What is your idea of a "complete" collection?

[AdultCollector]

This thought has been mulling around in my head since for the last month I've received regular visits from local FedEx and USPS workers. In your own mind what constitutes a "complete" collection as it relates to the MOTUC toy line?

Very recently I owned two MOTUC figures, Skeletor and He-Man. I don't own any other toys (except for an Xbox360) and I only named myself AdultCollector because for a time I was purchasing and reselling collections of MOTU figures to try and make a little extra money to help pay the bills.

Now I have MOTUC 20 figures, with more on the way, and have even adopted the Seven Kingdoms toy line into my collection (2 down, ~3-5 more coming).

How many He-Man fans own one of every figure? 2? 3? What percentage of us own custom figures/vehicles/playsets/accessories? How many of us buy every version of each figure ever released? How many of us keep all of ours in the package, and how many open all or some of them?

Also, do you consider your collection "complete" when you've bought all the figures you wanted too, even though there may be others in the line you don't have? I would never purchase that Molar/Skeletor 2-pack, or any of the other DCU/MOTUC 2-packs since I already have a Skeletor (and Molar isn't even a He-Man figure), etc. The only figure I haven't opened is Gygor, since he looks too badass with lighting flashing around him as he bears his fangs in a roaring pose.

I'm interested in your thoughts as always.

[Berserker79]

A good question.

I think, it will be complete, when I feel it.

Completing the vintage Evil Warriors is the first goal for me. I like some obscure characters, like Gygor, Wun-Dar and the Green Goddess. Or characters like Geldor, the Wind Raider pilot or Oo-Larr. Collecting these, is also essential for me.

But there are also figures I won`t buy (all POP-characters, exept Bow and maybe She-Ra).

But I have to admit, that most of the figures I´ll buy, especially if I have a strong connection to them (Horde Trooper, Battle Ram vehicle, Sy Klone, Tung Lashor).

[Baena]

I have my own personal list.
It does not include all known to MotU and PoP and NA and 200X, but many.

When that list is complete, then to me I'll be done.
I'll buy the subs. And when figures come that are not on that list, I'll sell 'em off. Unless they really "wow" me.

There is much yet to cross off my "list".

[bskcase]

It is really an open definition. Owning everything of a particular line is a bit of a challenge. I feel so sorry for a Star Wars collector.

For MOTUC, it is a bit easier to collect everything. I myself am not a MOC guy, but I did end up buying 2 subs and opening 1 set and keeping the other MOC. This is the first time, I've actually made every effort to get every figure in a toy line. Part of me is doing it because I still feel that this line could end in the next 6 months and I'll end up missing out.

For this line to be complete, I think Mattel needs to cover every figure that has been released in the vintage MOTU, POP, and NA. If they get those covered, then I'm done.

Count Marzo and Gygor and the rest to me are just bonus figures. They are nice and they part of my collection, but I need the figures that have been done before.

[Alexx]

My toy collecting is the same with any toy line: I get what I want; leave what I don't. I've never really thought of anything being "complete" before. I just get what looks cool.

...which kinda sucks, 'cause that means everything is open to me. I don't have any biases besides "I don't like how it looks" and that doesn't even happen very often. Biggest problem is when it's a cool toyline...then I just get anything that comes my way. That's how MotUC is with me. All the toys are just freakin' cool, so thats why I want everything they can shove into the line: NA, PoP, Vintage, 200X...everything! I think the first thing in this line that just has not interested me is the Shadow Beast. It really takes a lot to make me bored.

Anyway, as for your various questions: I only get one of each unless I'm not happy with the one I got (bought an reissue Faker to get better joints and the reissue Skelly to get two holding hands). I open them all, 'cause I'm not a fan of statues. I need to take 'em down and play with them from time to time to make me feel like my purchase was worth something (and to loosen up, ya know? Playing in the adult's world just wears you down and you gotta have someplace to go sometimes).

So that's about it for me.

[Tilt]

I get the stuff I like, don't get the stuff I don't and will only know once the line in finished or I am unable to get more for some other reason. I don't need everything by any means. I'll probably get mostly PoP stuff from here on with some exceptions like Rammy and Marlena and other human looking characters that haven't had figures. Like I'd be up for King Miro, and some of the obscure humans from mini comics. Would get lots of Filmation ones if they ever get the rights but I doubt that will happen.

[Brian Ozone]

It depends what cannon your talking about.


If it's motuc then a complete collection would be everything but the spirit of kg and silver shera figure.

[ByThePowerOf...]

I don't think it is "fun" to have a complete collection... I like the fact knowing I have gaps to fill and it is fun to pick up a new item every now and again. I am basically speaking on the vintage he-man figure lines, and I only purchase and keep the new motuc figures that I like. I am not a completest by any stretch of the imagination.

[Steph]

For me- since I treat MOTUC as an extension of 200x toys and stactions, there are 2 of 200x characters left that I "need" to complete my collection (those being Evilseed and a Griffon). The rest after than would be nice, but I would consider them a bonus.

