Boxes, and Backcards, and Backlog, Oh My!

When it comes to new items in store, I think I'm reasonably good at judging which items to pick up before they disappear and which ones can wait until a sale comes up.  But once I have those items in hand, I become the Slowest Person Alive.

Ah, 2015.  That brief moment when Target stores were operating in Canada AND managed to have their shelves stocked.

I am not now, nor am I ever likely to be, a MOC/MIB collector.  And yet, I seem to constantly have a pile of unopened figures hanging around.  But why?

My current backlog. Some of these haven't been opened in 4 years.  I'm a terrible pony hoarder.

For one thing, I like to take pictures of everything in order to catalogue the accessories that came with each pony, and this is most easily done right when the package has been opened.  But I also like the pony to look her best, which means a shampoo and conditioning before she's ready for her close up.  This obviously means that I can only open a few packages at a time without risking mixing things up before I can get the pictures taken.

Another slow down involves the Geek Cave itself.  I've got to have space in the Cave to lay out the accessories and then the ponies while they dry, and finally to set up my very makeshift photo booth.  As the Cave is often a mess, it's not always practical to try and open several sets at once.

I also tend to wait for sales as often as I can, which means I'm sometimes picking up 3-4 sets at once (occasionally more than that).  And I often make a stop at TRU as we're running errands in the evening after work, which means I don't have time to open the packages the same day that I buy them.  This all contributes further to the backlog.

I was just as bad during the G3 era - you should have seen me when the sales were on.

On the plus side, when I'm going through my backlog, I don't often find a lot of sets that I've changed my mind about.  I find this encouraging, because it means I'm mentally curating pieces before I purchase them and that shows me that I'm paying attention to what I'm buying and not just picking up anything on impulse or because I haven't bought something for awhile.

Much as with the G3s, I imagine the wind down of G4 and ramp up of G5 will give me a bit of time in which to catch up and get more of these pieces on display.  I look forward to having the time to set up some new displays with these ponies.  Not to mention reclaiming that corner of the guest room where my backlog is currently waiting for some attention.

Elf