On Collecting - Avoiding hobby burn out

I've been collecting about 8 years now and ever since I started, I was always behind. Behind in terms of:

Never having all the games I've ever wanted
Never finishing projects I've started
Never having enough room in the garage to work
Hoarding too many parts and cabinets that I would never get around to using
Buying games I didn't need, because they were "good deals" and too hard to pass up.

I think these factors and more could lead to a sense of being overwhelmed and hobby burn-out. I've seen quite a few collectors for the reasons above just up and sell everything and get completely out.

Well, I finally sold off my last excess machine last weekend and my aisles are clear for me to work and play my machines. It is a huge relief, and I'm actually invigorated to finish a couple of projects that now I'll have a chance to finish.

I'm in no means an expert on the subject of burn-out, but here are a few things that helped (eBay can be an addiction). I actually reached the "Magic Number" of games twice before, but it didn't last because there was always another good deal that came up

A hobby is what it is - a hobby, not an investment.

If you don't need it or not going to use it, don't buy it even it's a good deal. Remember, you're in it not for investment.

If it's on your shelf and you're not going to use it, sell it. Nothing worse than having an expensive part on a shelf waiting to depreciate in value or be broken.

Throw out Junk!!! coin doors, drilled out CP's, New Game marquees. Stuff that has nickel and dime value really isn't worth your time pawning off on ebay. Well maybe some of it is, but do it or get rid of it. Spring Cleaning applies here. Believe me when I say it's nice to get the junk out.

Figure out what it's going to take to get you to that "Magic Number" of games Write down a list of what you want and have and figure out if it's going to fit in your room. You may then come to the hard realization that you can't have everything. You will have to sacrifice keeping some wanted games around for the sake of time and space.

Resist the urge to buy everything someone else wants. Yes I'll admit it, I got caught up in the hype of some games, paid a lot of money for them, only to realize it wasn't that fun and selling at a loss.

There was a time where I had nearly 50 cabinets, 1/2 of which were non working, a couple hundred PCBs. The reality is that I would just never get around to fixing all of them or have them fit in my garage. It took me three years to sell off excess and get down to about 28 machines, and only PCB's that I keep around for back-up and spares.

As I said, it is a HUGE relief knowing that there is a pot of gold at the end of all this. I'm that much closer to my 80's game room being done.