Collecting: Is less = more?

[Dripfree]

No way more is more and I want it all!!!!!

 

Really I can't help myself I just keep expanding into new areas, and the more I get the more I want. It's totally crazy but that is what I really enjoy with this hobby.

 

It started with an NES and a few games then Genesis, Then SNES now I've gotten into vintage computing handhelds and even weird old mechanical handheld games.

I want... No I need them all.

I have soo much but the longer my have list gets ,the bigger my want list gets!

[Austin]

I keep bouncing between mentalities. I am most at peace it seems with downsizing and the "less is more" mentality. Sometimes I seem to almost uncontrollably get stuck back in a "more is better" mentality though, and I start racking up physical games again even though I've got flash carts for just about everything imaginable. When I buy a lot of items over the course of time, it does feel good in the moment. It's not until after the fact though that I realize it strains me financially (when that money spent could be going elsewhere, like in savings), I end up having more things than time to actually enjoy them, and I never really get around to really using what I purchase.

 

As I get older and my interests sway, I also have less and less time to dedicate to video gaming in particular. Or at least less and less time to actually feel good about doing so (i.e., not guilty). Yet, I still get into these periods where I am buying games constantly. They look nice on the shelf in those shiny box protectors, but in the end, asides from a handful of titles that have a lot of nostalgia value to me, I feel there's little point in hoarding or collecting like I used to. It's not like I'm going to be able to open up a game store like I wanted to in the past, and when the constant buying finally catches up with me, I have to purge much of it for far less than I originally paid.

 

So in the end, I think in at least my case, less is more. I think it all depends on what burdens you have set for yourself right now. How many hobbies you have, what makes you feel best, etc. For me though, I definitely feel the best after downsizing. But as the saying goes, old habits die hard.

[Scooter83]

Im happy with the size of my collection so far. I love gaming, I love hunting and finding, but I wont hoard or keep stuff i dont need. If i have duplicates I will sell off. Let it fund new items. But for me it takes both gaming and collecting to make it work here.

 

 

Long as I can pay my bills and its not hurting anyone then my more is more mentality will continue. When I need to stop buying i have the ability to stop and wait til i can go back to it again. With the more is more when you stop you got more stuff to play. The great titles , the good ones and others just to fill the time till you find something you want to play.

Edited November 16, 2013 by Scooter83

[gliptitude]

The only thing I even consider completing is Vectrex because it is my favorite and because it is a fairly small library. Also the ratio of good to bad on Vectrex is probably the best there is, in my opinion. Most of it is good. ... But with rare homebrews that I missed out on, and the price for a 3D imager, even a complete Vectrex collection is not a goal of mine. The 3D stuff is out of my range for the time being.

 

I don't collect 2600 at all yet, but it astounds me that people aim for even remotely complete collections for this console. Same with NES. Unless you have some professional or philanthropic goal with this, I don't see how you justify that. I don't understand the purpose.

 

Outside of Vectrex, I very strictly limit myself to the games that I really like and stand behind, plus in some cases games that I don't particularly enjoy but which have some unique feature to them. I do not want a bloated collection of games that I don't like. For some consoles there are fewer than 10 games that I would even allow to enter my collection, and if I ended up with others I would stash them away carelessly.

 

"Curating" to me has nothing to do with collecting every last bit of everything that was ever produced and every piece of packaging etc. I'm not saying that there is no reason for anybody to do this. But hoarding every single thing is not a very interesting curatorial approach, in my opinion.

 

If you like what you are collecting, your collection should be interesting and dynamic and have some sort of character to it. It's a more interesting presentation if it involves discriminating choices that you have made, rather than being an encyclopedia of the subject.

[Rhomaios]

I look at it this way... you don't have to own EVERYTHING. Just get the games and systems that interest you, and leave the rest for everyone else. For 95% of game consoles, you could spend a lifetime trying to assemble a complete collection, and most of those games are going to be cack anyway.

 

This. I have a sizable (to me, at least, certainly not compared to a good many of you) collection, but I only own games that I want to play. When I realize I don't enjoy a game, I put it up for trade/sale. There are well over a thousand games for all sorts of systems that I eventually want to get, but that's far, far less than the 20k for all systems. If I had too much shovelware, I'd never want to play anything, seeing as I hardly have time to play anything now. Only favorites get good play time, even if every now and then I'll pop in something not as fun or enjoyable, but still something that I haven't touched in a while.

[ilovethevectrex]

I've noticed that I'm spending more time lately organizing my collection than I am actually playing the games that are in it. Sometimes, I can't even remember what I actually have.

