What to do with a big collection

[AtariLeaf]

AtariLeaf's comments were a 'little' harsh - but sort of spot on! lol

 

Sorry, exactly the kind of appearance I was hoping to avoid. I definetely didn't want to come across as harsh and apologize to AX if it seemed that way.

[Rik]

Unless one is rich,this is the kind of extremism that puts one in financial ruin later on.If you have lots of money to spare, do it!

Edited December 7, 2009 by Rik

[+save2600]

Indeed AtariLeaf/Ax... please don't construe my comments as judgmental or too harsh either. Just trying to relate and the projection here really is about NOT letting the hobby control such life impacting/altering decisions such as moving to support it - unless of course you have the means and justification to do so within healthy boundaries and everyone is in agreement.

[Chickybaby]

It's good your wife trusts you to do the "right thing" and supports you.

 

Like people have said, if you've got obviously your wifes support, the savings to to provide for all your kids growing up and not just live paycheck to paycheck, and have savings for emergencies like major home repair and medical, have fun and go for whatever is best for everyone including wife and kids!

 

It sounds like whatvere will be a lot of fun! You'll have to let us know what you end up doing.

[+cvga]

I know what you mean. I hate having items just packed away that aren't accessible. Your solution sounds nice but it seems kind of extreme. Also, if rent is $890 per month, it's going to cost you a little more than $200 per week before you include anything for gas. Do you have other options at your current location? Maybe finishing a basement (that's what I did), adding on a room, or creating more space some other way might be similar in cost while enhancing the value of your house.

 

I know of a guy around here who has been living a real life Sims game. He started with flea market booth, moved to a low rent mall, later moved to a stand alone location and just recently moved into one of the nicer malls in the area. He must be doing fairly well since he's been able to improve his location several times.

Muzz right? I hope that new store does well.

 

Maybe. I don't know his name. I've talked to him several times when I've been in the store and he's a real nice guy but I don't really know him.

[kevincal]

Again, thank you all for giving me plenty to think about. I'd like to move on from this thread now.

 

Thanks,

AX

 

 

You all be nice to this man above! He gives the best deals when he sells stuff! Very kind.

 

I know you don't want any more advice, but honestly I think if you only did one thing, it will help A LOT and solve your problem. Sell. All. Duplicates. Because, I'm assuming you have a BOATLOAD of dup systems/games etc?

[shadow460]

Let me be blunt:

$900 a month for the two 12 X 18 rooms and a 12 x 12 room is a complete rip off, even if the bills are paid. You're talking 600 square feet and that's it. That's tiny. If you went that route you could rent yourself a small apartment and save at least $300.

 

That said, I don't recommend it. I also agree with AtariLeaf to an extent. If you think video games are consuming your life, then you have to change that. If it involves someone else's help, then so be it. You have someone right there at home who probably knows when your judgment is sound and when you're blowing smoke. Yep, ask your wife for her input. What does she think you should sell and what does she think you should keep. Ask your friends, too. Friends you know in real life are better choices for this.

 

Here's what I do:

I don't keep systems that I don't play. I do have some duplicates of my portables to enable two player gaming. In one case, the Game Boy, I have four systems but they are a mix of one brick, one pocket, and two color units. I have two PS1 consoles, but they are about as different as you can get between them and still link up. The reason I have them now is because that's what my original collection had, a 1001 and a 7001. I have only one of each of my other consoles and plan on possibly buying one more duplicate to play LaserDisc movies in the living room. And that Intellivision of mine is one of a kind, especially with its clear paint job and lack of physical form.

 

I have several duplicate controllers. Obviously you'd want two Atari joysticks for Combat, or four paddles for Warlords. Those are what has taken over the most of my place since some of them are quite large. I've got two Driving Force wheels, which frankly I do not need. I need to mod one of them to work with GT3 correctly and move it out. I've got a tons of light guns, and a couple of arcade style (and size) joysticks. One of them is for Virtual On, and you might know how big the control panel on that game is. The Twin Stick is not quite that big, but it's not exactly small, either.

 

Duplicate games are another matter. I see them as "coupons" to be "spent" at the store. I don't care what they're worth. If I can get 50 cents a pop for them, average, I trade them in and bring home something I don't have. Last time I brought in a system I think it was the Hyperscan, I took a whole bunch of stuff to Vintage Stock that I could easily have sold online for three times what they offered. I didn't (and still don't) care about that, though. I traded that and 50 cents for the Hyperscan.

 

I have two boxed systems, and that's only because they happened to have the box when I got them. One is the Hyperscan and the other is my Daxter edition PSP Slim. You can't play the box, so it's no use to me. I have one system in mind that I want a complete boxed collection for, the 7800. "Complete" includes all the original releases in their boxes, up to but not including Combat 1990. Homebrews and reproductions of then unfinished games are good, but I have to draw the line somewhere. I have flat told myself that I will not go out of my way to collect anything in a box unless it was that way in my first collection. Even most of my N64 titles aren't boxed anymore like they used to be. Once again, you can't play the box. That said, if the box is cheap and available locally, or if it comes with an online sale, I will probably keep it.

