Every once in a while I catch myself wanting to buy some particular item for no good reason. A while back it was Star Wars books. I felt I needed the entire 9 book Rogue Squadron series and other books to fill in gaps in my collection. I read through the Rogue Squadron series and now those books are sitting on the shelf with little hope of being read again. I’m probably going to put them up on eBay and get some money out of them. The heart of the problem is why did I even have to buy them in the first place when the library probably had them for free.
I guess owning the books brought me some sort of satisfaction. This satisfaction wears off quickly once the usefulness of an item has been fully realized and then you’re left with “stuff”. I read the books and know I’ll never read them again, but I’m still reluctant to part with them. Maybe we all have a pack rat inside of us telling us to hold onto stuff.
I think my urge to collect comes from a young age where advertisements encouraged us to be good little consumers and spend money on anything and everything. Anyone remember pogs? They were just cardboard circles, but I had to collect the stupid things. I think they’re out in my parent’s garage now taking up space. Some items might have real collectible value, but my pogs are probably worth a cent or two each.
Anyone else have stuff that’s ripe for listing on eBay or Craigslist?