darkSpyro

I have Asperger's syndrome, so I tend to get pretty obsessed with stuff like this. It's happened before with Pokemon and Lego (back when I was a kid, I'm 19 now but I still like collectables). Lately I've had real problems moving away from skylanders and doing other stuff... It's all I think about. I spend basically all my money (my only income is 30$ my grandma sends me a week, I need it to buy food and bus tickets) on skylanders, and it's just so hard for me to stop. I know I have it easy compared to alot of people, but has anyone else had problems with this? I'd just like to know I'm not the only one.

Wow, yeah no I haven't had a issue with this but it could be tied to your Asperger's syndrome. I'd talk to a doctor. As far as obsessions go I suppose you could have worse ones. Also can't some patient who suffer from Asperger's syndrome file for disability?

You're 19 years old and living on $120 a month that comes from your grandma? Get a job.

Nowhere will employ me because I am disabled and suffer from mental illness. I did have a job once but I got sacked because my anxiety problems made it hard for me to work, and at the moment I study full time so there's not much time for me to work. I also live with my mother, who supplies most of my food (I give her my disability and youth allowance to help out) but since she has health problems I kind of have to look after her.

Think before you speak, bro.

First of all, im not your bro. Secondly, you are perfectly capable of putting coherent sentences together in this forum (more than I can say for some), so your illness can't be too disabling. Especially if you are studying full time. More to the point, though, is the fact that if your monthly income is $120 per month, you shouldn't be wasting it on toys.

That last thing you said is the point - I'm having problems controlling that urge. I know I shouldn't be wasting it on toys, but it can be hard to resist for someone with Asperger's. I was just wondering if other people felt the same.

Also, I have an average IQ, can spell and such, but that doesn't count for anything in most retail jobs. You should see me try and hold a conversation in real life: I stutter, shake and get to the point of panic. I get extremely nervous and often mess up people's reciepts and such in retail settings, which makes people angry, yada yada. Basically, I'm avoiding a job because I have little time and since retail work is one of the only jobs people of my age can get.

Quote: Himewad

First of all, im not your bro. Secondly, you are perfectly capable of putting coherent sentences together in this forum (more than I can say for some), so your illness can't be too disabling. Especially if you are studying full time. More to the point, though, is the fact that if your monthly income is $120 per month, you shouldn't be wasting it on toys.

This is the dumbest post I've seen in a long time. Hime what the Hell, are you a doctor? So if a person can form complete sentences they must be o.k....wow a psych. doctor you are not so quit acting like an ass.

To the o.p., collectables are a tough thing for people with obsessive disorders. Try and stretch the Skylanders you do have by resetting them and running through different specs. and completing the heroic challenges. If that doesn't work try giving yourself a goal of allowing 1 new Skylanders every other week. Also some retail outlets are selling used Skylanders at a slightly reduced rate. That's not much but those are a few options. Also you need to be prepared for responses like Hime's on these boards. If you ask for public opinion you will get it beneficial or not.

Hey Himewad, how 'bout you give it up already. Lay off my god give me a break we are all tired of you on here. Troll somewhere else and pick fights and argue with 13 year olds. Grow up.

@Tig: Haha don't worry, I was preparing for the onslaught the moment I posted this. I've been on plenty of forums like this ever since I was little. I'm just defending my position the best way I can and trying to be as blunt as I can without being rude.

The ironic thing is, I'm a second year Psych major.

@Jet Moto: I agree with you entirely, but I should mention I'm a girl. No big deal, just thought I should let everyone know, cause before you know it, everyone will be calling me "him".

Quote: Himewad

First of all, im not your bro. Secondly, you are perfectly capable of putting coherent sentences together in this forum (more than I can say for some), so your illness can't be too disabling. Especially if you are studying full time. More to the point, though, is the fact that if your monthly income is $120 per month, you shouldn't be wasting it on toys.

