It's kind of sad, I can't even recall when I started going to thrift stores and pawn shops and buying games.
I remember going from ebay only, to thrift stores, to pawn shops, to yard sales, to flea markets, to facebook groups... and then regressing backwards.
Like, I've had games from my childhood, but I don't really consider that I was collecting video games until I hit that point that I decided not to get rid of games any more. When I chose to... hoard.
ah, not that sad. I think there are a lot of collectors who didn't start off as collectors. They started off as game "consumers," renting, buying, borrowing games and then just selling them or letting go of them somehow when they were done. Later, they realize how many games they wish they had held on to, and thus the collecting bug burrows deep.
My bf was very much that sort of gamer, but he regrets selling off most of his games when he was younger. He still has a bit of a tendency these days to buy the hot new title and then sell it back, but after he moved in and saw my collection, he's a lot more interested in holding on to certain items (and looking into collector's editions over standards
).