In no small part, nostalgia and memories have a place in our collections. Cards and merchandise take many of us back to a different time and allow us, albeit briefly, to touch upon something we can no longer be in - the past.
For most of us this is a healthy curiosity, for some nostalgia doesn’t even play a part at all… but for others it forms part of something a bit more difficult to stomach - an inability to be fully present.
I’ll preface this by saying I’m not entirely sure which category I fall into. I didn’t have the best time growing up, and remembering happy times through the association of cards does feel cathartic in part. Sometimes, I believe it’s symptomatic of not having truly come to terms with what were ultimately very traumatic times for a child. And sometimes I think it’s just something I enjoy!
So the crux of my post - something I have unpacked (and I believe contributes to my desire to own the cards I did and didn’t have as a child) is that I have a pretty good long-term memory.
I remember a lot, and feel like my memories are very immediate. Sometimes it feels like my childhood was yesterday, and not because time moves quickly. I think this plays a big part in my inclination to collect cards.
On this sleepy Monday I am putting to E4 some questions and I guess just opening up for some healthy introspective discussions!
Do you consider yourself to have a good memory, and do you feel that, by virtue of the pull of nostalgia, it contributes to your collecting habits?
Do you ever feel like you collect cards because you’re unwilling to let go of “happier times”?
Do you ever feel like you collect because you want to hold onto your youth?
Pokémon is one of my many hobbies that keeps me in touch with my inner child. By staying in touch, I find that I am much more well equipped to handle the day to day monotonies and difficulties that are inherent to being a responsible adult.
I feel this too - & not only exploring nostalgic attachment in a somewhat negative light. That there is something nice about the longevity of the franchise and it being a thread that connects all of our “selves” is very comforting too!
3x Yes. I’m very nostalgic for those simpler times, it’s probably a coping mechanism to avoid thinking about the whole society heading towards something that I don’t fully like or comprehend. Just looking at the cards I owned as a kid, produces strong emotions in my brain.
It’s something that clicked in me during high school (2014-2015), when I started revisiting old games, vintage consoles, pixel art and TCG cards of course.
It’s the human nature to highly value our childhood memories and good experiences, although one must start thinking why it seems so widespread nowadays, starting even before hitting 25 years old. Could it be a sign of generational distress?
In the end collecting is still a safe place for me, that’s why I’m still here despite the hobby being definitely frustrating at times.
I am a very little waste type of person, using the most of something or using it until it is unusable, because of this most of my possessions have meaning to me. While a lot of it is nostalgia for less stressful times, more of it is just because I like things. The look, the meaning, the ideas, i am a simple person and try not to bog myself down with stresses so if i like it, i get it. If i got it because i liked it, then I keep it. While not perfect, I liked my youth and like who I am today as a result of that youth, so I suppose I do hold some of that close as refusal to let that innocence go.
100% believe that the current generational uptick towards collecting is because the “standard path” (career, house, car, spouse, kids) is becoming more difficult to achieve (and thus a pipe dream to many.) This is in part exacerbated by social media and the “see it want it” culture but also inflation and rising costs. That’s just my opinion but I am far from alone in it, and I agree with you! And although anecdotal evidence is at the bottom of the heirarchy, I know several people IRL that this is definitely true for. (“I’m never going to have x, so I just spend that amount in savings on y.”)
Very interesting question which made me think a lot.
100%. I truly feel I had a great childhood. It did not mean having everything materialistically, but just going about your life with so less worry. You could imagine the most basic, cookie cutter middle class life but it was made wonderful by my parents and friends. The passions I had regarding hobbies and collecting have been so positive that these have continued to shape how I am with these hobbies and how I can react to changes with them. I have met and spoken to a few people who collected back in the day and it is a pity that almost everyone has bad memories just because the cards that we collected were bootleg copies and not the fact that a lot of us got to experience the whole card collecting aspect, make friends etc with these hobbies.
No. I personally think it would be a disservice to those fond memories that I have if I hold onto it with a sense of longing and regret. I mean, consider some of the situations we have in he world now, how many people can even have nostalgia to their childhoods in the future?
Its is impossible, we cannot change our past or our actions. We need to look back for strength and learnings, work in our present and be ready to deal with whatever the future might have in store for us. We need to use both past and future wisely to be able to enrich and in a way extend our lives.
To summarize, my base for my core values, even in my hobbies will always be my childhood. But my continued participation now will always be for the friends and people I have met and who continue to grace my life with newer and fonder memories.
“Life is anxious and short for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future.” -Seneca, Shortness of Life
That’s definitely part of it. If you were a 27-year old in the mid 50’s and could afford the american dream with your job as a bolt tightener at the Ford factory, I bet the last thing you wanted to do is withdraw into your childhood by consooming Mickey Mouse dolls from the 30’s. And even if you did, you could probably do so without jeopardizing the house, the Fairlane Skyliner, the wife, the 3 kids and your position on the union bowling team because there’s no 20000% markup on 20-year old Mickey Mouse dolls.
