Impulse buys

I don’t do a lot of impulse buys. It’s not often that the first time I’m exposed to something will I actually pick it up. What I will do however, is put things on a ‘list’ of sorts (some literal and some just mental) and pick them up at a later tipping point. For movies, I keep an actual excel spreadsheet of the movies/tv shows I’m hoping to get on dvd and I track the prices pretty regularly based on flyers. I’ve got many lists and sublists tracking which heroclix figures I have and need – one of which tracks the prices they are going for on ebay. I have similar lists (less involved) for HorrorClix, Star Wars Miniature Ship Battles, and Monsterapocalypse. I usually have a few lists on me of which books I need from various series’ we are following. I even have a list of WWI plane models that I have and what state they are in (own, assembled, painted) for use with Canvas Eagles.

Often, things will be mulling on my list for a few years before opportunity and price conspire to get me to pick it up. The Cthulhu Live books I picked up last year were a good example. I’d been mulling those over since we had seen them play at Wizard’s Challenge in Regina back in the mid-to-late 90s. Once I finally got one of the books though, I quickly picked up a bunch of the others.

The same thing with the Starship Troopers miniature game. I remember seeing the game in Maxx Collectibles a few years ago and did some searching on the web. I added it to my mental interest list and let it mull there. When I came across the rulebook for half price at Valleycon last year I snapped it up. I have since picked up the rest of the rulebooks on ebay and am now trying to get some of the figures.
Sometimes, when other items have been cleared, items from less crucial lists get moved up to my short list. These are the ones that I am actively looking for and will buy when found within my pricing guidelines.

The same works with the movies, I have over 500 movies on my want list but can’t afford to get them at current rates. Even some of the ones in the $5 bins have to allotted as funds allow. After being on my Christmas and birthday list for the last two years, the Creature of the Black Lagoon Legacy collections and the Kung Fu TV series (season 2 and 3) are now on my short list. The Back to the Future trilogy is waiting for these to clear the short list before being moved up.
Unless I get it for my birthday.