Quitting/putting collecting on pause

Well, wouldn't you know it, the whole ordeal ended up having a happy ending. My Super ended up having to call a plumber friend of his, who set aside some of his other jobs to come over to my place first (he even got a call from one of his other jobs, some old lady who was mad he was late). Fixed the issue in no time, and on the way out, stopped to ask me about the collection- how long it had taken me to accrue, all that. I told him I try to donate some stuff at least once a year, and he joked "So which one you gonna donate to me?" He noticed the Black Series, and we had a short but sweet little chat about Star Wars, and he told me what a big Vader fan he is. So I let him have one of the Vaders; I have more of them than I need, and I'm not picky about all the details, so one can easily stand in for another (not to mention he's perhaps the easiest figure to find right now). He seemed really taken aback by it, but in a good way. Said he wished he could've stayed longer to talk Star Wars.

Maybe like 20 minutes later, as everyone was starting to wrap up and it was just me and the Super, he got kinda close and started talking real low. I figured it was gonna be about the pipes, but he started asking some questions. Said "You got some interesting stuff here. Some of it's probably quite valuable". I told him it was likely, but I was more concerned with sentimental value. And he goes "You've heard of the X-Men? Do you have any of them?" I just kinda smiled and showed him my little X-Men shelf, and after a moment, his face sorta lit up (as much as a big, gruff dude's face can without betraying his pride) and he just said "Nightcrawler. Nice." And then switched back into business mode.

Was honestly kinda heartwarming to see. I shouldn't be surprised- we all have our inner child, and they're never as far away as we think.
 
I don't think it's that weird just because MOST people that find out I collect toys almost immediately go to the 'they most be worth a lot' thing. I don't think it's ever a fishing expedition so much as something that makes sense in their brains to say. Almost like if someone tells you they have a suped up car and you're like 'oh, must handle great.' Like, you don't actually care, but it seems like the thing to say.
 
I totally get that, and if it was anyone else, I may be concerned, but the man is too busy to rob anyone. 😅 There was a tiny bit more to the conversation than just that, but the general vibe was "he was curious, maybe even a little enamored, but still didn't know the first thing about any of it." And while he's worked to the bone, he also makes damn good money, so I just don't see the need. I always joke (but am only ever halfway joking) that if anyone wants to rob me or steal money from my account, go right ahead. Let me know if you find anything valuable!

Like Damien said, that's what most people say after they see it all, just to make conversation. And, like, I wish it was valuable, but I collect to collect, not to one day sell. Most of it's out of the box anyway, so while some nerd out there would buy it, I ain't gonna be rolling in the dough.
 
joshsquash729 said:
I totally get that, and if it was anyone else, I may be concerned, but the man is too busy to rob anyone. 😅 There was a tiny bit more to the conversation than just that, but the general vibe was "he was curious, maybe even a little enamored, but still didn't know the first thing about any of it." And while he's worked to the bone, he also makes damn good money, so I just don't see the need. I always joke (but am only ever halfway joking) that if anyone wants to rob me or steal money from my account, go right ahead. Let me know if you find anything valuable!

Like Damien said, that's what most people say after they see it all, just to make conversation. And, like, I wish it was valuable, but I collect to collect, not to one day sell. Most of it's out of the box anyway, so while some nerd out there would buy it, I ain't gonna be rolling in the dough.
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I think charging someone rent is among the quickest ways to rob someone legally. They're literally commodifying someone's existence and need to occupy space. If you had rare Pokemon cards laying about I could understand the concern though.

Going back to your collection being a bright spot for an unknown stranger, when my Mondo Nightcrawler was being delivered I went out to pick it up from the mail truck as it was pulling up forgetting I was wearing a Gambit shirt. The mailman who was younger than I was complimented my taste in X-Men and told me how much he liked Gambit. Sometimes I think just being seen as embracing your nerd roots lets those break out of their daily routine and talk about something other than the weather, the state of the world and their job. I had a boss who every time he would scold the team I would make some sort of WWF/WWE reference and he would go off on a tangent fueled by his own wrestling nostalgia. And it was pretty obvious that everyone in the room knew what I was doing by the slight smiles on their faces.
 
