Clearly the fields of general taxonomy and systematics are decaying because people with the instinct to collect, organize, sort and name are being diverted into collecting toys and comic books these days rather than leaves, fossils and bugs.
Also, taxonomy is becoming less important with new advances in machine learning. Why bother categorizing things so a human can make sense of them, when you can just dump it all into Weka and let the computer handle it?
Drew’s stance doesn’t seem to come from any sort of irritance at Ethan’s hobby, just out of a genuine sense of concern that it could be turning into a very real problem. At the very least, we don’t have any evidence that says otherwise. If Ethan’s expression in channel 4 is anything to go by, it may be something he’s a little worried about himself.
I’m inclined to agree. Ethan’s toy obsession is pretty… well, obsessive, and I’m not sure I could live on a long term basis with someone who spends all his pay and fills all his space with multiple iterations of the same things… especially since there’s a possibility he’d begin spending my pay and filling my space the same way.
I think Ethan is sad in panel 4 because he’s being shamed that he’s buying so much. I never really liked Drew for Ethan because he wants Ethan to change for him. (I never liked that kind of relationship in any medium) Drew should accept Ethan for who he is, and as long as Ethan is happy, it shouldn’t matter to Drew what Ethan does with his money.
Yeah, but remember that one of the main reasons Ethan has to tone down toy-buying and displaying is that Drew feels like the toys are watching him. I’m not convinced he’s the most stable individual in this comic.
I have a friend who is just as obsessed with toys as Ethan is so I can vouch for drew when it comes to the creepy factor of having hundreds of souless toys staring at you I’m starting to think my friend might need an intervention soon.
I don’t know about that; on one hand Drew was (and is still) unnerved by Ethan’s collection, but it’s not like he’s telling Ethan to simply stop collecting. He makes a pretty good point, it does seem to be all Ethan lives for – stuff.
It’s easy to say “you should accept everything about the person you love” but what if that thing about them is literally becoming and unhealthy obsession. What about that single thing you don’t like about someone? Or something you didn’t really mind (or could kind of deal with) at first, but began to really bug you when it seemed to get out of control.
You can’t possibly like EVERYTHING about someone…
Drew’s hearts in the right place (for what that is actually worth).
Are you implying that it healthy to plan a future with someone who is as obsessed with possessions as Ethan? (As much as I totally love Ethan even I don’t think I could live with him, but I’d wanna try )
I mean how does Drew even know that Ethan likes him more than his collection? Yeah he put his collection away – only to quickly replace it with a new one, which (from Drew’s point of view) speaks volumes about Ethan’s obsession and priorities in life.
ON THE OTHER HAND – Drew cannot possibly compete with the joy of collecting and it isn’t fair to make Ethan give up on something he likes, but Drew has every right to be bugged by it and every reason to be worried about Ethan – I mean the implications about Ethan’s mindset on life are rather bleak if collection is the single most important thing to him.
If they can’t learn to find some kind of happy medium then the whole relationship is doomed
Then again isn’t Drew Ethan’s first real boyfriend? From a realistic point of view first relationships rarely work out anyway. (not to say they never work out, but you know…)
It’s a shame, because I liked Ethan and Drew. Other than this issue they seemed to get along pretty well…
I wonder how things will go…
Will it be a total downer, a bittersweet affair, or a happy ending – only time can tell.
Regardless I try to keep an open mind about things and see where everything goes. [crosses his fingers and hopes for an ending that isn't to sad]
When people say that you when you love someone and accept them as who they are, it doesn’t include the things that they do that are potentially unhealthy and or dangerous for the person involved.
Ethan’s love of collecting toys isn’t harmful, neither is being picky at what you eat. But it’s when things *go far* that interest, and passions turn into *unhealthy* obsessions, that might become a problem. If Drew had been in anyway against it, he’d be constantly nagging at Ethan for his hobbies. But he hasn’t, save for that one comic where he felt creeped out, but I have not seem him demand that he stop his hobby for his sake. He’s only as shown in the comic expressed concern that it’s becoming an all too unhealthy obsession.
The worst Ethan could do is become one of those Extreme Hoarders, or end up financially down the river due to poor money management, neither of which is good nor healthy for Ethan.
“You keep promising you’re going to stop buying so much stuff, but I see no evidence of it.” Keep promising. Sounds like he has been nagging Ethan off panel. And we’ve never seen Drew be supportive of Ethan’s hobby.
Well, Drew does roleplay in the bedroom (though that’s probably mutual enjoyment ) and we do see Drew go to a transformers convention with Ethan (and Drew seems to be having fun, even if he doesn’t know everything about transformers)
The thing is, this couple doesn’t get much screentime. It’s not a problem, the other couples are more dramatic, thus more interesting to us. (it is kinda nice to have a non-dramatic couple in the group, though) We really don’t know much about Drew besides the few strips we’ve seen. The only one that wasn’t focused around Ethan’s toys was a while back, and that was a joke about alfredo sauce being unhealthy.
In any case, I feel it unfair to bias either way, because we know next to nothing about this relationship. Yes, Drew has asked for there to be less toys around. I may be biased because of this, but as someone who doesn’t collect toys, I don’t see this as a major deal. If he asked Ethan to stop collecting entirely, then I will admit that that doesn’t bode well.
But we don’t know if Drew has given up anything by being with Ethan. As is the case when a side character is in a relationship with a main character, everything we know about him is only in relation to the main character. We know he’s bi, we know he thinks alfredo sauce is unhealthy, and we know he likes to jokingly tease people. This arc may reveal more about Drew, and I think that is a great idea, even if it comes at a cost that I dislike.
