When the Hobby Has You: The Case Against Collecting

Special thanks to just rojie for today’s writing prompt.

If you could start a collection of anything, what would it be and why?

I used to be a big-time collector. Well, not “big time” in the professional sense, but I certainly accumulated my fair share of toys, comic books, and baseball cards when I was younger.

The Allure of baseball and the 100% Policy

If I were to start a collection right now, I’d probably lean back into baseball cards. It’s something I genuinely enjoy, and I like the idea of having something tangible to eventually pass down to my sons—even if they don’t become collectors themselves.

However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve moved away from the “collector” mindset. In fact, I’ve developed some pretty strong arguments against it. Here they are, in no particular order:

The Case Against the Collection

• Collections are expensive: It is rarely cheap to get into a new hobby. Whether it’s stamps, toys, or comics, you have to invest significant capital just to build a respectable foundation.

• The “Catch ‘Em All” trap: I have a tendency to go overboard. Once I start, the pursuit of the “complete set” becomes all-consuming. It’s a slippery slope toward prioritizing the collection at the cost of other things in my life.

• The “Then What?” factor: At some point, you end up with a massive collection. What then? Eventually, the tables turn. You don’t have a hobby anymore; the hobby has you.

• The need for space: I’ve seen people dedicate entire rooms to their collectibles. What happens when that space is full? Do you let the collection dictate how you live in your own home?

I’ve felt the sting of all these reasons. As an adult, “disposable income” often feels like an alien concept, and at times, I’ve felt like my belongings owned me. I still have some of my childhood toys, but I’ve been thinning the herd. I gave my vintage Transformers to my sons and sold my He-Man and G.I. Joe collections.

The Reality of Aging Plastic

Part of that was practical. These toys weren’t meant to last forty-plus years. I see stories on Facebook all the time about 80s figures falling over and shattering or the “O-ring dilemma”—where the rubber washers that allow the figures to pose simply rot away. They can be fixed, but how much time do you want to spend “performing surgery” on plastic?

Growing up, The Old Man was a huge baseball card collector, which naturally drew my siblings and me into it. Recently, Guillaume decided to sell off his 80s-era cards that had been sitting in my mom’s basement for years. He realized that the value of those specific sets had plateaued. They weren’t going to get any more valuable, and they weren’t serving a purpose just sitting in a box.

Ultimately, I’ve realized that if a collection isn’t bringing you active joy, it’s just curated clutter.

Rebuilding a life takes grit, consistency, and a lot of ‘Option C’ thinking. Whether I’m 900 days into a streak or reflecting on the decade of posts that led me here, the mission remains the same. New to the blog? Start your journey here to see the blueprint behind the rebuild

Today’s post is inspired by the WordPress Daily Prompt. While I’ve taken the topic in my own direction for the Road to 1,000 Days, you can find more responses to today’s prompt HERE .

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The article “When the Hobby Has You: The Case Against Collecting” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob