One more take on Collecting, or giving it up

[digitalpress]

Reading this thread:
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120083

I was about to post there, as I so often do when threads about giving it up or questioning the collecting mindset, or the materialism of it all, or the practicality when confronted with real life, etc. etc. etc...

I consider myself a rather veteran collector. I've got shit all over the house, in my store, in Las Vegas in storage for Classic Gaming Expo... it's a mess, really. An organized and tidy mess but a mess in the sense that I know damn well that I'll never be able to really enjoy it all the way I had originally intended. I'll never play them all. I have no kids, so it won't get passed down, and my wife will only be burdened with selling it off should I leave this plane of existence before she does. Thus, the thought continually pokes at me: "what am I gonna do, have it all buried with me?"

Bear with me for one more moment here so you and I are on the same page. Most of you know I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2006 and that just makes me want to enjoy everything more NOW, as there's just no guarantees on a long old-age period where I can catch up on the gaming, or sell it all and retire to San Juan, or just blow it all on booze and worldwide travel. If you're me, TODAY is rather precious. Common sense says that collecting under these conditions isn't very practical.

All of that said, and after countless discussions with my better half, I have come to the realization that it is the COLLECTING ITSELF that brings me joy, sometimes more so than the gaming itself.

Soul-searching a bit, I pictured a world where I'd keep the few games that I really love and could play every day, and that was a future I could certainly embrace. This was followed shortly later by my next thoughts, picturing a world where I'd given up "the hunt". That was much harder to wrap my brain around. So hard, in fact, that I have resigned myself to the fact that what brings ME joy isn't just the gaming, but the packrat "gotta catch 'em all" mentality that has been with me for as long as I can remember. You know what confirmed this? While updating our online guide lists recently, I actually felt the need to check the complete lists against what I owned for the TI-99/4A and APF MP-1000. I mean, WHO DOES THIS? And worse, who immediately goes to eBay to add a search reminder so those stragglers don't get missed tomorrow and beyond... ?

In the end, everyone has to make their own decision about collecting vs. gaming/practicality/finances. But understand that there are freaks like me who might just find collecting the winner every time.

[Mianrtcv]

Reading this thread:
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120083In the end, everyone has to make their own decision about collecting vs. gaming/practicality/finances. But understand that there are freaks like me who might just find collecting the winner every time.

Exactly. Whatever the reason is, it does not matter. If you dig it and can manage it. Who does it hurt? I enjoy to play and collect.

[jcalder8]

It's all about what brings you joy. I have sold some stuff off that I was done with and I have cut way back on my collecting because I want to play more games(and something about bills or rent or food, you know nothing important)

I am happy with the amount of time that I can spend playing the games that I have and although I wish I had more money I am happy only buying games that I know I'll play through in the future.

[Poofta!]

i have to agree with you there as im pretty much the same. the hunt and search to me is more important and fun than gaming itself (i barely game anymore). i also enjoy looking at my shelf of games that i adore.

[RadiantSvgun]

I just collect what I play. For the exception of the Turbo of course.

[InsaneDavid]

All of that said, and after countless discussions with my better half, I have come to the realization that it is the COLLECTING ITSELF that brings me joy, sometimes more so than the gaming itself.

I don't think that could be better put Joe. Happiness is pursuring happiness, in a way, is it not? The cheap hunt, the killer finds, buying garbage NES games I simply don't have just because they're $2.00 - that's probably my favorite part of the hobby, right up there with the people I meet along the way. Same thing when I bought my Galaxian cocktail recently (which I'm sure the boards are getting tired of hearing about), sure I love the game but having a classic cocktail table in the home has been a dream of mine for years. To me the physical piece is as important as the entertainment, as is the story behind how I obtained it.