Do you have any idea what Asperger's syndrome is and what it entails? I'm not defending the guy for not having a job, but mental illness is not something to be taken lightly. It can greatly handicap one's ability to function healthily in society.

I'm just going to assume you're grossly misinformed about the spectrum of autism and thus have little sensitivity on the subject. So to make such assumptions as his "illness can't be too disabling" is ignorant and borderline rude. He may be perfectly capable of holding some kind of job, but you don't know that, so don't say that.

I have OCD So I tend to have the same issue with stuff such as this. Though My income isn't as tight as yours is.
I'm disabled also and so is my son, and we are both on disability, I know your not in the USA but I'm sure Australia has something like disablitly that you could apply for.

Have you ever though of that? You'd get a monthly income, especially if you can't work due to your illness. I'd give that a go. That way money for you wouldn't be so tight. Ya know.

And omg, don't listen to people like Hime, there are alot of jerks out there who don't know what its like to have mental ilness (I on the other hand do) OCD is a terror for me, as well as the other probs I have, (though most of mine are physical)
You get props for admiting and realizing you have a issue, alot of people can't even do that.

Perhaps look into setting yourself a goal. That may help. Like limit yourself (Much like what one of the previous posters said). Tell yourself, that you can only buy one new skylander every other week or something like that. I know its hard, I have the same battles with myself on other things (I collect a bunch of different things, not just skylanders) My main issue is Manga

Hope you can get the answers you are looking for, but pretty much in a nutshell, your definitely not alone in this I assure you

I have a bit of an obsessive personality...always have really. Although I will soon (enough) have all the Skylanders and I know there really aren't any in stores that I'm looking for, I'll still compulsively look and rifle through the ones available just to see what is there.

Like today, for example, I found another LRod/Cynder/Zook 3 pack...and yesterday I found Dragon's Peak and a Legendary 3 pack...but I already have them, what's the point? I mean, at least, if I resold them or was really looking for certain ones, that'd at least make sense, but nope, I don't do either...

I'm just that crazy guy that looks through the Skylanders sections everytime he passes through a store and is helpful to strangers when they look confused on what to get for their kids and that guy who provides helpful information when store associates don't actually know enough to help their customers.

I feel like such a loser, FML. ;__;

I have been half tempted to pick up an extra Wham Shells or Camos that I run across, but have to stop myself. Gotta find a way to get rid of my extra WhamShell coming in from GameStop.

Thanks for the awesome reply, Dunkin.

I do get disability - but like my I said, I funnel it directly into my Mum's account since being the woman who raised me, I think she deserves alot of help. I'm also a reformed OCD sufferer, and I can remember how awful it was to be unable to control my actions.

Hopefully this will all blow over when I get all the skylanders, but I will take your advice and try to limit myself.

Does your mom also get disability?

I don't think so, no. She's not disabled, she's injured; she has sciatica which causes her pain sometimes, but she can work. She's also studying. I just have to help out with alot of the chores, which is fine, but takes alot of time.

Ugh Chores. It only gets worse.

Once I moved out and had to clean up after my own messes and my friends...

Yeah it sucks when you have an illness and it messes up a lot, but not enough. My Grandma was like that before she kicked the bucket. She was a stubborn old boot though.

You're very welcome. I wish you much luck by the way!

And thats good to hear that you are getting something, but even more awesome that your sending it to your mom. I'm sure she appreciates the help.
And yeah its worth a shot
I wish you much luck C:

Didn't you guys know? Himey does that to get a rise out of people. Most call it trolling/flaming.

I was thinking I obsessed over Skylanders. However, that doesn't seem to be the case, because I haven't even been searching Ebay or stores for variants.

Heck, I have even thought about selling all of my variants and just rolling with a normal collection, seeing as Activision/FTB made it cinredibly stupid-hard to get variants, unlike other toy lines.

