[OT] Can you tell me a collection that is not stupid...

[sprazzi]

... and doesn't make you feel guilty for spending sound money on obsolete and dirty plastic objects?

[+intvsteve]

… I got nothing … We are so lucky to be able to do so.

[+intellivotion]

my euro coins collection: it's very easy to convert it into resources to feed the family...

[+DZ-Jay]

my euro coins collection: it's very easy to convert it into resources to feed the family...

I don't believe you. Send it over to me so that I can see.

[+BBWW]

There are other hobbies...in the end, If you think about what this has really cost you...you are a particular kind of crazy. Now I've added to that, the ultra lucrative world of producing Intellivision Games.

 

There are worse hobbies. I looked them up but don't what to share what I found.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

I feel pretty guilty for spending money on Wii shovelware, but I do it anyway I started with discipline and a ~50 game Wiishlist of the best games for the Wii. I've since turned into a Wii whore and will buy any and every Wii game I don't already own for a buck or two. There are over 1260 physical releases and I'm around 14% done I don't expect to finish, but it's fun (and cheap) collecting for now.

[Ignorama]

A collection in fact is stupid, but as usual, stupid things bring more fun than pragmatic things.

[+intellivotion]

I don't believe you. Send it over to me so that I can see.

https://youtu.be/OaiSHcHM0PA

[+the1hatman]

You know those little plastic NFL helmets they sell in gumball machines for 50 cents? I have over 200 of them after I created ones for every design each team has worn since the facemask era began.

 

Oh wait, you said NOT stupid? Um... nevermind.

[+Lathe26]

Collecting human fingers is not stupid... creepy, but not stupid.

[carlsson]

And if you indeed collect human fingers, you're probably past the stage where you feel guilty about it.

[+fdr4prez]

My collection of 10 fingers is complete. I don't have room for any more. My finger holders are full. I don't like loose fingers - so hard to keep track of sometimes.

 

One finger does have a ring around the base, but i don't hold that against it.

[+Lathe26]

Wait until you get bit by the variant bug. You'll start collecting for French-Canadian, French, German, and even Brazil.

[1980gamer]

Or if you ever need to count higher than 10.

 

Me, I don't think of my thumbs as fingers, so I am forced to be octal based in my daily life.

If I had a good night sleep... I can sometimes go hex! Well, either hi or low byte anyway.

[HoshiChiri]

Obsolete Currency Collecting.

 

Then you can feel guilty for spending sound money on obsolete and dirty paper & metal objects!

 

Trust me- if you saw the way people in the department store I work in spend money, you wouldn't feel guilty. I had a lady buying a present in the home section the other day... she put back a crystal pitcher because it was half off. No, really- she didn't give a f**k what she actually bought, it just had to be at least $70 so when the bride inevitably returned it, she wouldn't look 'cheap'. Because apparently a gift card or, y'know, something she'd actually want, aren't options.

[spacecadet]

In addition to games, I also "collect" guitars, although my collection is quite small (I think I have 7).

 

I don't think this is a stupid thing to collect, because a) they are as functional as ever, and can be used for a creative purpose (not that I do that much anymore), and b) they hold their value and often increase in value. So do some games, but not in the same way or as reliably. We talk about this on guitar forums I belong to sometimes as well, and there's some debate about it, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a guitar produced in the 60's that *isn't* worth at least what it was originally when adjusted for inflation. (That would mean being worth quite a bit more in dollar terms.) That's because there is some intrinsic value to any musical instrument, and especially ones with 50 years of aging on them that were made by hand to begin with.

 

With games, all but the rarest ones decline in value quickly and then usually stay at those depressed levels, both in real dollars and adjusted for inflation. They are just mass produced commodity electronics that are easy to reproduce both physically and electronically, and that to the majority of consumers are superseded in quality by later games anyway.

 

I know I can fairly easily get back the $10,000 or so I've paid for my guitars. But the money I've paid for all the games I've bought over the years is mostly just gone. Some of my rarer games that I bought at depressed prices I'm sure I could sell for a little profit, but not enough to make up for the many, many $40, $50 and $60 games I bought new that became basically worthless by the following year.

 

Of course the point of collecting, to me, is to have fun. But if we're talking purely in pragmatic terms, then collecting games definitely is stupid.

Edited September 25, 2016 by spacecadet

[+DZ-Jay]

I collect books. I was raised by parents that loved reading and encouraged us to read. Consequently, I have kept every single book I've read, and those I plan to read. I also have asked my father to bequeath his (rather large) library of literature works to me.

 

I treat books with a sort of reverence. To me, it takes incredible courage and an insane amount of effort to put your thoughts on paper and in the process expose your soul to the world.

 

The pages in a book represent someone's thoughts and ideas, and offers a direct connection to the author's thinking -- a glimpse of their world views, desires, and biases.

 

Whether fiction or not, good book or bad book, fairy tale or reference material, graphical, prose, or verse; each book is a person's mind, and I have a deep respect for that.

 

Therefore, I have a hard time disposing of them. Whether I like it or not, or whether I agree or disagree with the author's views, I believe every book deserves to be on a shelf somewhere, and allowed to exist.

 

If you think that's stupid, fine. I don't. *shrug*

 

dZ.

[carlsson]

@DZ-Jay: I suppose you didn't live near a public library? Otherwise it sounds a bit naughty if you kept every single book you borrowed to read.

[+DZ-Jay]

@DZ-Jay: I suppose you didn't live near a public library? Otherwise it sounds a bit naughty if you kept every single book you borrowed to read.

 

LOL! That's true. Where I grew up, the library was only at school, which was not close to my house. I guess I didn't really keep the library books I read (although I sort of did a few times, when I forgot to return them! ), and a lot of the books I read as a child were from my father's own library. I recall there were two books, one on number theory and the other on finite state automata, that I borrowed from the university library (for fun, not for class) and forgot to return when I dropped out of that university. Like 10 years later, they send me a letter with a bill!!! I owed like $50.00 USD for each one. I paid the fees (the full value of the books), and kept the books. I believe I still have those. I didn't do it on purpose, though (well, I did after I paid for them; but I didn't mean to keep them originally).

 

-dZ.

[+cmart604]

 

LOL! That's true. Where I grew up, the library was only at school, which was not close to my house. I guess I didn't really keep the library books I read (although I sort of did a few times, when I forgot to return them! ), and a lot of the books I read as a child were from my father's own library. I recall there were two books, one on number theory and the other on finite state automata, that I borrowed from the university library (for fun, not for class) and forgot to return when I dropped out of that university. Like 10 years later, they send me a letter with a bill!!! I owed like $50.00 USD for each one. I paid the fees (the full value of the books), and kept the books. I believe I still have those. I didn't do it on purpose, though (well, I did after I paid for them; but I didn't mean to keep them originally).

 

-dZ.

This is all sounding like the backstory to Carol's next adventure. Adventures in Book Hoarding.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

You mean Christmas Carol vs the Scary Ghostlady from the Library Scene in Ghostbusters?

[ChefPepper]

And if you indeed collect human fingers, you're probably past the stage where you feel guilty about it.

 

This made me LOL at work! Thanks.