I'm okay with playing ROMs as well (as Flack mentioned in the other thread), the originals will never totally be replaced but I don't mind going through long games with specific emulators I feel "console comfortable" with. This was a big part of me deciding it was okay to let the TurboDuo go (also that I could always buy another one down the road and my collection really isn't that gigantic or super rare outside of it being 'Duo stuff to begin with). There are tons of TG-16 and PCEngine games that I've had and sold over the years that I never really sat down and dug into. I've been doing that with emulation as of late and for the foreseeable I feel comfortable with that. A few games will stick around, namely titles that I have a bond with or simply don't want to have to look for again when the day comes that I miss the physical console, but for the most part it's an emulation platform for me for awhile. There's plenty of games to enjoy and beat before feeling that it's couch kickback time again with the console and casual play with serious collecting steps back into the spotlight. The 'Duo was my splurge system back when I first came into disposable income, the system I never was able to own but always wanted - expensive then, expensive now. These days that system is the Twin Famicom which has been much more affordable to get games for (mainly thanks to a few forum members here!) and like its counterpart the NES, if it's cheap I'll usually give it a try. Sure that can all be emulated as well but I get more enjoyment from the tactile feel of the system, flipping the disks, the controllers, etc.

I've thinned out things over the past few years, getting rid of stuff I don't play at all or really actively collect - and all stuff I could buy back into easily should the desire arise. That's not completely true actually, I haven't been in a "buy buy buy" mode in a long while and for a couple years it was "sell sell sell" the crap that I "bought bought bought" because I could, it really didn't have much meaning: gameplay or collection wise. This was mostly filler PS2 titles and GBA games, which in the first year I bought almost everything on the platform.

But the classic stuff, even PS1 and Dreamcast, it all means a lot to me. When I do have that moment where I want to play and nothing else, it's cool to think of a game, pull it off the shelf, sit down with it, read through the instruction book cover to cover, look over the packaging and really enjoy the game like I walked into a store the day it was released and purchased a copy because it was a title I saved up for. That's when the large cheaply obtained collections pay you back ten fold, when you discover games you love that you never knew about or only had a faint idea of, that have been sitting in your collection for years. One may not be able to play them all, but those pockets of surprise here and there offer enjoyment that wouldn't be found through other means.

[Simply Dave]

As far as I'm concerned, collecting video games is one of the coolest hobbies in the world. Everytime I read a post where someone says that it's a waste of money and that you should only collect the games you'll actually play, I think about the dudes that pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a rare stamp or some old painting or a Coke bottle. A fucking stamp....think about that.

[Oobgarm]

...I have come to the realization that it is the COLLECTING ITSELF that brings me joy, sometimes more so than the gaming itself.

Truer words could not have been spoken. I'm in the same boat as you buddy.

[scooterb23]

I have come to the realization that it is the COLLECTING ITSELF that brings me joy, sometimes more so than the gaming itself.


I hear that. My issue is...I can't focus on just one thing to collect!! When I get home from this trip, I'll get pics, I promise...my collection of collections!

[gepeto]

I totally agree. I Love the hunt and the find but for me Videogaming is in my blood. Coming from the electric football era and watching videogames go from a blip to gta I just find fascinating. I appreciate and marvel at the advancements. I believe when I am 60 I will still be gaming. I also hope in my heart that one day I will be able to sit back and play all that I have collected.

The amount and size of the collection can be a nuisance but I hope one day to have a house with a big enough basement where I can add order to chaos. If I sold it I would regret it to a point but hey it is what I enjoy doing. Some men do cars,comics,baseballcards we are all in the same boat.LOL

[Videogamerdaryll]

I was just talking about this with my Wife..and the convo comes up often..especially on the way to a race event.

I do two things..Game and Race...

I race the mini motorcycles and think,man ,,.What would happen to my collection of games,shoot even my bikes while at the track...Let alone not being there for my family,Kids and Wife..
....
When I'm racing and things get hairy on the track,or I get too daring-think of taking chances my wife and kids flash in my head and I take it easy..
My wife's always goes with me,if I got hurt what would happen... she'd have to get the bikes home and come get me in some far away hospital....Dead same but I'd never know it..
My 7 year old Son I plan to start racing next year,and he's a Big Gamer..As I told my wife etc that my collecting goes to my two Sons...

