I though a few people might recognise and get a kick out of hearing my story of my transition, against my will from civilian to collector, I’m sure everyone has interesting tales of how it started for them too, so here is mine.
Wee!!!! It’s here!! - A few months ago I started reading the forums here, just to see what was going on so to speak, see the scene, and the market etc. I wasn’t a collector; I had no intentions of becoming a collector. I thought collectors were slightly mad
Anyway I started sculpting again and making things I liked myself. Lovecraft and fantasy stuff. As I was sculpting things, I spent lots of time looking at them and I found that even after I had finished based and painted stuff and was on to the next project – well I would take my stuff down to admire it. I started seeing lots of things on the forum as well and spending time admiring those pictures too. Wishing I had the statue right there, so it could sit it next to my own stuff and to re-base it and re-paint it maybe, you know just to generally have it.
My mindset had altered; I was now looking at things in a totally different way with changed motivation.
Last week I made the plunge. The classic Hickman Cthulhu from the original 1000 by Bowen was on EBay. I had a week to decide and I flip-flopped a bunch of times as to whether I should buy it or not. It was on at 200£ starting but I felt it might go higher. So I put it on my watched list and the week went on. I tried to forget about it but in my head I was mentally counting down the days to the end of the auction.
By the last day I had set my alarm on my mobile phone to go off 20 min’s before the end of the auction. By this time, I could see there were two other buyer’s in the arena: so be it! I was in for the fight, I knew I had to have that damn figurine; I had to time it so I would have time to respond to an automatic bid. But of course not so much time that the other’s would have much time to respond (
unless they too were sitting by the PC with a stopwatch, damn their hide’s!!) And if they happened to be AFK or busy doing anything else for 5 minutes – well the game was mine
Two minutes from the end I struck..
wham! My bid was in, when shock horror,
the auto bid kicks in. I can feel panic, but force it down. I bid 3 times more as fast as my PC will respond before I get the message – yours is the highest bid! – 55 seconds to go, I’m watching the clock and refreshing like mad. Fearing the worst that a bid will come in and I won’t have time to respond. 20 seconds, 10seconds.. This is it, if it comes now I am toast, 5seconds, oh my god, please just finish!
It ends. I see the email requesting payment and a warm feeling of satisfaction goes through me Yesssss!!!!!!!!, needless to say I’m on it immediately. Payment goes through and I know I won’t feel totally happy till I hold Cthulhu in my grasp.
Today was that day, sculpting till 7am I go to bed only to be awoke by the special delivery. I quickly sign and start to unpack him. I am rather worried at this juncture, having read a bunch of horror stories on the forum by this time about shoddy wrapped goods and the breaks and chips they have. I tell myself that I actually make these things from scratch. I will be able to fix anything, but damn it, I want him to be perfect! As I struggle to unpack the brute I begin to feel better. Sheet upon sheet of bubble wrap, taped so securely that I actually begin to fear any damage will be caused by ME, when trying to unearth the statue.
Wow! Whoever this guy is he went that extra mile to ensure he got to me safely. I inspect the little dude and he is in great condition, so I place him in his new home in my bookcase and I am admiring him when an odd thought comes to me – I will need more space for the other’s to go with this one. I stopped.. others?? What others? This was a onetime deal wasn’t it? After this worrying thought I immediately wondered where I would keep my angel of death from gentle giant. The thing was 32 inches for god sake! My bedroom wasn’t going to cut it. Meh! I decided I would worry about the small details after I had him. I also needed to make plans for my Conan stuff and of course the new Hobbit movie, that would be a goldmine for a Tolkien fan like myself, not to forget my Smaug, based on the artwork of John Howe.
I was in deep, no turning back now, not sure how it happened but it really did. I can only, thank my lucky stars that I’m not majorly into superhero’s, of course I have been playing Batman: Arkham asylum and man some of the artwork in that game is the bomb. If I can only find a definitive version of Batman, I'll just get the one..
Titus.
And Here's the little guy in his new home!
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And in diarama with my limited edition signed lumely book - 187 of 300run The compeat Crow.
