Is thia what every collectors spare closet/room turns int

[Clong80]

Please tell me I'm not the only lunatic that has a game room (room of doom) whichever you prefer. Plus a spare bedroom and a half with overflow from whatever the collection may be. Mine being video games and specific brands of toys, star trek, Simpson's,  robotics, erector sets with a splash of star wars and super heroes. 

[+sramirez2008]

You certainly don't need that Vectrex. I would be more than happy to purchase it and stick it in my closet.?

[chas10e]

wait til' you get your first pinball machine

[Tales from the Game Room]

I got me a game room too.  I converted a walk-in closet to make my video game oasis...

[HoshiChiri]

I'll be honest- I actively work NOT to have my gaming spaces look like that. Accessibility is a big thing for me: if playing a certain system/game means emptying half the closet, then I won't play said game/system... and if I'm not gonna play it why should I keep it?

 

It doesn't mean I don't have things that involve emptying half a closet to reach, but at the moment it's exclusively empty console boxes I'm keeping for warranty/collector's sake... and if my work(s) opt to shut down awhile amid this whole virus thing, I'm going through that closet and seriously reconsidering keeping those empty boxes. I mean- I doubt I'll ever want to display them, so perhaps I really don't need to have them- and I would like a more accessible closet.

[jhd]

3 hours ago, HoshiChiri said:

I'm going through that closet and seriously reconsidering keeping those empty boxes. I mean- I doubt I'll ever want to display them, so perhaps I really don't need to have them- and I would like a more accessible closet.

 

Can you collapse/flatten these boxes for storage? I have almost no boxed consoles, but most of my 2600 cartridge boxes have been flattened so that they all fit into one standard-size file box. There may be some way to keep the boxes but make them occupy less space. 

 

I have a boxed PS One and PlayStation 2 consoles, but those are spares/backups and so they are deep in storage.     

 

One strategy that I adopted long ago to make my vast (non-video game) collection look tidier is to use standard-size file boxes. These are readily available at places like Staples and Wal-Mart. As everything is a uniform size, they can be packed very densely. The lids keep the contents from getting dusty. It is not interesting to look-at, but neither is a room full of random boxes, either.

 

 

[Clong80]

22 hours ago, sramirez2008 said:

You certainly don't need that Vectrex. I would be more than happy to purchase it and stick it in my closet.?

WHAT! get rid of my boxed backup vectrex! What am I supposed to do with just 2 left. 

 

And @ jhd- I did see those sturdy bank file cardboard boxes with lids at the dollar store last week. But I only picked up a couple because I felt like I could get them cheaper than a dollar each some leave else. I also like the clear rubbermaid totes with a gasket and closing snaps. The walls aren't straight which kind of annoys me even packing small boxes.  But I can see inside, the gasket helps keeps any moisture out, snaps keep it closed.  The downfall is after a number years I end up cracking them or breaking a snap off.

 

[HoshiChiri]

9 hours ago, jhd said:

 

Can you collapse/flatten these boxes for storage? I have almost no boxed consoles, but most of my 2600 cartridge boxes have been flattened so that they all fit into one standard-size file box. There may be some way to keep the boxes but make them occupy less space. 

 

I have a boxed PS One and PlayStation 2 consoles, but those are spares/backups and so they are deep in storage.     

 

One strategy that I adopted long ago to make my vast (non-video game) collection look tidier is to use standard-size file boxes. These are readily available at places like Staples and Wal-Mart. As everything is a uniform size, they can be packed very densely. The lids keep the contents from getting dusty. It is not interesting to look-at, but neither is a room full of random boxes, either.

It's not the cartridge boxes that are the problem, it's the system boxes. I'm sure I could fold down a couple of them, but most have foam inserts that would need to be stored anyway- all for a box I'll probably just keep in storage forever. I'm just debating on if it's worth it, y'know? I'll have time to figure it out, though- I did just get furloughed for the next 2 weeks, so closet cleaning is a-go!

 

Storage boxes are easy, I've got that part sorted- although I do go for form-fitting boxes, so the sizes do vary- I enjoy the challenge of finding boxes that both fill the shelfspace well while being ideally sized for the games stored in them, and I think I've done pretty good. You can fix that boring look of your file boxes easily- get some nice gift wrap/paper rolls, and some double-stick tape. Wrap carefully for homemade decorative storage. You can add ribbon, washi tape, or label stickers for a more finished look.

[Clong80]

On 3/16/2020 at 6:44 PM, sramirez2008 said:

You certainly don't need that Vectrex. I would be more than happy to purchase it and stick it in my closet.?

Also, you passed on the Entex Adventurevision and the Entex Select-a-game CIB  with 4 of the 5 games for the Vectrex.

[Clong80]

Never mind I see why. Probably because you cant see either of them in any of the pictures. That would certainly explain it.

[Pixelboy]

I gotta say, that Channel F box is in great shape after all these years.   

[Keatah]

Most likely, yes, the stuff keeps piling up and up. And the experience becomes a hollow one. the stuff just sits and sits and sits. It's best to pick 2 or 3 fav systems and treat them like queens. And have a good time with them too.

[Video]

Yeesh. Yeah, console boxes are just a general b#$% to store. All kinds of sizes, so they don't stack worth a darn, and typically I'm more interested in displaying/using the console than the box.

 

I still keep them in case I decide in the future to part with a system (it'll be a cold day, but anyhow) at least the games themselves are standardized and often have interesting artwork, so their easier to store, or display.

[+save2600]

Console boxes stack up just fine. Just gotta play Tetris with 'em sometimes.  ?