To wife:Ok maybe he'll never touch the older stuff..he won't have me to show him it so I try to show him as much as I can now(her-stop talking like that)

..he is currently hooked on N64 games and NES Tetris...360 Lego Games

To Wife: ...........so keep the Arcade machines for him and the new stuff,take the retro stuff to Joe,(yea I've said this if I croak) as(Hon) you'll not know what to do with all this stuff...
For the bikes,call one of the other racers on my Celly..

Dad says..We'll you'll never know what went were if you croak so...who cares
But I have kids and you make sure the Arcade machines stay with them..Make sure you help her if she has to move them..

"The Hunt"
I still enjoy the hunt......It's an addiction..My dad goes with me to Fleas and he hunts for non gaming stuff but he finds enjoyment if he finds/sees something gaming for me..

Unfortunate .as I was just talking about this same thing with a member here,the Flea Markets around me have went down hill in finds..I don't find much if anything..NES systems are scarce,SMB is what I'd call rare if I saw it at a flea Market these days..
If I find anything good looking.. it's junk or broken..the vendors are scraping the bottom of the barrelI
'm tired of getting bit by broken junk via the flea market..If I find something it comes like once a year now with my last great find,that being the Ms Pac Man coctail table...Years ago I'd be climbing over Genny and NES systems..Years agoythe hunt was worthwhile and pure fun.. now I dig through bins and boxes to find nothing..If I find loose NES games they are priced at $5-10 each..
Broken PS2 .Gamecubes and Xboxes have started to be the flooded item at Fleas now..but vendors still seem to think that trying to sell a used GC for $50.00 is giving you a good deal..
Vendors I've found good stuff from through the years have vanished or they say"I just don't find anything anymore"


Ebay..I hardly ever go on looking for something gaming anymore unless I'm price hunting,looking for a super cheap new system game...
I remember when I'd have several gaming packages coming in a week..Ahh the good old days.

..
I recently sold retro stuff off,,and bought another bike.
Wife says,hey you collected that stuff for years then just sold it all off at once ..aren't you going to miss it..
Yes for many reasons and No...
If I sell something it's to buy something else that I'll use and have fun with then no....I'm not using the games,they were just on display behind glass..
I don't have the time to play it all..nor really does my Son..with the bike I'll use the heck out of it and my Son will grow to race them..
If I get something I want after selling something I'm happy..if it doesn'tt work out that way then I'm pissed..

Collecting,I've lost the interst to try and complete collections,my last close to complete collection was Sega Saturn..
I still collect games just not like I used to so I make sure not to sell everything..>>>
As:
When I'm too old to ride-race I'll go back into collection games full time.....Meaning I'll be up at Joes store buying all kinds of stuff.

(full circle).

Right now I'm just trying to have as much fun as possible while I still can..I'm 40..you just never know when your gonna go,.........

whatever makes you happy..go for it..

[Trebuken]

For many here there is also a sense of community. This site is a hub. Many branch out to CGE and similar events, others are sontent to just remain among the forums. There is a sense that we are collecting together, driving the hobby and creating our own niche...OK well maybe not me, but many of the veterans here lead me to believe this is the case...

[fpbrush]

I agree with most that has been said here-- and I think what it comes down to, is "collecting/packratting", "the hunt", or "the community" can all be really amazing stimulating things for the videogame collector. But really in the end, its all about FUN or joy as Joe was getting at. If any of these things has made collecting lose it's fun for you (ie losing too much space to games, reselling market getting you down, or not enough forums like this one) it's probably time to adjust your collecting style--I know I had to.

But some are the 'catch em alls' and some are just in it for a few favorites--but I think all these styles create a healthy collecting community as we are a part of here!

Everyone here is a collector--we are all just collecting in different ways.

[EX-Soldier]

he who dies with the most toys...wins

[maxlords]

Joe is a Pokemon trainer :)

Seriously though...I like playing em more than hunting em. In fact...I don't ever complete collections, I don't even particularly LIKE the hunt...it's just habit now because that's the only way to find stuff. This year...everything I've found at yard sales got traded in to a local indy game store to pay for new games. I don't really "hunt" like I used to. I'm kind of the exception I guess. I've limited what I buy to a handful of items, and I almost never buy anything but current gen anymore...I have 95% of all the older stuff I wanted and I don't see the point of buying games I won't play. But I still compulsively look sometimes.

