Hoarding vs Collecting (1 Viewer)

[ZenoRazon]

I get not wanting your home cluttered  with anything, yep, not cool.

But.....if you own a man cave/Fortress of Solitude/game room/den  why not have all your stuff there?  Surround yourself with you.

I own a ton of music in my records/CDs/tapes, talking TONS, but it's all on shelves by genre/artist, all very neat/squared away.  Same with the books all on shelves by genre/author all squared away, nothing looking shabby/cluttering.

I own 20,000 football card at least, all in boxes and binders, all by years.

I could find any music, card, book in the dark, I know where everything is.

Is never getting rid of any book, any music, any magazine****  so collecting or hoarding?

***** at around 22 I did sell all my comic books and wrestling magazines and football cards.  About 20 years later I thought about how damn stupid that was as I started rebuilding my card collection.  A lot of those comic books worth big $$$$$  now, yep...DUH!

Prized possesions.

Rookie cards

Jim Brown

Joe Montana

Jerry Rice

Cookie Gilchrist

Books

H.P.Lovecraft first edition "The Lurking Fear"

All Robert E. Howard's "Conan" saga

All Lee Child "Jack Reacher" stories.

All ERB "John Carter on Mars"  epic

All Michael Moorcock"s "Elric of Melniborne" saga

Music...I get CD's/tapes are worthless but do own all that old stuff pre 1950,  the origins of it all.

Well over 10,000 books, 8000 CD's, at least that many tapes and records.

I would get "you hoarder you" if you didn't have the room to keep all that stuff in a nice system looking library. I do feel more like a collector.

The look on the faces of those when they first see this world, yep....stunned.

We do have a book shelf in the living room, there we keep all those classics by Dickens, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Homer, etc.

 

[Rick Harrison]

What are you looking to get out of them?

 

[OrtonToOlsen]

What are you looking to get out of them?

I’ve got a buddy who is an expert on  Michael Moorcock"s "Elric of Melniborne" saga.  I’m going to have him come down and take a look...

 

[ZenoRazon]

What are you looking to get out of them?

Nothing, I plan on keeping everything.

Back when I bought packs of football cards I did look to sell the doubles.

 

[pantherclub]

Nothing, I plan on keeping everything.

Back when I bought packs of football cards I did look to sell the doubles.

I think you missed the joke. 

 

[skycriesmary]

I’ve got a buddy who is an expert on  Michael Moorcock"s "Elric of Melniborne" saga.  I’m going to have him come down and take a look...

That's a great series. I haven't read it since I was a teenager, but I'd expect it's aged well. I'd subscribe if HBO ever picked it up.

 

[Cjw_55106]

The title of this thread tells me the OP has no idea what hoarding really is.

 

[ZenoRazon]

The title of this thread tells me the OP has no idea what hoarding really is.

Funny thing is I agree with you.  It's just that when I mention all those books, music it's always.....you're a hoarder....so...????  I always.....no I'm not. So I guess I;m right.

 

[ZenoRazon]

Why would anyone prefer music without the CD?  I want the liner notes, the cover art, the CD it's self not just the music.  I own a lot of box sets and compilations. As we know there is a booklet which breaks it all down, who wouldn't want this? 

Who wouldn't want the 12 Conan books that Robert E. Howard wrote with the great Frank Frazzetta doing the cover art?

J.T.Edson's Dusty Fog novels is a nice collection.

 

[D-Day]

Why would anyone prefer music without the CD?  I want the liner notes, the cover art, the CD it's self not just the music.  I own a lot of box sets and compilations. As we know there is a booklet which breaks it all down, who wouldn't want this? 

Who wouldn't want the 12 Conan books that Robert E. Howard wrote with the great Frank Frazzetta doing the cover art?

J.T.Edson's Dusty Fog novels is a nice collection.

I wouldn't.  

 

[ZenoRazon]

I wouldn't.  

We have had three Conan movies.  And those books were written back in the 30's, so they did make a huge impact on some.

If you have ever read Robert E. Howard who also wrote Solomon Kane and King Kull which were also made into movies you might feel differently.

 

[JaxBill]

It's a fine line between "American Pickers" and "Hoarders"

 

[Courtjester]

I say if it is organized and something you love, then go for it. 

We were into collecting Dvd's and we probably have 1200 of them or so. They are worth about zero right now, but they are organized and look good in our basement-gaming area. I have a large number of video game systems in their original boxes and their accompanying games also in their boxes with docs.Those can fetch some value. I have two rooms dedicated to sports cards in our basement that I wish were better organized. I would buy, sort, but not always keep track of what I have. Also I purchased several large collections and it just got away from me. It is not uncommon for me to open a 5000 count box and go, "Oh, I forgot I had this auto." 