 

[+save2600]

To the OP, many of us have been there. With all this stuff and after a while, you either make it a priority to move and get a larger place/expand your existing place, sell shit or just become an even bigger hoarder.  ?

[jhd]

18 hours ago, Clong80 said:

And @ jhd- I did see those sturdy bank file cardboard boxes with lids at the dollar store last week. But I only picked up a couple because I felt like I could get them cheaper than a dollar each some leave else. 

 

Please do let me know if you find a cheaper source. My local Dollar Store does not sell these, and Wal-Mart gets expensive when one is buying large quantities of boxes.  

[Tanooki]

I'd say if you have a spare closet or worse, the actual room you use lined with everything to even a fraction of that stifling degree, you have a problem, at least a problem, probably a few problems.

[spacecadet]

I was that way some years ago. I think the normal cycle for most collectors is to first hoard, then cull, then reach some kind of natural balance you (and those around you) can live with. At some point I think most people realize their collection has grown to the point that there is just no time to play it all, at which point it has crossed a line. I definitely don't play even all the stuff I've kept, at least not regularly, but everything I still have is something I at least have on display and can appreciate. I feel like if you're just shoving stuff in rooms where you can't even easily get at it, you're not even really appreciating it, much less playing it.

[Clong80]

5 hours ago, spacecadet said:

I was that way some years ago. I think the normal cycle for most collectors is to first hoard, then cull, then reach some kind of natural balance you (and those around you) can live with. At some point I think most people realize their collection has grown to the point that there is just no time to play it all, at which point it has crossed a line. I definitely don't play even all the stuff I've kept, at least not regularly, but everything I still have is something I at least have on display and can appreciate. I feel like if you're just shoving stuff in rooms where you can't even easily get at it, you're not even really appreciating it, much less playing it.

I've been in the horde stage since 1994 when I started collecting. I do end up trading stuff in the summer months when conventions start

[Clong80]

5 hours ago, spacecadet said:

I was that way some years ago. I think the normal cycle for most collectors is to first hoard, then cull, then reach some kind of natural balance you (and those around you) can live with. At some point I think most people realize their collection has grown to the point that there is just no time to play it all, at which point it has crossed a line. I definitely don't play even all the stuff I've kept, at least not regularly, but everything I still have is something I at least have on display and can appreciate. I feel like if you're just shoving stuff in rooms where you can't even easily get at it, you're not even really appreciating it, much less playing it.

And I definitely haven't played anything in the spare room in a while.  But that's more because most of  the stuff I put in there is something I already have set up in the game room. If everything doesn't get canceled this year because the public health situation I will end up getting rid of a lot in that room.  Because I know deep down inside no one NES a pcfx set up in their game room and a back up in the spare room. Like it will ever get played enough to die.

[Clong80]

On 3/18/2020 at 5:41 AM, Pixelboy said:

I gotta say, that Channel F box is in great shape after all these years.   

I got that channel F system 2 in the box with 16 cib US games and 2 German cib import games off craigslist around 15 years ago. But I didn't have any extra cash so I asked him what he wanted for trade. I ended up giving him a loose n64 console and a Nintendo nes rf adapter. I still think it was one of my best trades in 25 years.

[Tanooki]

Yeah you came out ahead.  I used to have one, same thing, same on the games too.  It was moms console and my idiot father decided it didn't need to sit in the garage years after I moved away since I had popped it onto a small tv in the 3rd car garage to use so it ended up going out on garbage day.  A real shame as it really has some uniquely fun moments and played a hell of a mean game of blackjack.

[Keatah]

First, now, these past 5 years, I'm discovering the benefit of not being able to purchase and own every bit of Apple II hardware when I was a kid.

 

Oh I had a grand setup alright, Apple II+ and //e. And a good number of accessories for the Apple II, like a clock card, memory expansions, disk drives, and hard disk, 2 modems, mockingboard, joystick, CP/M, paddles, and a host of other odds and ends. Printer and microbuffer.. All of it fit into a coupla 2-4 rubbermaid tubs. My childhood stuff.

 

Sprawling things like the AlphaSyntauri keyboard, Mountain Expansion Chassis, and IIgs I didn't acquire till the 90's on ebay. And by that time I was utterly bored of the Apple II - having moved into the Amiga briefly and then the PC permanently.

 

So there was this big gap where I didn't do Apple II stuff at all. Or honestly appreciate it. Mid 90's to perhaps as late as 2 years ago. More or less. Did nothing except accumulate junk. None of which meant anything to me. I was futilely trying to re-ignite the passion from the late 70's and early 80's. The engine got flooded, the rooms filled with junk. Junk bordering on garbage even. The wife started to complain, rightfully so. My head got clogged trying to keep track of it all.

 

The only stuff that's truly & genuinely nostalgic and sentimental and important to me is the exact same stuff I had as a kid. And there is the silver lining, it isn't a whole lot compared to the million-dollar collections youtubers brag about. No sir. Not even a fraction. And that makes it manageable and fun and rewarding. Not ever worrying about the whereabouts and condition of filler hardware.

 

So the stuff I had as a kid remains "keeper material" and is the core essence of my collection. All the other stuff I have discovered is best enjoyed virtually through magazine scans and ads. Exactly the same way I had enjoyed them as a kid.

 

My original childhood hardware is most important and a keeper. Things purchased on ebay after the early 90's is now being gotten rid of in another round of purging - it has failed to become nostalgic, even after 20 some years. I recently focused on this "revelation" or "state of affairs" not all that long ago. But now, today, I'm dialing it in!

[RJ]

You're clearly a psycho.

[Keatah]

And proud of it!