I guess what I'm saying is for some people...this is a hunt. For some people, it's OCD. Me...it's more of the latter, plus I love gaming. But even now, I go through phases where I'll game heavily for a month, then not touch any games for 2 or 3. And the older I get the more I do that.

[crazyjackcsa]

If I could get more than pennies on the dollar, my collection would be gone but the value of them now is so much lower than what I paid. For the 2 dollars I'll get for most games, I'll keep them. For the most part I've only collected what I play and have never traded in. That's left me with over 200 games across about 6 systems. If somebody offered me 3k for the collection, I'd take it.

With the birth of my son there just isn't time or to be honest, the money.

[16-bit]

Whether it is my own collection or inventory, I actually enjoy sorting/organizing video games as much as playing them.

[Malon_Forever]

It's more about what you enjoy doing overall with you're free time. Do you like to read, go to the movies, play games, collect anything (games as well :) ) Personally if you love doing, why stop? Don't get carried away with it, just keep doing what you like. Just need a healthy mix of things.

[SegaAges]

This topic seems to be coming up alot more lately.

I have been around here for around 3 or 4 years, and I am 25 now.

I have been collecting since I was young, but with all that time, I am still doing a "quest for 1000 games" thread. I have been into collecting since I was probably 14 or 15, so a good 10 years.

Some people who have been in this for 10 years are like Joe when it comes to how many games they have.

I started losing interest in the amount of games I had until I started getting close to 1000, which is always a milestone.

Why do I do it?
I honestly don't know. All I know is that I love it. I collect for everything, and definately not a completist. I have a complete N-Gage collection, but ebgames helped me with that since they were dirt cheap and most were easily readible to get.

Some of you have a wife and kids to pass your stuff along to. I don't have that option right now. I am only 25. I am a computer programmer with a degree, and I graduated when I was 24, and assumed I would be at least in the middle when it came to age at my job, I am one of the youngest (I think there is 1 person younger than me that works here). I have nobody to give this stuff to right now. I have said, back when I got a little too deep into drugs (I am clean now, I assure you), that if I died, all I cared about was that none of my games were sold, and they were enjoyed. I was actually asked by a doctor while I was in a hospital what i wanted to do with it all (assuming I did not make it if I continued down that path). Scary times, but meant for a different thread, and I am clean now, thankfully

My problem is that I started getting mroe games than I had a chance to play. Back when my number was around 300 or 400, I would play every single game I bought, even to say it sucked. Now, I counted yesterday actually, and I have 31 X-Box 360 games, and look at my gamerscore, hahaha, and that is recent stuff.

I actually knew I wasn;t the only person, but did not realize that I was a collector myself until I watched a show on G4 where Joe was on there lookin' all sexy for the camera, and that is when I found out about DP.

I have been a member ever since, and it is great. For about 5-7 years or so, I was collecting with no communication to anybody else about it besides my friends and family, now I get to talk to people all around the world about doing what I do.

We all do the same thing. Somebody else also said it, but some of us just do it differently.

Will I ever stop collecting? Right now, no. As long as games are getting put out in physical form I will continue to buy them. Even when they stop, it will give me more time to get all of the stuff that was put into physical media.

Maybe when I find a nice girl and start a family, my priorities may change, but right now, I am "living the dream". 25 Year old dude with a college degree, nice car, a salaried job, spendable income. Bills suck, but I always have money to spend. I am enjoying this life while I can, as I am sure some of you did. I am at the point where my collection will probably start skyrocketting, but I don't care, I am having fun and enjoying life. Games bring a smile to my face.

I will say though, collecting is not like it used to be. Video games were fairly mainstream when I started when I was a kid, but the industry has grown to the point where you will not find deals like "Every single Saturn game [2 isles worth] all for 4.99 to clear out inventory" at BestBuy. Stuff like that doesn't happen anymore. We got lucky a few years back when TRU did that 90% off deal, I know you guys remember that, but it is much different now. The finds are out there, but it is much harder to score a find. It is now all about finding a deal on games, and not finding something "in the wild". It has changed, to the point where people that are not all taht into games are out doing what we do, but they stay specific to a current-gen or N64 if they are in college.

