I started all the history courses that I taught by telling them that the "good old days" have always been 20-40 years before the present, whenever the present happened to be.
I've been collecting since the 80s. You are right. Ever since the internet came about, It's much easier to find things that used to be only found at garage sales, estate sales, antique stores if you were lucky enough to come across whatever you were hunting for, & that's rarely still the case of finding rare things at those types of places. These days instead of selling things there, people now just put them online where everyone can find them, but at extremely high prices. That's the biggest complaint that I have, the internet has changed our society so much that it's great & sad all at the same time. Great Video J 😊
This is a very good, spot on video. Indeed: While I mostly enjoy online shopping compared to modern day North American retail giants with its retail wasteland. On the other hand: Prices are also inane, super silly to often times ridiculous for older comic books, toys and used/like new games. Alas we as a society take the good with the bad. Again: This was a very good video on modern day collecting. 👍
Luckily, my mom was never one to convince us to get rid of our toys etc - so I still have a lot of my childhood toys (or my nephew has custody of them). Heck, I grew up with (and still have) my mom’s childhood Shirley Temple doll. I began collecting, as an adult, in 2000 with the Masters of the Universe Commemorative line. As easy as it is to purchase things online (even if it’s timed drops with limited quantity), I do miss the activity that was toy hunting. Where I live now, there used to be a Toys R Us, KMart and TWO shopping malls - all within a a block or two from a major intersection. Now, Toys R Us and KMart are gone, and the malls are now a WalMart and an Amazon distribution center. What was once a days worth of toy hunting is now down to one option - WalMart. I miss the hunt, and the dopamine it provided.
I wouldn’t say that collecting is all around worse now than it was then. It is with all the things mentioned the hobby has just changed and requires adaptation. For a completionist or a deal Hunter, yes those aspects are hard to enjoy. But I focus more on curating my story, finding the things that mean most to me. This helps me find joy in my collection cuz even things are more available online and at crazy prices, I tell myself I only need the one off specific set which helps me budget and get the item with biggest impact to my collection. Something that was near impossible before. I love the dopemine hit from finding that rare piece in the wild sure, but it’s not the whole of the hobby for me.
Collecting is a lot more than just prices my friend it's about the chase it's about community it's about peers it's about conversation between like-minded people face to face All you're doing now is talking through computer screen The computer's doing the talking You're not even needed anymore AI is replacing our brains you aren't even needed prices regardless collecting is about the human element shared enjoyment peers community the hunt it's about enjoying the journey not the destination nothing about prices matters Peace
I think on balance collecting is now slightly worse. You did a good job listing the pros and cons, but I do think the current cons slightly outweigh the pros. Specifically the speculation and flipping...I feel that that has only gotten worse. With access to real-time pricing info (which can easily be manipulated due to low transaction volume) you get into some real weird shenanigans. I think in general if you collect something nowadays you just have to be more deliberate about it. Or be prepared to shell out for the stuff you "need" to have... 😅
I recently dropped $300+ on a full set of figures I've been searching for for years. Sure that's a huge amount of money to spend on my hobby, but when I consider how rare the figures are nowadays and how I'm realistically never going to find them for sale in a full set ever again, it's either pay that amount or give up on ever owning them.
I started all the history courses that I taught by telling them that the "good old days" have always been 20-40 years before the present, whenever the present happened to be.
I've been collecting since the 80s.
You are right.
Ever since the internet came about,
It's much easier to find things that used to be only found at garage sales, estate sales, antique stores if you were lucky enough to come across whatever you were hunting for, & that's rarely still the case of finding rare things at those types of places.
These days instead of selling things there, people now just put them online where everyone can find them, but at extremely high prices.
That's the biggest complaint that I have, the internet has changed our society so much that it's great & sad all at the same time.
Great Video J 😊
This is a very good, spot on video. Indeed: While I mostly enjoy online shopping compared to modern day North American retail giants with its retail wasteland. On the other hand: Prices are also inane, super silly to often times ridiculous for older comic books, toys and used/like new games. Alas we as a society take the good with the bad. Again: This was a very good video on modern day collecting. 👍
Luckily, my mom was never one to convince us to get rid of our toys etc - so I still have a lot of my childhood toys (or my nephew has custody of them). Heck, I grew up with (and still have) my mom’s childhood Shirley Temple doll.
I began collecting, as an adult, in 2000 with the Masters of the Universe Commemorative line. As easy as it is to purchase things online (even if it’s timed drops with limited quantity), I do miss the activity that was toy hunting. Where I live now, there used to be a Toys R Us, KMart and TWO shopping malls - all within a a block or two from a major intersection. Now, Toys R Us and KMart are gone, and the malls are now a WalMart and an Amazon distribution center. What was once a days worth of toy hunting is now down to one option - WalMart. I miss the hunt, and the dopamine it provided.
I wouldn’t say that collecting is all around worse now than it was then. It is with all the things mentioned the hobby has just changed and requires adaptation. For a completionist or a deal Hunter, yes those aspects are hard to enjoy. But I focus more on curating my story, finding the things that mean most to me. This helps me find joy in my collection cuz even things are more available online and at crazy prices, I tell myself I only need the one off specific set which helps me budget and get the item with biggest impact to my collection. Something that was near impossible before. I love the dopemine hit from finding that rare piece in the wild sure, but it’s not the whole of the hobby for me.
Collecting is a lot more than just prices my friend it's about the chase it's about community it's about peers it's about conversation between like-minded people face to face All you're doing now is talking through computer screen The computer's doing the talking You're not even needed anymore AI is replacing our brains you aren't even needed prices regardless collecting is about the human element shared enjoyment peers community the hunt it's about enjoying the journey not the destination nothing about prices matters Peace
I think on balance collecting is now slightly worse. You did a good job listing the pros and cons, but I do think the current cons slightly outweigh the pros. Specifically the speculation and flipping...I feel that that has only gotten worse. With access to real-time pricing info (which can easily be manipulated due to low transaction volume) you get into some real weird shenanigans. I think in general if you collect something nowadays you just have to be more deliberate about it. Or be prepared to shell out for the stuff you "need" to have... 😅
I recently dropped $300+ on a full set of figures I've been searching for for years. Sure that's a huge amount of money to spend on my hobby, but when I consider how rare the figures are nowadays and how I'm realistically never going to find them for sale in a full set ever again, it's either pay that amount or give up on ever owning them.