A dilemna presents me today. Its been on my brain for a long time. I wrestle with it constantly. And it really is not an issue at all with about 99% of the world. But people like me? Its a definite issue. So lets dive in and talk it out shall we?
SHELF PORN
I am addicted to shelf porn. No, not the movies where gentlemen and ladies are taking their clothes off and performing various sex acts (Those are DOCUMENTARIES!). Shelf Porn is people who grow so addicted to collecting, that they enjoy showing off their collection to people who come over. It can be a growing library of books. Or a huge media cabinet surrounding a 80 inch TV. or racks and racks of vinyl and CDs if you are a music lover. Or glass cases showing off your mint in box rare action figures and statues. Or walls covered in prized original artwork. Any of these things and more. That is "Shelf Porn." And its something that all my life I have been addicted to.
A lot of people I look up to have shelf porn. Vast collections of DVDs, BluRays, CDs, Vinyl, Toys, etc. I watch shows about people obsessed with collecting. And over the years, I have been a collector of all these things too. In college, I racked up all my credit cards buying these things. And as I got married and had a family, I sold off those things to pay off debts. Never having anything to show for my hard work earned, or my collection.
I am mostly a nostalgia collector. I love things from my past. Old toys I once had. DVDs/CDs from key moments in my life. Etc. While growing up the last few years, I certainly have learned to curb my impulses of buying things I initially thought I "HAD TO HAVE" because it looked cool, or I would be percieved as cool for having it. I always talk myself out of buying things. As the great Mr. Spock once said, "After a time, you'll find that HAVING, is not so pleasing a thing as WANTING." He's right. I wanted a Fish Tank for the longest time. I got one. Its a pain in the ass. But i'm stuck with the fish. I love them. Can't get rid of them. Don't want to invest more money into it however. The joy I thought I would have in owning a tank is gone. The dream tank I'd really want is too much work. Too much focus and too expensive. See what I mean?
All my friends are collectors. Artwork. Vinyl. Cds. Video Games. Dvds. BluRays. Toys. Books. All of it. And I am envious sometimes of their collections that they claim to have and I've never seen. I implusively want to "beat them" at collecting more or better items than them. But as of the last few years, the money just hasn't been there. I got a "want list" filled with ten pages full of things I want to get or replace because I sold it.
A couple years ago, I got better about letting things go. My artist pal Brian Denham once said on a podcast that if your house were to just burst into flames tomorrow, what would you replace? Would you miss the stuff? And I had to think NO on a lot of it. So I was learning to let it go.
And even when I desire a thing, when I get it, the memory of how awesome it was really doesn't live up. For example: My favorite Christmas toy I ever got was the Ghostbusters Headquarters Playset. It was awesome when I Was a kid. But really its just a big piece of plastic. Not much comes with it. It doesn't do much. The slime you could pour down the chute to slime your figures with is old and they don't make it anymore. To buy a vintage one with a box is like $300. For that useless plastic you might never play with. And I'm almost 36 years old. I can't play with toys anymore. Can I? I do have some figures still in the box, proudly displayed in my office and in storage. Not near the amount I used to have. I opened them for the kids. I get to see them enjoy them. Money well spent.
I'm coming soon to the point where the old bills will be no more. We're starting to save. But the desire to have old things, new Shelf Porn, remains. Why? I don't know. No one ever comes over anymore. What do I have to brag about? Nothing really. I don't care about impressing anyone because I am so behind on it all. Plus the landscape is changing. Digital is mighty convenient. BluRay sales are down. 4K is coming and we'll all have to rebuy it all again. But the inevitable all digital world is coming. BUT-I still love the smell of the ink in old comics and books. I still love reading the lyrics and looking at the pics on the album artwork. The crackle of a needle hitting that wax disc. Carrying CDs in your car and picking the next disc, hearing the whole album, not just the hit off of it. I'm an old fogie. These are outdated concepts to some. But yet, I still struggle with them. Plus, there's the arguement that me investing in old toys, books and such things could be a great thing to pass on to the kids. They could inherit it one day and enjoy things from my generation as I loved them. They might feel "closer" to me... As I do now when I old something from the old days that maybe my parents used to have. They don't make em like they used to.
I'm right on the line of old and new. I feel like I am stuck in the past and maybe I am too far behind to play catch up. I have no idea what an RSS feed is. But I know Vinyl. I know CDs. MY stores are closing. Comics stores, music shoppes... all going the way of the do do. Do I accept it and go all digital? Leave the toys to the kids? Save my money for when I am in the old folk's home? Pass it on to the kids to buy cigs with one day?
Life is short. You gotta enjoy what you have and the world you build around you. But what is my world anymore? Do I rebuy all the things I used to have and add to that collection? Or invest in all digital and make the change? Thats the question. And I have no idea what I prefer to do. What are you folks doing? I'd love to know. EMAIL ME and let me know what you think.
T
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