LFC | Unboxing Joy: The Passion Behind Collecting

Ever wonder why some people are so passionate about collecting physical media? Join me as I share my personal journey from collecting vinyl records, cassettes, and CDs during my childhood to eventually finding my true passion – video game collecting – in 2018. Discover how working three jobs to save up for a ring for my wife led me to dive deep into the world of game collecting and the joy I find in the tactile experience of cartridge and CD games.

As a collector, I've come to appreciate the unique value and sense of community that comes with collecting physical media. While digital gaming offers convenience, it lacks resale value and the opportunity for borrowing or sharing. Listen in as I discuss my experiences of selling off and repurchasing collections, like my Gamecube and NES, and my journey with the Game Boy series. You'll learn that playing the games brings me more joy than preserving them, and that the real thrill of collecting comes from the journey itself.

Interested in video game collecting? I've got some strategies and tips for you, such as buying games in bulk and exploring limited-run physical editions. Hear about my recent experience with purchasing a Sega Genesis mystery box and the satisfaction of finding and reselling games I didn't want. To wrap up the episode, I invite fellow collectors to share their own experiences and collections, emphasizing that collecting is a rewarding and enjoyable way to show passion for a hobby or project.

Transcript

Alex: 0:08

Hey, what up, you fucking legend. You should not have made me, don't swear. But you know if you've been listening for a while, you, that's just. You know proper the course. But how are you? How are you doing? How are we fucking doing? Welcome to another low five compendium episode. So happy to have you here. Thank you so much for being a member.

Alex: 0:29

This episode is a fun one for me. It is on collecting. I'm going to be spending a little bit time talking about my collecting journey and give you some tips for if collecting is something that you don't currently do, but if you're collecting, curious, i've got some tips for you. And if you are a collector, this might just be some fun, just some fun stuff for you to listen to. You might be able to resonate And if that is the case, i would love to hear about it. Get me up in the conclave, our special little area in the discord where we can talk about these competing episodes.

Alex: 1:06

It's definitely been mentioned on our mainline podcast on low five gaming that I am a collector more so, more so than Luke. I am just super into physical media. I have been really forever. I think there's a lot that goes into that. I think that you know, i grew up in the nineties.

Alex: 1:22

I'm a late eighties baby So you know, my formative years were, were throughout the nineties and we had VHS tapes. We had, you know, my, i think, at the time, like, uh, cassette tapes are really big. My parents had like a crazy big cassette collection before, because that's when we're uh, we're no longer in vogue, and that moved to CDs And then my parents had a huge CD collection and prior, you know, they also had records. So as a kid I remember, you know, spinning some records that my parents and and that was really cool And that's something that I actually, you know records have had a huge resurgence. Um, that's no, no surprise to anybody. Uh, listening, before I started collecting games, i had a a little a trist with with vinyl, i guess you could say that lasted a few years. I've fallen off of buying vinyl regularly but, um, you know, if I come across a cool, a cool record, i'll definitely pick it up. I still love to spin vinyl, i love physical media.

Alex: 2:19

I went out of my way to get a, a CRT TV that can play VHS tapes and that I can hook my my retro gaming systems up to to play some of these uh carts that I collect. You know, there's just something about playing games off the cart. I don't know, there's ROMs and we have all these games digitally now on your PC or any of the main. You know platform systems as well, but there's something that I just love about the actual physical media, like actual carts or CDs, depending on what system you're you're collecting for you know the idea of going to a shelf or wherever you keep your games and sifting through and deciding on which one you're going to play. We do something similar in our, our digital libraries, where you flip through and you take a look, but there's something about like being able to touch it with your hands, flip through and then you select one of the games that you want to play, right, and you're like kind of committed to playing that game. I mean, it's not a huge commitment. You can always pop it out of the system at the same time. But you know, like with the way that digital works now you can it's so simple to to bounce off a game, like all you have to do is hit the home button or whatever, and it'll shoot you right out of that game which I love. You know, i have an Xbox series X and it's, whatever they call that fucking shit where you just resume, you read like like it's escaping me right now, but the resume factor that they have is it's, it's really nice, you know you, but you don't get that with physical media. But I don't know if there's just something about that physical media that that I'll always love it, and it may be. It may be, you know, just because of the, the time that I grew up in, i don't know, but you know I, i did something that I will continue to, to relish it, and I'll continue to collect because it's, it's a lot of fun for me. I haven't always been this way, though, especially with video games. In fact, it wasn't until about 2018 that I started my my collection journey. Now, that's not entirely true in the sense that when I was a kid, you know, and I was buying my 64 games or Sega, you know, most of most of my purchases were PS two, 64, the PlayStation three era. I had a handful of games as well before I sold that system off. Yeah, i think I do think that it, you know, that's obviously where this, this journey started, because that's how we bought games and it was fun to have a library of games. Now fast forward again to to 2018.

