Debate the merits of collecting and being a collector

[A Very Big Fish]

I used to collect comics. Old, new, just whatever I liked. Than I had to move for work, and when I was deciding what to keep, I realized that I only had like 20 or so individual issues I liked enough to want to keep. Some I bought collected versions of so I could store them easier, but I pretty much dumped my whole collection and never started it again because in the end, its just stuff, and it turns out, most of it was stuff that I didn't even like enough to keep.

I don't think its bad to collect or have a hobby like it, just as long as you're still a functioning adult. And you know how not to sperg about it to every random person you know. I had a friend who spent an hour and a half explaining Magic the Gathering to me in a Wendy's parking lot. I have never played Magic, and had no desire to learn.

It was hellish.

 

[Shidoen]

I collect bottle caps

 

[Candlelight Desolation]

I read physical books, and I don't use a Kindle. At all. I donate stuff I don't want anymore, but the stuff I really like I'll hold on to. "Support physical media" has always been one of my rules, and you have to remember that with how companies like Disney get about their old movies, I don't doubt the people who own Kindle, Amazon, will pull the plug on digital copies of old/obscure works for wrongthink. I mean they don't sell physical copies of Mein Kampf on their main site anymore. It's listed, but only for Kindle. A different book, The Fate of Empires, was flat out removed from the site altogether, and I had to get a physical copy from another site.

 

[Ishtar]

Sounds awesome, do we get the cool guns...



Oh wait, not that sort of collector. Well it depends on what you're collecting.

 

[Sinbad the Sailor]

I view collecting in the same way I view drugs. There are problematic and non-problematic users (or collections I suppose). If your life is regularly impeded by your collecting habit and the way you go about collecting has adverse effects on your loved ones (or prevents you from forming such attachments), you got a problem.

And I don't mean minor stuff like, your historical anvil collection makes moving house really difficult, I mean, for example, being unable to access entire rooms/sections of your house because it's full to the brim with Beyblade memorabilia. Have you skipped bills to buy more stuffed pikachus? Have you broke up with an otherwise stable long-term relationship because your Jay Leno Funko Pops are taking up space in every cupboard and you refuse to spend money on dinner out so you can acquire more? Do relatives make a point of not giving you money but instead gift necessities during holidays because they know where the money is going to go? Are you likely to fly into apoplectic rage at the mere suggestion you sell even one of your old stamp books even if it means you eat from a food bank? That sort of thing.

Also, whilst it's not inherently problematic, I think your collection taking over your personality makes me basically write you off as a person. My test for this is simple, if someone can know you for a month without knowing about your collection, you're probably okay.

Personally, I quite like old books. If I see something nice at a good price (usually at a charity shop) I'll pick it up and eventually I'll get round to reading it. Just physical media in general really, I have a few CDs and would like to start picking up records at some point. Would also go for old video games but scalpers and speculators have done that market dirty, so I'll stick to emulators.

 

[stupid frog]

I read physical books, and I don't use a Kindle. At all. I donate stuff I don't want anymore, but the stuff I really like I'll hold on to. "Support physical media" has always been one of my rules, and you have to remember that with how companies like Disney get about their old movies, I don't doubt the people who own Kindle, Amazon, will pull the plug on digital copies of old/obscure works for wrongthink. I mean they don't sell physical copies of Mein Kampf on their main site anymore. It's listed, but only for Kindle. A different book, The Fate of Empires, was flat out removed from the site altogether, and I had to get a physical copy from another site.

This is kind of going off topic, but it's best to treat digital items as a glorified rental service. Because that's what they are.
I am very cheap when it comes to digital purchases because there is no return on them, or 100% guarantee you will be forever able to use it.

I read digital and physical, but I bought used books mostly, so now I just moved to stealing digitally. If I like it enough, I'll buy a physical copy. If you want to steal books, get a Kobo. They're easier. Spoiler: This has happened with like 2 books, and I've been doing it for about 3 years now.

 

[Candlelight Desolation]

This is kind of going off topic, but it's best to treat digital items as a glorified rental service. Because that's what they are.
I am very cheap when it comes to digital purchases because there is no return on them, or 100% guarantee you will be forever able to use it.

Going back to my Mein Kampf example, I checked multiple online book retailers, and most don't even sell print copies of Mein Kampf anymore, and the ones that do demand prices that get in the hundreds. The only major online retailer that still sells it is Amazon, though it's only on Kindle, and the proceeds apparently go to Jewish charities. So what do you think is going to happen someday when someone associated with a woke political activist group like the ADL gets on the phone with some Amazon higher-up and demands the Kindle books (and the book's listing period) be pulled? You have Mein Kampf on your Kindle purely for historical purposes? Well you wake up one day, and it's not there anymore because TPTB want to decide what you're responsible enough to read. This is why you support mom-and-pops book stores and physical media.

 

[Pissmaster]

This is kind of going off topic, but it's best to treat digital items as a glorified rental service. Because that's what they are.
I am very cheap when it comes to digital purchases because there is no return on them, or 100% guarantee you will be forever able to use it.

Yeah, a few old books I had digitally from some freebie promo on iBooks are long gone now. Same for several games I had on my iPad. There's no recourse for when they just pull down stuff you paid for, either. Apple's the worst about just stealing your digital purchases away.

Plus, I don't think any kind of digital purchases can be transferred to an heir upon death. At least whomever gets my stuff could drop it all off at a used bookstore and walk out with a stack of cash. My Steam account, though? If I know I'm gonna die, I guess I'll take off 2FA and write down my password, because I doubt they'll transfer it to anyone.

 

[Lach]

counts on what you are collecting, for instance I collect overpriced plastic miniatures, building an army of fluff-wise irrelevant alien Mercs who are crunch-wise also very useless for tabletop gaming, so for my situation collecting is completely unjustifiable. However, if you're collecting something say like authentic gold coins, their value doesn't really ever change from when it was purchased so when you come to the clarity that collecting specific things is retarded you can always sell said hypothetical gold coins away for your relative money back.