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Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Time to Downsize the Game Collection - So it Has Been Said, So it Shall be Done

So Rach, hereafter to be referred to as "The Wife", as she has used her wifely prerogative on me in regards to "clutter" has told me in no uncertain terms that I need to downsize my physical gaming collection. I thought I did pretty well last Saturday when I handed out 15 gaming books to my old gaming group, but it's just a start.

In truth, The Wife has a valid point. I am a "collector", not just of old but of new and everything in between. I have more stuff than shelf space, and although it has been suggested I get another small bookshelf to place on my desk, that is merely a stop gap measure.

First thing to go will be duplicates. Do I need every printing of the Castles & Crusades Player's Handbook? I have them, sadly. Maybe first printing and most recent. I've got a bunch of doubles from the various grab bags I've picked up over the past few Christmas season and of course D20 / Pathfinder versions of stuff I also own in Swords & Wizardry versions. Print copies of games or supplements I know I'll never get around to using that I also own in PDF (does not include any Frog God Games releases, as that stuff is collectible in my humble judgement.)

I figure I'll start the downsizing mid June, giving my old gaming group first pick. After that, who knows.

I guess I didn't help my cause when I offered to clear out space a week ago Sunday in the computer room / man cave for The Wife to do her yoga. Still, it's hard to argue with truth, and The Wife is right.

I simply have "too much shit". Besides, a happy wife is a happy life. I truly do love Rach, so if this makes her happy (and there is always the far reaches of the attic ;)
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29 comments:

  1. James C.May 25, 2016 at 10:46 AM

    It's pretty freeing once you start. I too am at a point where I am storing books in a sealed container in the basement and I continue to buy books. I am keeping anything out of print or anything I have a full collection of. I am currently getting rid of books that I have copies of, books that I have 3 different printings of (C&C I'm looking at you), and stuff that I bought on Kickstarter because I wanted to support the artist or because I will never use it. My wife gives me the eye when I come in the house with new games, but as a fellow gamer she understands (and has a few games of her own on the shelf). This is all me, I need to down size my collection. Funny thing though, part of the sales money is going to purchasing new games or other hobby endeavours (right now I am saving up for a T5i camera and some better podcasting equipment).

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  2. ThrowiGamesMay 25, 2016 at 10:49 AM

    I understand this completely. I started purging triples+ first. Then systems I care nothing about. Then whole companies that have pissed me off (long stories on a couple of those). Got down to a manageable number (says I), or closer to a reduced number (says she). ;-)

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  3. Chris MataMay 25, 2016 at 10:50 AM

    we all have a touch of this. I keep looking to expand my NWoD for some reason and I havent played in years. I keep thinking it will be complete one day. A complete mess more like it. :)

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  4. BadmikeMay 25, 2016 at 11:10 AM

    You sucker. I never give my wife that option. But I started downsizing a few years ago and it is very liberating. Especially if the funds for selling items go to a tangible cause....last year, I sold $1000 worth of gaming stuff to pay for a vacation with our grandkids. Something we will all remember and made possible by unused gaming supplies!

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    Replies
    1. TenkarMay 25, 2016 at 11:14 AM

      I offered to make space for yoga and it spiraled...

      Delete
  5. Reid San FilippoMay 25, 2016 at 11:14 AM

    May I suggest the Goblin Emporium ans RPG Swap Meet communities on G+? I've had tremendous success selling and trading in both of them.

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  6. AnonymousMay 25, 2016 at 11:19 AM

    I donated 6 accounting boxes full of books to Goodwill. There will all of the old D&D books that I collected when I was young: Forgotten Realms God War, Icewind Dale, the dragon lance series, you name it. I kept 3 of those that were written by Gary Gygax in the Greyhawk series. The rest with tons of campy sci fi novels and other books went to a better home. The guy at good will was in awe as he opened up the boxes and kept saying "WOW! WOW! WOW! YOU SURE!?!"

    They will goto a good home somewhere, and someone else will read them, if not that's 1/2 an ikea bookshelf I cleared out.


    Note: The way to do it is two fold.

    1. Get rid of duplicates. Easy place to start.
    2. Pick up the book, say to yourself "Does reading this make me happy." or "Do I remember reading this?" IF YES, then Keep. If NO, then donate.

    Don't bother saying "Will I read this again?" as that's a trap question everyone will say YES to and your box of books will stay cluttered.

    I managed to knock all the old books in an afternoon. Was amazed at all the space.

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    Replies
    1. BadmikeMay 25, 2016 at 11:47 AM

      As a suggestion, local gaming groups that operate out of high schools or churches are always looking for stuff. I have myself donated goodies to local high school RPG groups, and it's all appreciated....remember, for a lot of those kids, a B2 isn't as ubiqitous as it is to jaded oldsters. Also, smaller local conventions (like NTRPG con) can use donations for prizes, auction items, and giveaways.