Alex: 4:52

I was working three jobs. I was working for 25 about that. So I had to be completely honest, i had a little bit of disposable income. I was working three jobs because I was trying to save some coin to buy a ring for my wife And plus, you know, just fucking make money. You know how it is. We live in a capitalist society. You got to work to make money. I was trying to make that money But, you know, because I had the three jobs, i had a decent income stream And I think it was like the first time in my life that I had some true disposable income. And I also had time, one of my main job. You know, i did my work but at the same time, like I had a lot of free time, so I was able to surf the Internet and look around things. And this is also a point in my life when I was starting to play. I picked up a Nintendo Switch a couple of years prior, so I was starting to game again.

Alex: 5:45

There was a few years where I wasn't gaming, just because, you know, that happens in life, but I was starting to get back into it, you know, and so I was. I was, and I was also just hungry to create. I guess as well I'm a bit of a creative, if you haven't figured that out yet, but you know. So I wanted to. It was a. Gaming was like an area that made sense for me to create around right. So I was.

Alex: 6:12

I started an Instagram account where I was posting different items in my collection. The account was called Ness Obsessed, because I pretty much was only playing Nintendo games. At the time. I didn't have a gaming PC or other systems anymore. I had the Sega and the and the and the PlayStation 2 64 and all those things were in storage or wherever I had them. I had a NEM setup. I wasn't that this is like the retro fire hadn't truly been lit quite yet, but during I do think that it was joining in that Instagram community of gamers that really like lit the fire around this retro love that I have, just because other people were like super into it too. So it was like almost this, this situation where I was like Oh shit, like other people like this shit too, and it turns out like some of the shit's valuable, like I don't know crazy, but in the end like it's just really fucking fun, right? Like gaming is fun, these games are fun And anyways. Yeah. So you know, i started.

Alex: 7:12

I started, you know, scouring eBay for for Game Boy games And that was really the start of my my, like, collecting habits was in 2018, i was checking the checking the internet for for deals on Game Boy games And I honestly remember like what exactly kicked that off? Maybe I had come across my Game Boy Advance or something, and I think I replayed Metroid Fusion And I was like damn, that was fucking fun. Like you know, i want to play some more of my old games, but I didn't know where they were. So I like you know life's life, right. So I just lost some of these things along the way. So I was like wanted to, i wanted to recapture maybe some of that nostalgia, some of that that childhood, you know, my younger years of gaming. So I wanted to. I want to play. After playing Fusion, i was like shit, like zero mission is supposed to be tight. Like maybe I'll get a hold of that, it doesn't cost too much. So I ended up getting that And around this same time where I was starting to get a little taste for for collecting carts, i came across a magazine called Retro Gamer, which is a really cool joint out of the UK, i believe, but they do a monthly magazine that covers purely retro gaming And it's done quite well, but they had a feature on the analog pocket.

