Why do you keep your gaming collection?

[rag-time4]

I'm selling off lots of stuff that I collected. I'm just wrapping up the last of my G.I. Joe stuff. It's going to be comics next.

The way I've approached it is that I'm selling the stuff that's least important to me first. I sold all my SNES and Genesis stuff a couple years ago, so now I only have my favorite systems. PS 1 and 2, TurboDuo, NES + Famicom and Famicom Disk. I'm thinking of unloading the Famicom stuff, but I'm gonna get rid of my comics first and go from there.

Aaron my only suggestion is to always put your  marriage first. If you need money to take care of your wife, then sell some stuff. Or if you really need the space. If you've lost interest in your games then sell em. Some of the guys here have complained about the hassle of buying again, but that can also be part of the fun.

When I sold my SNES and Genesis stuff, I felt really good afterward, and I haven't looked back. However, I used the money and bought Turbo and PCE games and Famicom stuff.

Now my car was recently stolen, and I'm gonna need money to absorb the expenses related to the new car, so if I sell some game stuff I certainly won't look back. Maybe I'll buy them again when my life is more stable again.

[vestcoat]

I really find myself not as much into games as I would like to be and have wondered why I keep my gaming collection when it just sits there taking up space. 

I'm finding myself wanting other things in life these days and although games will always be part of who I am, I'm starting to question why I'm still holding on to my collection.

So, is it mostly a space issue or do you have clear ideas in your head of other things you should be doing but feel like the games are holding you back?

I've collected way too much stuff my whole life:  Star Wars figures, Transformers, comics, baseball cards, Dungeons and Dragons shit, video games, etc.  Growing up, my Dad told me about his Micky Mantle baseball cards and others that he left in his parents' attic for so many years they eventually were burned by his father in a backyard garbage heap.  I swore that would never happen to me and I've kept just about everything except for one collection:  Magic The Gathering. 

I got into Magic when it first came out and had a massive collection with many of the oldest and rarest cards.  I continued to collect as their popularity peaked and had a good idea what they were worth; yet I sold them all for a pittance in '98.  Why?  Because my obsession with them consumed most of my time and money.  Immediately afterword, I started playing music and finding real things I'm interested in and haven't looked back.  Sometimes I regret not having them, sometimes I regret not selling them for the $10,000-20,000 I could have gotten, but, like a good friend said, the fact I'm not "wasting time collecting that shit" is priceless.  Regrets aside, the experience has also helped me part with other collections and my baseball cards and action figures are currently on the way out.

If you do decide to get rid of your video games, don't go halfway.  Sell them and throw yourself into a new interest.  You'll only really regret selling them if you sit around scanning the ever-rising prices on ebay and chatting with other gamers afterword.  It's like people who try to quite drinking but still let their friends talk them into sitting around bars. 

If it's a matter of space and you just haven't been playing the last six months, keep them around or downsize.  Don't get rid of everything just for space or money.  I don't play my games consistently anymore but I do go through phases.  I'll probably always keep my NEC and Sega Master games but I can't enjoy them like I used to - there's always other things I should be doing and a nagging conscience in the back of my head reminding me that video games aren't real life.  I probably play only two or three hours a month and once a year I go on a binge and beat an RPG. 

Recently, I've been making my game time more of a social activity and I find I'm able to enjoy games more when I play with friends.  To that end, I've picked up stuff like Jeopardy 25th Anniversary (NES), Super Bomberman 5, a NES Four Score and Gauntlet 2.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for all of your work on PCEFX over the years. 

[rag-time4]

I really find myself not as much into games as I would like to be and have wondered why I keep my gaming collection when it just sits there taking up space. 

I'm finding myself wanting other things in life these days and although games will always be part of who I am, I'm starting to question why I'm still holding on to my collection.

So, is it mostly a space issue or do you have clear ideas in your head of other things you should be doing but feel like the games are holding you back?