      Delete
  7. Peter DMay 25, 2016 at 11:30 AM

    If this helps at all, I found the most effective way is to decide what to keep, not what to get rid of. Go through the whole collection end to end and pull out the stuff you want to keep. The rest goes.

    That's how I cut down books from "fits in a large house" to "fits in an office in an apartment." I kept a few duplicates, because those dupes were useful and wanted and needed. The rest, gone.

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  8. AnonymousMay 25, 2016 at 11:46 AM

    I did several rounds of purging. I thought I'd regret it. I didn't. I could probably do another couple of rounds, but...

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  9. SashaBiltonMay 25, 2016 at 11:47 AM

    I've switch to a play/read choice. Things I strongly think I'll use at a table I buy physically, everything else is digital. Had to actually pay for DropBox space mind, but since PDFs are usually cheaper I'm still saving money and space. I've started converting a few old but not awesome physical products to digital by giving them away at my games club and getting the PDF.

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  10. RPGPunditMay 25, 2016 at 12:46 PM

    You sexist pig! We all know that women don't do this, marriage is rape culture, and you're a monster for doing this just like the Tabletop Library predicted! How dare you?! You've made Christopher Helton collapse onto his fainting couch!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TenkarMay 25, 2016 at 6:15 PM

      I was having lunch at my local pub when i read this. Almost spit a mouthful of Harp on my bartender.

      Well done :)

      Delete
    2. RPGPunditMay 25, 2016 at 6:19 PM

      I aim to please.

      Delete
  11. Gothridge ManorMay 25, 2016 at 12:50 PM

    I'm in the process of doing that myself. Seems many are. I think it will allow me to focus on the things I use....that's what I keep telling myself.

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  12. Doc SavageMay 25, 2016 at 1:49 PM

    You could always trade away stuff at a premium... Like 3 books you don't want for one you do. At least that way you clear out 66% and still get to collect what you don't have. I gave away a bunch of crud for some cool old JG and Fasa Traveller that way.

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    Replies
    1. robMay 26, 2016 at 2:38 PM

      That's an excellent suggestion. Thanks!

      Delete
    2. Doc SavageMay 28, 2016 at 5:14 PM

      Works out great for everyone involved...I get rid of Silver Age Sentinels and Marvel Heroic and whatever and in return I got the old TSR Conan RPG!

      Delete
  13. Robert ConleyMay 25, 2016 at 2:05 PM

    I am noted for collecting stuff among my friends however I done a few purges. I gave all Middle Earth stuff to a person I know that would appreciate it better than me. I got rid of all the WoD stuff except for a 1st printing Vampire the Masquerade book. Swept through my miscellaneous stuff and gave away things like the Alternity RPG. All my Forgotten Realms stuff went to another friend.

    I did decide to keep the core books of all the editions of D&D I own. I did acquired some new copies of beloved games like 1st edition Fantasy Hero, Champions 2nd edition, and GURPS 2nd edition.

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  14. JonathanMay 25, 2016 at 3:18 PM

    Maybe we could have a buy/sell board here?

    ReplyDelete
  15. DougMay 25, 2016 at 3:27 PM

    I must do this as well.
    Perhaps reading this is the trigger.

    ReplyDelete
  16. davrionMay 25, 2016 at 3:34 PM

    I generally box stuff up "just in case", but I have given dupe items to others in my gaming group (full set of 1e hardcovers to each, for example). Most of my 2e and 3x stuff is in boxville though, except for Greyhawk/Ravenloft/Al-Qadim.

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  17. mattruaneMay 25, 2016 at 4:29 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. mattruaneMay 25, 2016 at 4:30 PM

      I'm going to go through the purge myself this summer. I already started putting things to the side that I will never use, but I need to be pro-active and get rid of more. I'd love to sell some of it, even for a token amount, and giving it away to charity never works out tax wise for me.

      There are things I will keep, like all my Call of Cthulhu stuff and AD&D stuff, but D&D 3.0 and a lot of my Pathfinder stuff is going. Also all of the miscellaneous one offs that I picked up over the years and thought were cool, but now I haven't looked at in a while, it's going to go.

      Delete
  18. ravensronMay 26, 2016 at 12:09 AM

    Inasmuch as my courtship of Her included both of us being in a Champions campaign, and then my BattleBorn campaign for about two years, the concept of "you have too much gaming stuff" simply never manifested. But, as long as your games do go to a good home, you haven't lost anything.

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  19. SurrenderMonkeyMay 26, 2016 at 4:32 PM

    It's become a kind of hobby in itself for me to regularly prune my collection. I prefer the satisfaction of "curating" a gaming library to that of maintaining an ever increasing pile.

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  20. Shawn DriscollMay 28, 2016 at 9:05 PM

    Being married taught me to minimize.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Yermom182May 28, 2016 at 11:08 PM

    get rid of one game for every pair of shoes she donates.

    ReplyDelete

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