At what point does an enthusiast become a collector?

[Pengwin]

When I started to rebuild my Atari collection, I saw myself as merely an Atari enthusiast. Someone who enjoyed the nostalgia and the simplified game-play.

 

Looking at my collection now, although still quite short on software, I realise at some point I seem to have become a collector. Particularly with books and programming languages.

 

So at what point does one change from being an enthusiast to a collector (or enthusiastic collector )?

[jdh]

When I started to rebuild my Atari collection, I saw myself as merely an Atari enthusiast. Someone who enjoyed the nostalgia and the simplified game-play.

 

Looking at my collection now, although still quite short on software, I realise at some point I seem to have become a collector. Particularly with books and programming languages.

 

So at what point does one change from being an enthusiast to a collector (or enthusiastic collector )?

 

I guess it's when you feel compelled to buy stuff because you don't have it NOT because you need it or will use it

 

Or is that the next stage ? ...obsession

[mimo]

When I started to rebuild my Atari collection, I saw myself as merely an Atari enthusiast. Someone who enjoyed the nostalgia and the simplified game-play.

 

Looking at my collection now, although still quite short on software, I realise at some point I seem to have become a collector. Particularly with books and programming languages.

 

So at what point does one change from being an enthusiast to a collector (or enthusiastic collector )?

 

I guess it's when you feel compelled to buy stuff because you don't have it NOT because you need it or will use it

 

Or is that the next stage ? ...obsession

not sure, but I have got that one

[Ross PK]

Yeah, it'll be when you buy things just because you want to have them, rather than wanting to use/play them.

[accousticguitar]

I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with boxes. A lot of people around here seem to like having the original boxes. Or maybe that's the obsession part.

[classics]

When $2000 for a 1400XL starts to look pretty good, youre hooked.

Edited March 26, 2007 by classics

[Ross PK]

I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with boxes. A lot of people around here seem to like having the original boxes. Or maybe that's the obsession part.

 

Yup, same here. And manuals. I'm not going to use them for anything (well, I'd enjoy reading the manuals and the back of the boxes, but I wouldn't be putting them to any practical use), but it's sure nice to have them.

 

As for software I'm only interested in getting the games that I'll enjoy playing.

Edited March 26, 2007 by Ross PK

[+Guitarman]

I think we all have a sickness!! I know I do. I see the word Atari and the wallet comes out!!

 

It's fun being sick, don't you think!!??

Edited March 26, 2007 by Guitarman

[+bf2k+]

Around 1996, I started regretting selling off all my old A8 stuff to buy PC stuff. I started trying to re-acquire it (and actually got my hands on some of my old stuff that I sold). I definitely had it bad when ebay first started up in the late 90's. I bought some mad stuff there for cheap prices. I think I must have hit every thrift store in the state of VA looking for A8 stuff (and found a bunch too). I bought a ton of other computer stuff to (ST, C=, Apple ][, Macs, etc.).

 

But when I moved in Dec 2006, I got rid of EVERYTHING except my Atari 8 bit stuff. I guess I still have it bad!

[+kheller2]

There is the additional sickness.. where if you see something you already have, it doesn't feel right not buying another copy... or twelve. The "awe.. the poor abused 800XL! All it needs is a little love and cleaning and its good as new".. had at one time increased my "inventory" to unheard of levels.

 

It might be fun to come up with official definitions and descriptions of our ailments.

Edited March 27, 2007 by kheller2

[mimo]

There is the additional sickness.. where if you see something you already have, it doesn't feel right not buying another copy... or twelve. The "awe.. the poor abused 800XL! All it needs is a little love and cleaning and its good as new".. had at one time increased my "inventory" to unheard of levels.

 

It might be fun to come up with official definitions and descriptions of our ailments.

I know where you are coming from- can't help but save the XL's!!

I like the idea of some deffinitions for the various stages of the illness we call Atari

[carmel_andrews]

As I was once told....Atari users aren't made...they're born ATARI USERS...anything else is a 'poor subsitute'

 

To using an abridged version of the famous Dr. Johnson line about "tired of London"

 

If your tired or Atari, your'e tired of life

 

my ATARI disease is 'terminal' and cannot be cured

[Ross PK]

As I was once told....Atari users aren't made...they're born ATARI USERS

 

Too true.

[exobuzz]

I guess I'm not obsessed yet then having only 1 atari 800xl..

 

(and about 10 amigas, 6 c64s,spectrums,ql's,beebs,vectrex,atari ste,falcon,electron,dragon32)

 

The way I see it though, if I spend some money on ebay for some old tech, and am at home tinkering away with it, its saving me money, as otherwise I would probably be down the pub. What's your excuse? :-)

[mimo]

stopped smoking 20 a day

trouble is I spend more than I am saving from quitting!

[Gunstar]

When I started to rebuild my Atari collection, I saw myself as merely an Atari enthusiast. Someone who enjoyed the nostalgia and the simplified game-play.

 

Looking at my collection now, although still quite short on software, I realise at some point I seem to have become a collector. Particularly with books and programming languages.

 

So at what point does one change from being an enthusiast to a collector (or enthusiastic collector )?

 

I guess it's when you feel compelled to buy stuff because you don't have it NOT because you need it or will use it

 

Or is that the next stage ? ...obsession

 

Yes, that's it. It doesn't matter how much you have collected, you are still an enthusiast if you only buy stuff you are going to use/play. If you buy stuff that you just want to own for the sake of building onto what you own, with a goal of just collecting as much as you can, then you are a collector. But there's really no other line to judge besides that; you could be an enthusiast and have a larger collection than some "collector," but as long as it's all actually used, then you are still an enthusiast. You can be both though. I've called myslef a collector for years, but when put to this question I must call myself an enthusiast becuase I only "collect" what I will actually USE.

