Collection Plateau...anybody experience this?

[atarileaf]

I hit that plateau over a year ago and I've been doing some small purges during that time too. I find my collection smaller but more enjoyable as every game is one I can play and enjoy - no shelf padding. I could never say I'm done as there are always interesting items that pop up every now and again that I'll pick up but as others have mentioned, I've been doing most of my purchasing lately online, and mostly ebay.

I don't really "hunt" anymore even though I'll hit a thrift or pawn if I happen to be in that area but the days of getting up and spending a whole day and tank of gas driving around just to look for anything gaming related are long gone for me. I don't enjoy it and my wants are so few and far between the chances of them showing up in the wild are near impossible. Even the items on my want list here aren't real must haves, just nice items if found for the right price but certainly not highly sought after.

Fact is, most of us will move on from this hobby at some point in our lives (I'm sure many would disagree or deny that inevitability but time changes and so do all of us whether we believe it or accept it) That doesn't necessarily mean we'll sell everything but for many of us it will mean purges and eventually storage as our lives move in new directions and these things become less important as we grow older.

[bikingjahuty]

I hit that plateau over a year ago and I've been doing some small purges during that time too. I find my collection smaller but more enjoyable as every game is one I can play and enjoy - no shelf padding. I could never say I'm done as there are always interesting items that pop up every now and again that I'll pick up but as others have mentioned, I've been doing most of my purchasing lately online, and mostly ebay.

I don't really "hunt" anymore even though I'll hit a thrift or pawn if I happen to be in that area but the days of getting up and spending a whole day and tank of gas driving around just to look for anything gaming related are long gone for me. I don't enjoy it and my wants are so few and far between the chances of them showing up in the wild are near impossible. Even the items on my want list here aren't real must haves, just nice items if found for the right price but certainly not highly sought after.

Fact is, most of us will move on from this hobby at some point in our lives (I'm sure many would disagree or deny that inevitability but time changes and so do all of us whether we believe it or accept it) That doesn't necessarily mean we'll sell everything but for many of us it will mean purges and eventually storage as our lives move in new directions and these things become less important as we grow older.

Wow. . .could not have worded this better! I'm in the middle of a minor purge myself, unloading about 100 games from my collection that I know I'll never play.

[tripredacus]

I pretty much came to a stop sometime last year. There are a few factors in that decision. One of which is price. It used to be just Nintendo (and relatively obscure stuff) that was high in value. Once the Sega stuff doubled I knew it was moving out of my price range. Me collecting video games is a more recent thing. I went many years without really playing any sort of variety... mostly PS2 stuff like ESPN Baseball, the Katamari games, Farsight's pinball titles, SoulCalibur series, etc. And I had missed a lot of PC stuff which is my main interest. Another factor is game overload. I do not spend large amounts of time playing games anymore and I soon realise that I end up with more games than I can actually play or games that I won't ever play.

So I pretty much take a break from it all, and do not actively search out anything. I still will pick something up if it is a good deal or really cheap. I do intend to look at what I have and figure out what I really want, and then will likely move stuff out locally. I'll still probably keep all the hockey and baseball games.

[madmax]

Although I'm not quite there, I moved out of the country for a few years to make money. No one ships here and there is absolutely no gaming culture since I now live in a newer country. Because of those restrictions and finances I find myself at a point where I don't have that strong of a want for the games. Sometimes I find myself looking up games I'm missing but I know i can't get them. This is a self imposed plateau of sorts. I have a few games I still need to really have a complete collection and start seeking more obscure and rarer things.