Our first computer was an XT 8 MHz and we then jumped straight to a 386DX-40 after that.
The XT was always frustrating because, by the time we bought it, games were already demanding faster CPU performance (which in this case would have been a 286).
I therefore had no desire after that to touch an XT but, I have built up about 2 XT PC's for myself already 🤣
As a matter of fact, I was fortunate enough to acquire the exact XT PC that we owned and I passed that onto my father so that he could play his old games (that he enjoyed) again on it.
Since I've started collecting old computers, I never actually had a desire to acquire a 286, since we never owned one and therefore, there was no nostalgia about that particular architecture.
However, as sometimes happens in this hobby, I got hold of a couple of 286 motherboards and therefore decided to hold onto them.
As already stated, if you grew up with a 286, then I think it would make sense to build up one. A friend of mine bought a 286 PC back in 1990 with VGA graphics and, fortunate enough, he held onto the motherboard. I recently helped him to revive that PC again.
For me it's more the fun factor behind it to build up a 286 PC (since I never owned one) and to play around by configuring the PC and installing software on it.
I had a similar experience recently by building up a complete 386SX-25 PC. My plan is to still build up a complete 286 for myself as well.