“You keep promising you’re going to stop buying so much stuff, but I see no evidence of it,” is worlds different from “Stop collecting junk. Stop doing your hobby.”
Drew’s only asking for MODERATION, not an all out halting of his hobbies. And that’s big big difference to me.
At what point do you think Drew would be ok with the level of the hobby? One new toy a week? A month? As a collector I’ve been on the other end of this, and the reality is the person really thinks you should be happy with what you have and doesn’t understand the hobby at its basest level is about the chase. A collection that isn’t growing or looking to grow is dead, and I think that is what Drew is looking for.
(*this is a second post, apparently my last reply here never showed up for some reason)
Do you want to know how much? How much is when you know that you have enough money to pay for bills, enough money to save for the future (retirement, savings, medical emergencies) and still be able to have money for yourself (entertainment or hobbies).
Moderation is knowing your priorities, moderation allows you to financially responsible and plan for your future. Why must it be such a filthy word?
As I will quote a fellow poster Sandpunk: “Drew doesn’t want him to STOP, he wants him to be responsible!”
Your assuming that Ethan’s current level of purchasing isn’t within those guidelines when there is no evidence of that. Drew isn’t making the points you’re making, and if he were he’d have a better point. His argument is not that Ethan doesn’t have the money. It’s that he has a “rising tide of possessions” which suggests to that its the number of the toys that bothers him, not the cost. So my question still stands. If moderation is cost neutral, how much is too much?
Sooooo, you’re saying that if you’re in a relationship with someone, and they’re exhibiting behavior that could be bad or unhealthy, you should never ever care about that. You should ignore it because that’s how they are? Don’t worry about the people you love? Bad advice.
Aw. Poor guys. We all have our problems, our little instabilities and bouts of emotional unhealth, but they love eachother and want to help eachother through it.
Doesn’t putting all the stuff away in storage just make it worse? He’s spending all this money on stuff he’s not even bothering to enjoy, even aesthetically.
It depends on why he’s putting it in storage. If it’s to make room for the next batch of toys, yeah, that’s worse. But it’s supposed to be so that Drew doesn’t freak at all the beady plastic eyes staring at him from every direction every second of every day especially when he and Ethan are trying to have happyfunsextiems (TM). Ethan buying more unfortunately derails that purpose.
But that’s the thing. Yes, he started officially putting his stuff into storage because of his new relationship with Drew. But a reoccuring joke in the comics is how Ethan has numerous crates of toys taking up room in the house. There has been several occasions where the other members of the house have had to tell him “no, you cannot keep putting up your toys in the areas we all share”. Closets that normally would be used for the entire household are full of those green containers of toys.
With that in mind, it’s safe to think that Ethan only has so much space in the house to put out and store his toys. And considering how many toys he buys and how many of them are not exactly small, no doubt he’s started putting older toys into storage, to make room for the new toys that he buys.
I hate this attitude. How selfish and spiteful it is. What if Ethan was a smoker rather than a toy collector? Would it be okay for him to worry then? Why is it a bad thing to worry about the well being of the one you love? I could understand if it was him wanting Ethan to quit his job, because he thinks it’s dumb. Then you have a justification, but Ethan is clearly an addict and needs help!
Here’s where the line is between collecting and addiction:
Are the bills delinquent? Is he giving up eating to spend money on toys? Has there been an eviction notice?
If the answers are no, then he’s just an avid collector. As long as you can AFFORD it, then it’s not a problem.
Guys, buy another image of love that that disney’s “love me as I am or that mean you don’t love me”. You need to be two to love. So who has only the right to accept anything whereas the other get to stay this way? When things get problematic, it’s only selfish to tell “s/he wasn’t right for me”. There is no “right from the beginning” person, there is only conflict avoidance.
I’m not sure why, but for some reason, I got the sense Drew is looking at the longer haul and wondering if this is something he can accept for 20 years. He seems the more mature partner in the relationship, so may be thinking “Ok, if he spends 3/4 of his salary on toys all the time, how are we ever going to save enough for our own home and get away from these crazy people!”
We all have hobbies, but when you’re in a relationship, you’re supposed to take the other person into consideration on them as well. Obsessive collecting of anything, toys, guns, coins, whatever, isn’t the best lifestyle. We find it cute (and it is, cause it’s Ethan), but if you just spend everything you have on, to be blunt, useless items, and obsess over them, and drive to another city just to see what’s there as well, then yeah, I can see your partner wondering what their role in this life will be.
Don’t we all deserve big houses with shelf space for all our toys? I do. I’ve got 3-4 boxes of action figures that haven’t seen the light of day for 5 years.
Though saying “I can put it away”… I’ve never liked that as an answer. I hate that I don’t have room for most of my 3 3/4 figures in my apartment – just moved a whole bunch of them into storage to make room.
If stuff isn’t out on display, it doesn’t feel quite right, and there’s a question of “why do you own this?!?” that arises. I’ll admit stuff doesn’t have to be loose for this to work, either – I’ve had the Star Wars Death Star Briefing Room set for years and haven’t opened it because it looks so nice in the packaging (plus what would I do with 5 Imperial officers anyway other than that same pose? )
But stuff that hits the storage boxes? It’s probably not coming back out if it’s TFs, for me. And the reason it’s still there is my own lack of effort in trying to get it sold off.
