My oldest is 10. I started with the Graco 20 pound bucket that came with the travel system. After that he moved to a roundabout 40 which I paid full price for because I wanted the exclusve BRU wicker print which looked so good with his eyes. (Actually prior to that I got a deal on a Britax galaxy which was actually a better seat but the fabric wasn't as nice so I sold it - omg what was I thinking???? I knew so little then) He turned FF at about 14 months which was pretty good for back then. When he was 20 months rumors began to circulate that Britax would no longer allow discounts for seats sold online so I snagged a Marathon in Granite while they were still cheap - I want to say $180 which seemed like a lot back then. That went into my car and the roundabout went into my husband's car. Time passed and he outgrew that little roundabout *sniff* and I sold it for $100 and got him a Graco Turbobooster for DH's car (blue with gracopedic foam). He was 3 and boostering at 3 was not unusual then. He did quite well.
I got pregnant with my twins when he was almost 4. I got them snugride22s in Lotus with luxury foam because they were at a great price on albeebaby. Ruled out the 35s because who would carry 35 pounds * 2 with twins? Did not know enough when brought them home to know those 5-22 pound seats really didn't fit them right. (one of them was actually only 4 pounds when we came home but I figured there couldn't be that much difference between a 4 and 5 pound min. seat, right? Oh well, live and learn.) When they outgrew those buckets I got them 2 more marathons in Ashley (yellow with flowers) and I got my son a second Turbobooster (red with foam) so I could pass his old Marathon to DH's car as a spare for the girls and THEN... duh duh! The great Britax Marathon scandal of 2008 happened and Target accidentally listed cow ones for $49 and granite ones for I want to say $58? so I ordered 2 granite ones because I didn't like cow at the time - I planned to return my Ashleys as I hadn't used them yet - but Target realized the errors and alas I did not get two seats, I got a $25 gift voucher. (A bunch of people who ordered cow actually got their seats)
My girls RFed till about 2 1/2 at which point one was getting near that 35lb rf weight limit so I figured I should turn both to reduce fighting. The other one didn't hit 35 pounds till she was 4! Since my oldest had been so tall and outgrew his marathon so much earlier than I expected him to - he was 4, but I didn't realize he had outgrown it since I was focused on the weight limit - when a deal came out for FR85s I snagged two, one in that light pink mesh and one in cow, just to have on hand. One girl wanted cow - I did not. But it came and I loved the cow so much I set out to find 2 cow covers for the marathons which we were still using and which would be handed down to baby #4, a boy, who I was then pregnant with. I think the girls were about 3 1/2 when I moved them to the FR85s. I wasn't crazy about the pink mesh so we replaced it with a Livia cover which my daughter said was cold and slippery so we replaced that with another cow. Long live cow! I considered getting my youngest a cow chaperone but couldn't justify the price for Britax - he ended up in a Flint (I think?) snugride35, gray velour with the foam, which he used until he was 20 months or so.
He is the one I have bought the most car seats for. While I love our cow classic MAs I figure they expire next year and there are leggier options so let's see what I want to get to replace it with to rf as long as possible... and I have tried a lot. I bought a cobalt radian rxt because I found an open box deal. I tried the nextfit but hated the shoulder pads so sold it again pretty quickly. I tried a peg, a foonf, a size4me. Radian rxt won out despite it's quirks. So we had a classic MA in DH's car and alternated rxt and marathon in my car.
My husband got hit by a guy who ran a red light about a month ago and he called me from work to say he had been hit and the car had been towed, and once I established he was not in the hospital I said "OMG this means I get a new car seat!" The nextfit happened to go on crazy sale right after that so I bought one again and then Chicco released the harness pad update so it seemed like a sign. Then I found a deal on a daytona RXT on TRU's site so I ordered one of those, too, and figured I would decide once they came. Then the Roundabout 50 went on sale ... and I bought one... but returned it because I didn't need it... but later found one clearanced for $50 so I bought another one... which means that right now, for my youngest, I have a cow classic MA that can be used, a cow classic MA that shouldn't be used but which I am keeping the cover from, a roundabout50 which I don't know if I should keep, a nextfit, a cobalt rxt, a daytona rxt (box has never been opened so can be returned easily), and a plum rxt cover I picked up here.
I need to decide on boosters for my girls and feel like I should get something taller than a graco but am really liking the affix so might just go with that. I figure if they need a taller high back booster later, the fr85s will still be good. I'm planning to move them to dedicated boosters when they turn 6.
Ironically, for all I planned their outgrowing their marathons super early as their brother had, both can still fit in them at 5 1/2 - one just barely, one with room to spare.
Little dude, I plan to rf as long as he will stand for it. He's perfectly happy that way for now, I think because he can see ALL his siblings in the car that way.
I am a car seat hoarder. I don't know why I find them so fascinating but I do.
The classic marathon will always be my truest car seat love and I am sad that Britax seems to have DC'ed it for good now. That seat with a 40 weight limit would really be a dream. I've largely lost my Britax love - although if they still made cow parkways with latch it would be a no brainer what booster to pick. Their booster options now are so... boring.
eta - my oldest's bucket, we tossed before it expired because a cat got in our garage and peed on random things. I had no idea back then that the cover could be removed and washed! I would have likely replaced it for features anyway but how silly of me to toss it over cat pee.