One thing that I regret is my brother (who is ten years older than me) used to buy every Atari 2600 game for him and I to play back late 70's early 80's. I mean we had probably close to 200 games in their boxes with full instructions. My parents made him take them when he got married. His marriage took some bad turns and he fell into some substance abuse issues. I asked him what ever happened to them and he said he just lost track of them. He wasn't sure if he just pitched them out or pawned them. Ugghhh.....

 

[ZenoRazon]

It's a fine line between "American Pickers" and "Hoarders"

If you have a fav author/authors you will want their books, all of them. Same with music, you want all that music on display. I like to look over and there is all that Beatles stuff, all that THE BIG BANDS, MOUNTAIN BLUES, SUN RECORDS, LOST TREASURES IN ROCK AND ROLL, etc.  

All that adds to the mood.

 

[ZenoRazon]

I say if it is organized and something you love, then go for it. 

We were into collecting Dvd's and we probably have 1200 of them or so. They are worth about zero right now, but they are organized and look good in our basement-gaming area. I have a large number of video game systems in their original boxes and their accompanying games also in their boxes with docs.Those can fetch some value. I have two rooms dedicated to sports cards in our basement that I wish were better organized. I would buy, sort, but not always keep track of what I have. Also I purchased several large collections and it just got away from me. It is not uncommon for me to open a 5000 count box and go, "Oh, I forgot I had this auto." 

One thing that I regret is my brother (who is ten years older than me) used to buy every Atari 2600 game for him and I to play back late 70's early 80's. I mean we had probably close to 200 games in their boxes with full instructions. My parents made him take them when he got married. His marriage took some bad turns and he fell into some substance abuse issues. I asked him what ever happened to them and he said he just lost track of them. He wasn't sure if he just pitched them out or pawned them. Ugghhh.....

You see it the same way I do, key words......neat and organized, a definite system in place.

Breaks my heart when I think of selling my comic books/wrestling mags,, big tears come to my eyes, close anyway.

 

[JaxBill]

If you have a fav author/authors you will want their books, all of them. Same with music, you want all that music on display. I like to look over and there is all that Beatles stuff, all that THE BIG BANDS, MOUNTAIN BLUES, SUN RECORDS, LOST TREASURES IN ROCK AND ROLL, etc.  

All that adds to the mood.

I just said it's a fine line.  And it is.

 

[ZenoRazon]

I just said it's a fine line.  And it is.

I don't see.....hoarding....at all if a serious collector who has a system and knows all about what he collects.

I see a true hoarder as somebody who has layers of stuff and can't find anything. No real system in place just piles of stuff.

 

[Thunderlips]

I'll resell on the side.....  Just about anything. My primary source of merchandise is a GoodWill Outlet....one of those Goodwills where you rummage thru giant bins of merchandise and you pay by the pound.  The one I go to brings stuff out in bins and then every couple of hours, they'll tell all the shoppers to get off the warehouse floor....they'll remove the old bin and bring in new ones (a hundred of them). There's always a new flow of merchandise and over the years, the stuff that I've seen thrown away, discarded and forgotten is amazing.  Everything from Depression Era letters to Santa Claus, Walrus Penis Bones, Seven Thousand dollar rubies, countless vintage toys, heroin, guns...anything that people possess eventually makes it way to a place like that.

I get the desire to collect. I used to before I started going there.  But that place is a sobering place to a collector.  People care so much about their stuff....and it almost always ends in a place like that where someone is buying it by the lb to sell it to someone else.  

 

[ZenoRazon]

I'll resell on the side.....  Just about anything. My primary source of merchandise is a GoodWill Outlet....one of those Goodwills where you rummage thru giant bins of merchandise and you pay by the pound.  The one I go to brings stuff out in bins and then every couple of hours, they'll tell all the shoppers to get off the warehouse floor....they'll remove the old bin and bring in new ones (a hundred of them). There's always a new flow of merchandise and over the years, the stuff that I've seen thrown away, discarded and forgotten is amazing.  Everything from Depression Era letters to Santa Claus, Walrus Penis Bones, Seven Thousand dollar rubies, countless vintage toys, heroin, guns...anything that people possess eventually makes it way to a place like that.

I get the desire to collect. I used to before I started going there.  But that place is a sobering place to a collector.  People care so much about their stuff....and it almost always ends in a place like that where someone is buying it by the lb to sell it to someone else.  

How can you not care about things you have searched out?  Very rare to collect a series of books starting with the first, then second, so you are hunting.

Did you say....heroin? 

 

[Thunderlips]

How can you not care about things you have searched out?  Very rare to collect a series of books starting with the first, then second, so you are hunting.

Did you say....heroin? 

