I don't have a lot of systems but I am starting to accumulate low value parts, like isa serial port cards, broken CD-ROMs, isa video cards that don't work anymore, pentium 75 CPU... mostly from when I get a new system and customize/repair it by replacing what's not working or taking out some cards im not going to be using. I can't imagine selling this stuff on eBay as the economic value wouldn't be worth the effort to set up auctions, ship it, pay taxes on it, etc. it'll probably wind up in the trash one day, but as someone who has needed to harvest things like gears and screws and ram chips from broken parts to fix other parts to working order, Its hard to let go of this stuff even if I may not need to use it for years, or ever.

My other "problem" is my old floppy disks and hdds. I have a lot of those from when I was much younger, and most of them don't work anymore... But the nostalgia from seeing my kid handwriting on the disk labels and stuff gets me in the feels and I just wind up hanging onto the junk 😂

dukeofurl wrote on 2025-05-07, 12:49:

I don't have a lot of systems but I am starting to accumulate low value parts, like isa serial port cards, broken CD-ROMs, isa video cards that don't work anymore, pentium 75 CPU... mostly from when I get a new system and customize/repair it by replacing what's not working or taking out some cards im not going to be using. I can't imagine selling this stuff on eBay as the economic value wouldn't be worth the effort to set up auctions, ship it, pay taxes on it, etc. it'll probably wind up in the trash one day, but as someone who has needed to harvest things like gears and screws and ram chips from broken parts to fix other parts to working order, Its hard to let go of this stuff even if I may not need to use it for years, or ever.

My other "problem" is my old floppy disks and hdds. I have a lot of those from when I was much younger, and most of them don't work anymore... But the nostalgia from seeing my kid handwriting on the disk labels and stuff gets me in the feels and I just wind up hanging onto the junk 😂

Maybe things that are actually broken should go, especially fairly common items like cd readers. I can understand the nostalgia of those floppy disks though! I'd keep that p75 too.

Components, well organised, don't take up much room in comparison to cases and monitors. I already emptied and discarded some cases (a few corporate ones - where the i/o is integrated for one motherboard only) and let all my CRTs go years ago, no regrets to be honest. If i was to let more go it would be few more cases and any non working components that I *might* fix (i.e. probably won't), and any laptops that fail - it's just too much to be changing screens or fiddling with tiny electronics on those.

gerry wrote on 2025-05-07, 09:51:

A question though - did it feel like a loss when it all went? I mean in the sense that you'd have remembered each item as you got it through work or whatever? Some things in my collection are attached to memories, not very deep ones, but kind of like stories of how i got it and what tinkering was done - while some things i look at and there is almost no story with them.

Luckily most of the stuff I had no attachment with, It was always a case of someone else will find this useful.
but the servers were a bit different. Most came from one of my favorite job's doing IT for a restaurant chain that had also since closed down.
Was a bit sad getting ready to loose them but funny thing was almost as soon as I unloaded the car it was like a big weight or responsibility had been lifted.

and even though I suspect most of it ended up getting scrapped but I felt I had at least done my part in saving it.

But we also shipped a few creates to Oz, Kids sent their Lego, Wife sent clothes, I sent a couple of computers with more hardware/CD's packed inside the case.
I figured shipping would be cheaper then selling just t have to go buy it all again once we arrived so anything with sentimental value we still have 😀

Hoarding and Collecting are not even close to the same thing.

Sold off most of the stuff i didn't care about or use via forums or classifieds , and instead I've assembled some really baller tier systems.
Basically a quality over quantity approach.
Downside is a lack of spare parts , which i let go of a bunch of to save storage space and make some extra dosh,
but even then I've got about 4 different working systems now and that means i can rotate using them if one has down time for repairs so I've found a mostly goodish balance.

gerry wrote on 2025-05-07, 09:51:

that's interesting and suggests another side to the common "ebay sellers charge too much" complaint, in fact there are good prices

I thought the same, but also saw another side to the common sellers attitude "these are the prices now, suck it".