I can imagine what 2k for my silvers and golds would do for me. I will see what fate decides. If I don't get pearl Hex, clears, or glows within the next month or so, I am officially done hunting variants, and I will just wait for Giants. If I do find them, I will stay in the variant game.

wow himewad way to be an *** especially knowing how old you are

I know what it's like, as I've got some traits of Asperger's. I'm a massive fan of skylanders, but I only have a few friends who I share the interest with, so I can't talk about it as much as I'd like to to get things off my chest. In total, only 12 people (including me, but not anyone on this forum) know that I'm into skylanders. All I can say is don't judge if you don't know what it's like - you probably don't have too much experience with Asperger's or other disabilities, so you wouldn't know what it's like. Get a life and find something positive to do that's worth people's time, i.e. NOT picking on people's flaws, especially the ones that they can't help.

Skylanders is worth it, i am same with the Asperger's syndrome.

Skylanders is definitely worth it! it'll probably be the obsession that I keep until i'm older and one day, I'll find them again while searching the attic or something, and think 'I remember these! I used to play this game all the time! They were my most prized possessions back then'. I intend to keep it that way so that I don't forget all the good times :') I may not trust any kids I have with them, so I can donate them to a toy museum or something like that before I pass away, so they'll be kept safe forever

I am not one that normally has OCD or is prone to addiction and I find myself needing to check for Skylanders whenever I pass by a store that might have some. Set a budget for them and try very hard to stick with it and hopefully that will help. I know it can be hard to not have them all, especially when you never know when it will be hard to find a certain one again.

Ignore the insensitive jerk named Himewad.

While Skylanders is a great series, I think you're right in thinking you have a problem. I think you should seek counseling if it's gotten really bad.

To me this is just another hobby, and with it comes addiction or obsession in some form or way. This is the reason I choose my hobby carefully because I always know I'll spend money and time on it.

Psst, to everyone complaining that the OP doesn't have a job, I'll let you in on a really big and ground-breaking secret... School is more important than work. Are your minds officially blown yet? You can try to pretend that having a job at Walmart teaches important things like work ethic, responsibility, and blahblahblahwhocares, but that outlook is ridiculous. Do you have a single positive memory of your first crap job aside from the money? Yeah, didn't think so. And it's a thousand times worse for the OP, who, as he pretty clearly stated, suffers from severe anxiety in social situations like that.

Spare me this mentality that a person's worth can be judged solely upon whether or not they are employed. That's about the stupidest load of crap I've ever heard.

Quote: Tashiji

Psst, to everyone complaining that the OP doesn't have a job, I'll let you in on a really big and ground-breaking secret... School is more important than work. Are your minds officially blown yet? You can try to pretend that having a job at Walmart teaches important things like work ethic, responsibility, and blahblahblahwhocares, but that outlook is ridiculous. Do you have a single positive memory of your first crap job aside from the money? Yeah, didn't think so. And it's a thousand times worse for the OP, who, as he pretty clearly stated, suffers from severe anxiety in social situations like that.

Spare me this mentality that a person's worth can be judged solely upon whether or not they are employed. That's about the stupidest load of crap I've ever heard.

I think the only person complaining about that was Himewad (or how-ever its spelled). The rest of us are trying to give her some advice (Which she asked for) and nothing more than that lol. I see you're point though, school is more important I agree. But its good that she's trying to seek advice and support from others.

We all have obsessive tendencies from time to time, its just a part of human nature. Though some of us (Like myself) can tend to have them more hardcore.

Though I really wouldn't say I'm obsessed with "Skylanders" Since I only want one of all the Regular characters. I don't really care about the varients, though I'd buy one if I saw it in stores, but i wouldn't go out of my way to do so.

