Hoarding obsolete tech: future investment or useless clutter?
Sealed retro consoles, LCD monitors, battery radios and censored DVDs: which obsolete objects are worth keeping for the future? An analysis of their returns.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Hoarding obsolete tech: future investment or useless clutter?
The collector who buys two consoles, one to use and one to keep sealed, is not an eccentric. In recent years, retro consoles like the Super Nintendo or the N64 have multiplied in value. But the same logic does not apply to a pile of 51-inch LCD monitors that weigh like slabs. The debate over what from the past is worth preserving divides enthusiasts between profitable nostalgia and digital Diogenes syndrome.
The retro console market: a sealed-box business
There is a trend of doubling purchases: one unit to enjoy and another to keep sealed. Experience shows that consoles like the Game Gear, the Mega Drive or the Super Nintendo, if they retain their original seal, can fetch astronomical prices at auction. The scarcity of units in perfect condition, combined with the nostalgic pull of millennials with purchasing power, turns these pieces into appreciating assets. Anyone who bought an N64 twenty years ago and kept it peine today could multiply their investment tenfold or more.
LCDs and other junk: the cost of storing rubbish
Not everything obsolete goes up in value. Three 51-inch LCD monitors, two 31-inch ones, and other electronic gadgets take up space and weigh a lot. In an 80-square-metre flat, storing these objects is a luxury few can afford. Some argue that old CRT monitors could indeed command prices among video game collectors, but flat LCDs lack that appeal. The opportunity cost of space is high, and what today looks like a treasure may tomorrow be a burden nobody wants even for free.
The blackout that makes radios valuable again
Some people keep old radios in case of a power blackout. The trend in Germany of installing balcony batteries with solar panels reflects a growing awareness: when the grid goes down, analogue devices that do not depend on the internet regain their usefulness. A battery radio can become the only source of information for hours. Whoever kept one will have an advantage that a smartphone, dead without coverage, cannot provide.
Politically incorrect DVDs: the next collectible?
Another bet on the future is DVDs of films that streaming platforms are starting to censor or remove. Content considered inappropriate today could become cult material for those seeking a kind of humour or aesthetic that political correctness has swept away. If the trend continues, those well-preserved discs could fetch high prices on the second-hand market. The question is whether demand will be enough to justify the space they take up.
What nobody knows is which of today's objects will be tomorrow's treasures. Perhaps the answer lies not in intrinsic value, but in the ability to anticipate a scarcity — energy-related, cultural or technological — that nobody wants to see coming.
Related debates in the forum
The collector who buys two consoles, one to use and one to keep sealed, is not an eccentric. In recent years, retro consoles like the Super Nintendo or the N64 have multiplied in value. But the same logic does not apply to a pile of 51-inch LCD monitors that weigh like slabs. The debate over what from the past is worth preserving divides enthusiasts between profitable nostalgia and digital Diogenes syndrome.
The retro console market: a sealed-box business
There is a trend of doubling purchases: one unit to enjoy and another to keep sealed. Experience shows that consoles like the Game Gear, the Mega Drive or the Super Nintendo, if they retain their original seal, can fetch astronomical prices at auction. The scarcity of units in perfect condition, combined with the nostalgic pull of millennials with purchasing power, turns these pieces into appreciating assets. Anyone who bought an N64 twenty years ago and kept it peine today could multiply their investment tenfold or more.
LCDs and other junk: the cost of storing rubbish
Not everything obsolete goes up in value. Three 51-inch LCD monitors, two 31-inch ones, and other electronic gadgets take up space and weigh a lot. In an 80-square-metre flat, storing these objects is a luxury few can afford. Some argue that old CRT monitors could indeed command prices among video game collectors, but flat LCDs lack that appeal. The opportunity cost of space is high, and what today looks like a treasure may tomorrow be a burden nobody wants even for free.
The blackout that makes radios valuable again
Some people keep old radios in case of a power blackout. The trend in Germany of installing balcony batteries with solar panels reflects a growing awareness: when the grid goes down, analogue devices that do not depend on the internet regain their usefulness. A battery radio can become the only source of information for hours. Whoever kept one will have an advantage that a smartphone, dead without coverage, cannot provide.
Politically incorrect DVDs: the next collectible?
Another bet on the future is DVDs of films that streaming platforms are starting to censor or remove. Content considered inappropriate today could become cult material for those seeking a kind of humour or aesthetic that political correctness has swept away. If the trend continues, those well-preserved discs could fetch high prices on the second-hand market. The question is whether demand will be enough to justify the space they take up.
What nobody knows is which of today's objects will be tomorrow's treasures. Perhaps the answer lies not in intrinsic value, but in the ability to anticipate a scarcity — energy-related, cultural or technological — that nobody wants to see coming.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (28 replies).
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