What to do when your interest in collecting starts waning? • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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What to do when your interest in collecting starts waning?
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Prufrock
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:03 am

I started collecting (ebay) in Jan 05. My first purchase was a L3 for $128.00 8O . Then I found this website and educated myself. Began collecting in earnest. I've spent around $2500 and have around 500 items. I have the complete R series and RPGA series and a T1st print DMG and 2nd print Beta as my rares.

I've really enjoyed the collecting, but I'm looking at 6 boxes of D & D stuff and wondering what I'm going to do with all this stuff. I really do not play this game. I collect because of the artwork and I just like to read the material - it's a great escape for me. You guys have been great fun and incredible resources for me, as well :D .

But I'm getting tired of paying the shipping costs. I've also been screwed a few times to many by ignorant or unethical sellers :evil: .

So my question is: How do you handle the times when your really not all that excited about collecting?

Martin

killjoy32
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:09 am

for what its worth...i collect and i buy & sell...

i only have a small collection, the best item of which is my Palace of the Vampire Queen. now i won't sell that no matter what (unless i am virtually bankrupt

) and i have other things which i simply don't want to sell. so whether my thoughts on my collection wane or not, i will keep them and pass them to my kids.

if i have items i am not really all that excited about anymore, i will either trade them for something i do want, or simply sell it outright. but the core of my collection, no matter what, will stay with me always.

am sure that if you DO choose to sell chummer, there will be no shortgage of peeps off here chewing your fingers off

Are we nearly there yet?

Prufrock
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:21 am

I will probably complete my collection D & D and AD & D modules before I decide to sell anything off. I still have quite a few items there to collect. That was the original goal I set.

I have no kids and probably will not have any to leave the collection.

bombadil
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:30 am

Hey Martin,

For me, enthusiasm for collecting comes and goes in waves. It's funny, but sometimes I'm unexpectedly struck by the feeling that this interest in gaming materials is incredibly ridiculous. That's when I hold off hunting for a while, though even in those periods I still enjoy having what I have. Then the enthusiasm gradually builds again, and I start looking for the hard-to-find items. It's not about the monetary value or investment potential for me; it's more about obtaining bits and pieces of the history of the game. In a way, it's probably related to reliving the feelings of excitement and wonder I had as a boy playing D&D in its early years.

Prufrock
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:42 am

In a way, it's probably related to reliving the feelings of excitement and wonder I had as a boy playing D&D in its early years.

I agree. I just wish I had kept all my books from back then. I started playing in 1979.

Lordan
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 12:32 pm

I collected hard-core until about 2000. Once Ebay became popular I wasn't getting great deals anymore and R.G.F.M. died out ( add life crap into the mix also ) and I just boxed most of it up except my woodgrains and all of the very rare mods I had.

I'm more like afoolandhis$ collecting switches on/off or to other things with me, I originally collected for the memories I had with the game.

I easily have 15 comic boxes and 2 old armoires filled with books, box sets and mods just sitting there, that doesnt even count the figures. Every so often I'll open up one and see what is in it.

I switched my focus towards collecting other items for the most part, I play D&D weekly so that may make it easier for me to hold ( hoarde ) the stuff.....although the collecting bug for D&D has been creeping in more since I came back to the boards here.

Just box it up for a bit and let it sit...worse thing that can happen is it gains value.

myalbinogorilla
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 12:46 pm

If you have the room and don't need the income from selling put it away and do something else with your time. A year from now bust it out again and you'll be happy.

I sold a bunch of stuff last fall and went off the play online poker for a year. I just came back to collecting a couple months ago (I still play poker as well.) I found myself regretting selling the stuff I liquidated (the money's long gone by now of course) and paying more to get back the few items I reaquired than I paid originally when I aquired them the 1st time. I sold my stuff because I had to (I really needed the money back then for mortgage etc) and had no choice but now that I'm reinvigorated I miss that crap (I sold the entire MERP run in near mint to dathon) and doubt I'll ever find the ridiculously lucky deals that brough those things my way originally.

moron with money

myalbinogorilla
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 12:47 pm

moron with money

Kingofpain89
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:15 pm

Prufrock wrote:I started collecting (ebay) in Jan 05. My first purchase was a L3 for $128.00 . Then I found this website and educated myself. Began collecting in earnest. I've spent around $2500 and have around 500 items.

So my question is: How do you handle the times when your really not all that excited about collecting?

Martin

You started collecting in Jan. 05 and you already have 500 items? Maybe that is part of the problem. :wink: I didnt really start collecting until 2000 and since then I have probably acquired around 500 role-playing items (if that). I pick up a few items a month on Ebay and sometimes will find some items at Half-Price Books or Badmike will have a few items that I will buy from him. But for me to stay interested in collecting I have to pace myself. For one I dont have a large cashflow (just bought a house) and the other reason is that I collect so many things. Kind of difficult for me to afford a woodgrain or set of RPGA modules when I just spent $50 dollars on comics and won an auction for an Intellivision. I guess I am just not in any hurry to complete any of my collections because then I am afraid I wont have the collecting bug anymore.