Alex: 8:29

So the the feature article of that particular I think it might have been December of 2018, something like that, maybe it was 2019. But it was all about this thing that was going to be coming out called the analog pocket, and the analog pocket is a it's a it's a Game Boy system. It's not made by Nintendo, but it's made by a company called analog, and it's FPGA technology. Without getting into the weeds in this episode on FPGA, it essentially just means that this is hardware that is basically built from the ground up, like they. They've built these. This third party has built this system without the help of Nintendo by studying Nintendo's product, and essentially it mimics the actual Nintendo hardware, in this case, the Game Boy and the Game Boy Advance, et cetera.

Alex: 9:24

Now it does some other has some other cool features to it, but what's cool about this is that it will play those original carts right And you're actually playing the carts. Now it's like a super nerdy thing and it really like, when you really boil it down like does it fucking matter if you're playing a ROM or a cart And I don't know, some people will like get into the weeds with you and and be like, yeah, it fucking matters, like. But the only way that it matters is if it matters to you And for whatever weird lizard brain reason is it, it does matter to me. Like, i think it's really cool And I think it calls back to that whole idea of being able to touch those carts and physically flip through them And there's almost like a greater connection with these games. Right, i think that has something to do with it. But the actual gameplay itself, like if you're playing a ROM on your computer, like you're still playing that game, and I think that there's a lot to be said about that too.

Alex: 10:21

But I just really love having that media on a physical cart, the way it was intended to be when it was first made. So I read this article about the analog pocket and I was like, damn, i fucking need this thing. Okay, i didn't need it, but I wanted it pretty bad, right. So I followed, you know, i've you know, i've like followed their announcements and everything, and it was like July of 2020. Yeah, right around there is, i think, when that thing was like a put on a launch or whatever, and I like had alerts set up on my phone and shit and I bought one. You know, i and it didn't come for a fucking year And that's something, if you like, are looking up for these, looking into these now, like they still have a. It's a really long turnaround for when you get it, but it is so worth it because it plays these carts.

Alex: 11:16

But because I had this thing coming on the like, i knew it was going to come and I was really getting into Game Boy games and starting I was like, well, i want this analog pocket because it's like a really modern way to play these, these games, that I love these Game Boy games, and I'll have another episode that maybe dives deeper into my love for the Game Boy. There's not enough time of the day, right, but you know, in July I also have an episode that I'm doing at the Pixel project radio where myself and Dave Jackson of Tales from the backlog joined Rick to talk about the Game Boy. So that's a good place, depending on when you listen to this, to maybe jump over and check the Game Boy. If I haven't hit the feed with a Game Boy specific episode, put it in the list. You know, I've been starting to collect these Game Boy games, starting to look into the Game Boys, starting to kind of like trying to recapture, like certain. You know, that's one of those things When you find disposable, when you find it, when you start earning disposable income, which, like shit, i mean, this is not like this doesn't go like bode well for like my money management skills, like I could be like fucking putting this money into other things.

Alex: 12:20

But that's another thing, right? So this physical media, these, these games, like they hold value. That's another thing that I love. When you put them next to digital, like yeah, i get it, like it's so. It's so great to have the convenience of digital games where you just, you know, press a button and it's there, they all live in the cloud, yeah. But here's a deal like if I buy a copy of I don't know we'll use a Nintendo Switch example like if I buy Tears of the Kingdom digitally, like I can't, i can't, okay, no one's going to like end up hitting this game. So it's not the best example.

Alex: 12:52

But what I'm trying to say is that if I buy this game digitally, like I can't fall out of favor with it and decide that it's time for me to sell it. Or, you know, like I can't even borrow it to anybody Like it, just it just lives on my switch and that's where it stays. There's no value. Once you buy it, you have it, but there's no resale value. Now, almost all Nintendo Switch games like retain their, their original value, like close to like. If you start like getting into the whole collecting deal, you'll realize that Nintendo Switch games, they, they retain value pretty well, the fiscal ones.

