Learning to let go of your physical collection

[RJ]

On 2/10/2022 at 10:47 PM, jgkspsx said:

If you have kids, leaving them an empty house full of Ikea furniture when you die...won’t help them understand you or themselves better nor remember specific moments with you.

Wouldnt that be what their MEMORIES are for?

 

"Empty house"

FULL of IKEA furniture? ???

[+jgkspsx]

31 minutes ago, RJ said:

Wouldnt that be what their MEMORIES are for?

I don’t know how many dead people you have in your life, but I have many, and I have found the memory to be insufficient on its own.

[RJ]

Not everyone needs to keep/hold onto something tangible to remind them of the passed (people). You should've indicated that's your/your family's personal situation rather than generalizing. 

 

I definitely WON'T saddle my sons with my old junk-- my siblings & I had to clean out my dad's pole barn when he died-- we overflowed 2 industrial waste bins with his junk-- some stuff I recognized from when I was 4 YEARS OLD.  All I kept was a small tack hammer & a Hamm's bottle opener & I'm OK with that.

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by RJ

[+jgkspsx]

Everybody’s different. Sometimes children of hoarders go really far in the opposite direction.

[adamchevy]

My neighbor recently died at the age of 93. He was a great guy. It took his family of 7 kids and their families an entire week of trips to the dump to empty his house and nearby barn. I won’t do that to my family. I’ll keep 2 or 3 recognizable game systems that hopefully they will remember fondly playing with Dad/Grandpa(someday). I’ll also pass on my grandpas Silver Dollar collection. I’m sure it will just get spent.

 

Vectrex

 

Original NES

 

Nintendo Switch

 

That’s my plan so far.

[Mikebloke]

I've filled a 'extra large' box of things to go. I was surprised how many I was willing to get rid of, things like original tomb raider games for ps1, something like 11 or 13 saturn games which is my pride and joy, finally dropping a lot of my boxed pc I haven't touched in years as well. I had already got rid of a lot of pc games I have on steam, I kept C&C out of nostalgia but actually the remaster is not bad in EAs defence. 

 

I think what happens when you die as a collector is a little valued conversation. I think most of us probably think 'we'll be dead, who cares its someone else's problem!' I imagine my three kids and wife would have a say about what they want to do with it, if they want to keep anything that's fine, but I think a lot of it would be just sold. Wife knows I'm on this site a lot, so those hoping for three figure £££ plus saturn games are in luck! She'd probably try and flog them on here first. 

[Keatah]

So far I've not been able to secure an heir for my stuff. Told the family to try and sell it, give it to goodwill, or just call 1-800-GOT-JUNK.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Keatah

[adamchevy]

So far I've not been able to secure an heir for my stuff. Told the family to try and sell it, give it to goodwill, or just call 1-800-GOT-JUNK.

Or if I’m still alive you can have them call me.[emoji3]

 

I’m sure their are plenty of massive Apple 2 fans here on Atariage and in the world.

[+KylJoy]

My son is a fan of vintage video games.  He will inherit my collection.  When I'm gone he can keep it, give it away, use it for firewood....  It won't matter to me.  I'll be dead.  But as for right now, he digs it and we share that in common and it is fun for us.

[Keatah]

On 2/14/2022 at 12:37 PM, adamchevy said:

Or if I’m still alive you can have them call me.

It could happen. Anything can happen.

 

On 2/14/2022 at 12:37 PM, adamchevy said:

I’m sure their are plenty of massive Apple 2 fans here on Atariage and in the world.

I bet so too. Most Apple II users are far less talkative about their hauls (or hoards). Then there's the rich folks. Apple II is quite popular among the well-to-do today. Apple II (and a few other select micros) are from a time when the computer was a tool, a mind amplifier of a sort, the beginning of the information age.. Utterly opposite the standard run-of-the-mill goal of getting every cartridge for a given system and bragging on youtube for $$$.

 

My modest pile of sentimental stuff is reasonable and is likely affordable by most anyone's standards. That's the most important stuff to me. The ebay hoard, which is beginning to decay and smell and flatten itself down as boxes collapse is a whole different ballgame however. But so far I've kept cross-contamination at bay. And have begun to "let it all go." Akin to a rumbling bowel movement.

[Keatah]

I will say one thing with irrefutable conviction. Having so much stuff that it's become unusable (because so much stuff) is not retro in any way shape or form. The meaning is lost. Diluted into unimportance. Irrelevance.