I found a Sailor Moon hoodie at the back of an EB a couple years ago. XL, baggy enough for my big frame comfort.

I like wearing it because it's this magical portal for strangers to connect. People will ask me if I have a favorite, tell me who their favorite is, etc. This thing breaks so much ice. They should have had it back when they were exploring the Arctic circle.

It's funny because I have seen people online make their little selfie video rants about how it's rude and intrusive when someone comes up and tells you that your t-shirt looks cool or to compliment you at all. And I don't understand that. I don't know what went wrong at some point. And I know that's like a very small percentage of the world, so I don't take it seriously, but:

If you're wearing a blink-182 t-shirt, do you not want to broadcast to the world that you like blink-182, and would you not want me to tell you that's a cool shirt, I also partake? If you're wearing a Spider-Man shirt, I have to imagine you do want someone to go cool shirt. That's why I have every cool shirt I have. It's for me, but it's also a line if people would like to connect and avoid the s***** adult world.

And at the end of the day I think that's why that a****** dude lost his wife to the action figure guy. It's just being authentic and comfortable with yourself. That seems rarer and rarer. As we all know from Mallrats, you think just because a guy reads comics he can't start some s***? Or change a tire, or start a fire, or shoot a gun, or throw a nice spiral pass, or whatever weird ass metric people are using for masculinity these days. I heard Trump is using shoe sizes. You know what they say about men with big feet.

And it's also why our community here is so nice.
 
I had a rather gruff PE teacher in junior high who was pretty no nonsense and not the most approachable. Then one day after coming out of the locker room I see him and one of the fellow Star Wars geeks discussing his Star Wars figure collection encompassing the 80s stuff and the Power of the Force collection. So it really can be just about anyone.
 
Alt said:
I found a Sailor Moon hoodie at the back of an EB a couple years ago. XL, baggy enough for my big frame comfort.

I like wearing it because it's this magical portal for strangers to connect. People will ask me if I have a favorite, tell me who their favorite is, etc. This thing breaks so much ice. They should have had it back when they were exploring the Arctic circle.

It's funny because I have seen people online make their little selfie video rants about how it's rude and intrusive when someone comes up and tells you that your t-shirt looks cool or to compliment you at all. And I don't understand that. I don't know what went wrong at some point. And I know that's like a very small percentage of the world, so I don't take it seriously, but:

If you're wearing a blink-182 t-shirt, do you not want to broadcast to the world that you like blink-182, and would you not want me to tell you that's a cool shirt, I also partake? If you're wearing a Spider-Man shirt, I have to imagine you do want someone to go cool shirt. That's why I have every cool shirt I have. It's for me, but it's also a line if people would like to connect and avoid the s***** adult world.

And at the end of the day I think that's why that a****** dude lost his wife to the action figure guy. It's just being authentic and comfortable with yourself. That seems rarer and rarer. As we all know from Mallrats, you think just because a guy reads comics he can't start some s***? Or change a tire, or start a fire, or shoot a gun, or throw a nice spiral pass, or whatever weird ass metric people are using for masculinity these days. I heard Trump is using shoe sizes. You know what they say about men with big feet.

And it's also why our community here is so nice.
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Yeah it all kind of blends after awhile.

I mean there is the old (now) discussion about sports fans. The "acceptable" fanatics. Guys painting their faces, wearing cosplay (jerseys), going topless in subzero temperatures at games, memorabilia/fancaves, the whole "we won" (your not on the team), etc. etc. I think there will always be the situation of people who look down on "geekdom" but are clueless about the double standard of sports fandom, etc.
 
I wear plenty of nerdy shirts myself. There are two I get comments on the most:

1) While I have plenty of Ninja Turtle shirts, the one that gets the most love is a Mirage black and white comic version. I get a lot of "Yo! OLD SCHOOL Turtles!"

2) Army of Darkness. So many people that you wouldn't expect coming up to me to say "Love that movie! Classic!"

I love when people comment on them. And then we get to have the great human connection and discuss shared interests for a brief moment. People are so weird, getting offended by something so innocent, and really at the end of the day, as a means of relatability.
 