Alex: 13:27

So like, let's say, i got into a point where I needed to make some, make some cash, like I could sell my collection. So that's like, that's kind of a lizard braid thing maybe, but it does help justify us collectors and our collecting, I think, because we're like, hey, man, like this shit's fucking worth some money though, right, so like, it's okay, it's okay for me to do this. But here's, you know, and there's some truth to that, you know. So there is that element to collecting as well. I mean, there was a time in my life when I was short on rent, so I needed to figure out how to come up with some quick cash and I sold my, my Gamecube and my you know my childhood Gamecube collection and my, my NES that I had gotten later on actually I'd probably gotten the NES in college, but you know I had a modest collection going for that one. So I guess my collection, like collecting, maybe started a little earlier than I than I mentioned before. But I sold those because I needed to make rent, right, and that was a bummer, but at the time I wasn't as into to the retro gaming like I felt like well, i needed the money, so it was a, it was something I was able to do, right.

Alex: 14:30

And then around that time when I said, you know, when I mentioned that I was working the three jobs, i had some disposable income and I was starting to play around with collecting, i actually bought back, not my specific Gamecube, but I was able to buy that. I was able to buy a Gamecube and to buy a handful of games that I really missed from the collection you know like, and I was happy to have that again. I played again, but you know, collecting is wild. I actually flipped that and got a 3DS. So because it wasn't well, we don't have to get into the weeds on the reasons for. But I decided that you know I kind of missed out on the 3DS and I wanted to check that out And I came across a really sweet deal on eBay where I was able to pick up a pretty, pretty good 3DS with a solid collection of really good games And that really launched my, my love for the 3DS. So unfortunately I don't have that Gamecube anymore again, so that's something I might have to tackle again down the road, but that's that's that's about.

Alex: 15:23

That's what collecting is all about. It's the cycle of life on some of these things. But you know, in addition to that 3DS and you know, when I was just like collecting, i really got you know, as you've kind of picked up now like Game Boy was like a big target for me And I think that probably has something to do with the fact that Game Boy was like one of the original systems that I ever owned as a kid. But you know, now I've got, i've got my OG DMG, which is great. I've got the my, my OOG Game Boy Advance that I had from that I bought when I was in high school And I've kept and you know I picked up a.

Alex: 15:59

In this whole collecting journey I ended up picking up almost all of the versions of the Game Boy, except for the Game Boy Lite. That was my, that was my, my Golden Goose, my, you know, that was my Holy Grail for a while And I still, i still would really love one, but the Anaheek Pocket has kind of filled that that void for me a little bit. So it's, it's the urge to, to get a hold of one of those isn't as heavy as it used to be And I've actually sold a few of those things because I'm also a strong believer in, in playing these games. So, like, i have very few games that are, that are new in box, like I, i don't keep things sealed. Like I, really, i really enjoy playing these And that's, you know, that depends on the type of collector you are.

Alex: 16:36

Like, i understand that there's definitely collectors that are out there truly more honed in on the, the monetary value of these things, which I, you know, i love getting a fresh, you know, minty copy or whatever. But I, i, i like to open them, you know, i like to play with them. I think that if you've seen, like that was at the Lego movie Will Ferrell, you know the dad character. It's like, oh, he's got the big old, is it? like a whole Lego set up around the basement or whatever And he doesn't want to get touched in. That's fucking stupid. You know, like you got to play with these things.

Alex: 17:04

They're games, but you know, i don't mean to disrespect anybody that is is collecting for the, the monetary value, like I think that there's there's a spot for that too. You know, i mentioned earlier it's something that helped justify this, this like I don't know hobby slash obsession that I you know, from time to time that I've had. But you know, if you aren't collecting, i do have a couple of tips for you know how to how to beef up your collections If it's something that you're trying, if they that you're interested in doing it's not rocket science people that have been doing this. You know, i think you could probably figure it out on your own. But you know, here's some, some things that I've learned along the way, and that is, i think, one thing too is that it's, you know, the, the collecting thing.