 

This has me wondering.. Is less = more? (Meaning would I enjoy a smaller, less complete collection than the one I currently have?)

 

This wasn't really an issue until I started replacing my loose 2600 carts with boxed copies. Loose carts and manuals didn't really take up any space at all.

 

If I were going to scale back on the number of boxed games in my collection, I'm not sure where I would want to draw the line.

Plus, when I've sold off parts of my collection before, I've usually had regrets.

 

Am I having a moment of temporary insanity, or temporary clarity??

well, more of the good stuff is a good thing. if you just have a ton of games that you dont like and you are unhappy, dont collect those games! try something new

[Robot2600]

You have great stuff, don't regret collecting and don't sell anything. Can't always be playing the most fun game of our life, but you'll discover some games you like soon enough. Maybe it's time to move to a new system or shoot for some high scores.

[GameGirl420]

This thread got me thinking about some of the stuff in my collection I've had for years yet never really had the time to play them.

 

Bought a Sega CD early last year especially to get Time Gal and Sonic CD but never got around to it lol. I've got a dozen sealed NES games like Kirby's Adventure that I'm still tempted to open.

 

Personally I would love more and more in my collection when I can afford it. I would love to have every console and game ever made, I mean who wouldn't?

 

Vectrex and Atari 5200 are my most played consoles.

[Cobra Commander]

I'm focused on 2600 from now on. I still have a Genny and NES for a few favs but I got rid of everything else a few years ago. I now concentrate on loose carts in the wild. I wouldn't mind getting an old PC (Atari or TI) to fiddle with. I treating them like lovers, where I've had a bunch good, bad and awesome, some were new some were used, some were locked in the closet and taken out occasionally to share with a friend but now I'm just bagging what I can from flea markets, thrift stores and yard sales.

[1982VideoGames]

It's easy to fall into the trap of buying everything in sight that looks great or is priced low in hopes of selling it for profit down the road.

 

At one time I bought up to five (complete in box) copies each of 2600 Starmaster, River Raid, Super Breakout, Yar's Revenge, Demon Attack, Dragonfire, and Defender, and multiple copies of Colecovision Venture, Ladybug, Mouse Trap, DKJr., and Zaxxon because they were my favorite games and loved to collect "Mint In Box" copies of them.

Add to that the game consoles and computers with the mentality that "if one breaks I have the others to play with" (none have broken yet!) and the hobby of collecting almost becomes pathological!

 

Boxes stacked upon boxes like living in a warehouse and it becomes a chore to find things, not to mention the time to set up a system you have that's located in a box at the bottom of a pile of boxes!

 

I'm a collector and gamer like most members here but there's a time when you have to draw the line between practicality and insanity.

[Andre81]

I haven't been able to find another box size that works.

Look on eBay for 12x12x12 boxes. They are a perfect fit for 20 games in protectors.

 

[Manoau2002]

I love collecting. I collect video games, board games, model trains, lps, and misc toys. I like buying items on ebay. I really love finding old toys and lps at garage sales and thrift shops. At least with the video games and lps I do use them as well as collecting them. I justify buying my stuff because I live alone, I don't smoke, I rarely go to the bar, buy cheap clothing, and have worked fulltime plus hours my entire adult life.

[Ska_music_fan83]

I am actually in the process of "right-sizing" my collection to just the games for each system that I enjoy/play the most. I'm down to just my Atari 7800, NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, and Gamecube.

It's turned into a whole process where I use a spreadsheet to help me categorize my games into specific sports, action games, RPG games, puzzle games, party games, racing games, etc. So that if I find I have too many hockey games for example, I just look for the top few that I really enjoy and I sell off the remainder to eliminate redundancy. It's kind of fun actually haha.

So I am definitely an advocate for "Quality over Quantity".

[Scotterpop]

I laughed when I saw the title of this thread, not because of the topic, but because I've always wanted to check into a hotel under the pseudonym "Les Izmore." One day I hope to make that dream a reality : )

 

Like others here have stated I'm definitely of the opinion that, unless money is no option, you should really only collect what you will actually play. Or if something has sentimental value for nostalgic reasons. After my last move, I quickly realized what a burden having all this random media is. So I've begun selling off big chunks of my collection, stuff that I know I'll never get around to playing. I've decided to keep and collect for only my favorite systems. And I've discovered that it really does make you appreciate (and actually PLAY) the stuff that you have left. I just decided to start behaving less like a "collector" and more like an "enthusiast".