As a kid, I remember getting my first video game system – Super Pong. Soon after that came the TRS-80 color computer. My friends had the rest: Vic-20s, Atari 2600s, Odyssey^2s, and so on.
All I wanted as a kid was to have all the games all the time. That’s it. Nothing special. Just thousands of 8 bit games.
Surely that would be heaven.
30 years later, I have them. All of them. All the Odyssey games, all the vic-20 games, all the Intelevision games, most of the Atari games. All in their original geeked out cartridge form.
I acquired these over a two year period in the 1990s, I found some mailing lists where people who were into this sort of thing had massive auctions. Most of the games were a dollar.
I understand the mind of the collector. Even if my collection was acquired rather quickly.
Many of my friends have done the estate sale route for years. Some to buy things to resell, some to collect things for themselves. They come back with stories that basically make me unwilling to even go to estate sales.
People will massive collections of stuff. You name it, stuffed animals, papers, magazines, books, curios, pepsi bottles,….
Things of massive importance to these people – but passions seldom shared. Introverted. And, in the end, wasted on estate sale reps who don’t know how to convert them into useful collections. Quite often they are converted into the filling of garbage bags and indiscriminately sent off to the dump.
I also wonder if these passions while they are unshared are sort of like dreams deferred. They cause people to become a little odd. The inability to share makes them into obsessions more than passions. You become holed-up with them.
I would like to believe that affinity groups on the Internet will mitigate this phenomenon. That people of esoteric interests will be able to befriend people of similar interests. They can be extended in a passionate, scholarly, and friendly way through community. Then, in the end, there will a community to take and extend these people’s previously personal passions.
Blogged at the Sai Oak in Ocean Shores, WA
Photo by Tonianne
Rupe's right there with you.
Geek that he is, Rupe has passions about his collections. And he has a contingent he calls upon that share many of those passions.
Rupe's lucky that way. Extremely lucky.
And while the internet avails individuals to share in them, Rupe has found it best to interact one-on-one about the likes and dislikes. That shared discussion makes it all worth the while.
Nice post, Jim.
Posted by: Ruprecht | 03 February 2009 at 14:51
I hate to tell you, but your collection is worthless. Believe me, I thought I was on top of the New World when I re-acquired an original Nintendo, complete with Mario Bros. You know the one.
I thought, oh, I re-fall-in-love with my childhood sounds, the simple mission and graphics, would turn my world around.
No, I didn't get a headache, just a 'how slow was my brain' moment. Sadly, we're giving it all away, for free. Junk, I tell you. There's nothing that beats modern.
Though truth be told, if I could collect all the games in the world, they'd be online educational ones for children. But that won't be 'til after social media becomes unsound.
Posted by: Jessica | 04 February 2009 at 01:25