Ethan will have to eventually focus his collecting.Either skim only his faves of many lines or collect all of one.Collecting most of most just doesnt work unless youre very rich/own large warehouses/barns etc
Point of no return? Damn. Now I’m trying to figure out what the event horrizon would be here. Thinking he’s gonna start selling kidneys to fund his expenditures?
XD;;; oh no, I meant like he’ll help Ethan ease on his collecting before he breaks up with Ethan, is what I meant (though I certainly hope Ethan doesn’t sell a kidney to boy toys!)
This is known as a case where he doesn’t own his possessions, his possessions own him.
Poor Ethan is letting his paycheck and life spiral into a hole of objects that he knows will never end. His boyfriend is desperately trying to pull him out to the point of calling his obsession a sickness, which to many it would be, and I’m pretty sure the obviousness of it is starting to reach even him now. Hell, that’s probably the only reason Mike has left his obsession alone, because he knows NOT talking about it would cause it to spiral farther out of control.
That’s just silly. Possessions aren’t people. They can’t own things. Might as well say my glass owns my refreshing beverage, which in turn owns me due to my constant need to fit it into the grocery budget.
Pepsi isn’t even sentient. It’s just something you buy and then drink. What would it even do with ownership?
Unless… are you positing that this is in fact a plot by The Puppet King wishing to have Ethan gather an army of toys after which he’ll steal Ethan’s body use this army to take over the world? Dear God that’s sinister! Save him, Drew! Save him before all is lost!
Actually, I was referring to people becoming so obessessed with their possessions that they take better care of the objects than themselves, often times suffering from lack of self maintenance because of it.
I also worry about Ethan and Drew’s finances. I mean, what the hell. How can they pay their bills when Ethan is blowing his meager toy store income on toys?
There is a Big difference between hoarders and collectors. A hoarder would not go out and buy things they didn’t need, they would however keep a pile of years worth of used paper plates and have milk in the refrigerator that expired over 4 years ago as some of their collections. I think that is much worse then just buying a lot of things that you want and can afford.
My boyfriend has an Ethan like transformer collection and I really want to slap the crap out of Drew. It doesn’t harm anyone, we haven’t seen anything bad about it other then it is a large collection, which is bad why? and that it creeps Drew out, for no aquatically explained reason. Drew Needs to just get over it, the massive toy collection is part of who Ethan is and if Drew wants to date someone who is Ethan like but without the toy collection, then he needs to date someone else Not force Ethan to be someone else.
Consider also that making someone put there collection in storage so the collection is out of sight robs them of whatever feelings of fulfillment they might get from owning them. This would force them to buy more to fill in the gap from the figures that are out of sight (and thus out of mind) but if the figures were on display or filling a specific closet then the collector would have obvious visual cues as to when the collection is getting out of hand and they are more likely to take action themselves to pare down the collection to a reasonable amount for their comfort level.
This makes up the bulk of a reply I was going to post earlier, if the internet had not desired to eat my words XD
Additionally, I’d like to point out that what Ethan’s doing (RE: storing his figures rather than displaying them) is a courtesy to Drew. There’s no pressing need to store them as far as display space is concerned, and it’s also where Ethan lives. They don’t share that living space with each other, and none of the other roommates (past or present) have made a huge deal about where Ethan displays his collection. Ethan is doing this solely to appease Drew, since they bother him. While it’s sweet that he makes that kind of a sacrifice, it’s not because he has to, and it’s not something anyone can tell him to do. If one of the roomies (lol) brought it up, then yeah, valid point, since they live there; likewise, if Ethan and Drew were living together, then Drew’s concerns over them being out, visible, and taking up space would have a lot more weight to them.
But even as Ethan’s boyfriend, he’s still a guest, and Ethan’s just being incredibly courteous in keeping his stuff stowed away.
Also, really, if his collecting has actually lessened (I know from experience that, even when you buy a lot, it’s still not that much compared to how you may have collected previously in your life) and he’s doing other things with his life (I’ve seen more than one strip where he mentions doing standup again), if anything he’s healthier than he has been for a long time. So let him have his plastic, Drew. He’s not replacing any hole in his life with it; he collects because he enjoys it.
BUT IT IS HARMING THEM! He’s filled all the closets, available display space, AND a storage facility. HE’s spending MOST of his money on it instead of trying to find a stable place to live (he’s mooching off Leslie remember?). Drew doesn’t want him to STOP, he wants him to be responsible! BE an ADULT! GAH!
Yeah, the thing with collecting is that once you buy something, it doesn’t go away. Even if you completely forget about it, it’ll still be around your house, taking up space.
As Ethan is a hardcore Transformers fan, he’s going to own a ridiculous number of Transformers, and it’s just going to get larger and larger. Hasbro releases a large number of these things every year, and in different styles and whatnot that makes it hard to buy a definitive version of these figures. Also, he’s not trying to buy definitive versions, he wants all of them.
Not to mention that he’s a collector of other lines (which isn’t quite a problem as they are fairly small lines or he isn’t collecting everything).
All collectors hit that wall where they run out of space for displays, and are forced to cut back and sell some toys, invade previously unthought of spaces with toys, or start putting some figures away in bins or storage. He’s gone with three and he’s run out of space again. Hoarder seems kind of strong, but it’ll probably be good for him to cut down or sell some figures.
I’m starting to think Drew may have a history with a real addict of some stripe, and that Ethan’s compulsive collecting is uncomfortably similar for him. I think Ethan’s collecting is also dangerously close to veering into becoming a proper addiction if he has more stored than he could properly display with some carryover in storage and is persisting in buying without selling any, but we don’t have enough information to really call that.