 

All my crap fits into a 455 square foot apartment. Oh, sure, we're planning to move into something with an actual living room, but right now, here we are. I have my 700 plus game collection in there which is about 1/3 CIB. In here with it are my musical gear (includes a 125 watt multi purpose amp stack and a computer dedicated to recording and mixing music), several power tools and probably 300 pounds of hand tools for my job (when I have one), mine and my wife's book and movie collections, three bicycles, three computers, and my 22 game systems. Oh, and plus we have all the furniture you'd expect, you know, the bed, a full size couch, tables, etc, and it's all usable for its intended purpose.

 

The key is simply purging what we don't use, and focusing on what we do use. If you haven't used it in x amount of time (usually six to 12 months), get rid of it.

 

Sorry if i came off a little harsh at first, but sometimes the best help does involve a virtual swift kick in the britches. I meant what I said about asking your wife, though. That is part of marriage, that spouses help each other out. If my wife didn't believe in helping me, or I in helping her, we'd both be in a world of hurt.

[fiddlepaddle]

It's interesting how many considered opinions there are here. I suppose it means many of us have faced the same puzzle: getting the most fun out of the least space. Unfortunately, choice has costs, and at some point more choice costs more than it's worth. I don't think I could ever be happy with one game for the rest of my life, no matter what it was, but I'm thinking I could probably live happily ever after with less than a thousand...

[AtariLeaf]

I'll explain where I'm coming from because I didn't want to sound harsh. I had a pretty large collection years ago and I was of the mindset that I needed (not wanted) everything. This got pretty depressing because that is almost impossible and puts a lot of stress on what was supposed to be a fun hobby. I sold that entire collection years ago with a huge sigh of relief. Fast forward to now and I'm collecting again but I told myself I was going to go into it with a much different mindset. I would only collect certain things and in smaller amounts.

 

An example is my 2600 game collection. I have 75 "must have" games and others that I get if I find them. If I don't, thats fine because I have the ones I really want and that I actually play. I'm much happier now with a smaller collection. It fits in one room, is readily accessible, and doesn't consume the rest of the house or my life.

 

I used to try to fit my life into my collection. Now I fit my collection into my life. This is the key, once it goes beyond that its time to take stock of where this passion to collect is coming from and where its going.

[82-T/A]

I've got a passion for collecting game stuff. Having gone the store route and not doing very well, I've been considering renting a place just to house my collection. A museum would indeed be cool, as would a store, but it all comes down to my primary reason for wanting to do so. Selfish Me! I like my stuff. I can't enjoy it when it's boxed away out of a lack of space. The problem with stores is finding someone to run it, or running it yourself and having to adhere to the publics hours. I'm a very free spirit with my time. One week I'm up nights, the next, regular hours. I'm not going to move, since I have four kids and the housing market stinks, I'm going to be stuck in my current house till at least 2023 when the mortgage is up.

 

Thinking about such a place, I consider the fact that I'd want a safe location and no huge separate bills to contend with. Those bills are what make a store simply not feasible unless you succeed at making it pay for itself. So I looked for something where all the utilities were included. I've found a garage rental in a posh neighborhood 20 minutes from my home. They want $890 a month but it includes all utilities. Looking up real estate prices on the same street resulted in lots of 400K - 700K value homes. This place includes two 12 x 18 rooms and a 12 x 12 kitchen! I'm really leaning towards this as a great place to have a family outing / man cave set up and be able to just go have fun and blow off steam. Gas, Water, Central Heat/AC, Phone, Internet, Cable TV, and it's lakefront to boot... but it's a good chunk of change almost $200 a week if you factor gas to go over there twice a week. That would add 33% to my monthly bills.

 

What do you think?

 

AX

 

 

My advice???

 

Sell almost all of it, and keep only 4 systems that you actually play. You'll have a lot of money, you can pay off debt, or start some other huge hobby.

 

I was like this for a while... I had tons of video games, pretty much every system from pong units up to and including the Dreamcast. I was even like this with cars. I had 10 cars of varying years. A Porsche, classic Olds Cutlass, a Bandit TransAm, a brand new Solstice... all this stuff.

 

After a while, I just felt so burdened by having soo many things. My life felt "complicated".

 

I'm down to 5 cars, my Explorer, my Crown Vic, the Patriot, VW Bus, and my first car, a Pontiac Fiero...

 

And I'm selling almost all my video games except maybe 4 or 5 systems. I'm taking my time... but you know what? I don't miss ANY of it... I do miss my Porsche 944 a bit, but I don't miss any of the games or systems I'm selling. I feel free... I can actually put stuff in the spare bedroom closet. I've already got the first year of college paid for my daughter, and she's only 11 months old.

 

 

Do it man... pick a few systems, set them up somewhere, and sell the rest... do it! You'll feel soo much better.

