This is a great topic!
As an only child, I was very fortunate in that I was able to amass sizable collections even from a young age. I started with Petite Ponies and Li'l Litters, right around when I was 6 or so. I distinctly remember this because both of my grandparents passed during the summer when I was 6-1/2, and I had just begun collecting. My parents were burdened with the task of clearing out their homes, and as I was independent and creative, they would just bring me along and I'd take some toys and art supplies so that I could stay occupied while they dealt with all the clear-out. I would sit and set up my ponies and "My Littles" and make up stories, sometimes writing them down. My toys became consistent characters in stories that I would write and illustrate, so playtime was a catalyst for creativity.
My friends also played with Li'l Litters and Petite Ponies, so we would set up worlds for them and create adventures together. We would all compare at Christmas and birthdays who got which new sets. One of my very close childhood friends, who lived down the street with me, would also write stories about her toy animals. The two of us decided we could make more of our own pets out of clay, and much to our parents' amusement, our shelves became cluttered with mini clay animals mixed in with the real toys
When I was 8-9 years old, I (stupidly) shoved all my Petites Ponies and Li'l Litters into a cabinet and favored Polly Pockets for a brief time. I had an aunt who worked for Mattel, so I was at no shortage of free sets consistently flowing my way in the mail. However, I gradually grew bored with the limited number of animals...how often I'd cast the Pollies aside only to realize I had fewer than a dozen pets to play with
AND THEN IT HAPPENED...I saw the first Littlest Pet Shop commercial on TV! My friends and I got started with our newest love: LPS. My first thought was, "These will be great friends for my Li'l Litters!" and so out of the cabinet they came. I saved all my allowance money for my first LPS set: the Mommy & Baby Kitties. All I asked for at holidays and birthdays were more LPS sets. At first I stuck to just cats, but then expanded to bunnies, and other animals as friends gave them to me as birthday gifts. All of us would cart our turquoise pet shops to one another's houses and create giant worlds with all our pets, though I seem to remember I had the most patience for this
very often my friends would get bored by time we finished setting up, and then ask to play Barbies
*sigh*
Thankfully, my mother had unending patience to play LPS with me. She always wondered why I was not more into human dolls and whatnot, but she went along with it
I distinctly remember one night when I was a freshman in high school, when I set up some of my collection to try to "play" with, and that's when I was saddened to realize that that magic was truly gone
There they were, but I could no longer truly "play" with them. I left them on display all over my room, though. And thankfully, I could still write and illustrate stories featuring them as anthropomorphic characters!
For many years, my collection collected dust. I never truly forgot about them, but, life and growing up and college and starting a career and moving out of my parents' house all happened! It was only after I got married and received an out-of-the-blue Ebay alert in December 2013 that I rekindled my love of collecting. I found the forum through Sarafina, and the rest is history
I am SOOOO happy to have an all-new relationship with my toys, although I now consider them "collectibles" instead of "toys," really. I put a lot of care into expanding my collection, cleaning up all my old items, and now - making an all-new display for them in my new home!
It helps me feel young at heart, and realize it's not so much about "playing" with them as it is about making them a hobby and a more active part of my life once again.