I would start selling my stuff but I don’t want to deal with shipping and unsatisfied buyers.
The item might get damaged or lost in shipping.
A buyer maybe unhappy with purchase
I don’t want to haul my stuff to the Flea Markets.

So it just sits in my garage for now.

I can't really comment with regards to downsizing, as I find it hard to let any of it go. But, I have pretty much stopped buying more unless a really good deal comes up. The reason? I have enough now to build pretty much any era of PC that I am interested in. Second reason is lack of space to store it. 3rd reason is its just a lot of money to spend. I think I have spent enough.

In my opinion it makes sense to go from big to small, starting with CRTs, fulltowers and non-modular PSUs. For example even a considerable selection of RAM modules won’t take more room than a mere shoebox.

Bruno128 wrote on 2025-05-12, 13:32:

In my opinion it makes sense to go from big to small, starting with CRTs, fulltowers and non-modular PSUs. For example even a considerable selection of RAM modules won’t take more room than a mere shoebox.

There are photos on this forum of collections, and vids on yuotube and elsewhere - some people are very organised, motherboards and cards wrapped and racked, cpu's laid out in a drawer, rams carefully grouped and bagged and boxes for PSUs. Its monitors (CRT or flat) and cases that take up the most room - even then some have a knack for organising them in a neat and space efficient way

To those thinking about getting rid of bulky CRTs and big AT cases..
Please remember that this is 2025. You maybe will never get them again once you have dumped them.

Bruno128 wrote on 2025-05-12, 13:32:

In my opinion it makes sense to go from big to small, starting with CRTs, fulltowers and non-modular PSUs. For example even a considerable selection of RAM modules won’t take more room than a mere shoebox.

I am not sure I agree with that. CRTs are the hardest to replace if you were to change your mind. Retro-style cases are equally getting hard to find (at least in good condition).

For me it makes sense to first get rid of things you know you will never use. Then things that you have duplicates of. Next to go is things you currently aren't using but would like to someday (hard to make the decision to let these go!), then next is items you are currently using but only rarely , then lastly is things you are using often (surely a very hard choice to make).

Outside of the criteria based on usage there are items you are keeping for sentimental or rarity reasons. Again, it is hard to decide to let these go.

If I had to downsize / stop hoarding I think I would use the parts I have to build two machines. One for DOS/Win9x and one for XP/Vista/7. I would use a CRT for that machine. Probably a KVM to allow easy switching between the two machines. Then I would be able to let everything else go, yet still be able to play my retro games.

If I had to make one machine it would be a Win9x /XP build. But that would be quite a compromised build in terms of compatability and peformance.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-05-13, 08:16:

To those thinking about getting rid of bulky CRTs and big AT cases..
Please remember that this is 2025. You maybe will never get them again once you have dumped them.

This line of thinking often leads to hoarding. You want to get something because it MIGHT disappear in the future. You run out of storage but you can't get rid of anything because you think you are making an irreversible mistake. You don't buy hardware to collect or actually use, you buy it to prepare for an imaginary scenario. You stockpile (identical) stuff but keep buying more because something might happen and you need spares or parts. Even the biggest workshops end up full eventually.
To be honest none of the modern consumer grade CRTs are rare or brutally expensive and this won't likely change in the next few decades. Hell, you can look for 30-40+ year old CRT models and still find them relatively easy: monochromes for $100, CGA for $150 and EGA for $250. You buy, you have your fun, you sell and move onto something else. That is the only option I can think of when someone is dealing with a hoarding problem.
It's insanely hard to break this habit though and I don't think a serious hoarder can change on his own.
My method is simple, I sell locally and don't go for maximum profit so I don't have to deal with international buyers or shipping large items. All my bids start at $1 and I let the market decide the price. It works out well 90% of the time which is fine by me. Don't be afraid to sell stuff.

Jo22 wrote on 2025-05-13, 08:16:

To those thinking about getting rid of bulky CRTs and big AT cases..
Please remember that this is 2025. You maybe will never get them again once you have dumped them.