So a guy with a retail job can afford to pay for storage, rent, food, clothes AND keep up with the latest transformers toys? Just in case the aliens, super powers and monsters hadn’t made it clear, we are definitely not reading about the real world.
Owning cool things is cool and all (though how he’s paying for it all on a clerks salary is amazing), but there has to be a line where you say “enough”. Keep the SPMM and sell a crate of TFs. It’s a trade off, to get new things you must sacrifice the old. If you’re paying a monthly fee to house your excess “collection” you are wasting money. Putting it away is only ignoring the problem.
Sometimes I seriously wonder if I have a problem. Every once and a while I start to feel overwhelmed and claustrophobic, and go through all my stuff to get rid of some stuff.
I try my best not to be consumed, but sometimes it is hard. My girlfriend is so damned understanding though. It doesn’t bother her in the slightest, and even last night she bought me the new Tower of Omens playset.
Haha, she’s definitely an enabler, but hey I don’t mind. I keep myself in check.
See, this is the thing about relationships. When you’re not in a relationship, and you don’t have close bonds, you slowly start falling more and more into your obssessions if you’re the obssessive kind. It reaches a point where it’s normal for you, but in those rare moments of clarity where you’re able to see how your behaviour looks from the outside, it’s worrying.
It’s all shades of the same, you see. First you’re a collector, then a scary fan, then a excentric one, and finally you’re the kind of wacko who hasn’t talked to another person for weeks or brokes down crying because he’s not making it to the walmart to get the new toy. In the end, people start looking at you funny or avoiding you.
It is NOT healthy to obssess over anything. It doesn’t matter if you have the money or the space. Michael Jackson had a huge house that looked like a museum of crap. That’s not a house of someone who is normal.
Tsk.. It’s obvious that Drew must be a sleeper agent for Al’Qaeda or maybe the Head Alien.
Ethan’s purchases are helping keeping the economy running. Each toy he doesn’t buy could mean another person gets sacked or worse that they’ll simply outsource the department to China.
And you don’t want Chinese type Transformers…. They explode…
Just like their monitors, computers, chairs, toilets, and even water melons*.
*: Wish I was kidding about the rest of the exploding stuff, but just some some google-fu and you should be able to find articles about it.
Wow I having been reading this comics for a long while now, And it just came to me that Ethan is a Hoarder. A toy hoarder, Well that is better than the things I have seen on that show.
Definite sickness
Sickness = anything you like that someone else doesn’t understand or like.
“sickness” something that interferes with your regular life,job, friendships and consumes all your time and resources with negative consequences.
It’s affecting his relationship, so I think Drew is on the money.
It’s affecting his relationship, because Drew chooses to focus on it. It’s kind of selfish to me. Has Ethan ever asked Drew to give up anything.
I always feel like “why is the person complaining the correct one?” whenever I see this storyline. B ecause invariably they are.
Ethan is showing signs of hoarding, which is a sickness and can get serious
Like eating and sleeping
Is that… grizzled war veteran Link you have for your avatar?
I don’t always eat marshmallows, but when I do, I prefer Staypuft.
Staypufty my friends.
[Raises marshmallow in toast]
[toasts marshmallow]
Enjoy Stay Puft marshmallows responsibly.
[picks up burned marshmallow, blows off dirt, and eats it because you refuse to touch the ones that catch fire]
You, good sir, win the internet. ALL the internet.
If Ethan was stranded on a desert island, he’d collect and categorize every seashell.
And once a week he’d swim to the island 20 miles away to see if they have any new ones in.
+1. (for great justice!)
Clearly the fields of general taxonomy and systematics are decaying because people with the instinct to collect, organize, sort and name are being diverted into collecting toys and comic books these days rather than leaves, fossils and bugs.
Well, not leaves maybe, but Ethan collects fossils and bugs! What do you call Dinobot and Waspinator?
Ethan really should get a job as a biologist or something, just on the side. He’d make a lot of money* that way.
*By a lot of money I mean enough to actually pay for that storage unit he has.
Also, taxonomy is becoming less important with new advances in machine learning. Why bother categorizing things so a human can make sense of them, when you can just dump it all into Weka and let the computer handle it?
I HAVE a 12 inch StayPuft. I got it for my birthday 5 years ago.
Pretty sure that if your 12 inch StayPuft lasts for more than four hours, you’re supposed to seek medical attention.
…or just show it proudly to anyone who will look your way.
This is actually pretty touching…
Drew’s stance doesn’t seem to come from any sort of irritance at Ethan’s hobby, just out of a genuine sense of concern that it could be turning into a very real problem. At the very least, we don’t have any evidence that says otherwise. If Ethan’s expression in channel 4 is anything to go by, it may be something he’s a little worried about himself.
Guh, panel, not channel…>_<
I’m inclined to agree. Ethan’s toy obsession is pretty… well, obsessive, and I’m not sure I could live on a long term basis with someone who spends all his pay and fills all his space with multiple iterations of the same things… especially since there’s a possibility he’d begin spending my pay and filling my space the same way.
Why’s Roz there? I honestly can’t remember who lives where with whom anymore.
Leslie/Ethan/Roz
Amber/Mike/Robin
Ken/Malaya/Arnold
Everyone else is presumed to live alone (or, at least, with no-one we’ve seen)
Ethan + Roz + Leslie = Big house
Mike + Amber = Apartment
Robin + Supercar = … I don’t remember
Faz = … A dumpster?
