Toy Hunting: In Store or Online?

This used to bother me too when I first started collecting again (at 28 years old), but now when I get those judgmental stares, I just glare back with a mental middle finger.

If the stuff is ever available near you, it feels like cheating to buy online. Obviously for the older stuff, you don't have much choice, but I can't bring myself to buy a figure online that I could find in stores with some time. Basic 36 was like this for me. Finding Langston was like my white whale. I'm seeing him everywhere now, but there was like two months where I was just scouring every store for the damn guy.

I'm a believer of 'The thrill of the hunt' because sometimes you do come across the unexpected. A couple months ago, I went to my local TRU to see if they had Elite 22/23 and they did, so I searched through the pegs and I found 2 elites that I didn't expect to find. I assumed they must have found them in the back because they were dusty and a little worn. Anyways, those 2 figures were Elite 16 Randy Orton and Elite 18 Rey Mysterio. Then again, that Rey Mysterio was probably dusty because it shelf warmed that long. However, seeing that Elite 16 Orton there was pretty cool. Sometimes it makes me wonder...Will the staff ever find something epic in the back that they lost ages ago and put it on the pegs? It's possible. So that aspect makes the thrill of the hunt more exciting.

Anyways, I only buy figures online if they're exclusives or if they're old gems. For example, I was once lucky enough to find an Elite 8 Edge MOC for £30...I didn't hesitate to buy it. I also got Defining Moments Shawn Michaels for £40 on Amazon. I also got the Elite Scale Ring MOC for £80 on Amazon but that was a while ago.

And there are cases where stores are able to put an older series on the pegs. When my local TRU got Elite 20 in, they must have put out a new case of Elite 17 too...because it wasn't there the previous week. Somebody must have gotten Mankind before me because he wasn't there but everyone else in that series was there. Even Kelly Kelly and Zack Ryder.

Nowadays, I prefer going to Smyths rather than TRU. That's just because Smyths is slightly cheaper and whenever you get to the WWE aisle...It is paradise, as some of you have seen from my old pics. They're always stocked up, the selection and variety is insane and you never run into the case of "Oh, they don't have that one...that sucks".

I got about 10 rare MOC's too that were like, 100 each. E7 HBK and such.

I got nothing better to spend my money on haha.

I like the feeling of going into a store and seeing a figure you have wanted on the shelf. I don't really go figure hunting anymore unless i am already out doing something eles. Seeing that i don't have paypal i don't really have that many options for buying online. I mainly go to the store and see what i can find.