This line of thinking often leads to hoarding.

Perhaps. It's a fact and not my problem, though.

Our beloved systems were made about a quarter of a century ago and most have been scrapped meantime.
The remaining units do decline year by year, modern replicas excluded.

Decide wisely.

PS: The C64 is over 40 years old by now.
To put into perspective, 40 years before the C64 was made it was 1942 and WW2 was still ongoing..

To be honest none of the modern consumer grade CRTs are rare or brutally expensive and this won't likely change in the next few decades.

Not in your country, maybe, but at least where I live CRT monitors or CRT TVs are almost extinct by now.
A few Commodore monitors like 1084 are still available for a higher price, but an 1702 sells for about 400€.

Normal CRT VGA monitors are rarely sold anymore.
Sometimes, green monitors with AV input can be found for less than 100€, but that's because retro fans aren’t so much into monochrome.
Except for an IBM 5151, maybe, which has a cult status.

Edit: Some examples attached.
They're not all that expensive, but give an idea where things are going..

Lutsoad wrote on 2025-05-13, 13:14:

This line of thinking often leads to hoarding. You want to get something because it MIGHT disappear in the future. You run out of storage but you can't get rid of anything because you think you are making an irreversible mistake. You don't buy hardware to collect or actually use, you buy it to prepare for an imaginary scenario. You stockpile (identical) stuff but keep buying more because something might happen and you need spares or parts. Even the biggest workshops end up full eventually.

Yes, that is true. I am guilty of this for sure. But I have pretty much stopped buying now. I have enough spares and systems to play around with.

Lutsoad wrote on 2025-05-13, 13:14:

To be honest none of the modern consumer grade CRTs are rare or brutally expensive and this won't likely change in the next few decades. Hell, you can look for 30-40+ year old CRT models and still find them relatively easy: monochromes for $100, CGA for $150 and EGA for $250. You buy, you have your fun, you sell and move onto something else. That is the only option I can think of when someone is dealing with a hoarding problem.

That's the thing though. They are no longer made so, of course, will get more expensive as they stop working or end up in the hands of people that won't let them go. Just look at Voodoo cards. They were plentiful, but prices are getting ridiculous and increasing all the time.

Lutsoad wrote on 2025-05-13, 13:14:

It's insanely hard to break this habit though and I don't think a serious hoarder can change on his own.
My method is simple, I sell locally and don't go for maximum profit so I don't have to deal with international buyers or shipping large items. All my bids start at $1 and I let the market decide the price. It works out well 90% of the time which is fine by me. Don't be afraid to sell stuff.

I'd you want to get rid quickly with minimal fuss, then that makes perfect sense. Though this hobby is fairly niche around here. But I don't want to sell low value items on ebay either, as ebay UK inform HMRC if you sell over 30 items a year (they think they can get some more tax from you!)! I suspect if they audit you and you are selling lots of computer hardware, they may well think it's a side-hussle business.

Lutsoad wrote on 2025-05-13, 13:14:

To be honest none of the modern consumer grade CRTs are rare or brutally expensive and this won't likely change in the next few decades. Hell, you can look for 30-40+ year old CRT models and still find them relatively easy

That's not the case where I live. CRT monitors are difficult to find and tend to be quite expensive depending on the model and condition.

My method is simple, I sell locally and don't go for maximum profit so I don't have to deal with international buyers or shipping large items.

This is a big reason availability of goods can vary wildly from location to location. I'm in Canada, and I've noticed perusing US Ebay that a lot of Americans won't sell outside the U.S. Same thing with browsing Amibay and seeing a lot of Europeans not shipping outside of the EU.

This restricts general availability in places like Canada. The result is certain things are harder to come by and tend to cost more.

Collecting , fixing, and restoring ewaste electronics for running old software and games in NOT hoarding when no one wants it.

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2025-05-13, 15:17:

Collecting , fixing, and restoring ewaste electronics for running old software and games in NOT hoarding when no one wants it.