Right, thank you Reboot. Robin lives with them right now.
Don’t think supercar ever left the house.
Intervention!
cue playing *how to save a life*
Who doesn’t like the Staypuft Marshmallow Man?
The citizens of New York?
“I was hungry!”
then they’re idiots! my lifelong dream as a child was/is to be in new york when he exploded. i would have given him the most delicious funeral ever!
Is there a Japanese Toys Buyers Anonymous group he could join?
Don’t do that, sign Ethan up for J-List!
4th panel: Sad Ethan is sad.
I think Ethan is sad in panel 4 because he’s being shamed that he’s buying so much. I never really liked Drew for Ethan because he wants Ethan to change for him. (I never liked that kind of relationship in any medium) Drew should accept Ethan for who he is, and as long as Ethan is happy, it shouldn’t matter to Drew what Ethan does with his money.
There are limits to that, you know.
Yeah, but remember that one of the main reasons Ethan has to tone down toy-buying and displaying is that Drew feels like the toys are watching him. I’m not convinced he’s the most stable individual in this comic.
I have a friend who is just as obsessed with toys as Ethan is so I can vouch for drew when it comes to the creepy factor of having hundreds of souless toys staring at you I’m starting to think my friend might need an intervention soon.
You think Drew is the one with the stability problem? Seriously?
He’s not the most stable person in the comic???? Really? He is the only normal person in the comic.
the toys have talked to him, we’ve seen it on panel. And don’t forget this is reality with aliens and all kinds of sci-fi ish stuff
I don’t know about that; on one hand Drew was (and is still) unnerved by Ethan’s collection, but it’s not like he’s telling Ethan to simply stop collecting. He makes a pretty good point, it does seem to be all Ethan lives for – stuff.
It’s easy to say “you should accept everything about the person you love” but what if that thing about them is literally becoming and unhealthy obsession. What about that single thing you don’t like about someone? Or something you didn’t really mind (or could kind of deal with) at first, but began to really bug you when it seemed to get out of control.
You can’t possibly like EVERYTHING about someone…
Drew’s hearts in the right place (for what that is actually worth).
Are you implying that it healthy to plan a future with someone who is as obsessed with possessions as Ethan? (As much as I totally love Ethan
even I don’t think I could live with him, but I’d wanna try
)
I mean how does Drew even know that Ethan likes him more than his collection? Yeah he put his collection away – only to quickly replace it with a new one, which (from Drew’s point of view) speaks volumes about Ethan’s obsession and priorities in life.
ON THE OTHER HAND – Drew cannot possibly compete with the joy of collecting and it isn’t fair to make Ethan give up on something he likes, but Drew has every right to be bugged by it and every reason to be worried about Ethan – I mean the implications about Ethan’s mindset on life are rather bleak if collection is the single most important thing to him.
If they can’t learn to find some kind of happy medium then the whole relationship is doomed
Then again isn’t Drew Ethan’s first real boyfriend? From a realistic point of view first relationships rarely work out anyway. (not to say they never work out, but you know…)
It’s a shame, because I liked Ethan and Drew. Other than this issue they seemed to get along pretty well…
I wonder how things will go…
Will it be a total downer, a bittersweet affair, or a happy ending – only time can tell.
Regardless I try to keep an open mind about things and see where everything goes. [crosses his fingers and hopes for an ending that isn't to sad]
When people say that you when you love someone and accept them as who they are, it doesn’t include the things that they do that are potentially unhealthy and or dangerous for the person involved.
Ethan’s love of collecting toys isn’t harmful, neither is being picky at what you eat. But it’s when things *go far* that interest, and passions turn into *unhealthy* obsessions, that might become a problem. If Drew had been in anyway against it, he’d be constantly nagging at Ethan for his hobbies. But he hasn’t, save for that one comic where he felt creeped out, but I have not seem him demand that he stop his hobby for his sake. He’s only as shown in the comic expressed concern that it’s becoming an all too unhealthy obsession.
The worst Ethan could do is become one of those Extreme Hoarders, or end up financially down the river due to poor money management, neither of which is good nor healthy for Ethan.
“You keep promising you’re going to stop buying so much stuff, but I see no evidence of it.” Keep promising. Sounds like he has been nagging Ethan off panel. And we’ve never seen Drew be supportive of Ethan’s hobby.
Well, Drew does roleplay in the bedroom (though that’s probably mutual enjoyment
) and we do see Drew go to a transformers convention with Ethan (and Drew seems to be having fun, even if he doesn’t know everything about transformers)
The thing is, this couple doesn’t get much screentime. It’s not a problem, the other couples are more dramatic, thus more interesting to us. (it is kinda nice to have a non-dramatic couple in the group, though) We really don’t know much about Drew besides the few strips we’ve seen. The only one that wasn’t focused around Ethan’s toys was a while back, and that was a joke about alfredo sauce being unhealthy.
In any case, I feel it unfair to bias either way, because we know next to nothing about this relationship. Yes, Drew has asked for there to be less toys around. I may be biased because of this, but as someone who doesn’t collect toys, I don’t see this as a major deal. If he asked Ethan to stop collecting entirely, then I will admit that that doesn’t bode well.
But we don’t know if Drew has given up anything by being with Ethan. As is the case when a side character is in a relationship with a main character, everything we know about him is only in relation to the main character. We know he’s bi, we know he thinks alfredo sauce is unhealthy, and we know he likes to jokingly tease people. This arc may reveal more about Drew, and I think that is a great idea, even if it comes at a cost that I dislike.