[midor]

Getting everyone in your top 10. regardless why there or if they ever had a figure previously released. Once you get all top 10 you should be feeling pretty good and satisfied. aka fealing complete.

everything else is just eye candy that you wouldn't mind having.

[adam03]

I already have a complete collection (every single MOTUC release from day 1 except for the first figure stands) and I pick and choose for my loose collection (only missing Goddess and Gygor loose), although I have both MOC and my collection will continue to be complete as I have subs for 2010 and 2011

[Swanmarsh]

My idea of what a "complete" MOTUC collection would look like, includes:

- all vintage MOTU & POP figures
- vintage MOTU mini-comic representations (especially Goddess & Green Trap Jaw, and Strawberry-Blonde Teela with long hair & Bikini Teela)
- FILMation characters (especially Shadow Weaver, Scorpia, Octavia, Trollans, Fang Man, Kothos, Lizard Man, Shokoti, Robot Knights, Kol-Darr, Enchantress, King Miro, Starchild ...)
- armies of Horde Troopers, Palace Guards, Robot Knights and generic snake men
- Preternian characters (enough to feel we have adequate characters to create viable factions to fight out that storyline between Grayskull's warriors, the Snake Men & Evil Horde)
- previously unreleased prototype, movie & mini-comic figures (Grayskull cardboard spacesuit, Karg, God-Skeletor, Eldor, Star Sisters, Granita, Procrustus)
- key beasts / monstors (Granamyr, Fright Zone Dragon, Stridor, Night Stalker)
- Eternian Council of Elders
- vehicles including Sky Sled, Attak Trak, Wind Raider, Talon Fighter, Collector, Basher, Spydor, Roton,
- Castle Grayskull, Snake Mountain, Point Dread, Fright Zone & Slime Pit playsets
- plus, a good selection of vintage MOTU concept figures

My purchasing habit is one loose, one MOC of each item. Will buy multiple loose army builders.

Will be very unhappy if MOTUC line ends without Mattel producing the key Filmation characters. Filmation characters are an absolute must IMO to make this collection complete.

[bcrduke]

To me, a complete collection is owning (loose or MOC or both) everything that was ever available for purchase.

The "Spirit of Grayskull" figure, for example, was a raffle prize... that, IMO, is not part of a complete or incomplete collection.

Theoretically, a complete MOTUC collection would include all figures released in the vintage MOTU, POP, and NA lines... all beasts released (Battle Cat, Battle Lion, Swift Wind, Storm, Arrow, Crystal Sundancer, Crystal Moonbeam, Clawdeen, Panthor, Sea Harp, Enchanta, Mantisaur, Zoar, Screech, Turbodactyl, Bionatops, Tyrantisaurus Rex, etc.)... and the main playsets (Grayskull, Snake Mountain, The Fright Zone, The Crystal Castle, Crystal Falls, Point Dread, Starship Eternia, Nordor).

It would also include prototypes like the Star Sisters, Eldor, Darius, & Mara.... and characters like Queen Marlena, Hawk, Delora, & Veena... and some of the vehicles (Wind Raider, Battle Ram, Stridor, Night Stalker, Roton, Battle Bones, Astrosub, Attack Trak, etc.)

It would never feel complete without Shadow Weaver. No MOTU collection will ever feel complete without her...

Other Filmation characters that are NECESSARY: Scorpia, Madame Razz & Broom, Octavia, Imp, Horde Prime, Lord Masque, Shokoti, Melaktha, Lizard Man, Strong Arm, Icer, Uncle Montok, Dree-Elle.

[Mr. Shokoti]

In my opinion, a complete collection is every single figure released so far including reissues that have had changes made to them and received "the original" on their packaging.

* The "Spirit Of Grayskull" is so rare, if you included that, you might as well include the prototypes that aren't available to the general public as well. Imo, he shouldn't be included.

* Except for Moss Man, where he is only available with either flocked ears or non flocked ears, any running changes are too numerous to count. Some Skeletor's have more yellow than green, some have more green than yellow, and some have equal amounts. Don't get me started on the numerous amounts of "blush" on Randor's face.

* I don't include the variant colored belt for Stratos since that wasn't supposed to be released in the first place and, while not as rare as The Spirit Of Grayskull, is rare enough in MOC form that he is far from a general release.

* If you collect the "white mailer boxes", Battle Cat came in 2 types of boxes. One was made of the usual shiny white box while the other seemed like it was made of recycled cardboard. Since a lot of people only care about the packaging that holds the toys, the mailer boxes probably don't count.

Now the real question is does "one" want to be very anal about this line or just pick & choose the characters and toys "they" want? So far I'm in the completist category. Even though this is the only line I'm currently doing that for(and, except for Mattel's Retro-Action DC toys and their Ghostbuster line, they're only toys I'm even currently buying), I might stop that at any second. The lack of space, other interests, and my ADD might have me jumping ship tomorrow.

