It was not easy, nor was it a decision that I wanted to make. Yet the decision I had just made regarding my future meant that I had to do something.

For the past 9 years, I have basically lived in the same place. As anyone well knows, living in one place for a long time means you accumulate a lot of stuff. When you're a collector, this is especially true. Over the years my collection has grown quite large, to the point where I no longer had much room to display it. I had to pick and choose what made the display. The rotation changed depending on my mood, but I still had my collection.

However, recently I decided to make a big move. The kind that says my life is going in a different direction than what I had planned. Given that decision, I would have to pack everything I owned and move it with me. And so I faced a harsh reality. What to do with my collection? Space is at a premium in my new place and storage is expensive. Plus, everything had to be moved. Moving approximately 800 miles means you can't go back easily to pick stuff up. Once the decision was made, I only had 3 weeks to pack all my stuff and move out.

In the end, the only choice was to leave part of my collection behind. As an opener it wasn't really possible to sell loose items on ebay, nor did I have the time. The nature of what I collected also meant that most people didn't really want another Saga Jedi figure. I went through the collection and gave a great many action figures away to charity. The Wat Tambor I got as part of a package deal to land Secret Ceremony Padme. Gone. The countless Yoda figures with little lightsabers. Gone. Interactive Yoda, both AOTC and ROTS. Gone.

In the end, only a few figures survived. As I have alluded to here, my collection has changed over the years. I'm an adult, and while I will always be a Star Wars geek, I want my enjoyment of the saga to feel more grown up. For me, the Hasbro figures had lost much of their appeal. I just like the look of one GG mini-bust more than 9 action figures, and the price is about the same too. And so, in further adhering to my adult sensibilities, more action figures went to new adventures.

The Unleashed, most 12" figures, GG pieces, and MR pieces were never in danger. The rule was simple. The figure had to be unique and I had to have some level of attachment to it. Maybe it reminded me of old friends long gone(Watto from AOTC fits because a buddy and I, much to the chagrin of his wife, insisted that Watto became exponentially cooler in AOTC than TPM simply because he had a hat). Maybe I didn't have an Unleashed version of said character. Or maybe, I just really liked it. And so it is that my collection shrank.

I am happy to report that an old co-worker mentioned to me that a little boy in her neighborhood loves Yoda. So while most of my collection went to a local thrift shop, I do know that the Yoda toys found a new home and a little boy that now has Yoda toys of his own. And I suspect that somewhere either a little child or a collector was ecstatic to find a Star Wars figure that they really want for a cheap price. The collecting circle of life continues.

As for me, my collection is beginning to come out again. For the time being, I have room to display them. I like that. And my mother recently looked over my collection and was impresssed. I don't think she would have said that if it was dominated by action figures. That's the beauty of being a collector. There really is plenty of stuff to collect for all of us.