On occasion, my Pop (love him dearly though I do), will have some very choice words about something I’ve spent money on, like a $150 concert ticket.
He will then completely bury his head in the sand if I tell him that, on 1/3rd of my salary, he was able to afford what I couldn’t on 2x my salary, has spent more money on pointless shit than I likely ever will, and that the cost of his + his fathers house don’t amount to half of the cost of mine adjusted for inflation.
But of course, it’s the concert tickets. It’s entirely understandable for people of a younger generation to want to indulge in hobbies, because that way it feels like money is actuallyenjoyable.
I relate to this so much. I’m a young collector (18) and I feel so guilty buying a card that’s over $30 because, for one, my dad has always acted exasperated when I’d spend a lot on hobbies. But also, I’ve been in multiple school courses discussing personal finance and how I should save NOW while I still can; combine that with the aforementioned guilt and I kind of feel frozen a bit…
I can say that I am feeling nostalgic for gens 5 and 6 in terms of collecting already. While I don’t think this rapid nostalgia has gotten to a concerning point yet, it does have that trajectory I feel. How far can we go with this “bringing back the old times” kind of mentality? Will kids be nostalgic for the 80’s-inspired synthwave/vaporwave era from the late 2010’s? I imagine so. If there’s no innovation or drive to move forward, we’ll keep looping over on what has been like a broken record.
Yes and no. I collect partly for nostalgia (which I imagine will grow stronger with time) but I also collect because it’s comforting and helps me organize myself in times of distress. In addition, I’m able to discover more of myself by identifying what I’m drawn to as a collector, and I also just love the Pokemon character designs! Lots of reasons lol, but those are great questions to ask.
I like these posts as it’s definitely something I think about every once in a while. It usually puts you in a better head space to step back and think about the better days, whenever they may have been. I’ll try and answer the questions best I can:
I definitely have a strong memory of my childhood, pretty much can recall things down to specific details, places, etc. I can pull them all up pretty quickly, much better than I can remember other things it seems. I would say that my memories and experiences of childhood do play a pretty significant factor in my motivation to collect & continue down the path of collecting.
I always liked collecting stuff, even if it wasn’t all Pokemon related. I was into marbles, Lego, diecast cars, Pokemon and eventually MTG & Yu-Gi-Oh cards as well. Experiencing Pokemon in 1999 through the early 2000s is such a nostalgic thing for me, among other things from that period. Back then we (myself, family, etc) simply had a lot less to experience compared to today, and so things like Pokemon really stuck with me years later when the memories came rushing back.
Not entirely I don’t think. Even if the memories are mostly positive (esp. with Pokemon), I can honestly say my life is so much better in ways now then back then. If you told me back then that’d we’d grow to have the home, education options, and overall financial well-being that we have now it would have seemed like a complete dream to me. My family was very much living paycheque to paycheque or worse back then compared to now and my parents were barely involved with my childhood as a result, sadly.
Thinking back this is probably why I have such fond memories of Pokemon, that’s literally all I did during the Summer of ‘99. It was Pokemon at day & night, and playing outside with friends, exploring the woods, swimming in the lake and playing at parks in a neighborhood where literally everyone knew one another and no one worried about anything like we do nowadays. These are the types of things I hold on to, and Pokemon definitely brings me back to those things in ways.
To some degree I think, but it goes a bit deeper than that. It’s one of these hobbies where I definitely yearn for the past to a good extent and I try and have fun with it the same way as back then. Even if it can be a pretty significant financial commitment to take on, it doesn’t really bother me. I can think of many other things I could waste money on and not have near the same enjoyment as Pokemon brings.
The love & joy of Pokemon and the cards really drives it for me, and I know many others share the same joy as I do. There’s not too many other hobbies I can think of that can hold or increase in value like Pokemon has, especially the past few years. It’s literally been one of the best places that I’ve put my money if I’m looking at it strictly as an investment, but I never got back into collecting for this reason. It was much more for the nostalgia and it being something I’ve simply always enjoyed, regardless of the financial prospects that have come with it.
So overall, I think it’s good to have multiple reasons to pursue this hobby. I doubt I’d stick it out this long if it was just 1 thing. It’s really a combination of factors that keeps me interested, and I can honestly say it’s so much bigger than I ever imagined as I’ve gotten back into it over the past few years. This community, learning the market, learning about so many cards I never knew about, etc. There’s just so much to take in and enjoy, and overall it offers a great escape from so many other things these days.. and so I hope to spend time with this hobby & community for years to come.
