Collecting: Fun or a waste of money?

[Bryancd]

Although I am never one to tell anybody how to spend there money, there is a degree of OCD when a collection of things that, for the most part aren't worth nearly what you paid for them, take up your entire home. Collecting can be a fun thing to do, but if it becomes overwhelming, emotionally, logistically and financially, that's not so good. I know a lot of people over at the RPF who collect to their financial detriment and then have to sell desperately when it comes home to roost and collectibles really don't hold their value with RARE exceptions. Keep in mind I am a financial adviser and these are issue's near an dear to me. :)

My wife would leave me if I spent all that money let alone put all all over our home and I wouldn't resent her decision one bit! For me, this would represent a huge waste of money, money I would put different priorities on, but that's just my opinion. :)

[Geekyfanboy]

waste of money...  :hate :hate :hate

oh Bryan.. just when you got back on my good side.  :biggrin

[Bryancd]

waste of money...  :hate :hate :hate

oh Bryan.. just when you got back on my good side.  :biggrin

When was I off your good side!!!!!  :'(  For me, I couldn't justify spending that money, but my approval should be meaningless to someone else. Besides, I love you closet....even though you are out of it!!!! Doh!!!   :roflmao

[Geekyfanboy]

to each their own I always say... and just for the record I have my limits on how much I will spend.. believe me if I didn't I would have a ton more stuff.

I hate when people tell me if you didn't buy all these toys you would have enough money for a downpayment on a house.. what they don't understand is that it took me over 31 years to accumulate my collection and though it may be worth a nice chunk of money it's not like I spent all that money at once. Also I never buy toys thinking in the back of my mind.. oh this will be worth money down the road. I buy them because they bring me joy and there is so little of that nowadays.

[Bryancd]

Ahhh, ok, I understand, but that's your reaction to the disapproval of others. F-'em! People tell me I'm crazy to spend $4000 on a bike and I could give a rat's a@#! Whatever floats your boat, my friend. :)
For ME, and ME ONLY, I love the idea of collecting cool sci fi stuff, but I would do other things with the $ AND it jibes with my significant other, which, as a kept, married man, you can appreciate!
Kenny, my love, you are the LAST person I would think would care what ANYBODY thinks about what you choose to do in your life and I applaud you for it!

[Geekyfanboy]

Well I split this topic because Bryan and I kind of went off topic from the original theme..

[Rico]

Well, I think you all know pretty much where I stand on this subject.  Even though I love collecting cool things, I don't let it interfere with things that matter.  For example putting one son through college and next year two.  Not to mention eating, living, etc.

I do want to say one thing though that is somewhat related.  I think it's very important for people (especially these days) to have something they are passionate about.  It can be Sci-Fi, collecting, sports, competing in insane athletic races, their job (nahh), animals/pets, etc.  The people that worry me most are those that just seem to muddle through life.  I say live life and love what you like and never, ever give up your dreams or passions.

[celestialteapot]

I would collect if I had the room and the cash to spend on it. Next year I plan to become a first time home owner and depending on how well my cash flow looks during that time I definitely want a model Enterprise and a few Cylon raiders for decoration :)

[Bryancd]

I have a few lightsabers and a phaser and communicator out for public display in my home an a bunch of models in the closet. My wife isn't a big fan and if I spent a lot of $ or put them all over our home, she would be most unhappy and I love and respect her feelings. There's where the "do no harm" in collecting comes in. I enjoy looking at other peoples collections but it's just not for me, but who cares? Like I said, I have my passion's in other areas, to each his own, and my opinion should mean nothing. We should NEVER feel the need to validate ouselves to anyone, as I said above.

Still unclear why this needed to be a new thread but whatever. :)

[Geekyfanboy]

I created this thread because there were five posts about collecting and had nothing to do with the Awesome Star Wars Room video. So I created another thread.. I'm a mod I can do that. :)

[jedijeff]

I get what Bryan is saying. I know at time, I feel having a lot of items can be a bit of a burden to my life. Clutter in your house, Clutter in your Mind and Life. I look at some people with overwhelming collections, and I think they are a bit of a slave to it. Seems like a lot of stress maintaining it, keeping up on new collectibles released, trying to get hard to find or exclusive items. I know when I listen to Star Wars Action News, I sometimes think to myself why they still keep going, as they will rant about toys they don't like, or companies they don't care for, but they still go and buy them. I know for myself, earlier in the year I sold off a lot of things I had, and It felt good, as some of the things I once cherished so much, I no longer had a strong connection to.
With that all said, I will always collect, as I really do love it. People might view it as a waste of money, but if people enjoy it, keep it in perspective then I think there is nothing wrong. If people are able to Manage large collections, and afford them, then more power to them. I look at my Dad, who collects Christmas Villages, he has a lot now, but he got them over the years, and never bought more then a couple a year. I try to pattern myself a bit after him, though probably with not as much restraint. At least with collectibles, they may loose their value, but at least you have them for potentially a life time. My wife loves to buy clothes, but every year there is so much she has to take to good will or throw out as they go out of style or wear out. She always loves to have new clothes, and that is cool and her passion. For me that is something I can never do, as spending a 100 dollars on some Jeans to give them away the next year seems like waste, but to her it is the thrill of wearing them even if it is just for a short time.
I guess everyone has their own vices on what they like to spend their money on.

