Priority shift

For most of my adult life (and I classify that as the years I've had my own money, whether pocket money or from a job), I've been a collector. As a collector, that inherently means you NEVER part with anything.

Now when I say I'm a collector, it's not that sad type that doesn't part with anything. I've thrown out the usual stuff - burger wrappers, limited edition coke tins, etc. It's just the collectible stuff that's stayed with me - records, comics, CDs, limited edition board games, etc.

Now I've hit my mid-30s ... and well, for a few years now... it's become more imperative to me to have a clutter-free existence, and this has meant parting with a large number of "things" I've collected over the years.

Why?

The basic answer is a lot of the stuff I don't use any more. I haven't hooked up a turntable for over 7 years, so why keep a garage full of vinyl - even if the collection is chock full of rare white label 12"s and promos? Likewise, there's also a dearth of stuff I look at and scratch my head? Who the hell ever thought it was wise to buy the début Right Said Fred album? Who?

As I get older my priorities have changed I guess. I used to pride myself on a 400-strong DVD collection of which I never watched. Now I just rent the DVDs I want to watch from Tesco. Sitting in front of the telly with the rented DVD looking at my wall of DVDs does make me wonder what I was thinking, why my wallet didn't stop me and how I can offload discs that cost me around a tenner each and are now being given away free on Sunday newspapers.

I think the age of being amazed by that great find in the used record shop is now firmly a thing of the past, but it was fun while it lasted and I've got the crates of vinyl, the boxes of DVDs and the plastic-wrapped comics to prove it.

Now I just need to offload.