My obsessions reside elsewhere

Quote: Tashiji

... Do you have a single positive memory of your first crap job aside from the money? Yeah, didn't think so. ...

well i'll have to say i know i do and it involved a stunning female dancer that worked at the club where i worked on the bar

Hahaha, well, you had a pretty awesome first crap job, t7gga. Mine was a pizza place, and even the pizza began tasting like hatred after a while. The hottest girl where I worked was covered in pizza dough 24-7, and pushing 30. Best memory I have from that place was quitting, and if anything, I'd say my first job did more to make me hate work than appreciate it. Don't want the poor person scared to ever work because of anxiety attacks behind the register at Walmart, that'd defeat the purpose of going to college at all.

come to think of it my first job actually was probably my most fun of my crap jobs

anyhow, back on topic and back to the first post

no you are not alone. plenty of "normal" people are obsessed to a certain level by these stupid plastic toys.

Yeah, you're not alone at all. My wife and I have both had varying levels of obsession with these throughout the various release cycles. You don't even need to worry; they're made to be addictive. Everything about them is supposed to be eye-catching, fun, and hard to stop collecting. The game itself makes that point every time you reach a new elemental door, or look at your Accolades, or play your Heroic Challenges. They made the product to addict all who come in contact with it, and it's no surprise that it's worked. Just be patient, spend money only when you can afford it and not every time it's in your wallet, and once you have all of the figures, you can either channel your obsession into a positive outlet like art or fanfiction, or the obsession will simply evaporate because you have all the figures. Either way, it won't be this bad forever.

HIme attacks and then hides in the corner and whimpers like a scolded puppy.

OP,

My suggestion is you find a way to turn your "problem" into a "solution". What I mean by that is this...

I am OCD. A perfectionist. When I buy something, I like to have all of it. For example, if I find a shirt I like that fits me well, I will buy multiple shirts, or the same shirt in different colors. I found a golf putter I really liked, so I bought a second as a backup incase something happens to the first one. Yeah...I've got problems.

I recently got into collecting baseball cards again and discovered eBay. Through this discovery, I've been able to recoup money I've spent, not just on baseball cards, but on things around the house. At times, I've found ways to recoup money, and even MAKE money, on things I find while I'm out doing stuff for the family.

I've had extremely good fortune finding Skylanders since the shortage. And my obsession to collect them all has also allowed me to find a way to turn my problem into a solution. I've been able to recoup money spent on buying skylanders by selling hard to find skylanders on ebay. I know most of the people on this forum frown on this and call it scalping, but I see it as a good opportunity to not put yourself in the hole. As you've stated, you are young, jobless and don't have much income. You are a perfect candidate for buying and selling on eBay. If you are resourceful enough and lucky, you can stay on top of Skylander releases and find a way to pay for the Skylanders you can't really afford to buy. And if you feel guilty about doing it, then you don't have to go crazy. Here's an example of what I would do. I have 2 sets of Skylanders at home. 1 for my kids and 1 for myself (sealed). When I find a character I need, I will get 1 for my kid, 1 for my collection and 1 or 2 to sell on eBay to pay for what I purchased. Best case, I make some money. Worst case, I'll break even or lose a little. But if you time it right, you'll come out on top. Then you can spend your allowance or disability on something you really need.

Anyway, just a suggestion. And on a side note, don't worry about the people on this forum too much. I belong to many forums and I can tell you, everyone things they have all the answers. And they sit on their mighty digital throne. People will say whatever they want when they can hide behind a keyboard and monitor. And good for you for reaching out to the community.

^ This. Ignore the people who complain about scalping. They're not helping you complete your collection and put the obsession to rest at all. Do what you have to do to get through it, and not at the expense of your very limited personal funding.

It's definately addictive, my wife and I are both addicted, although my wife doesn't play. It's still fun to experience the thrill of getting parts of your collection that you are missing. I still get warm feelings when I remember the day at walmart that I used the advice in another thread to have them look up the UPC and check the total inventory on the gemini scaner against the count i had just done of what was on the shelves; turns out they had 5 boxes on the loading dock, hadn't even been moved to their back of the store location, and each one had a wham shell and camo in it. I pretty much skipped over to where my wife was looking at baby clothes for our newest born. I grabbed two of the 5 sets of camo and warnado, then left a post on the AZ hunters thread that there were more there. I never got a response from anyone saying they went to get them; which makes me wish I had just bought all of them and recouped some of the money this addiction has used :-) I'm 36/37, soon to be 37/37 and so now I have begun to collect a second set to leave boxed. They hang on my wall next to my computer, under my star wars posters (I'm a huge star wars fan too, used to play the old republic until i got my son started on skylanders. I will go back soon, or so i keep telling myself)