[Igorr]

As far as I'm concerned, collecting video games is one of the coolest hobbies in the world. Everytime I read a post where someone says that it's a waste of money and that you should only collect the games you'll actually play, I think about the dudes that pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a rare stamp or some old painting or a Coke bottle. A fucking stamp....think about that.

Hey, NICE collection. I did notice that you have a least one n64 game with permanent marker on it. You know how to get that off? Take a Magic Eraser (Made by mr. clean or something) and get it a bit wet and rub it on it and it will come right off! I use it to clean ALL my nes game carts and even my nes consoles. Works like a friggin charm!

[Cryomancer]

Collecting is a meta-game. It's a fun one, with lots of cool guys doing multiplayer with you.

(i wish someone would develop a collecting simulator game, just for ultimate nerditude)

[dr101z]

Deep stuff Joe. I can safely say that I have had similar thoughts about my collection and my future collecting and why I do it.

I'm in the same boat as many of the people here in that I have so many things in my collection that I'll never get around to playing all the stuff the I have...and I'm still collecting stuff. Right now I'm closing in on completing my collection of US Dreamcast games and I told myself that after that I'm not going to buy anything else unless I intend to play it. I don't feel the same way about games for systems released since PS2 that I do about the older systems.

I started collecting games when I got my first Atari 2600 for Christmas back in 1980 and I haven't stopped since. I still have that original 2600 along with the first games I got for it set aside and it's something I hope to never part with. Somewhere along the way I started gathering other games systems and picking up titles whenever I could. I mean, I have a decent amount of Intellivision stuff and I cannot tell you when or where I found it all, it just sort of wound up in my collection. The same goes for the used but complete boxed Odyssey 2 and dozen or so games I have for it.

I didn't start thinking about it until last year but it hit me like a ton of bricks. How did I get into this hobby? I never set out to collect stuff, it just sort of happened. Thinking about it some more though I realized that I was getting all that stuff I used to read about in Electronic Games and all of the other 80's video game magazines. Reliving those days of youth when every game that came out was new and exciting. A few extra colors on screen and man it was a whole new world. New types of games were being invented all the time. People who grew up in the late 80's or 90's or kids today will have no idea what it was like when just being able to pop a cartridge into a device hooked up to your TV and move images on it was just amazing. HD graphics, surround sound and all of the other stuff is just expected if not downright taken for granted. In that sense modern systems don't stack up but I'll still play them and buy games that I'll actually play on them...but not collect for them. I've decided that the last collectible system for me is the Dreamcast.

Back to Joe's conclusion, I enjoyed tracking down and collecting all of the stuff that I have so far. I enjoyed crawling around filthy warehouses looking for a box of unsold Atari carts that someone thought they saw, or catching a collection of 80's consoles in a used clothing shop at a flea market (a working Vectrex for $25 in that haul!), or pulling stuff out of a dumpster in the middle of a driving rainstorm. But I won't say that it was the collecting that was the best part of it. I look back and appreciate the friendships that I built up with the people I met while playing and collecting games. Flying across the country to setup a show, hunt for rare carts, move arcade games around in 110 degree heat, meet former and current giants of the industry and enjoying an ice cold beer afterwards with those friends is what makes this so fun!

[Sanriostar]

This thread seems appropriate for what I just did:

I just jettisoned all my spares to a Gaming store to make space. For the first time in....(counting)......13 years, I'm out of the trade game. Why did I do it?
My stuff just didn't move anymore. I'd been sitting on most of it for 5-7+ years, and I needed space. My Collection proper isn't going anywhere, but I still feel a bit of mourning. Most of my collection was built off of trades, and I had pride in that, but it was all dead in the water.

Now granted, I probably got rid of 6+ copies of Pitfall, Pac-Man, and Combat each, but a part of the hobby I love is now gone to me. If I'm getting anything new now, it's going to be a straight purchase.

