Pathology or hobby?

Teo Zenios wrote: I agree with this definition. As the son of a packrat, and a quasi-packrat myself, I can tell you about my father: He is a coin collector, and our basement, tables, ping-pong table, etc. were (and still are) covered up with numismatics newspapers and various research materials. Although I am guessing, I am fairly certain that he holds onto all these materials because he fears he will not have access to information when he needs it -- someday -- when writing an article for some publication. I inherited this from him; whether or not it was passed down genetically or socially I cannot confirm :-) Case in point: I have always wanted to write essays ("put up web pages" in today's world) on various 1980's personal computer topics, such as copy-protection methods or generating sound and music. Along those lines, there was a time when I was bidding on sound cards every other week because "that could be the last one I will ever find and if I miss it I won't ever be able to write an article on it". Of course, time passes, and I find myself with no time to write said articles/essays, and I have a metric buttload of sound cards taking up space. So am I hoarding or collecting? In the area of sound cards, probably a little of both, as I plan to sell/give away the cards I am not interested in after I write my articles. In the case of Central Point Option Boards, I definitely am hoarding them because my own archives are in that format and I will always need an Option Board to decode them properly. In the area of early computer game software, I am most definitely a collector, as I have all my titles arranged neatly on shelves, presented and displayed, and easily accessible. So you can be a mixture of all the above :) but the main point, for me, is that a collector presents and displays his collection, and keeps it accessible... whereas a packrat hoardes, doesn't always know what he has, and can't get to everything in his possession. (BTW, John, very nice wording on your thoughts on the subject.) -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Want to help an ambitious games project? http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/