[Mikebloke]

3 minutes ago, Keatah said:

I will say one thing with irrefutable conviction. Having so much stuff that it's become unusable (because so much stuff) is not retro in any way shape or form. The meaning is lost. Diluted into unimportance. Irrelevance.

That's definitely the track I'm going down, there is so many ways to play games now, even on original hardware, it makes no sense to drop so much disposable income on it. Original makers don't make any money on it, developers or publishers, if it's going over original sale price with or without inflation people just profit from demand or perceived lack of supply. Each route round I do to remove more games is seeing how much emotional attachment I have to them, and if they are actually worth anything and usually they aren't really (did the same with books over the last few years I think that helped cushion the blow for video games too knowing I've done the process already). 

 

I will actually put them up sometime...

[WIZZARD77]

I sold most of my collection and replaced it with flash carts. I kept the stuff that was sentimental to me, and I still have a bunch of systems I should liquidate as they're duplicates. I used the money to pay off my house. I don't regret it for a second outside of the fact that if I held onto it longer, I would've gotten more money.  My collection is slowly growing larger again as I see stuff once and awhile that is just too cheap to not pick up.

[Mikebloke]

2 hours ago, WIZZARD77 said:

I sold most of my collection and replaced it with flash carts. I kept the stuff that was sentimental to me, and I still have a bunch of systems I should liquidate as they're duplicates. I used the money to pay off my house. I don't regret it for a second outside of the fact that if I held onto it longer, I would've gotten more money.  My collection is slowly growing larger again as I see stuff once and awhile that is just too cheap to not pick up.

I could really do with my collection being worth over £50,000 right now so I can sell it for house stuff, but I don't think that's going to happen! 

[WIZZARD77]

I only had about 8k left to pay off. I put everything I sold into separate account until It was all gone. Then I just dumped it all into the principal. When I was done, I only had about 2 or 3 payments left. My hobby made me independent.

[Punisher5.0]

9 hours ago, WIZZARD77 said:

I sold most of my collection and replaced it with flash carts. I kept the stuff that was sentimental to me, and I still have a bunch of systems I should liquidate as they're duplicates. I used the money to pay off my house.

 

That's got to be so freeing. I don't blame you one bit for that. I'm only half way through if I keep paying the minimum.

[Rhomaios]

2 hours ago, WIZZARD77 said:

I only had about 8k left to pay off. I put everything I sold into separate account until It was all gone. Then I just dumped it all into the principal. When I was done, I only had about 2 or 3 payments left. My hobby made me independent.

I mean, 8k is just a push over the edge for what I guess are many people's mortgages.

[adamchevy]

I mean, 8k is just a push over the edge for what I guess are many people's mortgages.

I can’t imagine 8k for a mortgage payment. The steepest I’ve ever had is $1300. Now their are many people with car payments the same as my mortgage.

 

I don’t think I’ve ever had a physical collection to let go of if I’m being honest. I’ve never had that kind of money or dedication. I’ve always bought and sold as I’ve switched from console to console.

 

I currently have a Wii U with 15-20 games, a Wii with 15-20 games, a Vectrex with a Multicart, and a Switch with 7 games. I don’t anticipate adding anything for a while. Before I do I’ll probably sell the Vectrex and Wii U.

[Rhomaios]

26 minutes ago, adamchevy said:

I can’t imagine 8k for a mortgage payment. The steepest I’ve ever had is $1300. Now their are many people with car payments the same as my mortgage.

  Oops, sorry, I didn't mean mortgage payment, I meant total left on the house. Once you get down to the 8k range, it's almost over. A few months with your $1300 example.

 

I hate seeing mortgage bills. I pay rent, which means even though I don't own this property, I pay double to triple what someone would pay for this place if they bought it. Grr.

[Keatah]

2 hours ago, adamchevy said:

I don’t think I’ve ever had a physical collection to let go of if I’m being honest. I’ve never had that kind of money or dedication. I’ve always bought and sold as I’ve switched from console to console.

I had both.

 

But the late-70's and early-80's childhood collection of carts'n'consoles itself was only a collection for short time. A proud gleam in my eye. I had an arcade at home! Soon it became a hoard during the gotta-get-em-all years. Stuff was rapidly accumulating. Consuming physical space. But not returning any memorable moments. And I kept thinking, "just one more system, one more game.." Then ebay popped up. And the already burgeoning dedicated years exploded into the burden years. Nostalgia never materialized for mosta the extra ebay purchases. I'd say about 10 or 20% of it was nostalgic. Replacements and childhood wants. Like a IIgs and an Apple Graphics Tablet. Some select manuals. And mostly spare parts.