3+boxes of Commons for various systems, a spare 2600 setup, and some Saturn games for what?

CIB GC Ikuraga. Some might think I got the better end of that deal, I donno. Now I am going to play the living Fuck out of this game; it's been a High Holy for me quite a while now, and none of the trade fodder was doing anything, but an avenue just closed on me an hour ago. Or at least that's what it seems like. I'll give it time.

[Ed Oscuro]

There's a lot of talk of "whatever brings you happiness" BUT:

When you buy stuff because the experience of buying things makes you happy, you're helping drive up prices. That's good for some, bad for others, but higher prices don't seem to me the best way of spreading around the happiness. It's no different from coin collecting; some collectors are more cautious, some are less. Some collectors never see some of their stock and are simply investing; so a coin that is high in value and is prone to appreciate and depreciate with metal values or speculation might go for years without actually being looked at by anybody except whoever's tending the collection. That's an accepted practice in that community, certainly, but money is driving it and not fuzzy warm feelings. Money puts food in bellies, not fuzzy feelings.

The more important issue to me is fiscal responsibility. I try to buy only stuff I know I'll like, and I try to pay bargain basement prices for it. Right now I'm looking at making a possibly $250 purchase of a single game, but I waited until the original price was dropped. I'd only do it if I was reasonably certain the value would be there for the future.

I view it as putting my money AND things I enjoy both first.

It's also because few people like to live in a pigpen. I've got lots of stuff here and there and it's hard to get rid of stuff (both physically - PayPal be damned! - and emotionally).

I find it useful to stop and think carefully each time I am tempted by some deal. Is that $6 Pac-In-Time worth it? Answer: Probably a resounding no, but as long as I don't buy junk that often, it shouldn't hurt much.

I used to justify purchasing lots of stuff at a time by thinking of what the eBay value was, and if one game was worth the price of the whole lot (as sometimes happened) I counted myself a winner. Of course it would have probably been better just to buy the item that was valuable and ditch the rest (still, I think my instant 3DO collection was worth it).

Sometimes I think about just sticking to emulation, but that has its drawbacks (in any case, playing at the level I try to - competing over at Shmups.com - pretty much requires some expensive controller purchases).

In any case, I end up putting the most time into PC gaming (and emulation), and probably still the most money into PC stuff. I might upgrade my computer this holiday season; I might not - I've had the current one since the end of '06, I believe.

Even though the investment scene is terrifying at the moment (on the whole), I think that if I didn't already have quite a bit of money in savings that I'd stop buying any games and just throw all my extra money into that.

Bottom line, though, I don't see the allure of going for hundreds of games for a particular system (unless it's the X68000 ;) because few people will have time to play them all, let alone appreciate them.

[Streetball 21]

As far as I'm concerned, collecting video games is one of the coolest hobbies in the world. Everytime I read a post where someone says that it's a waste of money and that you should only collect the games you'll actually play, I think about the dudes that pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a rare stamp or some old painting or a Coke bottle. A fucking stamp....think about that.

I totally agree. It is one of the coolest hobbies in the world. I get a joy out of looking for classic games at a flea market or garage sale. I dunno, it just seems some people don't respect video games at all.

But like you said, people pay for a stamp!!!!!

[Ed Oscuro]

Also, something to keep in mind:

I have been watching a copy of (certain game - thanks 16-bit!) for months, and it's been listed at $280 on eBay.

I just waited, and waited...at that sort of price it's just a bit much.

Finally it ends today and I get it for $200.

To be honest, I don't get much thrill out of this sort of thing; I almost set up a bidding program to get the bid for me (except the bid I had in earlier today failed, because somebody outbid it). It mostly just upsets my stomach now.

I do remember the "thrill of the hunt," but I also remember some very embarassing bidding (and thrift hunting) failures to pick up stuff.

[megasdkirby]

My entire mentalli changed from "MUST GET THE RARE TITLES!" to "go with the flow".

Though I will admit I am debating some depression issues in my life, I do find joy collecting games. No, I won't stress myself over getting particular titles. If they appear in front of me, and I want it, I get it. Simple as that.

