Random and usually incoherent ramblings contained within.
Do I have collectoritis?
Posted 09-06-2007 at 07:39 AM by BuckGB
Alright, so I made up the word. But if I had to guess, this is what I'd envision the dictionary entry to be:
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col·lec·tor·i·tis [kuh-lek-ter-y-tis]
n. an affliction of the mind that causes an individual to purchase anything that appears to have the slightest chance of being worth a greater value in 100 years.
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Or something like that. For whatever reason, I've always felt compelled to buy comics, video games, artwork, or whatever else interests me for the sole purpose of collecting them for the next several decades. For most of these items, I really don't even care if they ever increase in value. I think it's that I just appreciate seeing something that's 50 years old in pristine condition.
It's not always very cheap, either. If I have a choice, I always opt for the "collector's" or "limited" editions of any item I'm going to purchase. In addition, I sometimes pick up more than one of the same video game (or whatever else), just for the sake of keeping one of the copies unopened. I mean, seriously... how many people order two copies of the Ultima Online Charter Edition just to stash one away with no plans of ever opening it? Yeah, that would be me. Now compound that problem over the course of thirty years and you can about imagine how many shelves I've filled up.
It actually gets annoying. Flagship Studios recently started selling four different collectible Hellgate: London statues that were limited to only 1000 units. After resisting the urge to buy one of each, I wound up buying the most expensive of the four (the male Templar Knight) and ever since I've just been admiring the unopened box. I'd love to have the thing sitting on my desk while I work, but the above affliction that I just conjured up seems to be telling me otherwise. It drives my wife crazy.
It's not always bad, though, I suppose. I've picked up an impressive collection of comics over the years for cheap (including many Golden Age books like World's Finest Comics #1, Batman #14, etc.), an assortment of the original Dungeons & Dragons manuals from the 1970's (no Chainmail yet, though), and various other valuable trinkets that will probably collect dust until I'm long gone and my grandchildren wind up selling on eBay for drinking money.
At the moment, I've had my eye on the real-life carbon steel versions of Drizzt's swords, Twinkle and Icingdeath. Each of these retails for around $200 and comes with a certificate of authenticity from Wizards of the Coast. Apparently there were a limited number of serialized versions released when the swords were first introduced, so I've been reluctant to buy the "standard" versions. The only reason I really even want them is to hang them next to a Forgotten Realms poster that R.A. Salvatore signed for me some time ago, yet I might end up going without simply because I can't get the limited versions. See? Issues.
Am I the only one suffering from this debilitating disease?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
col·lec·tor·i·tis [kuh-lek-ter-y-tis]
n. an affliction of the mind that causes an individual to purchase anything that appears to have the slightest chance of being worth a greater value in 100 years.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Or something like that. For whatever reason, I've always felt compelled to buy comics, video games, artwork, or whatever else interests me for the sole purpose of collecting them for the next several decades. For most of these items, I really don't even care if they ever increase in value. I think it's that I just appreciate seeing something that's 50 years old in pristine condition.
It's not always very cheap, either. If I have a choice, I always opt for the "collector's" or "limited" editions of any item I'm going to purchase. In addition, I sometimes pick up more than one of the same video game (or whatever else), just for the sake of keeping one of the copies unopened. I mean, seriously... how many people order two copies of the Ultima Online Charter Edition just to stash one away with no plans of ever opening it? Yeah, that would be me. Now compound that problem over the course of thirty years and you can about imagine how many shelves I've filled up.
It actually gets annoying. Flagship Studios recently started selling four different collectible Hellgate: London statues that were limited to only 1000 units. After resisting the urge to buy one of each, I wound up buying the most expensive of the four (the male Templar Knight) and ever since I've just been admiring the unopened box. I'd love to have the thing sitting on my desk while I work, but the above affliction that I just conjured up seems to be telling me otherwise. It drives my wife crazy.
It's not always bad, though, I suppose. I've picked up an impressive collection of comics over the years for cheap (including many Golden Age books like World's Finest Comics #1, Batman #14, etc.), an assortment of the original Dungeons & Dragons manuals from the 1970's (no Chainmail yet, though), and various other valuable trinkets that will probably collect dust until I'm long gone and my grandchildren wind up selling on eBay for drinking money.
At the moment, I've had my eye on the real-life carbon steel versions of Drizzt's swords, Twinkle and Icingdeath. Each of these retails for around $200 and comes with a certificate of authenticity from Wizards of the Coast. Apparently there were a limited number of serialized versions released when the swords were first introduced, so I've been reluctant to buy the "standard" versions. The only reason I really even want them is to hang them next to a Forgotten Realms poster that R.A. Salvatore signed for me some time ago, yet I might end up going without simply because I can't get the limited versions. See? Issues.
Am I the only one suffering from this debilitating disease?
Total Comments 2
Comments
 | Everything I buy - I buy to use it, throughly. I've bought many - and I do mean many - comics over the years and still do (mostly Donald Duck type), and they are all but worn down, wear and tear. Every thing I own, must have the lowest possible value per use I can get it to. Otherwise I'm to cheap to spend money on such things. So I do not share that, despite I "know" I could have made many money if my comic collection were in mint condition, but on the other had, I've had many years of enjoyment from them instead. So everything out of the box as soon as possible, handle, fondle, usage. |
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| | Not -itis, perhaps. I collect(ed) one series of comics (Don Lawrence's Storm), and I remember doing the same thing with games at some point. I used to have friends who had shelves stuffed with impressive looking game boxes, as opposed to encyclopaedias or something similar. I thought that was pretty cool, so I did the same. Battlezone 2, Unreal. I think I still have some of that left. Unfortunately I moved around a lot over the past couple of years, and it is at those times that I typically feel I should get rid of things I can do without. To a fault probably, my current home is decorated fairly minimalisticly. You'll never ever see me get rid of my System Shock box though. |
| Updated 09-08-2007 at 04:10 AM by Tricky |
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