“You keep promising you’re going to stop buying so much stuff, but I see no evidence of it,” is worlds different from “Stop collecting junk. Stop doing your hobby.”
Drew’s only asking for MODERATION, not an all out halting of his hobbies. And that’s big big difference to me.
At what point do you think Drew would be ok with the level of the hobby? One new toy a week? A month? As a collector I’ve been on the other end of this, and the reality is the person really thinks you should be happy with what you have and doesn’t understand the hobby at its basest level is about the chase. A collection that isn’t growing or looking to grow is dead, and I think that is what Drew is looking for.
(*this is a second post, apparently my last reply here never showed up for some reason)
Do you want to know how much? How much is when you know that you have enough money to pay for bills, enough money to save for the future (retirement, savings, medical emergencies) and still be able to have money for yourself (entertainment or hobbies).
Moderation is knowing your priorities, moderation allows you to financially responsible and plan for your future. Why must it be such a filthy word?
As I will quote a fellow poster Sandpunk: “Drew doesn’t want him to STOP, he wants him to be responsible!”
Your assuming that Ethan’s current level of purchasing isn’t within those guidelines when there is no evidence of that. Drew isn’t making the points you’re making, and if he were he’d have a better point. His argument is not that Ethan doesn’t have the money. It’s that he has a “rising tide of possessions” which suggests to that its the number of the toys that bothers him, not the cost. So my question still stands. If moderation is cost neutral, how much is too much?
Sooooo, you’re saying that if you’re in a relationship with someone, and they’re exhibiting behavior that could be bad or unhealthy, you should never ever care about that. You should ignore it because that’s how they are? Don’t worry about the people you love? Bad advice.
Aw. Poor guys. We all have our problems, our little instabilities and bouts of emotional unhealth, but they love eachother and want to help eachother through it.
I ship them now. I ship them so hard.
Isn’t it only shipping if they’re not dating in canon?
You can still ship canon pairings.
Doesn’t putting all the stuff away in storage just make it worse? He’s spending all this money on stuff he’s not even bothering to enjoy, even aesthetically.
It depends on why he’s putting it in storage. If it’s to make room for the next batch of toys, yeah, that’s worse. But it’s supposed to be so that Drew doesn’t freak at all the beady plastic eyes staring at him from every direction every second of every day especially when he and Ethan are trying to have happyfunsextiems (TM). Ethan buying more unfortunately derails that purpose.
But that’s the thing. Yes, he started officially putting his stuff into storage because of his new relationship with Drew. But a reoccuring joke in the comics is how Ethan has numerous crates of toys taking up room in the house. There has been several occasions where the other members of the house have had to tell him “no, you cannot keep putting up your toys in the areas we all share”. Closets that normally would be used for the entire household are full of those green containers of toys.
With that in mind, it’s safe to think that Ethan only has so much space in the house to put out and store his toys. And considering how many toys he buys and how many of them are not exactly small, no doubt he’s started putting older toys into storage, to make room for the new toys that he buys.
If he barely has room for the boxes he’s storing his toys in, then he definitely wouldn’t have room for the toys to be out and displayed.
But every pile of boxes yields new flat surfaces. They make their own shelves!
Well I think this is it for Ethan and Drew. If Drew does love you and accept every thing that makes Ethan then he isn’t worth keeping.
I hate this attitude. How selfish and spiteful it is. What if Ethan was a smoker rather than a toy collector? Would it be okay for him to worry then? Why is it a bad thing to worry about the well being of the one you love? I could understand if it was him wanting Ethan to quit his job, because he thinks it’s dumb. Then you have a justification, but Ethan is clearly an addict and needs help!
Aww.
Here’s where the line is between collecting and addiction:
Are the bills delinquent? Is he giving up eating to spend money on toys? Has there been an eviction notice?
If the answers are no, then he’s just an avid collector. As long as you can AFFORD it, then it’s not a problem.
So very rich people (for example) cannot have unhealthy obsessions?
Of course not. Everyone knows that if you’re rich, they’re eccentricities.
“I tried to think of the most harmless thing. Something I loved from my childhood. Something that could never ever possibly destroy us…”
Guys, buy another image of love that that disney’s “love me as I am or that mean you don’t love me”. You need to be two to love. So who has only the right to accept anything whereas the other get to stay this way? When things get problematic, it’s only selfish to tell “s/he wasn’t right for me”. There is no “right from the beginning” person, there is only conflict avoidance.
I smell a breakup coming.
Really? All I smell is a sit-com.
you don’t want to know what i smell.
What’s that funky smell?!!!! …. [Russell] “What?”
I smell what the Rock is cooking.
IT SMELLS LIKE
WHAT DOES IT SMELL LIKE SPACE GHOST?
IT SMELLS LIKE
BOXER SHORTS?
IT SMELLS LIKE
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
IT SMELLS LIKE CARTOON PLANET! Mmm, ahh~
…Sorry, your riffs on ‘smells like’ put that theme in my head.
I’m not sure why, but for some reason, I got the sense Drew is looking at the longer haul and wondering if this is something he can accept for 20 years. He seems the more mature partner in the relationship, so may be thinking “Ok, if he spends 3/4 of his salary on toys all the time, how are we ever going to save enough for our own home and get away from these crazy people!”