Alex: 17:51

There's a there's community to it. There's not only that, that internet community that I mentioned earlier. You know that I found on on Instagram and Twitter, et cetera, where other folks are doing this type of thing. But you also have the opportunity to visit your local game stores and talk to the folks that are that are working there. Or maybe you run into some other collectors, and I just I love that aspect of it, right, and I love you know that's. That's one of the things low five game is all about is like bring people into this community and really celebrating it and enjoying it together. So that's another thing I love about collecting And that's something that I would advise to you.

Alex: 18:26

That, if you wanted to start your own collecting journey, is to visit your local game shops. Now. You're not going to get the best deals there, right, the deals are going to be, you know. So I use a website called price chartingcom, and price charting is a great, great, great database that you can keep track of your collection there, which is when you're stacking in higher numbers. It's kind of nice to be able to pull that up and be like oh yeah, i already have that game, i shouldn't be buying another copy of that, but it also like gives you a pretty good idea of what the value of the game is currently Now, depending on you know, once you start getting into different collecting communities and whatnot, people that are like price charting, stupid, it doesn't show the true value, that they were worth more.

Alex: 19:10

Like you got to go to eBay and look at the end, that's true. Like I mean, it's just a market, like it's like the market, like anything else, but it gives you a really good litmus of what the value of a certain game is right. So you can go through there, price chartingcom, and you can take a look at the different games that have a lot of values. So if you are looking, if you want some some home run hitters, if you want some big bang games, you just like select whatever system you're going for and you can look through their database and try and figure out like what games are going for the most money. And you know, like I think that makes a lot of sense to an extent there are, you know, for the reasons that a game might be worth a lot.

Alex: 19:48

Like you know it makes sense that if it's, if it was like, not if it wasn't mass produced, like if there's it's a, it's a, it's a demand, demand thing, right, but a lot of that that's not just because it's expensive game doesn't mean it's a great game And there's a lot of great games out there that are way more affordable. So I guess there's a long way of me saying that when you go to the the game shop, it's like a really cool physical in person experience that you get and you can kind of see what's there and you can decide. Oh, like for me anyways, i love going and visiting and then coming across something that maybe is not in my collection and being able to add it. Sometimes it's a great game, sometimes it's like an okay game, but it's a fun experience, right.

Alex: 20:33

The other major way that I have gone around or that I have gone about collecting is via eBay and McCurry, some of those online auction type websites, and I would suggest to you to just have a short list of the games that maybe you're interested in And then creating search terms around those games, right, so that when they come through, when someone lists them, you might get pinged that, hey, this, this game is available. But the thing is is like, don't necessarily buy it, you know there's enough of these going around. You set a little patience, right, so you don't have to buy this. You know whatever game that you're on, just because this copy is available here. You know it's, you do you? But what I'm saying is you can get a better deal if you kind of are patient and you wait for the right copy to come around and you bid on it. You don't overbid, because here's the deal like, if you're collecting, you're probably going to be doing buying more games that you really need to be and it starts to add up. So you know that whole thing I said earlier about these. These things have value and it kind of justifies collecting them. Well, if you start overpaying for these things all of a sudden, like there's a return that you get on this potential value of the game, it goes lower and lower and lower. But, needless to say, i think it's a lot of fun to. You're going to want to, you're going to want to hone in on the games that you really want to be in your collection. You might have to pay full price for those, or full market price for those, and I think that's totally fine. That's good. And I tell you what, with the way things have been like, it will likely retain its value. So, like, if you do need to sell it down the line you, that that's something you can do Now, something you know.

Alex: 22:11

Another pro tip that I have is, especially in the in the beginning of your collection journey, is finding lots. So like, if you go to your, put your search terms Gameboy, lots or you know something like that, then the things that come your way will be for bundle like that's another nice term that you can use So like, if you put in bundle, it will most likely show up things where it's like maybe a system itself along with I don't know, 510, 15 games, or if you say lot, then it will maybe offer you anywhere in two, i guess, and who knows, maybe 100 games. But once you start looking for those lots and you take a look at the pictures and you see what's in there, you start to get an idea of. You know you can kind of go through and use that site price chart and that I mentioned earlier and get an idea what the value of each of these games are. And the thing is is when you pick up these lots, a lot of the times you're able to get these games for a lower cost than you would if you buy them one by one, right? So it's basically buying in bulk.

