I have been a collector my whole life. Started with Dvds then records and books. And comics, of course. Hoarding stuff has always been appealing to me but yesterday I got a complete change of heart. It’s hard for me to pin down what caused my new point of view but when I finished Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes on the PS4 (yes, it’s new :) yesterday I just wanted to sell it. Not because I didn’t enjoy the game, I loved it, but I thought about MGS 4 which I bought on release in 2010. Till today I never touched the game again after finishing it. And now with PS4 out the door I sure won’t play it again. So I just sold Ground Zeroes instantly after finishing it and it’s probably the best thing I could have done.
My new resolution is not cloaking space up with more stuff but to make room on my shelves. If I’m not certain that I’ll watch a movie again or re-play a game, I’ll sell it now after I’m done with it. It’s not like video games cases are too pretty nowadays. These plain cases with maybe a flyer inside are just good enough for holding a disc. That’s always been one of my weaknesses though. Beautiful booklets. And that’s where the Criterion Collection comes into mind. I once wanted to own the whole collection which was not only a financially unmanageable task for me (these discs are expensive and there are more then 700 out there). Only a fraction of the collections selection really interests me and why should I bother to buy movies I don’t really want just to have all numbers tidily lined up on my shelf. You’re right, there is no point in doing so.
With a couple exceptions I’m now selling my last remaining fifty or so Criterion Blu-rays. And I won’t regret it as well. like MGS4 which I touched the last time when I put the disc back into it’s case in 2010, I haven’t re-watched the big part of my Criterion Collection. The ones I watched more than once I can count on one hand. I can probably say with a save conscience that I would’ t miss most of my Dvds and if the time actually would come that I want to re-watch a specific title I once sold. No problem. Let’s just order that one again.
How are you handling your collecting habits if you have any at all? Still buying and collecting or do you re-sell a lot as well?
Especially among us Japanese learners there tend to be a lot of people who enjoy the finer things in life (aka manga, anime and champagne) and just have a knack towards collecting. Especially the otaku phenomenon is the extreme of it. So what are your thought about collecting?
Everything. I too used to be a collector but after having to change homes, live as a student, plus the awareness of living in a consumerist society with ecological problems, i change completely to all digital.
The fierty of my collection has been replaced by the warm feeling of knowing that my life fits in a 10kg bag.
As a travel lover it’s very important.
Also never forget that art and culture are not the discs and paper but the floating ideas and pictures.
No matter how big your shelves are, culture is seen through talking and sharing.
Thanks for sharing your personal thoughts about collecting. The only thing which prevents me from going digital is the zero resell value but apart from that it’s supposed to be a great feeling if you have the certainty that you could be up and about in one hour. With nothing left behind.
What you pointed out at the end is so right. One should never forget that the packaging has nothing to do with the product itself which in our case here with films and comics is in it’s prime a piece of art. I actually thought about that a lot today and even reinforced me to get rid of most of my stuff. Except for books – just can’t do it.