We all have hobbies, but when you’re in a relationship, you’re supposed to take the other person into consideration on them as well. Obsessive collecting of anything, toys, guns, coins, whatever, isn’t the best lifestyle. We find it cute (and it is, cause it’s Ethan), but if you just spend everything you have on, to be blunt, useless items, and obsess over them, and drive to another city just to see what’s there as well, then yeah, I can see your partner wondering what their role in this life will be.
Lucky Bastard. I’d love a giant Stay Puft for my apartment. He’d go next to TV stand
Hoarders, season 5?
at this point, i think it would be easier for ethan to build his own house out of green plastic containers.
Don’t we all deserve big houses with shelf space for all our toys? I do. I’ve got 3-4 boxes of action figures that haven’t seen the light of day for 5 years.
The answer is …. Quonset hut …. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_DPBWhV6vaZQ/Swd2ysopdrI/AAAAAAAAADg/4vFqYQd1pG8/s320/qu2.jpg
This is going to be like the hoarding/Inception episode of South Park, ISN’T IT
We’re gonna need a bigger boat…
Sorry, couldn’t think of anything else/resist.
I do somewhat get where this is coming from.
Though saying “I can put it away”… I’ve never liked that as an answer. I hate that I don’t have room for most of my 3 3/4 figures in my apartment – just moved a whole bunch of them into storage to make room.
If stuff isn’t out on display, it doesn’t feel quite right, and there’s a question of “why do you own this?!?” that arises. I’ll admit stuff doesn’t have to be loose for this to work, either – I’ve had the Star Wars Death Star Briefing Room set for years and haven’t opened it because it looks so nice in the packaging (plus what would I do with 5 Imperial officers anyway other than that same pose?
)
But stuff that hits the storage boxes? It’s probably not coming back out if it’s TFs, for me. And the reason it’s still there is my own lack of effort in trying to get it sold off.
Ethan will have to eventually focus his collecting.Either skim only his faves of many lines or collect all of one.Collecting most of most just doesnt work unless youre very rich/own large warehouses/barns etc
This has been coming for a long time…
Is Ethan going to go on Hoarders?
Also, now I want a 20-inch Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, dammit. Google time it is!
; w; D’aw, Drew…I know you’ll help Ethan out before it gets to the point of no return.
Man, they are just too cute a couple!
Point of no return? Damn. Now I’m trying to figure out what the event horrizon would be here. Thinking he’s gonna start selling kidneys to fund his expenditures?
XD;;; oh no, I meant like he’ll help Ethan ease on his collecting before he breaks up with Ethan, is what I meant (though I certainly hope Ethan doesn’t sell a kidney to boy toys!)
Oh, Ethan’s past the point of no return. No going back now.
Ack! Don’t say that! XD;
The bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn.
Better get some marshmallows.
This is known as a case where he doesn’t own his possessions, his possessions own him.
Poor Ethan is letting his paycheck and life spiral into a hole of objects that he knows will never end. His boyfriend is desperately trying to pull him out to the point of calling his obsession a sickness, which to many it would be, and I’m pretty sure the obviousness of it is starting to reach even him now. Hell, that’s probably the only reason Mike has left his obsession alone, because he knows NOT talking about it would cause it to spiral farther out of control.
That’s just silly. Possessions aren’t people. They can’t own things. Might as well say my glass owns my refreshing beverage, which in turn owns me due to my constant need to fit it into the grocery budget.
Pepsi isn’t even sentient. It’s just something you buy and then drink. What would it even do with ownership?
Unless… are you positing that this is in fact a plot by The Puppet King wishing to have Ethan gather an army of toys after which he’ll steal Ethan’s body use this army to take over the world? Dear God that’s sinister! Save him, Drew! Save him before all is lost!
Actually, I was referring to people becoming so obessessed with their possessions that they take better care of the objects than themselves, often times suffering from lack of self maintenance because of it.
Drew is so cute. I notice how Ethan’s expression in panel four matches Drew’s expression in panel five.
I have this terrible vision of an episode of Hoarders.
Drew: My name is Drew, and Ethan is my boyfriend…
I also worry about Ethan and Drew’s finances. I mean, what the hell. How can they pay their bills when Ethan is blowing his meager toy store income on toys?
LOL this comic is so true to geek dating a non geek life
There is a Big difference between hoarders and collectors. A hoarder would not go out and buy things they didn’t need, they would however keep a pile of years worth of used paper plates and have milk in the refrigerator that expired over 4 years ago as some of their collections. I think that is much worse then just buying a lot of things that you want and can afford.
My boyfriend has an Ethan like transformer collection and I really want to slap the crap out of Drew. It doesn’t harm anyone, we haven’t seen anything bad about it other then it is a large collection, which is bad why? and that it creeps Drew out, for no aquatically explained reason. Drew Needs to just get over it, the massive toy collection is part of who Ethan is and if Drew wants to date someone who is Ethan like but without the toy collection, then he needs to date someone else Not force Ethan to be someone else.
Consider also that making someone put there collection in storage so the collection is out of sight robs them of whatever feelings of fulfillment they might get from owning them. This would force them to buy more to fill in the gap from the figures that are out of sight (and thus out of mind) but if the figures were on display or filling a specific closet then the collector would have obvious visual cues as to when the collection is getting out of hand and they are more likely to take action themselves to pare down the collection to a reasonable amount for their comfort level.
