When Collecting Begins to Take Over

[DPrinny]

Only buy what you will play
If you wont play it dont buy it

You've pretty much got it there.

About all I'd add is to try and finish a game before you buy anything new.

And buy everdrives for those that are bloody expensive and rom hacks

[Megamixer]

He'll start collecting something else now, Blu Rays, comics, figures.
It never goes.

That's what I thought too. He talks about still buying Blus and Records so those collections will likely just ramp up instead.

I really think you need to cleanse/fix your mind and the root issues behind depression rather than trying to hack away at the result (collecting) or else you will get nowhere...

[flatapex]

It has to be fun, and has to fit in with the rest of your life, if not something has to change

[Matt_B]

Only buy what you will play
If you wont play it dont buy it

You've pretty much got it there.

About all I'd add is to try and finish a game before you buy anything new.

And buy everdrives for those that are bloody expensive and rom hacks

And even if you're emulating, remember to play the games.

[ReplayRetro]

Great post, wish I could "like" it.

but i certainly don't buy colour variants (why would i want 10 N64s at £50 a time?) or slight revisions such as the saturn variants

The only reason I'd ever do that is to make some kind of display. But then, whilst it would look amazing, it's a sad state of affairs to know that none of those N64s are doing what they were actually built to do. YMMV.

That looks amazing! And sure it breaks one of my rules but that doesn't mean they're your rules too, you probably don't collect as much obscure junk as i do, so it all balances out

[oldtimer]

Ive been collecting games consoles, retro computers/hardware/software etc since the ZX81 days ,and after so many years ive absolutly no idea what i have ,or where its situated ,having filled my loft ,spare room garage ,shed and my brothers garage too,
Its too much and it keeps getting bigger by the day, its like a drug to me .

People ring me up and say they have seen stuff and do i want it? and its 99% yes most times.
I know its taken hold of me ,but i love my hobby,but i dont spend vast amounts of money ever on rare stuff or mint and boxed .

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

I definitely have an addictive personality that I sink into collecting games.

My biggest problem is that I have absolutely no restraint. That doesn't mean I get myself into a financial mess, but it does mean that I often buy games for the sake of it. I have a habit of buying what I feel are the best games for a system, regardless of whether I'm going to actually play them or not. It's a bit silly, but there you go.

If I was able to I'd simply sell my collections and go down the everdrive routes. I'm unlikely to ever do it though as I love owning physical games too much. I have a connection to my MD and SNES games, because they remind me of my youth and nostalgia is a powerful thing that I often succumb too.

Currently selling existing games now as I want to buy some new speakers for my vinyl (another new obsession). I'm considering a big clearout and would ideally like to halve my collection, but I'm not sure if I have the balls to actually do that. It's also highly unlikely i'd regret it and that's worth considering when you realise how much some games are now.

[Negative Creep]

To be honest I don't know where people get the money from to create these kind of collections, especially given the price of retro these days. Creating a collection of something like boxed SNES games would cost thousands, which is a massive amount of anyone's money if you have anything less than a high paying job. There's games I've wanted for years but in my mind I can't justify spending £40+ on one

Not meant as a criticism of anyone here by the way, just an observation.

[JazzFunk]

I'm a 'Bargain Hunt' type of collector who only really collects games that I want to play, or will (maybe???) get around to playing. The idea of spending hundreds of pounds on rare, minty boxed items really doesn't appeal, that's money I could be spending on pubs, food, ganja, women and debt.

You'll catch me in Cash Converters, Cash Generator, down the second hand market, in charity shops, and if you see me in GAME or Grainger, I'll be spending less than a tenner, CEX lex than a fiver. I'd rather take a £20 down to Cash Converters and get maybe ten/eleven games in tatty boxes that I don't have, games I want to play and games I have no fear of playing because they're already in 'gamer's condition'.

But don't get me wrong. I find some stunning stuff for dirt cheap. Boxed PS1 Namco Arcade Stick for £6? Check. Official Wii RGB for 75p? Of course. Minty PAL Sol Divide (PS2) for £1? Why, yes. I find all kinds of weird, good stuff, it's the unpredictability of finding it that is fun and it always means something when I do. I'd hate to just be able to get everything I want, endlessly, waste all my money. I appreciate the inbuilt, budget limit I set. And I have a staggeringly good collection of games, anyway, it means I buy less when I don't need to, and usually spend less than £20 per time.

[Megamixer]

To be honest I don't know where people get the money from to create these kind of collections, especially given the price of retro these days. Creating a collection of something like boxed SNES games would cost thousands, which is a massive amount of anyone's money if you have anything less than a high paying job. There's games I've wanted for years but in my mind I can't justify spending £40+ on one

Not meant as a criticism of anyone here by the way, just an observation.

I was thinking this too. I'll admit that I've spent a fair bit on a single game but I've usually either sold a load of stuff to part-fund the purchase or saved for it before looking on ebay.

Some forums I go on have users posting pick-ups pictures of brand-new PS4/XBO releases every other day. Obviously it's none of my business what people buy and I'm not bothered about how people spend their money but it does boggle my mind a bit. Are these people genuinely rich or just up to their eyes in maxed-out credit cards?

[ReplayRetro]

It may be that there's other things they don't spend money on, for example i don't really drink anymore so that saves me a substantial amount, i quit smoking years ago so again that's a big saving. Now i'm not saying you smoke and drink but chances are there's expenses you have that they simply don't

[Negative Creep]

I don't drink, smoke or gamble but still have very little to spend on any sort of hobbies. That said, a lot of it would be down to who you know, timing and sheer luck. I bought most of my SNES games about 10 years ago when prices were far lower, although I wish I'd spent a bit more and got the boxed versions. Someone like PAt the NES Punk has said he bought the majority of his complete collection years ago, something that would be impossible now without spending vast amounts of money

[ReplayRetro]

I don't drink, smoke or gamble but still have very little to spend on any sort of hobbies. That said, a lot of it would be down to who you know, timing and sheer luck. I bought most of my SNES games about 10 years ago when prices were far lower, although I wish I'd spent a bit more and got the boxed versions. Someone like PAt the NES Punk has said he bought the majority of his complete collection years ago, something that would be impossible now without spending vast amounts of money

I think for a lot of cases you've hit the nail on the head. Most of my collection was picked up ages ago, it definitely builds much slower these days as bargains are so much harder to find. Most of the people i know with big collections of boxed games have had them since before collecting was cool. For me it's similar with the systems i've collected over the years, some of which now command stupid prices i'd never pay, it's crazy how much stuff has shot up and it doesn't look like that theme is changing any time soon