Yeah, I have a ton of nerd culture t-shirts and such. I just bought like 50 different ones from Gamestop when they had a recent sale for 70% off all clearance items. The shirts ended up being like $1-$2 each... everything from Star Wars to Marvel/DC to Anime to Game of Thrones to various video games. I work a professional job where I wear a dress shirt and tie every day, but I can still wear these on the weekends and or during my evening workouts.
 
canprime said:
Yeah it all kind of blends after awhile.

I mean there is the old (now) discussion about sports fans. The "acceptable" fanatics. Guys painting their faces, wearing cosplay (jerseys), going topless in subzero temperatures at games, memorabilia/fancaves, the whole "we won" (your not on the team), etc. etc. I think there will always be the situation of people who look down on "geekdom" but are clueless about the double standard of sports fandom, etc.
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One time in high school I was reading a comic book and one of the stereotypical Abercrombie jocks was trying to make a deal about it and dunk on me for being a nerd, and then one of my cheerleader classmates from yearbook cut him off and pointed out that his obsession with baseball and football stats and fantasy leagues was the same thing

It seems really cartoonish but we all remember those days. You could see the existential crisis as he realized he was a nerd on paper. Twilight Zone s***.

@RicksNerdLife - My ex-wife bought me a Power Ranger t-shirt. One day I was wearing it while we were doing something at the bank. Another family had two children running around the lobby, and when I went to the water cooler, the two kids I saw my shirt and screeched to a halt and pointed, mesmerized. And then the older kid ran to his mother and was like that guy is wearing a Power Ranger shirt like I was an actual Power Ranger. It was pretty fun.
 
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I've always said "everyone is a geek about something". The only difference is that fans of stuff like Marvel or Star Wars don't think their cosplay or collection have any influence on the outcome of things. No one goes to the theater saying "if I wear my lucky Jedi Robe Anakin won't turn to the Dark Side", or "if I bring my lucky Iron Man figure with me the Avengers will beat Thanos".
 
I've gotten a handful of compliments on my shirts over the years. Nerdy shirts make up maybe 50% of my shirt wardrobe, of all types of professionalism. The last few years for Christmas, my mom has started getting me nice flannel shirts that have one of the Universal Monsters on them. I've gotten a few Star Wars ones, of course, a compliment or two on some music ones (Gorillaz fans especially), but oddly enough, it's when I wear the handful of shirts I have for my favorite drag queens that I get the most compliments. 😅

We all- myself included- need to compliment people on their clothes more. I know it always makes me feel really good when someone does- it always pulls me out of whatever little headspace I'm in and gets me feeling good about myself. I definitely need to start complimenting others more; I always worry about coming off creepy. But I think people genuinely do appreciate those who are so shamelessly themselves. My mom, for instance, since she started wearing what she wants to- a sort of punk/goth combo- she gets compliments all the time from all sorts of people. Some creepy dudes, sure, but I think all of them just are so enamored by her. She's the coolest crippled old lady around (her words, not mine- but it's a moniker she wears with pride!)
 
joshsquash729 said:
We all- myself included- need to compliment people on their clothes more.
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Absolutely. I've been doing this more over the past couple of years and the results are fantastic.
joshsquash729 said:
I always worry about coming off creepy.
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This is, I've found, 100% about delivery. If you say "you look good in that shirt" the comment scans as being about that person's body. But if you say "I love that shirt!" or "that shirt is so cool" you're complimenting their taste and it lands completely differently on the ear. Now you're saying something about who they are as a person based on how they've chosen to present themselves. Never had a problem with it so long as I keep that in mind. Like, to the extent where I saw a young woman walking on campus the other day with this wild rainbow long coat and I rolled down my car window as I passed to tell her "hey that coat is awesome!" and I could see the genuine smile of appreciation and got a really happy "thank you!" in return.

And like, I'm not an idiot, I'm in my 40's. That scenario could easily be read as some dusty old creep catcalling a 20 yr old. But within context it came off perfectly fine and I genuinely don't think she was put off by it. And that coat WAS awesome, and she wore it hoping somebody would say so.
 
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