This makes up the bulk of a reply I was going to post earlier, if the internet had not desired to eat my words XD
Additionally, I’d like to point out that what Ethan’s doing (RE: storing his figures rather than displaying them) is a courtesy to Drew. There’s no pressing need to store them as far as display space is concerned, and it’s also where Ethan lives. They don’t share that living space with each other, and none of the other roommates (past or present) have made a huge deal about where Ethan displays his collection. Ethan is doing this solely to appease Drew, since they bother him. While it’s sweet that he makes that kind of a sacrifice, it’s not because he has to, and it’s not something anyone can tell him to do. If one of the roomies (lol) brought it up, then yeah, valid point, since they live there; likewise, if Ethan and Drew were living together, then Drew’s concerns over them being out, visible, and taking up space would have a lot more weight to them.
But even as Ethan’s boyfriend, he’s still a guest, and Ethan’s just being incredibly courteous in keeping his stuff stowed away.
Also, really, if his collecting has actually lessened (I know from experience that, even when you buy a lot, it’s still not that much compared to how you may have collected previously in your life) and he’s doing other things with his life (I’ve seen more than one strip where he mentions doing standup again), if anything he’s healthier than he has been for a long time. So let him have his plastic, Drew. He’s not replacing any hole in his life with it; he collects because he enjoys it.
BUT IT IS HARMING THEM! He’s filled all the closets, available display space, AND a storage facility. HE’s spending MOST of his money on it instead of trying to find a stable place to live (he’s mooching off Leslie remember?). Drew doesn’t want him to STOP, he wants him to be responsible! BE an ADULT! GAH!
Totally forgot Roz was still there.
And nooo, I sense a possible breakup. Why can’t Ethan just be happy? :’(
Yeah, the thing with collecting is that once you buy something, it doesn’t go away. Even if you completely forget about it, it’ll still be around your house, taking up space.
As Ethan is a hardcore Transformers fan, he’s going to own a ridiculous number of Transformers, and it’s just going to get larger and larger. Hasbro releases a large number of these things every year, and in different styles and whatnot that makes it hard to buy a definitive version of these figures. Also, he’s not trying to buy definitive versions, he wants all of them.
Not to mention that he’s a collector of other lines (which isn’t quite a problem as they are fairly small lines or he isn’t collecting everything).
All collectors hit that wall where they run out of space for displays, and are forced to cut back and sell some toys, invade previously unthought of spaces with toys, or start putting some figures away in bins or storage. He’s gone with three and he’s run out of space again. Hoarder seems kind of strong, but it’ll probably be good for him to cut down or sell some figures.
Damn you Willis,
Breaking up another cute gay couple,
Damn You!!!!!!
Ethan should counter by asking why Drew is so set on his little beardy stubble. The man looks like Connor Macleod for gods’ sake.
Yeah, it would be nice if he shaved that off.
ethen what is more importaant:
getting toys or getting ass?
Dammit, I only have an 18″ Stay Puft Marshmallow Man … now it’s worthless!!!
OK at this rate, he’s becoming a hoarder.
I’m starting to think Drew may have a history with a real addict of some stripe, and that Ethan’s compulsive collecting is uncomfortably similar for him. I think Ethan’s collecting is also dangerously close to veering into becoming a proper addiction if he has more stored than he could properly display with some carryover in storage and is persisting in buying without selling any, but we don’t have enough information to really call that.
So a guy with a retail job can afford to pay for storage, rent, food, clothes AND keep up with the latest transformers toys? Just in case the aliens, super powers and monsters hadn’t made it clear, we are definitely not reading about the real world.
Owning cool things is cool and all (though how he’s paying for it all on a clerks salary is amazing), but there has to be a line where you say “enough”. Keep the SPMM and sell a crate of TFs. It’s a trade off, to get new things you must sacrifice the old. If you’re paying a monthly fee to house your excess “collection” you are wasting money. Putting it away is only ignoring the problem.
Sometimes I seriously wonder if I have a problem. Every once and a while I start to feel overwhelmed and claustrophobic, and go through all my stuff to get rid of some stuff.
I try my best not to be consumed, but sometimes it is hard. My girlfriend is so damned understanding though. It doesn’t bother her in the slightest, and even last night she bought me the new Tower of Omens playset.
Haha, she’s definitely an enabler, but hey I don’t mind. I keep myself in check.
See, this is the thing about relationships. When you’re not in a relationship, and you don’t have close bonds, you slowly start falling more and more into your obssessions if you’re the obssessive kind. It reaches a point where it’s normal for you, but in those rare moments of clarity where you’re able to see how your behaviour looks from the outside, it’s worrying.
It’s all shades of the same, you see. First you’re a collector, then a scary fan, then a excentric one, and finally you’re the kind of wacko who hasn’t talked to another person for weeks or brokes down crying because he’s not making it to the walmart to get the new toy. In the end, people start looking at you funny or avoiding you.
It is NOT healthy to obssess over anything. It doesn’t matter if you have the money or the space. Michael Jackson had a huge house that looked like a museum of crap. That’s not a house of someone who is normal.
Tsk.. It’s obvious that Drew must be a sleeper agent for Al’Qaeda or maybe the Head Alien.
Ethan’s purchases are helping keeping the economy running. Each toy he doesn’t buy could mean another person gets sacked or worse that they’ll simply outsource the department to China.
And you don’t want Chinese type Transformers…. They explode…
Just like their monitors, computers, chairs, toilets, and even water melons*.
*: Wish I was kidding about the rest of the exploding stuff, but just some some google-fu and you should be able to find articles about it.
Wow I having been reading this comics for a long while now, And it just came to me that Ethan is a Hoarder. A toy hoarder, Well that is better than the things I have seen on that show.