[charliecron]

I guess I'm not obsessed yet then having only 1 atari 800xl..

 

(and about 10 amigas, 6 c64s,spectrums,ql's,beebs,vectrex,atari ste,falcon,electron,dragon32)

 

The way I see it though, if I spend some money on ebay for some old tech, and am at home tinkering away with it, its saving me money, as otherwise I would probably be down the pub. What's your excuse? :-)

 

 

Hehe I bore my friends talking about Atari _at_ the pub! (bar)

[Tezz]

kheller2 There is the additional sickness.. where if you see something you already have, it doesn't feel right not buying another copy... or twelve. The "awe.. the poor abused 800XL! All it needs is a little love and cleaning and its good as new".. had at one time increased my "inventory" to unheard of levels.

 

I know where you are coming from- can't help but save the XL's!!

Yea guilty too.. I've just bought 11 broken 800xl's and those 3 65xe's just to fix and restore them so they weren't lost.

 

I've been purely coding on the A8, all the hardware hacking has been with the Amiga and further into the nineties to the present like everyone with pc's but it's beyond sad to see Atari's in a poor state and destined for destruction... I just can't let that happen! Even if it's a lot of time and a financial loss to repair and restore them, it's well well worth it

Edited March 27, 2007 by Tezz

[Gunstar]

There is the additional sickness.. where if you see something you already have, it doesn't feel right not buying another copy... or twelve. The "awe.. the poor abused 800XL! All it needs is a little love and cleaning and its good as new".. had at one time increased my "inventory" to unheard of levels.

 

It might be fun to come up with official definitions and descriptions of our ailments.

 

I'm guilty of that too, but I've turned that sickness into a healthy part-time business. I buy them and refurbish and set them free in the wild again, with a little compensation. I'm still not sure though, if I do it for the electronic hobby and business end or if the electronic hobby and business angle is just an excuse to hide my sickness. I do dabble with stuff other than Atari, which would lean to the healthy hobby&business side, but I go out of my way looking for Atari stuff, which I think leans to the sickness.

[carmel_andrews]

I think all my gear works (computers only) 1 256k xl w/os cont. card, 1 modded 130xe (4 in 1 os) and a couple of basic xe's (65/130) and a dodgy a800

 

need a couple of modded 1050's with psu's (no cables please, have enough of them to start a franchise), don't need or want a 1010/xc11 or 12 as i got shot of my tapes ages ago, looking to build up though an extensive disk collection (originals only)

[Paranoid]

I guess it is a tough call. I think it is how you personally see yourself.

 

I'll buy almost anything retro I come across if the price is cheap (garage sale, thrift, flea market), even if I have no interest in it personally.

 

But, I've got no interest in paying tons of money for something rare and minty that I'll never open and never play or use.

 

And very little interest in paying tons of money for anything in particular retro, under almost any circumstance. I see this as a hobby where I should be able to get my fix for between $.50-$15 for most titles, and for between $ 5 - $40 for most consoles. Buying something like the CC2 or a USB multicart seems hugely extravagant to me.

 

So, I've got a lot of things in my collection, but I think of myself as a gamer/enthusiast. I don't like competing with collectors in the market, because I think they drive up prices (because they are COLLECTING, not just buying to play, they are often willing to pay more, in fact, almost anything, to complete their collections). But I think a lot of people would look at my collection and say, "Yeah, you're a COLLECTOR of this stuff". Just not a real collector.

[Curt Vendel]

When you devote 600 sq ft to an office just for Atari research, a 100 sqft loft for direct storage, 2 20x20 offsite storage units, most of the garage and a nicely stocked arcade down in your rec room - well, now you've entered my world of insanity

 

 

 

Curt

 

When $2000 for a 1400XL starts to look pretty good, youre hooked.

[Paranoid]

But you're not a collector, you're a full-fledged historian.

[Tezz]

I've been purely coding on the A8, all the hardware hacking has been with the Amiga and further into the nineties to the present like everyone with pc's but it's beyond sad to see Atari's in a poor state and destined for destruction... I just can't let that happen! Even if it's a lot of time and a financial loss to repair and restore them, it's well well worth it

The 800XL's arrived this morning and only one boots whoo some are in a sorry state. One weirdly is full of coloured stickers strange strange... diagnostics time awaits!

[calfranklin]

Though I have owned and used or played Atari since the early '80's, it wasn't until last year that I decided that I was going to try to buy and own each Atari console, computer and game carts/disks and accessories reflective of each stage of Atari home arcade and computer release. With the help of Ebay and other Atari online outlets, I have purchased several nice boxed consoles and loose and boxed games, both cartridge and disks, much to my wife's dismay! For example, I have worked 12 hour days and long hours on the weekend just to have the extra funds to invest in my collecting of Atari items. Here's some of my goals as an Atari collector: catalog existing items (and there's a lot of them to list), purchase a boxed 800, 2600, 1200XL, STe and Porfolio system, buy only boxed items (this is the most difficult one-when not to buy the loose items), sell my dups (don't ask me what they are, I don't know yet) and modify the den closet space to safely store everything. As you can see, I truly have a passion for Atari items. And someday, if the good Lord will, I want to share this interest with my grandkids and possibly others (I'm 49 and 1/2 years old now, so I know that any age can relate to Atari)! I'm thankful that I have vivid memories of seeing my nephew and niece playing the 2600 in their living room in the early '80's and my college buddies and I going to the local mall just to play another game of Demon Attack on the arcade and my wife and I coming home from work as a young married couple playing Asteriods or Carnival on our Coleco Gemini (2600 clone, which I still own!). This is what being an Atari collector means to me, and I'm sure it mean the same to you!