How do you handle a playmobil crisis?

[Ismene]

I don't have a huge collection, but I have very little space and too many hobbies.

Until I move to a bigger place, I'm keeping most of it in boxes, and just bringing out what I want to work with right now. Otherwise, I'd be stepping on klickies trying to move around.

When I buy lots to get certain items, I always sell what I don't plan on using. This keeps the spatial/financial impact to a minimum.

I'd like to get small uniform plastic containers to store everything in, but I'm not sure it would help.

[Giorginetto]

I put down bought a bigger house  , as we bought our summer holiday home this year in May    one of the key  reasons i bought this place   was that as agreed with my wife one of its  rooms is dedicated purely to  my playmobil ( space collection there, pirate to follow next summer there and maybe romans/egyptians )

I also put down the option ' keep on buying' or something as it was called as space never stopped me from buying playmos , you should see my room when i was a student at uni    of course my then  medieval collection took priority, my desk was always full of playmos ( will never forget my first 3666 that was set there along with other  sets for all the time  ) and so was my bookcase , styding was done in the bed as floor was full of playmos too  and the books were stored under the bed as playmos and playmo boxes  were in the bookcase . Towards my final exams when i had to do some proper study/work  i moved for a few weeks to another room as i couldnt bring myself to store away my playmos and besides as i used to tell everyone my 3666 and medieval collection was my lucky charm for the exams   

Some student friends even today do mention about my playmos  that were everywhere ( incl my car back then but stored away not to get stolen )  , a fact that makes me very proud of my philoshophy in life about how important is playmobil to me and how my private space is occupied by them 

[Justindo]

I voted for buying containers and re-organizing.  I haven't really encountered my own Playmobil "crisis" but I could see space becoming a problem.

Personally, I have no intention of parting with any of my Playmobil, as I don't buy things I don't want.  Not buying sets for a while might work too, but one might miss out on some great stuff and purchasing it later could be expensive.  Perhaps being more selective in what one purchases is the best solution.  For some, putting it away until one's back in the mood might be helpful too.  Selling one's entire collection seems drastic, and remodeling and/or buying a larger house may not be possible for many.

[Rasputin]

what crisis  I see no problem but do not ask my wife and in-laws 

Seriously I would just put it away for a while and regroup you thoughts on the situation. Out of sight out of mind. Once its out of your hair you will be-able to make a more stress free decision. Asking a bunch of nutty addicted collectors what to do with ones collection, well I think you see where I am going  Its like going to the bar/pub to stop drinking so much

[bonniebeth]

  Yeah, this wouldn't be the place to ask for advice! I was just curious what other people have done. I'm getting ready to sell a few things right now.

[playmo1989]

I have kept all my collection in storage boxes, no space and time unfortunatly this period for my playmos 
 
PS: I have a long time to buy something too, it must be a great deal for me to buy.

[Daniela]

Uuuh, Bonnie, that´s a wounded point, you are touching here. 

That´s exactly the situation I am in at the moment.

Last year, when I was doing a few picture stories, I realized, it´s difficult to find all the small parts and know, whether I have more than one of them to paint or change them for the stories. So I decided, I must reorganize my collection.

Until then, I have packed all in theme boxes. And I must confess, after collecting more than 20 years now, I have 3 attics and some rooms full of playmobil and I suppose, it will be more than 200/300 BIG boxes full of Playmobil. I never counted them.
AND I am colleting other things, too!

So I start sorting out all small parts, all figures, all animals, all green stuff, all building parts...
And after a few weeks, I lived in a complete mess, with parts of my collection sorted new, parts still waiting and a big room full of boxes in sorting process.     

That was the collaps! The moment, I decided to part from EVERYTHING, called Playmobil.
Don´t worry, I didn´t! 
I really wanted to throw everything in the bin. I couldn´t move between the boxes any longer. I couldn´t hear the word Playmobil any longer. I was knocked out! And I HATED the complete collection!

But I know overkills like that from former times.
Hard to find a solution.
I really don´t want to give parts of my Playmobil away. Have already done with all the stuff I don´t need.
I´ve already big boxes and they are all full.
We already have a bigger house and storage possibility.
And I still want to buy more, because the coming news are wonderful again.
And my husband is a collector, too.
And we need a small part to live, too.

So I am at the end point now, where there is no possibility left.

I don´t think of Playmobil at the moment. (That´s why you don´t read much of me the past month) I am waiting and hoping to come down with my feelings again and then I will go on sorting and collecting and loving my Playmobil.

I don´t know, where to store the more of it, but I believe in magic.
I MUST!

I am afraid, I am not of much help for you, but let me say, it can´t be so bad as my Playmobil situation at the moment. And be sure, you don´t want to see pictures! 

Wish me luck for the future! 
Daniela

[Martin Milner]

The first response to overcrowding was to pack stuff away and put it in the attic, to make more room in my limited space.

I then had the good fortune to be able to more to a bigger country, where I had a bigger dedicated Playmoroom as Tiermann can attest. Unfortunately I do not keep it as organised as I should, and need to spend some hours putting stuff away and reorganising. This will be a labor of love when I can find the time.

I'm now on a much more limited budget, so I'm not adding new stuff at nearly the same rate as the last few years. Fortunately this has coincided with a reduction in Playmobil production of series that interest me. I get the Fi?gures (thanks Tim!), but there's very little else in the pipeline that I can't live without.

[Rhalius]

Well the thing is, buying new playmobil is not needed to keep enjoying playmobil. Can always focus more on what you have and work with that for a while. 

[tahra]

I am afraid, I am not of much help for you, but let me say, it can´t be so bad as my Playmobil situation at the moment. And be sure, you don´t want to see pictures! 

Actually, please post them. I find it hard to believe there's a bigger mess than mine...