The end of the year 2014 comes close, well actually it’s a little early for that and I still have 3 possible incoming figures this year, but I want to finish this post to have time for other things.
So it’s time for a summary of the financial numbers of 2014. Like last year I monitored my expenses on the figure hobby and created some charts to explore some interesting data.
In 2014 I ordered 26 figures from these 26 figures I’ve already sold 7, since I wasn’t that satisfied with them in the end, in 2 cases I didn’t bother to open the box.
Cutting back didn’t work as I imagined and I actually wasn’t trying too hard. Compared to 2013 where I ordered 28 figures 2014 was a little improvement, nevertheless.
As you can see I’ve spent most money on new, regular run figures, I only ordered 2 Exclusive figures and one older one, Aozaki Touko by ALTER. I nearly have all old ( figures made before 2010) figures I ever wanted and spending too much on old plastic is not the best idea, there are so many higher quality figures these days. I bought a 1/3 scaled fashion doll this year without the stuff I additionally bought for Mirai, it was still a big number in the spent budget.
Mirai also turned September into the most expensive month, together with a scale figure we broke through the 60.000 Yen wall. In an average month I’ve spend around 20.000 yen on figure stuff. Several figures delays lead to ordering other stuff, it’s a really bad habit of mine.
The yen turned a little crazy this year for several months it was pretty strong, well not as strong as in early 2013, but with increased figure prices combined it wasn’t that funny, at the moment it’s very weak, which is good for oversea buyers.
Compared to 2013 with ¥218.873,92 the mere figure costs in 2014 were ¥294.419,00.
It’s not all Mirai’s fault, figure prices have also increased and I happen to always like the pricier ones ^^As you can see below the chart says that 54% of my figure purchases consists of items wîth a above 9000 price tag. 14 to give you a real number.
The figure manufacturers I bought the most figures from were Max Factory and GSC, also got some more ALTER and Orchid Seed stuff. I liked Cerberus, Sonico Santa version, Maeda Keiji, Queen’s Blade Alleyne. Araragi Tsukihi, Sonico – Cheerleader version, Sena Kashiwazaki and Asuna a lot and also the Idolmaster Cinderella Girls from GSC were really appealing.
You can always read and find the dedicated reviews under Figure Review archive
Most figures I’ve bought were again 1/8 scale 12 to be precisely, also around 5 1/7 scaled beauties. Sena Kashiwazaki which was 1/4 and with Mirai we got even bigger scaled stuff.
Figures still got 71% of the overall costs, what puzzled me was that shipping and custom fees were rather similar in 2014, I calculated again and again, but nothing changed. In 2013 the fees only made 8% not 14%, shipping 21%
The overall shipping costs dropped in 2014, with EMS less often used, I could save some money with choosing Airmail or SAL Sometimes EMS just hurts in the wallet.
That is the end of my little chart show, hopefully it wasn’t too boring?
I want to spend less money on figures in 2015, less Dolls, no Beach Queens, more boobs XD
Do you also measure your figure expenses? If you have any questions, don’t hesitate ^^
Hoshiko
At least you sold off 7. Doesn’t that bring down your expenditure? How many Dolls you have actually? I don’t see a lot of doll photos here though.
As for myself, I didn’t buy any figures this year. It’s not that there aren’t any figures I like, it’s just that I found out that some parts of my current figures are starting to fall off after less than two years, so it can be a little discouraging…
wieselhead
Oh I haven’t subtracted the sold figures, hehe maybe it would look less scary if I did.
I have two dolls, Mirai and Azusa. Taking pictures with the dolls is always so difficult I still haven’t found out about good posing and stuff. I’ve taken a number of pictures with Mirai, but Im not that satisfied yet. In the end it’s easier to take out a static figure, but I’ll try to focus more on my Dolls next year, since I intend to cut back on figures.
Well, when your figures have broken down completely you have a reason to buy new ones XD
Joking aside it’s really sad when things get damaged since you can’t repair everything in a satisfying way.
Do have more severe damages on your figures?
Plastic might get brittle over time, it’s not the most durable material. Figures are not the safest way to invest money.
Anyway I haven’t witnessed any major damages on my stuff yet, my oldest figure is from 2006.
I hope the top manufactures actually pay a bit attention to the materials they use and that the stuff can last a few decades.
Hoshiko
Nah, no more severe damages. Just that the connected parts keep falling off every time I hold them. Sigh. Very true, figures are not a good way to invest money, lol. But we buy because we love them. >.<
wieselhead
That is good ^^ Ah, actually it’s pretty normal that such small connector parts fall off easily when moving the figure, you could use a sort of “blue tack” to keep the tiny parts in place. Haha yeah it’s so much fun, that I totally forget about possible damages and such upsetting things (＾▽＾)
Bakayaro
Ich mag solche Statistken! Finde es übrigens interessant, dass deine Versandarten ziemlich unterschiedlich gewählt sind aber du schreibst ja selbst, dass es anscheinend bei EMS mal mehr war. Bei mir ist es eigentlich immer die selbe. In meine Sammlung sind dieses Jahr übrigens 36 Figuren dazugekommen. 3 davon bereits verkauft. Habe auch schon einen Artikel dazu vorbereitet der später diesen Monat online geht. =) Wird nicht so detailliert aus Fakten bestehen wie bei dir sondern eher aus Fotos um ein wenig nostalgisch zu werden. =D
wieselhead
Danke, macht auch Spaß solche Listen zu haben wenn man so wie du und ich viele Figuren kauft.