Hoarding is, by definition, collecting more stuff than you can ever need or use to the point where you struggle to store it. Whether anyone else wants it is kind of irrelevant.

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2025-05-13, 15:37:

Hoarding is, by definition, collecting more stuff than you can ever need or use to the point where you struggle to store it. Whether anyone else wants it is kind of irrelevant.

I agree hoarding has nothing to do with other people wanting an item, but I'd go along with the dsm5 definition (https://hoarding.iocdf.org/professionals/diag … rding-disorder/ )

it's not really related to whether, by an external assessment, you'll be able to use it / need it as that invites all kinds of value judgements, i.e. having 10 spare agp cards is "more than you need" to some, but also a wise reserve or pool to experiment with to others.

It's when it gets in the way of normal life and causes lots of distress that it starts to be hoarding, and i think 'hoarding-lite' with some of those features is probably quite common, even rational to some extent

RetroPCCupboard wrote on 2025-05-13, 15:37:

Intel486dx33 wrote on 2025-05-13, 15:17:

Collecting , fixing, and restoring ewaste electronics for running old software and games in NOT hoarding when no one wants it.

Hoarding is, by definition, collecting more stuff than you can ever need or use to the point where you struggle to store it. Whether anyone else wants it is kind of irrelevant.

With a little difference: it's about antiques, not random stuff.
It's no different to antique radios. Tube radios vanish, you can't go out and just start collecting in 2050. They're gone. Just gone.
At least in normal countries around the globe. N/A is world's largest junkyard warehouse.
So much storage place. Farms, landfills, big junkyards.

Here in Europe, houses and streets are small and we merely have small attics and small cellars.
That's why big CRTs go away very early. Ordinary people don't like to keep them, so they get trashed - not even sold to colectors.
Except the 1950s models in wooden cabinets- because they're more furniture than appliances. 😀
The 1970s models in stylish plastic cabinets are sold as art pieces, too.

Btw, since hackaday.com just mentioned this article:
https://hackaday.com/2025/05/11/simulating-cable-tv/

Generally speaking, I *believe* we don't have that much nostalgia for vintage cable TV and the "good old days" of commercial TV.
So there are very few people here who keep vintage CRT TVs in use.

In many parts of EU, analogue TV was shutdown ~20 years ago already.
It's not like in N/A which still had analogue TV in the past few years.:
Hence, there was less pressure to throw away traditional TVs.

Anyway, long story short: CRTs are an endangered species here, where I live.
I often thought about the development and I realized that things come to an end.
I'm nolonger collecting (due to being plain unable to do) but I also don't throw away.
The chassis alone are precious, even if I can’t fix the CRT inside anymore.
Maybe I have to convert them to LCD, eventually, but not before CRT simulator circuits exist).

Edit: Hi. I think I missed one aspect here. Consumption and the throw-away-society.
In some cultures, it's all about best cost-benefit ratio.
Here, it doesn't matter if the PC is a 486 or a Pentium IV or if it runs Windows 98 or 10, aslong as the consumption (playing games) is good.

Unfortunately, that's not my beer.
I'm slightly emotionally attached to my old NES, a real 80286 system and the CRT look&feel.
I do like to still be able to fire up a real 286 or 386 when I'm old.
I want to hold a NES cartridge in my hand, along with the old pad.
These things are fascinating to me, simply.

And yes, I want to (-can't believe I'm saying this-) run Win32 games on good old 98 rather than 10.
Because Windows 98SE (XP) feels like home. Its atmosphere is relaxing. It's about the look&feel.
And I know that this is the original environment the game developers had worked with.
If you like to walk on their paths, that's important. Plain game compatibilty of Win 10 isn't enough.

It's not about cost-benefit ratio, but about the emotional bond.
I don’t want to have 10x NES or 20x 486 PCs, but I would like to end up with at least one working unit in ~50 years.
That's why I focus on a couple of spare parts, which I try to preserve.
It's not about greed or hording. It's about preserving.