 

 

EDIT: I'd like to amend to my comments because after reading some of the others, I just want to add a few other things in there. I see this going very badly. You don't really know what your wife is thinking. I remember after moving into our house, I told my wife I was going to a car show. She didn't have a problem with it (even though we should have been unpacking). When I came back, she gave me an attitude and then I asked her what the big deal was... she said to me : "I didn't know then, that I would be mad now!!!"

 

haha...

 

But seriously... PLEASE decide what's more important... your family, or your games? Under no logical scenario will you ever need more than 2 copies of the same system, and even at that, it's excessive. I know the hope / plan is that one day, when you retire... you'll have TONS of time to play all the games you never had time to, and that when you die, Obama's descendatns themselves will magically come to your estate sale, buy up all the video games and create an amazing museum known as "GoldenAxe's National Museum of Video Games" built in the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. with a massive bronze statue of you (in your best shape) right out in front of the mall for all visiting dignitaries to visit.

 

However, it's not going to happen. Chances are, when your kids grow up, you'll be more concerned with having fun playing with your grandchildren. If you don't have a substantial amount of money saved up for them to go to college, then you're really putting them at a disadvantage. I've been exactly where you have been, a couple of times. I really, REALLY, REALLY encourage you to think really hard what these games actually mean to you... what kind of life you can really lead when you don't have these complications in your life.

The fact that so much of your life is consumed by these video games?! Thinking about it gives me the shakes. Do your kids play sports? Are any of them playing soccer?

 

I only have one child and I can't find the time to sit down and play a single game in a 6 month period... and my wife does almost ALL of the child care work. I think I've changed only one poop diaper in the past 30 days. Please think of your children... the life your leading now is what your children will eventually emulate... or they'll rebel and resent you for it.

 

 

I know of a guy around here who has been living a real life Sims game. He started with flea market booth, moved to a low rent mall, later moved to a stand alone location and just recently moved into one of the nicer malls in the area. He must be doing fairly well since he's been able to improve his location several times.

 

I think this was called the "American Dream" before it was portrayed in the Sims game... just sayin'... hahah...

 

 

 

You can say what you want about lake front private Dave and Busters etc., but it sounds to me like you just want to rent some additional space somewhere to enable you to continue obsessively buying video game stuff without having to worry about where you are going to put it.

 

Chris

 

We just had a post on this... where we talked about "Hoarders". I mean this in the nicest way possible, but if you ever end up on Hoarders, PLEASE let us all know... I will be taping it.

Edited December 8, 2009 by 82-T/A

[the.golden.ax]

I'm not sure how or why this concept of my having more than one of anything in my personal collection came up. Someone said it and everyone went with it. What I do for business and what I do for personal life are not the same. I am in media sales to begin with. Any excessive large quantity of duplicates such as the stacks of systems you see me post for sale... those are business. They are not in my normal living space nor would I ever keep anything I don't use or intend to use personally in my living space. Now with that said, for the third time. I've got plenty to think about, good valid points. Thank you all, now mods please lock the thread because for the moment I'd like to move on. It is no longer relevant and I'd rather not keep rehashing it. I'm certain I'm not going to pursue the "lake apartment" idea. I'll try to keep my brainstorming to myself next time and just let you all know what I do.

 

Thanks,

AX

[82-T/A]

I'm not sure how or why this concept of my having more than one of anything in my personal collection came up. Someone said it and everyone went with it. What I do for business and what I do for personal life are not the same. I am in media sales to begin with. Any excessive large quantity of duplicates such as the stacks of systems you see me post for sale... those are business. They are not in my normal living space nor would I ever keep anything I don't use or intend to use personally in my living space. Now with that said, for the third time. I've got plenty to think about, good valid points. Thank you all, now mods please lock the thread because for the moment I'd like to move on. It is no longer relevant and I'd rather not keep rehashing it. I'm certain I'm not going to pursue the "lake apartment" idea. I'll try to keep my brainstorming to myself next time and just let you all know what I do.

 

Thanks,

AX

 

 

We just want to help you, because we've all been there.

 

Some of us can pull ourselves out and lead normal excellent lives, others end up on Hoarders, some end up dying alone or divorced with a house full of cats.

 

 

Which way do you want to end up?

[Ransom]

Which way do you want to end up?

 

Whatever it is for you, make sure you get a tattoo with an arrow pointing in the right direction. It'd be a shame if they put you in the ground facing the wrong way.

[+cvga]

I've already got the first year of college paid for my daughter, and she's only 11 months old.

 

 

Wow, she must be incredibly smart

[AtariLeaf]

I've already got the first year of college paid for my daughter, and she's only 11 months old.

 

 

Wow, she must be incredibly smart

 

 

Good one.

[82-T/A]

I've already got the first year of college paid for my daughter, and she's only 11 months old.

 

 

Wow, she must be incredibly smart

 

 

Hahah...