Just please think about what you want before doing what one guy I know did. He spent thousands of dollars on his D&D collection which included an almost NM woodgrain, set of shrinkwrapped R and RPGA modules, 1st print Chainmail, a SW orange B3, and every printing of rulebook ever and tons of box sets and modules. He ended up selling everything with the exception of the woodgrain and the orange B3. I know he got his money back but regrets not having the collection now.

Prufrock
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:17 pm

I think this is a good idea for me. Put it away for while. I always think I'm missing out on something when i'm not surfing through ebay or these boards. But then, i really cannot compete with most of you guys who go after the really rare stuff. Just cannot justify spending $800 for an item. Would love to have a P.O.T.V.Q but will never win an auction with a bid of $400.

I do not think i will ever completely stop collecting, but I think it is a good idea to reduce the time and money I'm devoting to it now. Besides I got lots of good stuff to read.

Martin

Theleb
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:22 pm

Just 6 boxes and you're tired of collecting? Wait until you get to 50 boxes to start pondering weariness... :wink:

Seriously, I think the collecting bug comes in fits and starts. If you feel it waning then take a break from eBay for a while and see if the bug reappears.

Hey albino, good to see you back here again! Your MERP collection is in good hands in safe storage.

deimos3428
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:29 pm

dathon wrote:Just 6 boxes and you're tired of collecting? Wait until you get to 50 boxes to start pondering weariness...

Seriously, I think the collecting bug comes in fits and starts. If you feel it waning then take a break from eBay for a while and see if the bug reappears.

Hey albino, good to see you back here again! Your MERP collection is in good hands in safe storage. :D

My collection is pretty meager these days, but I'm building it slowly. I'm really more addicted to the Acaeum than I am to collecting itself. :wink:

As many of you know, I sold my centrepiece item this year, but have zero regrets. I held onto it for 10+ years before deciding to let it go and put the proceeds towards new stuff. Maybe you should consider selling stuff you've already looked at, and picking up stuff you haven't.

Prufrock
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:30 pm

Dathon, please tell me you did not acquire all this from Ebay. The amount of shipping you've paid would pay off my college loans.

Nice jab at albino. That's what I love about these forums - good natured ribbing.

Martin

bclarkie
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:37 pm

afoolandhis$ wrote:Hey Martin,

For me, enthusiasm for collecting comes and goes in waves. It's funny, but sometimes I'm unexpectedly struck by the feeling that this interest in gaming materials is incredibly ridiculous. That's when I hold off hunting for a while, though even in those periods I still enjoy having what I have. Then the enthusiasm gradually builds again, and I start looking for the hard-to-find items. It's not about the monetary value or investment potential for me; it's more about obtaining bits and pieces of the history of the game. In a way, it's probably related to reliving the feelings of excitement and wonder I had as a boy playing D&D in its early years.

I definitely fall into this category. Some days I am ready to buy everything that I see that I can afford and other days I look at the 18 or so full copypaper boxes that I have and think "Dude, what the hell are you doing?!". At certain points particularly over the last year, I have seriously considered reducing the size of my collection, but then I talk myself out if it because I am to afraid that I will miss the stuff that I sell even though I am not actively playing and haven't for along time.

KingOfPain wrote: Just please think about what you want before doing what one guy I know did. He spent thousands of dollars on his D&D collection which included an almost NM woodgrain, set of shrinkwrapped R and RPGA modules, 1st print Chainmail, a SW orange B3, and every printing of rulebook ever and tons of box sets and modules. He ended up selling everything with the exception of the woodgrain and the orange B3. I know he got his money back but regrets not having the collection now.

I hope that this is not who I think it is....

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

Theleb
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:40 pm

Prufrock wrote:Dathon, please tell me you did not acquire all this from Ebay. The amount of shipping you've paid would pay off my college loans.

About 80% of my collection (over 70 large tupperware boxes) is from eBay and frp.marketplace.
The rest is stuff I had since I was a wee lad, and often bought locally from notable stores such as Waterloo (Scott Bizar's FGU HQ on Long Island), and the original and still extant Compleat Strategist in the shadow of the Empire State Building. Pre-internet access (1994) I bought some stuff via mail order from Wargames West, the Armory, Zocchi and another guy who sold games in Glen Burnie, Maryland in the early to mid-90s but who always seemed to have horrendous luck in life (divorce, fire, computer outages, etc.) and also disappeared (but not with my money thankfully).
These days it's pretty much either eBay, Noble Knight or folks here at the Acaeum.

Theleb
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:47 pm

bclarkie wrote:I hope that this is not who I think it is....

I'd guess Aneoth.

It's a damn shame when people sell and then regret it.

Prufrock
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:56 pm

On that note, I have decided I will not sell. Just take a break from going after everything that my eye fancies. I would like one day to have the collections some of you have.

Zenopus
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 2:00 pm

dathon wrote:Glen Burnie, Maryland

Hah! I know Glen Burnie & never would have expected it to get named here.

For those who know, Glen Burnie also gets a namecheck in the 80's documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot. :D

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