I've collected way too much stuff my whole life:  Star Wars figures, Transformers, comics, baseball cards, Dungeons and Dragons shit, video games, etc.  Growing up, my Dad told me about his Micky Mantle baseball cards and others that he left in his parents' attic for so many years they eventually were burned by his father in a backyard garbage heap.  I swore that would never happen to me and I've kept just about everything except for one collection:  Magic The Gathering. 

I got into Magic when it first came out and had a massive collection with many of the oldest and rarest cards.  I continued to collect as their popularity peaked and had a good idea what they were worth; yet I sold them all for a pittance in '98.  Why?  Because my obsession with them consumed most of my time and money.  Immediately afterword, I started playing music and finding real things I'm interested in and haven't looked back.  Sometimes I regret not having them, sometimes I regret not selling them for the $10,000-20,000 I could have gotten, but, like a good friend said, the fact I'm not "wasting time collecting that shit" is priceless.  Regrets aside, the experience has also helped me part with other collections and my baseball cards and action figures are currently on the way out.

If you do decide to get rid of your video games, don't go halfway.  Sell them and throw yourself into a new interest.  You'll only really regret selling them if you sit around scanning the ever-rising prices on ebay and chatting with other gamers afterword.  It's like people who try to quite drinking but still let their friends talk them into sitting around bars. 

If it's a matter of space and you just haven't been playing the last six months, keep them around or downsize.  Don't get rid of everything just for space or money.  I don't play my games consistently anymore but I do go through phases.  I'll probably always keep my NEC and Sega Master games but I can't enjoy them like I used to - there's always other things I should be doing and a nagging conscience in the back of my head reminding me that video games aren't real life.  I probably play only two or three hours a month and once a year I go on a binge and beat an RPG. 

Recently, I've been making my game time more of a social activity and I find I'm able to enjoy games more when I play with friends.  To that end, I've picked up stuff like Jeopardy 25th Anniversary (NES), Super Bomberman 5, a NES Four Score and Gauntlet 2.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for all of your work on PCEFX over the years. 

  Very well said! I still have my Magic cards because that's been a major activity for gatherings (snicker) with my best friends. My two moxes were in my deck that I kept in my car that got stolen.

I'm selling a lot of my stuff off one thing at a time.

[Grandmaster]

im new here, but i agree with a lot of what has been said. the reason i keep my gaming collection is because it means something to me. i've never collected anything else and video games have always been apart of my life, although i have sold a lot of things throughout the years. in fact, i dont own any nes, snes, genesis, n64 or ps2 games like i used to and ive sold many other valuable items because i needed the money in some way or another. on one hand, i do regret selling the games i actually bought with my own money back in the day or games that hold special nostalgic value since they were games i literally grew up with as i'm sure most of you here can relate, but on the other hand, i like a well-trimmed collection of my very favourites.

i could easily give up my games though for a greater cause such as family or other necessity.

[Lord Thag]

Recently, I've been making my game time more of a social activity and I find I'm able to enjoy games more when I play with friends.

Me too. I'm still kind of used to thinking of game collecting as a small, side hobby. Problem is, it's ain't small anymore  

My good friend John moved out of Redding sometime back, and he was the really big local collector. He held all kinds of tournaments and get togethers, and many of those folks have been pressuring me to kind of pick up the torch and run with it. It's quite fun, and I'm finding that I play a lot of games I wouldn't normally touch (fighters, brawlers etc). Sharing your 'Room of Doom' is a great way to get mileage out of your collection.

As far as selling stuff, though, that's not a big deal. Everyone's tastes change over time. What I always advise against is the knee-jerk 'sell everything' reaction. Everyone who does that regrets it, that I know. If you get rid of the stuff you don't play or care about to make room for something you do, I've found people tend not to regret. Pick your top three or four consoles and keep that stuff.

I'm contemplating doing something similar myself. I may offload all of my Vic 20 / C64 / Apple II / TI 99 / TRS 80 stuff soon to make room for my (far more fun) Neo Geo stuff.

Any takers?