For me I kind of think it is the opposite. I desire freedom and happy days, but more and more I dont go back to the past to find it, but I try to find it now instead of longing to past days. I really liked collecting Pokemon (and still do, but just less). I guess I am trying to make new memories to be nostalgic for
Yes, then no. Second question is inverted - I don’t feel my long memory contributes to my collecting habit but rather that my collecting habit contributes to my long term memory. There’s actually a surprising bit about my early life that I straight up do not remember. No, I don’t think there’s like buried unresolved trauma or anything so sinister, I just don’t remember much from before like age 12 or so. But I can pinpoint specific things related to Pokemon (and by extension other toy and media franchises I engaged with)
You’ve given me a lot to think about. Maybe my memory bank has improved by object association, as much like lyleberr I have always cherished whatever I’ve owned no matter how small. So I can definitely associate most things I own from my childhood with the means of their acquisition, occasion, giftor etc!
Nostalgia is a feeling of a time, maybe it sounds weird to put it in such a way. Its not really memory as much as whats inside. That said, I have a pretty miserable memory. I lost my car keys and I’m using my back up set going on 2 weeks now. Nostalgia definately is what drives my interest, its why I returned. I don’t have a strong attachment to new stuff, but who does until it becomes old? Not to say that new stuff isn’t made well, because it is. Objectively speaking the cards have gotten way cooler. But many of my favorite cards aren’t even holos.
not really. I’m just a compulsive collecter. I started with picking up pennies as a kid and looking for cool rocks at rivers I found. I loved collecting pokemon cards as a kid, and revived that interest again. I’m probably prone to hoarding more than I’d like to admit.
I don’t think so. Only the things from my youth as what attach me to those times. Buying new things has no attachment to it for me. Though its hard to let go of things I know I should.
Getting lost in reverie can lead me to melancholic episodes so I prefer avoid nostalgia because its a strong pull for me. As far as collecting goes, before the latest hypedog influx, it was fun to see new sets come out, open some packs, and plan out my set binder and build it for an affordable price. Keeping my eyes open for new collection boxes with a random cosmos holo variant, or an annoying theme deck with a non-holo version were part of the fun. So the irony of whats gone on lately, is how I’ve been forced out of affordable and new collecting into a more reflective state of mind which is a place I don’t want to retreat to. Then prices of things I’d have otherwise bought skyrocked there too. So Its frustrating. Feels like someone has decided that you don’t get to enjoy things from the era of your youth, and you can’t enjoy the new thing either. mrgrgrgr!
It’s a funny world we live in. My grandmother freezes rice leftovers in individual plastic bags to use with her powdered fish soup. If someone in the family leaves a half empty 125ml bottle of sweet chili sauce or something in the fridge, you bet that bottle will stay there for another 10 years because she will never throw it away without help, even though her fridge is a chronically overfilled labyrinth that only she knows how to navigate. She grew up on the one-pig-throughout-the-year peasant regime and although she’s been lower middle class for the last 50 years or so, that’s the way she’s wired.
My grandfather’s study desk, 200 lbs of flame birch, brass trimmings, bombproof high gloss finish, the key that goes into the ultra smooth locking mechanism looks like an art piece. How much is that new today, $30.000? Assuming you could even find the wood to build it? They probably bought it for tree fiddy along with the teak cabinets, the studded chairs, the imported carpets and the sculpturally wrought iron pokers.
My grandfather’s library, perfectly preserved since he died almost 40 years ago; row upon row of scripture, liturgy, exegesis and hermeneutics in all the worlds languages, many of them bound in the finest gilt leather, none of which would cost you less than $100 if they were pressed today.
TL;DR "Our youth is, after all, old.
I feel like I collect because I enjoy it now, and it happens to be something I’ve enjoyed for a long time. Part of me that has grown and changed as I have.
I have both some traumatic memories and strong associated positive feeling from being younger as well. Even as a young adult, say 10-15 years ago. I remember the very sensation of the moment. The internal burn and tingly skin. Distant shame and the guttural pain. Feelings of anxiety triggered by mere memories of issues long-resolved. But also elation, joy, and the liquid warmth of love for other things long past.
I also feel that. I can remember cards while walking in the mall with my mom or driving with my dad, ripping packs at the mall when specific songs play, trading cards or matches with friends at school under our tree.
When I was a professional performer (I still do occasionally today) a lot of my peers recognized my extreme ability to remember and duplicate performances very consistently. I can remember things I performed years ago very well, without any rehearsal in between. With most of my memories, I can remember the tactile experience of the thing.
I collect cards for the same reason I still perform. It brings me joy NOW. I’m making new “happier times” in the here and now.
IMO&Exp, we should seek the balance between over-indulgence, and discipline to feel good about life, and we must accept that youth is not an age, but a mindset. I can perform circles around some artists half my age. Yes, I was a high-level pro, so certain skills come with that. Still, in managing our body and mental state, we really can find that feeling “young” or “old” is largely self-imposed.
Continuing to enjoy what was part of youth is not dependent on youth. If we don’t want to lose what we were, then we don’t just get older, we merge the new with the old. Our youth, after all, is old. It may be semantics, but sometimes that slight mindset shift is all that’s needed. In time, we gain new eyes and context with which to see, but it doesn’t mean the old is worth less.