Owning everything of a particular line is a bit of a challenge. I feel so sorry for a Star Wars collector.

With their G.I. Joe, Star Wars, and Marvel Universe line, Hasbro really makes it impossible for their fans to be completists unless they're extremely rich & have a crap load of room to display/store it all. Although, from what I hear, Mattel isn't much better when it comes to all the stuff that put out for their WWE line. I feel if MOTUC went to retail tomorrow and started going nuts with the variants and wave after wave of releases, I'd have to end my collecting pretty quickly.

[Jedi_Master_Jeremy]

A complete collection for me is owning everything that was made. I'm already at that point with MOTUC and only a couple meteorbs away on the vintage collection...and I open one MOTUC figure and keep the cleanest card intact for a MOC version.

[yodafreakmaster]

My personal "complete collection" would include all of the vintage figures released AND a good share of Filmation characters as well. Even if we get all of the vintage figures released from the previous lines, my personal collection will not be complete without the likes of: Lizard Man, Icer, Shadow Weaver, Fang Man, Octavia, and Shokoti to name a few.

To answer the other part of the question: I pick up 3 of every MOTUC's item. The only exception is that I only have 2 SDCC Orko/Adams and I missed out on Tytus completely when he was released. I've decided to wait for the re-issue on Tytus rather than support the secondary market. I will be going with 3 of each item until the MOTUC's line has run it's course. That way I will have no regrets when it is done. I've learned my lesson. It is always easier to pick up items when they are initially released versus picking them up after the fact. It cost me a small fortune to do so with the 200X line.

LONG LIVE MOTUC's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Darkspecter]

Do the hardcore completists buy all the re-issues? That would be a lot of extra figures.

I say complete is one of everything released, not including the re-issues.

[Swanmarsh]

Do the hardcore completists buy all the re-issues? That would be a lot of extra figures.

I say complete is one of everything released, not including the re-issues.

I don't know if you'd call me a completist or not. I do intend to collect everything released with 1 loose and 1 MOC (however, I don't have 3 different gem-stone He-Ros or yellow belt Stratos) but I don't collect re-issues, except for:

- 1 loose re-issue Skeletor (for the closed hand)
- 1 MOC re-issue Skeletor (for the alternate bio including 'Demo-Man')
- 1 MOC re-issue Mer-Man (for the alternate cowardly bio)

Personally, I don't consider that I need the exact same character MOC twice just because one has a "The Original" starburst.

Am I a completist? Or just a happy MOTU fan?

[Bulkhide]

For me...my Personal "Complete" Collection is having the perfect version of each character that I love or consider to be essential in the MOTU world/universe.

There are 14 essential Heroic Warriors, 14 essential Evil Villains, 7 POP characters, 7 Horde Members (includes Catra), and 6 Snakemen that I must have. And then add in a handful of others that I might think are cool (most NA would fall in here) and that's my "complete collection" as it were. I will always take bonus characters like Gy-Gor or Wun-Dar, but they aren't necessary for my personal complete collection.

[tyr112]

I would consider complete to mean having every character released (as well as different iterations of characters).

I am not going for complete anymore. There have been a couple of toys (Marzo, Gygor) that I didn't really want, and wanted to save the money.

[Heidi]

I don't see my "action figure" - hobby as a collecting hobby. I buy figures that I like with very little urge to collect whole series. So I feel that I'll never have a complete collection of anything.

And my displays are constantly changing and evolving too. For instance, I still have my 200x Turtles - figures on display, but I've been thinking about getting the NECA versions somewhere in the future. And I have a customized TF II DF Optimus Prime on display, but I'm planning on getting the MP Optimus Prime in the future. So in that sense too I don't have any permanent kind-of-attachment to the figures I currently own. I'm ready to replace them if something interesting enough comes along.

[He-Boy]

Getting everyone in your top 10. regardless why there or if they ever had a figure previously released. Once you get all top 10 you should be feeling pretty good and satisfied. aka fealing complete.

everything else is just eye candy that you wouldn't mind having.

I like your thinking. All I have to do now is work out my top 10.

It is an interesting question because it focuses on the concept of being "complete". The thing with that is, this line may end with many of us feeling like it isn't complete. Even back in the 80s I felt like there were charatcers that should have been made into figures.

For me the line will definitely feel incomplete without Spikor and Sorceress and Catra and, oh, hang on, it will feel incomplete without Shadow Weaver and Scorpia so there is a chance this line may never be complete.

[Atomicdios]

Some people have too much spare time on their hands.

[Haephestus]

My "collection" will be near complete once I have Ram-Man, Bow and Catra.

BUT, I'm sure once I see other MOTUC figures, they'll be added to my "must have to complete collection" list.

Cheers.

[EuroCoin]

Complete collection for me is: At least one piece of all past and future MOTUC figures (not including reissues or TRU-pack versions).

- Joni -