Alex: 23:13

And then what I did in my collection journey is I? so what? that's what I did. my collection journey is I would end up buying these games in bulk, but then you end up getting duplicates, right. So then what I did is, in turn, i would, you know, i would turn around and sell off the games that I had a dupe of And that made it so that a lot of the times I was picking up, you know, my new games for free or you know, like my times were something. So I guess I had to do that. But it's just a little collector thing that and it's fun And it's just a. It's just a fun little journey and you know, being able to add to your collection, and for very, for little to no cost or whatever, is always, always a cool thing.

Alex: 23:53

Earlier I mentioned that I was playing more switch right, so I didn't have any newer systems other than the switch. I had picked up the Nintendo switch and that kind of reinvigorated my, my love for gaming and Nintendo was a brand that you know. Their, their physical media, seems to retain value quite well And switch games, even like physical ones, seem to do that as well. And there are a lot and like because my love or physical media. I came across different cool publishers like limited run games There's a few, there's a few other ones to special reserve games etc. And basically those are publishing houses that are, you know, distributors that get the rights to, to make physical cartridges of games that maybe only had a digital release, and for a while there that was something I was really interested in. Well, i've kind of fallen off of that a little bit Since I've started playing more PC games and Xbox games and I've started to really like build out my digital libraries as well.

Alex: 24:51

And just because you know you can't, you can't have it all, i think it's really cool and if and you know if collecting for particular system, like the switch, like those are, those games have good value. You know they, they they aren't available physically at your best buys or your targets or whatever. So in the long run there's going to be some value in those games. And, like I said earlier, it all really comes back to how you interact with your video games and how you you know what you're into it might have in. That physical piece of media might not matter to you. But what I really love about something like special reserve is it comes with a special edition card, which is kind of rad. A lot of them have inserts And I think it really just truly runs me back to a time when physical media just was. That was the prominent, that's what. That's how things were released, you know. So it's, it's a nostalgic thing for me, i think. I just think it's really cool. It gives you it's like an extra layer or an extra it's. It's just like a whole extra little wrap around the whole gaming experience. Right, you know I was speaking about buying in lots earlier and I actually bought this lot for the Sega Genesis.

Alex: 26:02

Sega Genesis is one of the systems that I have quite a bit of games for And I think it was on yeah, it was definitely on eBay, but I found a. It was a mystery box And that's another another little pro tip that can go. It can be great or it could be not so great, depending. But to do those those blind boxes another term for it, but you know, mystery box were were. Basically, it was like here's this box full of games you can bid on this I'm not going to tell you what's in the box type of thing, and I kind of lucked out. I ended up getting probably 100. I think I have like 84. How many, how many? I think there was like 120 games in there And I bought it and I went through and I pulled probably 30 of them for my collection And then I sold the rest for like pretty much what I bought the box for, which was, which is, you know, that's the way to do it If you, if you are able to, is you buy these lots and then resell.

Alex: 26:57

The only thing is it takes time. So so there's that, but it is, in my opinion, you know, a great way to really get that collection going. Once you start to build up the collection, it makes a little less sense Or at least for me anyways right now, i feel like it makes a little less sense for me to buy these lots, just because it becomes extra work, because at this point, with certain things like my Game Boy, like there's, if I were to buy a lot I would have so many dupes that it just becomes a big hassle to to start selling those off. So I'm I'm more honing in on some of my, my big hitters. Now, like you know, there's not a lot of holes in my Game Boy collection anymore. There's a.

