! When I was your and Lillias's age, I only had about 40 animal figures. Cameras already existed then, but they weren't digital, so I don't have photos from so long ago. I kept most of the animals from my youth and I'll take a photo when I am back with them (they are in storage).

rogerpgvg wrote:

That's such an impressive and huge collection, Adam! When I was your and Lillias's age, I only had about 40 animal figures. Cameras already existed then, but they weren't digital, so I don't have photos from so long ago. I kept most of the animals from my youth and I'll take a photo when I am back with them (they are in storage).

I am really looking forward to seeing these animals- they must be so special to you, being the start of this wonderful hobby!

Wonderful early collection Adam! Thats about what mine looked like in the early years, mostly Schleich and Safari. 

Roger I'd love to see your childhood figures. 

I will try to upload mine soon, I have lots of photos from various stages.

Very nice collection Adam, I like your eclectic choices and I would be ahppy to look at your collection now.

You can have a look on my 2012 collection HERE

It is such a joy to see your 2012 collection and the animals are so beautifully displayed! I can see many treasures. I wish I could zoom in. In 2012, I still had only 40 animal figures (and all but one were 800 km away from me).

So excited to see yours Paige!
And wow, Christophe your collection is just beautiful! All those years ago, and it was already just amazing, so many animals to look at!!
You have displayed them all so well, I loved looking at every single photo!

Ok. I don't know what year exactly these hail from. But these are the earliest photos I have (poor quality, sorry). So at my best guess, these are probably from anywhere between 2013-2015...? I am thinking earlier than later... Anyway, it used to be in my room and has since graduated and grown to the basement and is easily about 4x the number of models. So here it is about 4 book cases and a few wall shelves.

These are a little more modern, my collection where it lives today. I used to have lots of artificial plants and rocks on display too but they take up too much room! These are probably about 4 or 5 years ago...
















And the small bit was still in my room as of about 4 or 5 years ago.

And now the most recent photos I have of my collection, from here:
https://sts-forum.forumieren.de/t20874p650-saarlooswolfhounds-collection-display-close-ups-updated-february-5th-old-schleich-ibex

Scroll down some for the first set of photos, this continues through page 31 of this thread. Its fun to go through these photos and see how far I have come. I have had these kinds of toys since 3 years old, I still have my first models. Especially to think on how many friends I am reminded by each one I got in a trade here. BIG thanks to you all! I adore each and every one. :)

And seeing as I got 2 new short book cases for display I should update with them too.

Wow, Kiki I remember going through that thread when I first joined here! I was so jealous of that display case between your front hall and living room with all the great "vintage" models. I wish I had the money and space for proper vitrines, but alas... I spend too much on the models themselves.

What dangerous places you were living Paige

I like to browse your last displays topic, it's a joy to follow you.

Choosing between more models or more displays is a cruel dilemma indeed but choosing which models and which diplay will leave you like I am doing now is another matter

Wow!! I love how all the collections here from several years ago are just so amazingly huge!
Shelves upon shelves of animals, it is just incredible- a museum! I could spend hours and hours just looking at every model!
And the dogs!! You could be a dog collector alone, so many to look at, and all such wonderful models-I just love them! And your current thread for your collection is amazing, like how you first looked at Christophe's stunning display when you first joined, I remember looking at yours and going through each page (All 30!) and admiring them all, especially the dogs!

Golly Paige, your collection looks humungous there, and I cannot imagine what it is like now!

It's very good you have a cellar to store them all in, and you still have room in it.

My bedroom has now all the bookcases, it can possibly hold, I just need a few more shelves for the 3rd bookcase and I can get all my figures on display. If I get as many figures as I did last year, I'll have to attach shelves to my walls The only problem is that my house has nowhere I can put more figures, so they will always have to live in my room

Advicot wrote:

Golly Paige, your collection looks humungous there, and I cannot imagine what it is like now!

It's very good you have a cellar to store them all in, and you still have room in it.

My bedroom has now all the bookcases, it can possibly hold, I just need a few more shelves for the 3rd bookcase and I can get all my figures on display. If I get as many figures as I did last year, I'll have to attach shelves to my walls The only problem is that my house has nowhere I can put more figures, so they will always have to live in my room

I would love to display mine like this too, especially the dogs! But the problem is that they're currently sharing my bookshelf with all the books, so it looks a bit cramped- I would love for them to have their own shelf! But my collection isn't anywhere near as big as some of the ones on this topic, and so I can only imagine how tricky it must be once you have a collection as big as some of these! Space is definitely a problem for collectors!

Wow, fantastic, what can I say? I am lost for words!

I don't have photos of this, but the first inklings of my toys becoming a proper collection, I took them from the 2 drawers they lived in and organized them onto a bookcase at about 9 or 10 years old. But even then, they nearly filled a 7 shelf bookcase. This hobby has been a part of me for forever, and my old Schleichs have a fair amount of paint rubbed off from playing so much, they were my most adored toy. But like I said they were all vastly Schleich figures and then a handful of Safari and some AAA I inherited from my older brother. But that is sort of my point for you two "young 'uns" Lilias and Adam, the longer you stay on forum you can have wonderful "big" collections too! With time comes opportunity. At least 1/3 of my collection comes from memembers here and their generosity. :) When I first joined there were SO many Schleich I never thought I'd see because they were so rare and expensive then. Now I nearly have them all! And everyday I think about stuff I probably won't ever actually get to hold in my hands and then next week I might secure a trade with someone. :)

The main reason my collection is so big is because I am not soo picky, I appreciate artistic style of models as well as species or quality etc. Every book case I have modified with extra shelves and luckily I have a nice big space to display but that space is running out!  My family says I should open a small figure museum here like they have in Europe.   All joking aside, I really should clean them again and perhaps thin some out though I have no idea that I can do that... the last "cleaning project" (because the real purpose was to document and present them here) took the better part of a year! All 4,000 some figures in total, cleaning takes forever.

Alright, I'm over my melancholy...

I totally agree about trades/sales with other members Paige!

Roger, Susanne, Taylor, you, Kelly, soon Lilias, Ben, Roy Swetsie, soon Lydia, soon NMR Okapi & soon Isidro to name a few of the people I have/will be getting figures from. Many figures I dreamed of getting like US Yowies, retired Schleich and just figures that have caught my eye have made my collection so much more diversified and amazing. I have been on STS a little over a year and I have acquired nearly 300 figures from such wonderful people all across the globe, thank you to you all!

So great to look at all those models and how they all have grown!!Sadly I don't have photos of my collection when I was younger as sadly for the vast majority of the time they have sadly been in boxes!At present I can only display my models on a rotational basis.