On a side note, it occurs to me that it probably sounds funny for me to have a screen name of erica0680 and be talking about my wife; I would be using my own screen name if the admins here would ever get around to approving my account :-/

Quote: Corroded Arceus

I have Asperger's syndrome, so I tend to get pretty obsessed with stuff like this. It's happened before with Pokemon and Lego (back when I was a kid, I'm 19 now but I still like collectables). Lately I've had real problems moving away from skylanders and doing other stuff... It's all I think about. I spend basically all my money (my only income is 30$ my grandma sends me a week, I need it to buy food and bus tickets) on skylanders, and it's just so hard for me to stop. I know I have it easy compared to alot of people, but has anyone else had problems with this? I'd just like to know I'm not the only one.

You're not the only one, I get that way with stuff also. As much as I like Skylanders I have never been so frustrated over any product until now! I can't wait for the next game and at the same time I am regretting more frsutrations trying to track them down, this is all very stressfull...

Thanks for the tips, but I can't scalp for three reasons: a) I have no way of buying/selling online, no debit or credit card and b) I don't like scalping for moral reasons. I'd feel terrible if, say, I bought the last Wham-Shell and put it on ebay and it was the last one some little 5 year old who can't buy online needed. For someone who cannot buy/sell online, I know I would be ticked if someone bought a skylander I can't find just to put it on ebay. Scalping isn't much of a problem where I live but I would still feel guilty doing it! and c) I don't have enough money to buy multiple skylanders. If other people wanna scalp, that's their perogative, but it's not for me!

i have disable my self i have atiusim try some that like that dont cost u money like fishing golf and dont anybody pick on u

Hey, birdmanb12, are you from Brisbane?

Wow, really? I'm disabled as well (I have a problem with my ANS =_= - the system of your body that controls heart rate/rhythm, sweating, signals from your brain to your body, etc. ) and nobody ever has the right to tell you to get a job just because you can log into a forum and make a coherent sentence. I'm just appalled that someone thinks they have a right to say such things ...................

I get kinda of obsessed over things, but not to the point that I will make unwise decisions about my money, so I have no real insight to give you. But definitely ignore the "get a job" comment(s). Because I've had it up to here with people telling ME that, and I know it can get annoying when you have some kind of impairment and workplaces won't hire you then have people harping in your ear about that.

Hey fellow aspergien (i don't know if i spelled that right). I also have aspergers (just a little bit), and i have the same obsession. on my family's coffee table, i have all my skylanders out, and when ever somebody messes with it, i go kind of crazy. but it's cool to finally to find another aspy on here!

Quote: Tigorus

Quote: Himewad

First of all, im not your bro. Secondly, you are perfectly capable of putting coherent sentences together in this forum (more than I can say for some), so your illness can't be too disabling. Especially if you are studying full time. More to the point, though, is the fact that if your monthly income is $120 per month, you shouldn't be wasting it on toys.

This is the dumbest post I've seen in a long time. Hime what the Hell, are you a doctor? So if a person can form complete sentences they must be o.k....wow a psych. doctor you are not so quit acting like an ass.

To the o.p., collectables are a tough thing for people with obsessive disorders. Try and stretch the Skylanders you do have by resetting them and running through different specs. and completing the heroic challenges. If that doesn't work try giving yourself a goal of allowing 1 new Skylanders every other week. Also some retail outlets are selling used Skylanders at a slightly reduced rate. That's not much but those are a few options. Also you need to be prepared for responses like Hime's on these boards. If you ask for public opinion you will get it beneficial or not.

This.