Alex: 27:33

I mean, there's always gonna be something, but I basically look at them and I say, okay, if I really want this game, like let's, let's just be patient, let's put my search terms up on whatever, whether it's Macari or eBay, or if it's just something that like, if it shows up at the, at the games game store, then then I'm gonna fucking send it, you know. But if I'm not gonna send it at a game store, because it's usually a bit of a premium there, and then it's something that I want to see, if I can't maybe like scoop for a little deal on the eBay's, but to give you an idea, and in all collections, collections come in all different sizes, and you should be proud of a collection of five, you should be proud of a collection of 1000, like, just be happy with the games that you have. Like you know, like I think, like I'm gonna, i'm gonna give you a little bit of idea of the how many cards I'm rocking with, And I don't, i don't do it to, to, to boast or whatever. It's just like a fun thing And especially if you're a collector, it's just, you know, it's just kind of cool. But as of right now, i want to say I have a couple hundred Game Boy games, if you include Game Boy, game Boy Color, game Boy Advance, i have roughly 23 3DS games, just under 50 n64 games, about 54 switch games, 21 game gear games and 78 second Genesis games. And you know what Those rock on my shelf And I fucking love just looking over at them. Oh, man, collecting, i tell you what. There's. Any fellow collectors out there like holler at me, hit that conclave like I want to. I want to talk collecting with you. But what does that mean for me in the future? Like there are definitely.

Alex: 29:19

I kind of gave, i kind of tease the idea that I'm pretty happy with where a lot of my collections are, obviously with the switch, as new as new, like proprietary Nintendo game. You know, as Nintendo games come out, i'll definitely continue to buy physical for like Nintendo Nintendo games, like games published by actually Nintendo, like I always like getting the physical ones of those. I've gotten to the point with my Genesis collection where there's a couple like hyperstone heists for the turtles. I would love to find a nice scoop, a nice deal on that. There's like a there's a Castlevania game that goes for a pretty penny that I would love to get my hands on, you know. But I have a lot of the second games I want. There's there's maybe three to five like heavy hitters that I'll get eventually. But you know, with especially with COVID and everything, a lot of this shit skyrocketed. It's starting to peter down a little bit. So I'll be patient. If I come across him at the shop, i might, i might go for him, but you know, i've definitely hit a point with my Game Boy and my my Sega Genesis collection where I'm not as eager to be to be adding to it. These days I'm happy with where it's at, but I will. I will still sprinkle in some from time to time I can like a lie.

Alex: 30:34

The Nintendo 64 is is a system that I have a lot of nostalgia for and love for, because that was essentially the first video game system that we brought into my household as a child. That was not like a hand me down. We ended up getting like a Sega Genesis I have was a hand me down That's dope without like. Don't get me wrong, i love that thing. I still have it, but like the Nintendo 64 was the first new to me system that that we ever received. I think I actually got it for my faith. No, no, no, this would have been like my 13th birthday. No, no, no, no, no, probably Christmas, i think. I think my parents like halved me on, like they went in on half for Christmas or some shit like that for me to get the Nintendo 64. But I bought it. I bought it from Funko Land, so I bought a used one. It's great shape and shit though I ain't worried about that, but, but, but yeah.

Alex: 31:27

So so I say all this to say that there's like a have, a special connection with the 64 and some nostalgia for it, and out of all the systems that I collect, for that is the one that I'm like, maybe, maybe, how it go for a complete collection. Now, i've run the numbers, though, and that's like $5,000 or some bullshit. Mind you, i've got a handful of them to kick me off. So that's I'm not. I'm not running out there to do this right now, but I do. I do think if there, if there was a system that I went complete for, it would be the 64. So, with that, i think we'll wrap this one up.

Alex: 32:05

I know there's so much more I could say about, about collecting, and I think I'll do more so in the future, but I wanted to, i wanted to, i wanted to get you thinking about collecting. If you are a collector, i want to hear about your collection. So hit me up in the discord or whatever way that you feel comfortable reaching out. And yeah, if you think I'm crazy, you can holler at me and tell me that too. That's it. Thanks so much for being a member. It really means the world. It makes it. So, yeah, you just make this happen. You are honestly making this happen, so that's, that's your. Your membership is beyond appreciated And with that, until next time, y'all.