W E E K O N E
DISNEY ESSENTIALS
Our friends over at Love Our Crazy Life have asked some of their blogging friends (like me) to participate in a Blogging Challenge. So for four weeks in April, on every Monday morning, I will be covering a different Disney-related topic. You can click the link above to find all of the other participants and their entries. Enjoy!
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For Collecting
So you just love Vinylmations! You look for them everywhere you go: Disney Parks. Flea Markets. Yard Sales. But are you really ready to sensibly add to your collection? If you’re not careful, you could lose the find, or pay too much, and be disappointed!
Here are my Top Five Essentials that you must have to be a great collector:
Number One – Patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your collection of Disney matchbooks be!
How much would owning each one of these cost you?
There are two factors that play on completing a collection: Availability and Price. Availability is usually more of a problem if what you are collecting is vintage, like postcards or Park Maps. It could take many years to find each piece of a set by searching eBay and local sellers. Price can make things difficult to complete a collection quickly if the line of merchandise is extensive, such as the flat plushes above.
So it is best to have patience and be happy with what you have found to date, and thrilled when you find each new piece, year after year. And… it usually does take years to complete a comprehensive collection of anything worthwhile!
Number Two – Organization. Have you ever bought something only to find that you already have it? Twice! This can lead to disappointment and inconvenience as now you have to liquidate your new find in order to invest in the next.
“Oh no! I bought one too many!”
Using your Smart Phone is the best defense against this problem. Simply use a notes app to list what you already have, or take photographs. You can upload these images to iCloud, or some similar service, and retrieve them when you need to check your stock.
Number Three – Budget. A find might be worth the world to you, but that is way too expensive, so haggle! Many times it is all too easy to get caught up in the moment and overpay for an item. Before you even leave your home on a buying trip, settle on the maximum amount you will pay for an individual piece, and the total expenditure for the day.
Don’t let your budget get caught in a money whirlpool!
Always remember that paying the mortgage/rent, buying food, and clothing your family is a tad more important than having a shelf full of trinkets!
Number Four – Curb Your Enthusiasm. The actual action thereof, not the television show! If you let a seller know you just have to have something they are selling, the price may go up (if not labeled) or at the very least there will be no price negotiation.
True Story: I was looking at a Disney Monorail Watch at a flea market. I was playing it cool by showing only mild interest and was about to start the negotiation process. At that moment my wife came up, saw the watch, and started to gush about how much I loved monorails and that I should definitely buy it! The man looked at me and smiled… and I paid his asking price.
Tip: If you are accompanying someone on a buying trip… zip it!
Number Five – Display Space. If you have nowhere to show off your latest find, maybe it’s time to rethink your strategy!
Those who collect big items know this problem only too well. A collection can outgrow available space quickly. So if you have limited space, it may be best to choose a smaller item to collect, like ephemera.
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