[Bryancd]

I created this thread because there were five posts about collecting and had nothing to do with the Awesome Star Wars Room video. So I created another thread.. I'm a mod I can do that. :)

LOL! Fair enough, although both Jen and Rick made OT opinion comments as well just for the record. :) For me collecting is a zero sum game. I used to have a lot of stuff including lightsaber hilts before there even was a Master Replica's (we're talking fan made stuff back in the day), even a  Stormtropper helmet. But what I found was after some time, I wouldn't even even look at them so much, so I sold most of it and now if I must have something new, I give up something I never seem to care about anymore. It's an honesty check. :)

[Ktrek]

Almost everyone I know collects something. If you can afford it and it does not affect your life in any detrimental way then I think it's OK. Perhaps there are other more worthwhile causes (like feeding the homeless etc.) that your money could be better spent on, but only you can decide where your priorities lie.With what looks to be tough financial times ahead of us there may be a whole lot of collectors who wished they had put more of that money back for a rainy day rather than throwing down the cesspool with a sinking ship. It's true that most, if not all, of our collectibles will not be worth as much as we paid for them. Not now and probably never. If things get as bad in this country as they could get we may all wish we could trade our collectibles for a loaf of bread.

Personally I have never invested much money in toys as I personally cannot see the return off my investment. I have and do collect Star Trek DVDs, books, magazines and some comics. I also have collected Disney animated DVDs and classic films from the golden age of Hollywood but all of these things allow me the pleasure of viewing them multiple times or reading them. My collection is quite modest compared to some. I know that if I were to put all my Star Trek books up on auction on Ebay they would never even bring me a quarter of what I spent. But I'm OK with that as I have no intention of selling them. I am a little unsure about the future of my collecting though and a few days back I canceled all my pre-orders on Amazon.com. If the financial crises passes without any effect on my income I will probably purchase all the titles I canceled but right now my first priority is to feed my wife and I and put a roof over our heads. I have enough Star Trek books and DVDs in my library that I will have plenty of entertainment if the bottom falls out of this economy.

Fortunately my wife and I started several years ago working on getting ourselves debt free just in case of the current events. I have no debts outside of my mortgage and if the economy had just kept going the way it was I wouldn't even have that in about seven years but right now we are consolidating and being very cautious. I may even take most of my money out of the banks just to be on the safe side.

Kevin

[Jen]

I created this thread because there were five posts about collecting and had nothing to do with the Awesome Star Wars Room video. So I created another thread.. I'm a mod I can do that. :)

LOL! Fair enough, although both Jen and Rick made OT opinion comments as well just for the record. :)

Hello. Actually, my comments in the other post referred to the Star Wars video and I made it a point to tie my criticism in with footage.

And, I agree...some people collect a little at a time, over a long period of time. You're right Bryan, to each his/her own. And who cares what other people think. Opinions are like arm pits, everyone has them and they stink. As for myself, I would rather buy a $5,000 tricked out Mac than an expensive collectable... and as you all know the value of that computer will drop as soon as I take it home. So there's probably no difference except that I will use the computer to make money. That still doesn't change the fact that the computer will be worth far less than what I paid for it.

[billybob476]

In no way is collecting a waste of time. I guess I kind of collect Star Wars books but to me it's not really a collection since I read them and re-read them over and over, I'm passionate about that.

I have a Wii, an XBox 360 and a faily decent PC which I use for gaming. I buy video games I like on a semi-regular basis. As I calculated yesterday, since May 2006 I've spent over 450 dollars on World of Warcraft (15 dollars a month plus initial game purchase etc). I'm passionate about that.

My wife and I love to go out for dinner. We probably do it more often then we should (actually we've cut back recently). We're passionate about new and interesting food.

All these things are exactly the same as buying action figures or full size Han in carbonite etc etc. If it makes you happy, by all means do it. If it stops making you happy, get rid of it.

Everything in moderation. As Rico and others have said, do what you love but make sure you can pay the mortgage/rent, buy food to put on the table, pay your taxes and save for the future.