What Should I Do With All This LE Crap?

Yo duders,

I've long since stopped doing this (well, I guess the last was TLOU), but over the years I've accumulated a bunch of Collector's/Limited Editions, many of which have figurines or other things meant to be displayed. To be sure, I like things! Mementos and tchotchkes, all that stuff. However, the act of displaying them is kind of daunting to me, so I've left most of them in their boxes. After a couple of moves (while keeping nearly all my crap - I'm bad at this) and some other life trauma this past year, I need to make some drastic changes to my material goods; I either need to sort that stuff into a proper collection, or find some way to get rid of it.

Points of note:

• Most of it isn't worth very much, so I'm not convinced it's worth the effort to try and sell it. Some of the sealed stuff might be, but that accounts for very little of the pile.
• I'm not necessarily looking to go full-on monk status and forsake all material possessions - I'm continuing to collect games and whatnot. I'm just looking to trim some of the bulk, either by removing packaging or items entirely.

So what say y'all? How have you handled the crap you've accrued? Any regrets? Shelving tips? I know there's a contingent of folks who always say "just chuck it all," but I'm curious to hear from anyone else who's been there, bid on that, and packed away the signed-and-numbered t-shirt.

I keep all my figurines on my computer desk. If you have a lot of them you could get a display cabinet.

Lithographs are garbage, get rid of those. Maps/posters either put them up or throw them out. Put soundtracks in a CD case. Artbooks/guides either put them on your book shelf or put them in a box.

@corevi: Hm, there's an idea. I could maybe get some kind of stair-step shelf and stagger them. Most of them are big enough to obscure screen space, but off to the side might work.

You could send it back to reddit where it belongs.

I am only a little sorry for my immensely unhelpful answer.

I chuck it in a box.....then a bigger box

It's a tough call, it really depends on how much you like the items. Me personally I tend to stay away from the LE versions of games because I usually don't want the figurines and sometimes the prices are ridiculous. It does become kind of a waste in the end because it doesn't sound like you got much joy from that stuff too.

I think I'd go through it and put the stuff I don't want on eBay.

All the stuff I had over the years broke or I got sick of looking at it and threw it in the garbage. Box it away for some time and in 6 months to a year pull it out. If you don't get excited to see the stuff again then just chuck it out after checking prices on eBay.

Dumpster fire, or keep it on a nice shelf somewhere.

I always find the chasm between collectors and non-collectors so interesting. I have never purchased a single collector's edition game and don't keep physical copies of anything, besides 3DS games anyway.

@agentboolen: Yeah totally, that's the main reason I stopped. I come from the school of "I LIKE THING. I MUST OBTAIN ALL ITEMS RELATED TO THING," which leads me to buy silly things. Like Steam Trading Cards! (At least those are digital so I don't have to then deal with a physical item) But yeah, none of this stuff has brought me any satisfaction (except trading cards), so I should totally get rid of most of it.

I forget where, but I remember Vinny saying his wife told him to just take a picture of things he was needlessly holding onto, so he'd have a record of it, then to get rid of the actual thing. I've found that very useful advice, especially when fighting insane thoughts like "but this box is so cool."

@thebrainninja: But if that box makes you happy then who cares right? Like yeah, it might be dumb and useless but also who cares? If you think its cool then its cool.

@demoskinos: I definitely agree with that sentiment, and I apologize if I came off as a stodgy old man trying to lay down the law on "how things should be done," or what have you. It's just that, specifically in my case, that box quickly becomes a pile of boxes (that has refused to leave my room for ~5 years) which I never do anything with and that bring me no joy, until I decide to clean house and free myself of this burden...and suddenly I can't bear to part with it. When the things I think are cool about the box can be distilled into a photograph (or a series of them, to be honest), it helps to ease my mind and let me get rid of things I honestly want gone. It's just a mental block on my part rather than an absolute judgment.

Sorry if I'm oversharing, but I definitely subscribe to the "time you enjoyed is never time wasted" philosophy (as well as whatever corollaries apply to material goods), and I don't want to misrepresent myself.

@thebrainninja: Ah, gotcha. Makes sense.

@thebrainninja: You should find a shelf that isn't prominently displayed or that lady friends you bring over won't see right away, not hidden mind you, but obscured to the point where she will notice it the morning after not the night before.

Even if it isn't worth anything, you should put it on eBay or such. Some people are still looking for stuff related to games that turned out to be their favorite, you could make someone's day. Or donate it to Goodwill/Salvation Army, kids eat that stuff up.

We've had a thread here before with people sharing their collections. You might get some ideas for displaying it from there.

I recently moved and left some of my stuff back in my parents house. It's either stored in boxes until I get another bigger place or in a display case I left in my old room (now a guest room). They don't mind. I brought some stuff with me to make my apartment feel like it's mine and not just a place I'm living in and got some cheap shelf units from Ikea to put them and some books on. If you have a lot of stuff then the "billy" brand cases from Ikea are really good go to's for displaying things. They're cheap but have a lot of room and can take a good bit of weight. They're easy enough to disassemble too if you ever need to.

If there's stuff you really don't want, ebay it or join up on some collector forums and post a trading list. And if that seems like too much effort then bring it to a charity shop.

Thoroughly photograph your "collection". This will help you keep a memento of the things you owned without actually need to have them around. I took good pictures of all my childhood toys and stuff before moving them into the depths of my storage place. After you've got good pictures of the stuff it'll be pretty easy to sell all the stuff on eBay etc. in one big chunk and see what people are willing to pay. Definitely get rid of any packaging etc. you don't need. There are crazy people on the internet willing to pay good money for some of that stuff.

isn't it obvious? Send all your junk to the GB office like everyone else does!!