Echt immer EMS? das ist manchmal einfach zu teuer ^^ und wenn beispielsweise 3 Figuren im gleichen Monat verschickt werden, brauche ich die ja nicht alle per EMS haben.
36!? Bravo ^^ Naja die Anzahl hätte ich wohl dieses Jahr nicht erreicht, hätte so 4-6 zusätzlich kaufen können. Da gefielen mir wirklich noch ein paar mehr 😉 Ah cool da freue ich mich schon drauf, evntuell mache ich auch noch was mit mehr Emotion und Bildern.
Aya
Wow as usual You keep track on them in details .. I did keep track on my purchases but not as details as that ^^ just take note on how much the money spent. maybe should make detail note for it next year.
I spend too much on 2012 so I slow down since then with gave up pre-ordering stuff but I ended not buying scaled figure anymore lol (I almost did but I ended buying doll clothes instead -_-; ), and I think that’s Should the the first thing I will buy next year XD
ps : yes it’s kinda hard posing dolls make them posing as realistic as possible is the main challenge ^^ and you do seek perfection right 😉
wieselhead
It can be pretty much fun, to work with such a list when ordering stuff like “crazy”
The focus changes a bit once a big doll is in the house ^^ Buying doll clothes is really fun.
Since I plan to buy less figures Mirai can expect more gorgeous clothes in 2015 *lol*
I don’t really want a perfect picture now, but decent ones ^^ I hope I can improve some more through practise,
I also have problems with finding the right lighting.
Aya
How about expecting a little sister for mirai, a loli one maybe 😉 .
Do look forward for it 😀 I always wish, can do outdoor shoot for dolls,like what I see them everytime, I check on flickr or tumblr like this maybe http://moe-doll.tumblr.com/post/99829491982/2chan-net-exrare
wieselhead
Oh no, not another doll that wants new clothes :p I would rather get a custom head to put on Mirai’s body.
These pictures from Japanese or Chinese people on flickr are on a really high level, it probably takes some years to reach such a level.
Pinkcheeks
*checks my cabinet* oh wow, this puts my tiny collection to shame! This is awesome, you’re so diligent in keeping in track of everything! Can you teach me how to make these pretty charts? XD
wieselhead
I wish I had less figures around from time to time, to be able to get more new ones ahaha XD
Yeah sure I can, here I have this excel sheet with shipping costs and everything ordered by month. I keep it updated pretty regular, so it is not much work actually. You can easily put these numbers into the charts, it’s not the prettiest program for it, but you can adjust nearly everything to make it more appealing. I can give you further advice wen you are interested ^^
Pinkcheeks
Oh wow thank you! Though it’s a bit late to put stuff on the sheet now, but this will come in handy next year! I don’t buy much, but I like seeing where my cash goes…if it’s not for food, then it for this wonderful hobby hahahahaha ^_^
wieselhead
Yeah don’t hurry this year, but it’s actually fun with such a list I would say. Even though I’m not the biggest fan of numbers XD
Ahaha :p
feal87
Yeah, the yen change has been quite helpful recently in getting stuff for less from Japan. Made many manga/LN orders and spent far less than in the past. I still shivers thinking at the time when the change was 94 yen per euro…*shivers*
wieselhead
Oh, also good for you haha
Probably won’t happen again in the next few months to have a strong Yen.
Miette-chan
You know, I find this kind of stuff very interesting… but it’s something that scares me to death.
May be I will try tracking this stuff next year, will probably forget about it though. I do find it amusing you ended up around the same as last year after your declaration to spend less and buy less. It’s kinda hard isn’t it?
This year was odd for me, the first half the year was a bit empty, still recovering from not having a job I didn’t buy as much. Then the second half came and I just didn’t buy anything at all aside from some outliers from delays. For some reason, every single figure I been interested comes out in the first half of 2015… which is gonna be… pricy, at least it’s all figmas and “cheaper” stuff and the yen is super weak now.
wieselhead
This time it wasn’t that shocking actually ^^ It made me a bit sad that I bought nearly the same number of figures as in 2013, maybe in 2015 my plan works. Indeed it’s super hard to decide between and pass on figures that actually are something I would really like, the December month was horrible for me X(.
Ah so 2015 will be a hard year for you, probably.How do you manage to ignore so many figures? I mean I’m actually a picky person who don’t buy every pretty looking figure, but still it’s so tempting sometimes.