So I'll be moving to a different state by end of year....

[fighterpilot562]

Any tips on moving my entire collection? I have two wire racks with all my consoles hooked up and ready to play. Cable management is mint so I was thinking of just removing the consoles, switchers and rack mount power supplies and keep the cables on and just carefully strap it in the moving truck.

I used those black/yellow totes from Costco to move one city over and was thinking of buble wrapping everything and move it that way again.

My wife wants to hire a moving company and I rather not. Between the gaming collection, my FIL massive roll away toll box and my other hobby worth a lot too, I rather rent a u haul and do it myself.

Also if you have a snake, how did you transport it lol. It's an 8 hour drive.

Thanks

[tripredacus]

Use moving company for the stuff the wife wants you to hire them for. For the collection, you'll have to either do it yourself or get some friends to do a road trip with you to do it.

[bikingjahuty]

I was in your shoes about a year ago and I pretty much knew I wasn't going to let my collection out of my sight. I'd say almost half my boxes were collection items which meant I had to rent the biggest truck Uhaul offers to fit all that and my other stuff. Keep in mind it's just my wife and I. While doing it this way was pretty stressful and exhausting, I at least had peace of mind that some movers weren't going to steal my shit or break anything. I read countless horror stories about people's valuables mysteriously vanishing in transit and due to the contract these companies make you sign, they're more or less absolved of any responsibility for lost, damaged, or stolen property.


One other thing I'll mention is my media shelves took a total beating on their 300-mile journey to my new house. I had to repair almost all of them after arriving. Depending on your situation or how much you're moving you may just want to sell the shelves you currently have an buy new ones after you arrive.

[retromangia]

Like they always say... if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

First pack up your whole collection, electronics, and any valuables yourself. Finally, once you have everything packed up into a u-haul, you can hire some movers if need be, to come in and move any heavy furniture / appliances.  Also, make sure you get moving insurance. Hope this helps. Stay saucy.

[zenimus]

I did this from CA to TX a few years ago. Definitely recommend doing it yourself. It will be tedious and time consuming, but start boxing things in your free time in the coming months before the move. I started collecting large Amazon shipping boxes and put all my stuff carefully in those (and even put weird labels on them like "bathroom supplies" or "dog food").

I drove out to Texas in my normal car at first, taking whatever I could fit and putting them in a storage unit near the new location. Parked my car at a secure place like "The Parking Lot" and flew back to CA. Rented a big Penske truck, packed the rest of the house in it, and drove to a new state.

Unless you've secured a solid new place before your trip, getting a good storage unit will help a lot.

[tripredacus]

I'd also like to point out that I'm sure that moving companies are just fine 99.999% of the time but mistakes and bad actors do exist. And unfortunately, you always hear the bad stories more and louder than any of the good stories.

[turf]

Where are y’all moving? Is it a place that’s cool with your other hobby? 

And, yeah. Move your collection yourself.