Before I was so obsessed with getting ultra rare 2600, SMS, NES...games, only to realize one thing: why? What does it give me? What do I get from spending an assload of money on a Nintendo World Championships cart? To me, that's nothing: only the satisfaction that one has a copy and bragging rights. I know friends who are desperately trying to find it and would almost kill for it, but once they get it, what then? Eventually they will be selling it off and the cycle continues.

I am also collecting not to collect and never play, but to play as well. I kinda find it useless to buy a game and never play it. At least 75% of my collection is that way, and to make matters even worse, they are mostly sealed. Never opened, sniffed, enjoyed, etc. So now I buy to collect, but most importantly, to play.

Eventually I know I will pass on, and even though the thought does scare the shit out of me, I know it's a fact of life. My games will scatter around, or my brother will get them all.

Sorry for the long rant...just wanted to get things off my chest. :)

[Ed Oscuro]

What do I get from spending an assload of money on a Nintendo World Championships cart? To me, that's nothing: only the satisfaction that one has a copy and bragging rights.
And increased attention from scammers and potential thieves, I bet...the schitzophrenic "look at me I am collecting god" combined with "no I won't give you my address" leads to some unintentionally hilarious public appearances by some of the "big-time" collectors.

[Jibbajaba]

I know I don't post here anymore (still lurk from time to time, though) but I thought I would comment on this since over the last two years ago I have unloaded the majority of my collection.

I got rid of most of my stuff for multiple reasons. The first reason was space. In our house I have a room with which I can do as I please. My computer is in there, my Legos are in there, and my games are in there minus the current gen stuff that we keep hooked up in the living room. This room is the size of a normal non-master bedroom. 10x10, 12x12, whatever. One square room and a non walk-in closet. I have three 6-foot bookcases, a desk, a small table for Lego building, two smaller shelving units, an end table, a printer stand, and a pretty long TV stand with space underneath for components and whatnot. In other words, shitloads of furniture. The room can only handle so much stuff, and there was no longer enough shelf space for all of the games that I wasn't playing anyway.

The second reason was money. I didn't need money in the gonna-get-evicted kind of way, but there were some things that just needed to get taken care of. Paid off my credit card, made an honest woman out of Ms. Jibba (now Mrs. Jibba), etc.

Lastly, much like you Joe, I don't have kids and we are not planning on ever having any. If something happens to me there is no one to take my stuff, and Mrs Jibba is stuck trying to figure out what to do with it. In the right hands my collection of classic games, Apple II crap, and vintage Legos is worth a lot of money. Not as much as some collections around here to be sure, but enough. But if I am not around anymore, I know that the missus does not have the knowledge or experience to liquidate my collection and get any real money for it. This maybe doesn't make sense, but it makes my stuff feel less valuable, knowing that I don't intend to ever sell it and that my wife would have no interest in doing so if I were gone.

So I just started going through my stuff and selling the stuff that didn't really mean anything to me. That doesn't mean that I just sold the cheap stuff, but I just sold the stuff that didn't have any real value to ME. Systems that I didn't have as a kid, games that I only had just to HAVE but never to play, etc. I don't miss ANY of it. My collection is a leaner, meaner version of itself, but it still just as meaningful to me today as it was when it was a bloated mess.

There's this Garfield strip from a long time ago where he chases a mouse through the house for 3 or 4 frames, and then once he catches it, he just lets it go, and in the last frame he says "It's not the having, it's the getting." That's the thing with collecting video games. Sure, if you find something really awesome like Magical Chase or something, then heck yeah it's the having too, but for most things the fun comes out of finding it at a thrift store or whatever for cheap and bringing it home and cleaning it up and thinking that it's neat for a few days. But then that feeling wears off and you just look at it thinking "what the F are you still doing here?" It's like bringing a drunk chick home from the bar. Feels great at the time, but the next morning it's time for her to get the fuck out. That doesn't mean that you aren't going to try to bring home another one. The thrill is in the hunt, and bringing it home and playing with it for awhile.

