4 of the most expensive hobbies for geeks
Everyone needs a hobby, something to break away from the everyday mundane of work.
Your hobby can be anything, such as hiking, reading, or working in the garden – all of these are relatively cheap and easy.
Of course, there are those who proffer hobbies that require more investment, in both time and money.
If you’re a geek, there are a range of hobbies to choose from. Such as watching every Doctor Who episode to finding every Pog possible. There are, however, some geeky hobbies that require a substantial amount of money to partake in.
Here are a few geeky hobbies that will cost you a pretty penny.
Video game collecting
Video collecting doesn’t necessarily encompass finding those titles you loved as a kid, or ones that bring on a flurry of nostalgia. With video game collecting, it’s those who want to have a collection of every Wii game, big box PC title, or even a complete Nintendo Virtual Boy collection. And while this may look like a relatively inexpensive hobby from the outside – just scouring second hand stores – it takes years of dedication and copious amounts of finance to accomplish. Not to mention that video game collections are generally physical, and exclude digital purchases.
If you’re going for a complete NES collection, for example, titles like Dragon Warrior can be picked up for a decent price in the US as a loose cartridge. Those wanting a boxed collection and literally every NES cartridge, will have to fork over around R1200 for a copy of Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, while a 1990 Nintendo World Championships: Gold Edition cartridge is over $15 000. These games may not even be any good, but their rarity add value to the product.
Comic books
Much like video games, comics are also about obtaining the rarest items possible to complete a collection. And, again like video games, the more pristine the item, the higher the price. That’s not to say that people aren’t collecting comics to complete a storyline or to follow their favourite characters.
If you’re a massive fan of Superman, then you’ve probably converted Action Comics #1, which was the superhero’s first ever appearance. Snagging a near perfect version will set you back around $1 million. For those of you with shallow pockets, a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, which features the first appearance of Spider-Man is only $100 000. Those are pretty much a steal, right?
Of course, you could also argue that these books aren’t collected by aficionados per se, but rather art enthusiasts. After all, comic books are art.
Model railroading
While not everyone will have the money to build their own Miniatur Wunderland, who doesn’t want an attic or basement with a model train set? Model train sets with stations and other bits may look gorgeous, they require a lot of time, patience, and more specifically, money.
It’s not enough to have a locomotive and some carriages, there’s also track, buildings, and other accessories to add life to the world you want to create. A starter set will set you back over $200. Of course, that’s only the beginning of the obsession as you’ll need a landscape and a range of electronics to automate the entire set. If you start looking at maxing out your credit card or at a personal loans calculator then you may have gone too far.
Lego
Collecting and building Lego is a hobby and an incredibly expensive one as well. Gone are the days of small sets as cheap presents. Now, Lego has exploded thanks to its initial partnership with LucasFilm and Star Wars, and have created an iconic set of pop culture products. Today you can pick up Lego sets based on The Big Bang Theory, Ghostbusters, and Minecraft.
Collecting Lego doesn’t mean you have to pick up each and every set, both rather those in a specific range. For example, choosing Star Wars will mean tracking down the different Lego version of the Death Star, Imperial Shuttle, and AT-AT Walker. The current price of a Death Star is well over $400. Then there are limited run sets, which are only sold through Lego themselves.
Those are just a few of the more expensive geek hobbies.