Video Game Saga *

Was watching an episode of Horders last night and the guy on there had a hording problem as they call it, in this case I call it collecting Anyway, he has all these bad ass antique pinball machines, arcade games and more that he got set up and turned into an arcade. Which leads to my question, has any one called you a horder for collecting video games or do they recognize that it is a passion and love for collecting video games and not just hording junk like broken furniture, empty kitty litter bags and banana peels?

Oh man...  This is a hard one.  I collect toys, games, comics and RPG's--I'm just a big kid at heart.  I try to keep stuff in good condition, but I have to open and enjoy everything.  I don't think I could honestly ever sell my collections.  But when does it go too far?

Here's a simple test, that will immediately seperate most "Collectors" from most "Hoarders": 

If you had to move into a new house tomorrow (located in another state), could you pack up and take every single piece of your collection with you easily without needing outside storage?

If you can take it with you, then you're a collector.  If you have so much stuff, that you couldn't move it?  Then I think you may be a hoarder.  Never let your collection ever be so large that it is a burdon to others.  It's one thing to be crazy about something, but something else entirely to make the people who love you deal with it.

Lastly, it's one thing to collect things that are in good condition, but quite another if you collect broken stuff too.  A good gaming collection should be enjoyed by people who love the games, not be a graveyard of broken junk.

I have older gaming systems that are not hooked up anymore.  But I keep them around because they do still work and it's nice to have the originals of stuff sometimes.  But yes the line between collecting and hording can get pretty thin sometimes.

I'm a major collector through in and out. I do have some broken consoles packed up, but I keep them for spare parts as I do sometimes get caught up with a soldering iron in one hand and a multimeter tester in the other.

My peers never call me a hoarder, because hoarders do not spend days polishing, and cleaning their consoles in and out.

But I do know of some hoarders in the area.