This Section is broken down into 2 parts. The first part is a little bit on the
why and how of collecting. The second part offers some helpful tips on caring for and displaying your collection.
 

Starting Your Collection | Maintaining Your Collection

 

Starting Your Collection
First off, ask yourself, "Why Do I want to Collect Sailormoon?" This question actually applies to any collection you may be starting. I always hate to see anyone collect something, just because it's the hot item for that moment. If you don't want your collection to end up at some distant garage sale, make sure it's something you really love!
Okay, so you really REALLY love Sailormoon, that's good! Now, what is your next love? Posters? Magna? Cels? Toys? If it's Toys, keep reading!
Sailormoon has a ton of merchandise from all over the world! Something you probably wouldn't know if you've only shopped for merchandise at your local toy store. So first point is, if you're reading this, you have Internet access, and in the hunt for Sailormoon merchandise, it's your BEST friend! I can't tell you how many hours I logged searching for new websites that sold Sailormoon merchandise, but if you're a serious collector, it's a labor of love. When you're doing searches on Yahoo, Google Excite, etc., be creative, not all websites list items the same way, so type in keywords like this: Sailormoon, Sailor Moon, Merchandise, Toys, Dolls, Collectibles, Figures, and anything else you can think of.
Next, decide what kind of toys you think are the coolest. If you're a new collector you can become overwhelmed by the amount of items there are to buy, dolls, wands, lockets, figures, playsets, etc., and frustrated by trying to locate it, believe me I know, I've been there too, heck I'm still there!
So second point, start small. As for me, I was most interested in the Excellent Petit Soldiers, and those are what I went after first, I also love any electronic, or battery op. toys, so I went after those next, and they didn't come to me, I hunt for the items I'm after every day, religiously checking back at each site, looking for new sites and e-mailing, e-mailing, e-mailing, ANYONE I even remotely think might be able to help me find what I want. Believe me this works! And remember to be patient, it took me about 4 years to find one of the wands I was after, but I finally found it!
I also found it helpful to create a most wanted list, first writing down the names of the items, then numbering them in the importance of which ones I wanted. You can use the list to keep your priorities straight, by going after the items in order, you can avoid buying 3 or 4 items on the lower end of your list and using up precious money that should be saved for when you locate the more important items. And unless you have money to burn, you will need to do this, because Sailormoon Merchandise (especially Japanese) often does not come cheap!

Maintaining Your Collection
Okay, You've hunted long, finally got yourself some Sailormoon Goodies you're totally proud of, now what to do with it? In this next part I'll cover care and maintenance of your collection.
This depends on what kind of collector you are, if you're in it for profit, i.e., to resell one day, then you know you have to keep those items in gem mint cond.! This means in the exact state in which you bought them. Which of course means...HANDS OFF!! You can't touch the items nor allow anyone else to, it also means storing the items very carefully. For small items ziplock bags work well, or Tupperware bins, preferably with an airtight seal. Dolls, are best stored in cellophane bags.
If you're a collector like me, by which you plan to hold onto your items forever, yet you still want them looking like new 100 years from now, here's my recommendation.
For smaller items, like figurines, snap together models, etc. It's okay to remove them from the box, especially if you can't even see them while they're in there, I mean you DO wanna enjoy them. So find a nice place to display them and enjoy! Just be sure to save the boxes, and to keep them looking good avoid peeling the tape, this can tear the packaging, what I do, is simply take a knife and slit the tape, just remember this will never again be a MINT/NRFB item so make sure you don't care.
Slitting the tape is also a good idea for larger items like wands, lockets, chalices, etc., this way you can remove the items, play around with them for bit, then store them back in the boxes. This is how I display my items. Just avoid handling the boxes too much and be sure to give them a regular dusting.
Now on to Dolls. As for me, I do not play with the dolls, so they stay inside the boxes. However on occasion I have removed a doll or two, for a better look, to snap a couple of pics, or replace an accessory which has fallen to the bottom of the box. With my dolls I almost never slit the tape, so here is where a bit of practice comes into play. If you want to remove a doll, as a rule always do it from the bottom of the box, in case you have trouble with the tape it's less likely to show there, and I find it's just easier to place the doll back in from the bottom. So, first, make sure your hands are nice and clean and not oily or greasy. It's always best to start pulling the tape from the very bottom of the box and not the back, except if the tape on the back is much shorter than on the bottom. In either case, carefully start on one corner, and this is where practice comes in, every box is different, and sometimes, it's best to start with one corner, and keep pulling or start on one corner, then the middle, then the other corner to get a good grip, then pull it up from the middle. With some practice you'll get the feel of what works best. The real experts can open and close a package and fool just about everyone into thinking the doll was never removed!

After you do remove the doll, what you do next is up to you. It is not impossible to uncard a doll, play around with her for a bit and then place her pack in the box, and still keep her looking in mint cond. But there are some things to remember. First off, make a mental note of how the doll looks in the box before you remove her. If you have to rip or tear tape on the front of the card to remove either the doll or accessories, it's better just to leave it alone. Keep track of the twist ties in the back, and avoid over handling of the doll.
Remember these tips are for collectors, if you intend on letting your little sister play with your doll, disregard the above tips, bust that sucker outta there and have at it!!

A couple of other very important tips include the following. NEVER store any items in direct sunlight, or even in a very sunny place. This can cause the plastic to melt and fade the boxes. Do not store any items with the batteries inside, even if you usually don't open your doll boxes, if you have any of the talking dolls, remove the batteries before they start to leak!

And when you start to get blurry-eyed, from staring at the screen for way too long hunting for that last Super Sailor Mercury Doll, you're down to your last dime because the birthday money Grandma sent was spent on "just one more" 19" Excellent Sailor Figure, and your bedroom has now officially been declared the biggest Sailormoon Shrine east of the Mississippi, please don't blame me. There are just some things I can't help you with!
HAPPY COLLECTING!! :-)