So do I still collect video games? I dunno. I still go to thrift stores and flea markets looking for cool stuff, and if I see a cool looking video game then I still grab it, but usually it just ends up in my trade bin. That doesn't mean that I'm sorry I brought it home. The enjoyment was in finding it, buying it, and bringing it home and trying it out. In this sense I think that I can still have the thrill of collecting but without the burden that is a mountain of useless stuff.

Anyway, that's enough of that post. Hope everything is still cool around here. I read through Joe's entire blog last night and it is great to see the store doing so well.

Take care,

Chris

[Ed Oscuro]

But if I am not around anymore, I know that the missus does not have the knowledge or experience to liquidate my collection and get any real money for it. This maybe doesn't make sense, but it makes my stuff feel less valuable
I don't see how it doesn't make sense. I'm young and healthy myself, but even I worry a bit about having a plane fall on me and leaving the folks with a bunch of stuff - some of which is really worth money, some of which is less valuable than dirt. And you can't always tell one from the other at a glance.

[SegaAges]

I agree with JibbaJabba.

I got Mortal Kombat 3 for Game Gear complete. You can get that game sealed for $30. It is our own holy Grails, and not a NWC cart.

Find your own holy grail and obtain it, it is fun.

I remember in an ad in Gamepro, they advertised mk3 and it said all of the systems, one of them being game gear. They scrapped it, but later, having met you guys here, found out it was still released in PAL format, hence the hunt began.

It is probably the rarest game I own outside of maybe a VB game or N-Gage game or something.

[slackur]

Joe, I've been dwelling on your post, and I felt I might have something to add.

I'm not near the collecting veteran yet, though I've been on the scene for about fifteen years, and worked managing an indie game store as well as Gamestop. I've thinned out my collection and eagerly allowed it to swell, oscillating every few years, faced the universal space/money issues, and I've faced my version of your mindset about the love of the hunt and actually just keeping and playing the fun/nostalgic games.

As I glance around my media dungeon of 4500+ games, I realized what finally gave me peace of mind over what to do about/with 'The Collection'.

Find it a future.

I'm organizing and catagorizing, even insuring, the collection, so that it may be passed down as easily and efficiently as possible. I have kids, and they are all too young to understand it now, but if I go before my wife, they will decide how to hand it down. Hopefully I'll be around long enough to cast my vote on how it happens. If my kids have no interest in it, I have a few parties in mind that I know can take it and treat it with due respect (i.e. take care of but play the heck out of it!)

The important element here is knowing that the collection will be a blessing and not a burden to the person/people it is passed on to. I know you posted that you don't have kids, so my first priority would be finding someone you know that could a.) take such a collection and have space for it, b.) appreciate it as the awesomely fun thing it is, and c.) take care of it and not let it just degrade into a bunch of junk in assorted boxes.

I hope that with all the cool people you've met over the years in this field, someone (hopefully several people) come to mind who would treasure such a gift after your passing. Maybe you could split it up, give the Sega fan your Sega stuff, the Turbo guy your Turbo stuff, etc. The important element, of course, is someone who has the ability to take it and appreciate it.

Once you have these souls in mind, you know that you are not just hoarding stuff, but donating to a future gamer's (and hopefully good friend's) collection to carry the torch and show those poor kids playing Virtual Mario what the first one looked like, and why it' still fun to play. Finding that person to pass it on to makes the investment mentality complete, (at least it did for me,) and frees my mind up about worrying that my collection will just dissolve over a bunch of people who don't know the difference between a ColecoVision and a Vectrex.

Here's another thought: you don't have to tell that person! Maybe it's best if you do, for space and convenience, but what if that good friend of yours gets a surprise a week or two after mourning your passing? Many of my collector friends will be getting pleasant surprises after I'm gone that I've never mentioned to them (and I don't think they are expecting.)

A last suggestion would be to donate it to a museum or other resource where others could see and appreciate your hard work. Maybe you could even leave notes for display instructions!

The point I'm hoping to make is that what really helped free my mind and let me enjoy the hunt as well as justify the collection was to find it a secure future, and then work toward making sure that happens. Now, every game I buy, even the ones I'll never play, have a reason for being here.