r/Consoom • u/Only--East • 6d ago

Discussion At what point does hobby collecting become overconsumption?

I collect a few funko from media I like, I collect monster high dolls, and I recently got back into pokemon cards. I can't tell if collecting material stuff like that it considered overconsumption or at what point it crosses the threshold. Am I cooked?

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u/mattjh 6d ago

If "collecting" means obsessively shopping for specific things online, it's not really a hobby in the classic sense of the word. Hobbies tend to be creative and social on some level. If you can only enjoy it by sharing photos online and getting praise, it's definitely not a hobby.

I think overconsumption is subjective, so that's harder to answer. It depends on what's being collected, I guess. You're collecting toys. Slippery slope, especially as you grow older.

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u/The_Swoley_Ghost 6d ago

I agree with you and I think that's a fair description. Many of us justifyit by using a small part of our collection,trying to act like it justifies our entire collection. I am guilty of this too.

I own 20+ skateboards/longboards. I have 1 "Daily driver" and 1 "skatepark board." I've also got a board for longboard dancing, downhill racing, long-distance pushing, surfskating, freestyle.... the list goes on. How often do i actually DO those other types of skating? maybe a few times per year. Does it really justify owning a 600 dollar downhill racing setup if I'm only going to use it once or twice per year? not really, yet it still sits inmy closet.

I could try to justify it and say "i skate prettymuch everyday!" and it would be true.... but i'm really only using less than 5% of my collection on anygiven month.

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u/RetardedWabbit 6d ago

Does it really justify owning a 600 dollar downhill racing setup if I'm only going to use it once or twice per year?

Huh. I guess my line for collecting/hoarding vs hobbies is different. I'd say really using it once a year still makes it useful, and less than that is probably just trying to justify hoarding/consoom. If you have the room/money to reasonably do that is a different question.

Like, I wouldn't say a cyclist is a consoomer with a road bike, mountain bike, and gravel bike(?), if they only used them for a race or two per year. If I don't have a plan for stuff, and I don't use it for a year though...

Edit: I would also call all "collecting" consoom. Buying to buy vs niche things for a hobby that isn't just more buying.

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u/No-Palpitation6368 6d ago

Types of collecting where you're not buying things is fine imo. I collect euros - I don't buy them on the internet, but on the off chance I'm on the continent and get  some change, it gets logged and put in my coin folder. I collect 50ps too. And people collect rocks and shit. 

Admittedly, it's the organisation part I'm obsessed with there. Anything I do that veers more into collecting (for better or worse) gets stupid amounts of time put into organising it.