"My name is The Acrobatic Flea ... and I am a collector."Mrs Flea wants me to enrol in Collectors' Anonymous and seek help for my addiction. I collect things - comics, DVDs, CDs, books, action figures etc etc - and if I had a great paying job and we lived in a multi-roomed mansion it probably wouldn't be an issue. But I'm a "gentleman of leisure" and we live in a one-bedroom flat (a nice one bedroom flat, but that's not really the point...)
We are in the process of buying a three-bedroom property with a funky loft conversion which will serve as my gamesroom, toy display area and general Fortress of Solitude but even that - at 26' long - isn't the TARDIS!
The full extent of my problem finally sank in this weekend, when visiting the in-laws (where 90% of my "stuff" is in storage in their spare room). I was trying to sort through the layer-upon-layer of boxes, see what I had (I was finding stuff that I'd forgotten I'd got or hadn't even opened) and visualise where it would go in the new house.
As an aside, Rachel's mum said during her speech at our wedding, it wasn't so much a case of gaining a son, as losing a room!
And the truth hit me as I faced that four deep wall of floor to ceiling packing boxes; after months (if not years) of denial - it wouldn't all fit! The last thing I want to do is move into this new house and just fill my games room with boxes. The idea is to be able to display things (in that 40-Year-Old Virgin style), as well as have a central games table for my epic games of AT-43, Back of Beyond Pulp Adventures and so on.
So something will have to give... and it looks like being the Doctor Who action figures. They're lovely, but it's kind of a case of last in, first out and it really has to be "all or nothing" to avoid the temptation of picking up more at a later date. I don't need Doctor Who action figures to appreciate the show anyway and there was no way I was parting company with my Star Wars action figures (they complement my library of Star Wars books anyway).
The Doctor Who figures are some of the best "high street available" action figures I've seen (and good value), but they are quite large compared to the Star Wars ones and after a day of sorting figures to trade I've made a significant "dent" in the wall of boxes!
It is an addiction - and I shall still be feeding other areas of my habit. But conquering this sort of problem means taking one step at a time and this is my first step.
Of course, at the moment, the reality is that I have just moved the boxes of Doctor Who figures from the in-laws to our flat...
Well they say the first step is admitting you have a problem - so well done :-) I now have a small glimmer of hope that our house won't be overflowing with boxes forever!
ReplyDeleteI find collecting far more satisfying when you restrict what you buy. I allow myself only two aeroplanes a year, but deciding *which* two is a large part of the fun.
ReplyDeleteHere is a scary story Atomic Flea, since you've only been married a few months.
ReplyDeleteI had a friend who collected Marvel Comics. He had every issue of Spiderman. All the different titles. He got married. He got divorced. She got the collection.
Better treat Mrs. Flea right!
Thanks for the warning, Malathionman :-D
ReplyDelete