Yeah heroin.  Police were there the entire day with dogs in the warehouse. Someone found a couple of bags in one of the bins.   You go enough...you start talking to people there.  There's a number of people in these places where the buying and reselling (either online or at flea markets) is their only source of income.   One guy I know came up to me about 20 minutes after they allowed people back on the floor to shop for new stuff and was like "check this out".  He has a .22 in a Crown Royal back.  There were a couple of clips and loose bullets.  Another guy I know was there too and we both suggested that he turned it in.....but he wanted it.  Damn fool.  He didn't seem to realize that that guns history was now HIS history....and he'd have a helluva time explaining it to the police if it were ever involved in a crime.

Like I said I get collecting...I don't disparage the idea of it.  It's just for me, after spending time there....you just see the end result.  I remember one time, there was entire bin of those Christmas Village houses and accessories.  I cut a deal to buy them all (they sell well to the right buyer) and when I was going thru it all...the woman who owned it wrote down detailed accounts of each piece; who gave it to her, memories of the Christmas etc. etc.  It was both a testimony to the passion of it and the end result when the person who owned the stuff is gone. This woman's whole passion was bought literally for five dollars. 

 

[Courtjester]

I'll resell on the side.....  Just about anything. My primary source of merchandise is a GoodWill Outlet....one of those Goodwills where you rummage thru giant bins of merchandise and you pay by the pound.  The one I go to brings stuff out in bins and then every couple of hours, they'll tell all the shoppers to get off the warehouse floor....they'll remove the old bin and bring in new ones (a hundred of them). There's always a new flow of merchandise and over the years, the stuff that I've seen thrown away, discarded and forgotten is amazing.  Everything from Depression Era letters to Santa Claus, Walrus Penis Bones, Seven Thousand dollar rubies, countless vintage toys, heroin, guns...anything that people possess eventually makes it way to a place like that.

I get the desire to collect. I used to before I started going there.  But that place is a sobering place to a collector.  People care so much about their stuff....and it almost always ends in a place like that where someone is buying it by the lb to sell it to someone else.  

Wow, that sounds interesting. None of the Goodwill stores around us do that. What I have found is their inventory (non clothes) is pretty well picked over before it hits the floor. Goodwill has their own auction site and it seems that is where all the good stuff ends up. I never find sports cards there. The video games are always the same sports games. The albums are always trash. Yet you go to their auction site and magically there is good stuff there and the bidding is extreme--like triple what it should be. My 14 year old daughter loves "thrifting" She has a good eye for things and has come home with Columbia/Lands End jackets from there, but that is it. I will say we give a lot to Goodwill--i have been there twice this week alone donating stuff, but I hate the auction site idea.

 

[Courtjester]

There is an auction on there at $1,400 for Magic cards

I know early Magic cards are still desirable, but wow...

 

[Thunderlips]

Wow, that sounds interesting. None of the Goodwill stores around us do that. What I have found is their inventory (non clothes) is pretty well picked over before it hits the floor. Goodwill has their own auction site and it seems that is where all the good stuff ends up. I never find sports cards there. The video games are always the same sports games. The albums are always trash. Yet you go to their auction site and magically there is good stuff there and the bidding is extreme--like triple what it should be. My 14 year old daughter loves "thrifting" She has a good eye for things and has come home with Columbia/Lands End jackets from there, but that is it. I will say we give a lot to Goodwill--i have been there twice this week alone donating stuff, but I hate the auction site idea.

It's a whole different world from the actual GW stores. There's a whole internal society to it; people just looking for copper/brass who hold it as those prices on the market flucuate.  There's families of Africans who do nothing but go for shoes (they used to fight over them before they started getting banned) and ship back them over to family members who have stores to resell them.  Guys who just grab pocket books looking for money/jewelry in them....book scanners who fill carts up with books and just scan the barcodes to see their value on Amazon.....toy guys, album guys, antiquers. People looking for vintage clothes;  North Face stuff like that. I know a guy who's a pipefitter....all he buys is jeans and then he resells them on his job sites. He's to the point with that where his boss let him set up a little store in their trailer and he just resells jeans to the guys who work there who don't want to pay store prices for jeans they're going to beat up.  It's nuts.  I was talking to a Material Cultures professor I had in college and was telling her it really is The First World version of Third World trash dumps. 

You get a lot of video games; but they are KNOWN commodity amongst just about everyone.  About a year ago, I was looking in a bin and this guy walks up, looks in a box about a foot from me and pulls 20 something original Nintendo games out.  Good stuff like Swamp Thing, original Zelda, Mega Mans etc. These things were mint; box/instructions/even the little styrofoam insert.  Had to be some collector who maybe died and the person cleaning out his house didn't realize the value of them.