 

So. I began realizing I would never be playing all this stuff, let alone cycling arcade cabs from my buddy's gracious warehouse corner to the basement. And back and forth when I wanted something different. It was ridiculously impractical. It didn't work. It was becoming embarrassing because I couldn't figure out how to organize that incredibly huge amount of detritus in a small space.

 

Today it is opposite. One remaining pile of quasi-nostalgic shit is still flattening itself under its own weight. Things creaking and bending in slow motion. Maybe there's rot happening. And I have no doubt the unremoved batteries are leaking all over. I explain it away by saying there's $$$ in that pile and I just haven't gotten to it. Care to help? Everybody backs away in terror. And we go about our business. And another year passes.

 

The good nostalgic clean "quality" stuff wouldn't crowd a 1-bedroom studio. It fills a guest-closet to the brim, give or take a shelf. Two months into this year I added in a manual and brochure and I think that's it. Eventually it will be scanned, posted, and given to the library or tossed or something.

[Keatah]

On 2/20/2022 at 8:00 AM, WIZZARD77 said:

I sold most of my collection and replaced it with flash carts. I kept the stuff that was sentimental to me, and I still have a bunch of systems I should liquidate as they're duplicates.

That's really the way to fly. And it would seem the non-sentimental stuff, or stuff that never becomes sentimental, are purchases done due to influence from others. Whether it be jealousy or a youtuber making something look better than it really is, the drug-like rush of an ebay acquisition, or trying to live up to others' hoards.. It may be a purchase you'd never've made of your own volition.

 

Flashcarts are a great in-between solution when it comes to piles of carts'n'consoles vs full-on Software Emulation.

 

Quote

My collection is slowly growing larger again as I see stuff once and awhile that is just too cheap to not pick up.

Well as long as it's cheap and meaningful. But I fell into that trap too. Too much of something makes stuff not meaningful. A household not far away buys their kids every Lego set. Hundreds or even thousands of dollars per week. The kids build them. Then they sit in an over-hoarded basement. So big. So much. You need a drone to inspect & take inventory!

 

IDK.. I'm just 2x thankful for emulators (said it a billion times before) that let me partake in the hobby without the physical hoarding or breaking the bank. It's cheap! It only costs a coupla thousand dollars every few years for like hardware upgrades - assuming you really really REALLY want the latest and greatest stuff. And it can be done piecemeal for those on a budget. But realistically any 5 year old computer is sufficient.

 

Let's you break free from ebay and thrifting too. And gains you back summa the time you'd waste chasing it all down. It works for me.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Keatah

[+Gemintronic]

I stopped randomly buying anything but homebrew and unlicensed stuff a long time ago.  Narrowing what I'm allowed to collect has reduced my clutter greatly.

[Tanooki]

Right now I'm leaning to let go of a bit more.  I pulled over a dozen or so items last night from the shelf, mix of anything as new as switch to back to the NES era.  Problem is now reconciling what to do.

There's FB marketplace to get cash, but that's dealing with flakes and lots of go nowhere messaging.  Or there's like a couple forums online that would involve trades, but I'm trying to go low not break even and I doubt too many would want some 3:1 5:1 deal thing would they?  Then there's the bs at half price books where you can maybe get 20% of the value (I ask 50% roughly local to not put up with lowball.)

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

Craiglist is a nightmare to sell now it looks like. I haven't sold anything on there in a while I sold off a big chunk of my collection in 2016 or 2017 and then switched to flash carts and Ode's. People spam it so hard with a gaziiom listings for random games they got into the target bargain bin.  I don't want to deal with eBay but I need to definitely sell some stuff. I'll post list in the for sale section here before I do. Prices will be far below ridiculous eBay prices of course.   

 

[Tanooki]

I need to offload some stuff, but because of the snitchy shit going on now with a $600 cap I can't.  We rely on that tax refund to get my kid out of the house for 4-5 random weeks in summer with week long camps.  It would murder my refund and because it's old games, I have no receipts so I can't very well try and write it off as a loss either with no proof.

 

CL here is dead, so little anymore, offerup is a equal or worse joke, and FB is just a lot of asks and no follow through which means a waiting game, a trading game online, or getting little dumping it at resale.