Do you collect hardware with no intention of using it?

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Do you collect hardware (e.g. controllers) with no intention of use?

(You may not vote on this poll)

× 1 (4.55%) Yes, I love collecting for my displays

× 1 (4.55%) If it's really nice, I'll get it for display

× 6 (27.27%) I'll buy stuff I like, but I'll use them too

× 14 (63.64%) No, I'll only buy a piece of hardware if I'm going to use it


  • Added 10-16-2022 09:07 AM
  • 22 votes
Today's poll is something I've heard about and often wondered about, but don't partake in myself.

Collecting hardware.

Peripherals are expensive. Buying a new joystick when I was a kid might have set you back a tenner - more, of course, if it was analogue or had secondary fire buttons.

Today, controllers can cost anywhere from thirty to a hundred and fifty quid. Other stuff - Steering wheels, HOTAS setups, and the like - run into hundreds of pounds.

Some people like to collect controllers, in the way that one might collect action figures or trading cards. They're never intended to be toyed with; they're purely bought as a collectible. Camo controllers, ones with limited edition paint jobs, customer controllers... Some people I know have dozens and dozens of them, all in purpose built controller display stands, literally gathering dust.

With modern issues like stick drift and cheap plastic parts, having backup controllers, especially brand new official ones, is a great idea - necessary, even.

But to spend £60 on a controller and never use it seems, well, silly to me. Sure, pop them into stands, polish them, keep them in good condition, but use them!

That's my take, anyway. What do YOU think of collecting hardware purely for ornamental purposes?

64
Last edited 10-17-2022 at 12:35 PM by C64 Mat.
I only buy controllers and peripherals with the intent to use them, even if it's only to "eventually" use them. I do admit to having a few that I haven't used, but those are ones I picked up cheaply from second hand stores with the intention to play if/when I ever got the game it went with. One such peripheral is the turntable for the DJ Hero series.
I only buy to what I intend to use with hardware. I have collected tons of other stuff over the years, I can't see myself collecting controllers as I wouldn't have a place to display them either. If other gamers enjoy doing that, it's cool. People have collected stranger things.
People have collected stranger things.
Originally Posted by MarvzMitts
I don't find anything particularly odd about collecting a TV series.
I have a gamecube, a mastersystem, a PSone a Ps2 and a Ps3 in the loft

along with a Duke and a dream cast controller.

but theyre all relics rather than collectables.
This needs an option for unintentionally buying hardware you end up not using.
I tend to buy things and use them right away, casting off whatever it replaced, even if the original item was still OK.

Of course, that stuff usually finds a new home elsewhere...
I don’t buy things explicitly planning not to ever open or use them. It just kinda works out that way.

Though when I buy retro games I’m pretty realistic with myself about the likelihood that I’m ever going to actually play them. But even then I’m not specifically planning to never play them, I just know that’s the reality.

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