Years ago, I faced the daunting task of relocating to a new home, surrounded by a staggering collection of games spanning multiple eras and platforms. From my vintage Commodore 64 and Atari 2600, to my (at the time) latest technology of the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Wii U, my game room was a testament to my passion as well as my tendency to be a gaming hoarder.
Having spent over a decade working for the now-defunct Dick Smith Electronics, I had also amassed a treasure trove of gaming memorabilia. The perks of loyalty meant that my home was filled with gaming artifacts, from posters and lanyards to display boxes and even a neglected PlayStation 2 display unit in my garage.
The initial challenge was organizing the games themselves. As a self-professed control freak, I had meticulously ordered boxes to accommodate rows of DVD and game cases. Each box perfectly housed 84 games, but with a staggering 40 boxes, the magnitude of my collection hit me.
As I delved deeper and into the closet, I rediscovered my treasure trove of gaming retail manuals, staff T-shirts from Gears of War and Halo 3 midnight launches, Nintendo Lanyards, what I can only describe as a monstrous sushi roll of two hundred or more gaming posters. Four Life sized carboard cutouts of The Heroic Drake from Uncharted 3, the electrifying Cole from Infamous, a terrifying Chimera from Resistance 3 and a stoic Master Chief from Halo 3.
The ? Box
Then there were the boxes—a myriad of console boxes collected over the years. A rainbow of colour hidden in the back of my closet. The deep blue hue of my original PlayStation 2 launch day console box peeked out behind stacks of neon green Xbox 360 boxes. White and Red PSP boxes, the retro red and black vintage Nintendo boxes, and a ridiculous number of peripheral packaging, including over 50 Wii remote, nunchuk, wheels and classic controller boxes. It was a visual representation of my gaming journey. An epic but arduous journey.
Reality struck. I had to move, and the burden of these possessions loomed over me, I had held this stuff for an eternity. Long forgotten plans of creating the ultimate game room with gaming posters for wallpaper just felt like a weight I didn’t want to deal with anymore.
So I made a decision.
Igniting the Halo Rings
Ordering a commercial-sized garbage bin, I embarked on a ruthless purging spree. Drake, Cole, Master Chief, and the Chimera all met their demise in the bin. The Mega Poster Sushi Roll? It was now a javelin which I threw into the bin with the precision and finesse of the great Archilles.As I confronted my collection of console boxes again, I questioned their purpose. Was I carrying them for a potential investment?
While consoles with their original boxes may be more valuable, I pondered why I held onto them. I had a perfectly good closet that remained unused for almost five years, filled with dust covered cardboard relics. I realized I was wasting money on rented space I didn’t use and, more importantly, carrying an emotional burden for years. The constant thoughts about storage solutions, maximizing game room space, and the potential financial gain had taken their toll. It was time to liberate myself from the weight of the past. into the garbage they went over 25 years of gaming collecting boxes gone in an instant, and it felt great, an incredible weight lifted and I felt like Atlas putting down the world off my shoulders.
Heres some inspiration for letting go of those boxes
1. Huh? It’s just a box
Let’s get real here, a console box, is a box, it’s all it will ever be. It’s the memories you attach to it, that transform it into something else. Memories tug at you to hang on, but it isn’t the box that you remember, it’s the fun you had with games themselves, the friends you played with. Nostalgia for consoles you didn’t even grow up with can be a powerful concealed enemy to your thought process. How many of these consoles did you even have growing up or did you buy them later on in life? Is it really nostalgia or is it just pride of your consumption of goods?
2. Euthanize The Companion Cube
There will always be gamers and collectors who want the boxes. Preservationists who hold items like this for their history which is amazing, and it should exist. But do you need to be that person?
Consider just selling or giving away your boxes to people who do want them for their collection, if it’s time to let go for you, let someone else embrace it and gain value from the box you don’t get value from anymore.
Set yourself a time limit to sell it, if you can’t by that time then recycle it/trash it.
3. Gears of War Hoard Mode
Yes we are all aware of the recent surge of popularity (and prices) of retro gaming, it’s a worldwide phenomenon that accelerated over COVID lockdowns. Retro gaming spiked and experienced a huge boom Singularly deemed ‘rare’ games now going for over 10 times their original retail value, boxed consoles commanding prices equivalent to brand new. Loose consoles are staggering, pre-covid a loose N64 could be found easily in New Zealand for around $50NZD, now it’s $150-$200 loose let alone a boxed unit.
However thinking long term is the monetary gain from holding a console for years or decades worth it? It costs to hold this item; it costs space in your house. It costs space mentally and emotionally as well. Is the cost you are paying now over the long term truly outweighing the payout later down the road?
4. Poke’Mon Snap
Is the box itself giving you value or is it the memories you attach to it and nostalgia getting in the way of your decision to cull it? Consider taking a photo of your console box, put your console and controller with it and your favourite game and take a photo. You can keep this memory forever digitally or even frame it for a fraction of the space it would normally take up.
5. Transformers Boxes in Disguise
Consider giving your console box a new life as something else while still holding (a small) piece of it, ideas such as:
- Cut out the serial number barcodes and turn them into keyrings
- Take the front of the box and turn it into wall art
- Cut out sections of the box and create gaming themed bookends (or game-ends)
- Turn the box into a gaming snack station for your game area
- Cut out pieces and turn them into gaming themed coasters.
- Turn it into a gaming piggy bank, where you save up your loose change for a bonus game
Doing things like this lets you hold onto the physical memory while giving the box a new life, a life with function instead of empty weight sitting on a shelf or in a closet.
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