Record collecting versus hoarding

For my own part, coming to the discussion late, I purchased a collection of 700 45 RPM records from a man who was selling through the classifieds of our local newspaper. The titles were typical jukebox tunes from the 70’s through the 80’s and of different genres from country to Rock’n Roll. I went back with my next paycheck and purchased an equal number of CD titles even though I was interested in only 1/2 of them (Jazz and Blues). I have been bitterly disappointed with the Pop/Rock category, pleasantly surprised by the movie sound tracks (including’Brother where art though’), just not near enough dance or sing-along tunes moving into the 2000’s. I’m still weeding my way through while dabbling my feet in streaming, mostly Internet radio to this point.

Of LPs, I have about 100, mostly from collections of others, mine are long gone, but I never had more than 25 anyway. I enjoyed listening to my 45’s much more than my CDs or upsampled streaming. There are tics and pops on the vinyl, sounds are clearer on the 45’s (less so on the LPs), the vinyl recalls the music for me as it existed then, in ‘the person I was before,’ the CD’s, however ‘perfect’ just don’t do that for me. I don’t know, if I digitize them they will sound the same. I’m reasonably certain the CD’s will.
So, to the question, am I hoarding or collecting? I’m ‘collecting’ my 45’s (as I value the experience of playing them); I’m hoarding my CD’s until I listen to the lot and cull what I do NOT enjoy playing. I have already given some of my CDs away, one of my LPs, and keep a box in my car full of CD’s I’m ready to give away when the opportunity presents itself. My identity is not tied up in my CDs; a part of my identity may be tied up in vinyl playback through tube gear. Just say’n.

Edit: While I have the 45’s organized by genre and (alphabetically) by artist, I don’t have a spreadsheet. It is recommended for selling a collection, but I’m not selling, yet. I’m aiming for the same schema for the CDs, but then digital file systems may take over that task. 

Only stop when the foundation of your home starts sagging, less than that and you are good.

@rufusluna , my foundation started sagging years ago and I am still going. I should also mention that I have 5 tons of woodworking machinery😏

Wow.  I certainly have thought about this a lot.  I have met a few record hoarders, and I think there are two distinct types: those who buy records, and those who buy “stuff”.  I met one of each type just before the pandemic hit, and each let me to a decision.

I met a guy who was a verifiable hoarder, like out of the TV show.  He was sued by the local county for hoarding and told to clean up his stuff.  He retaliated by putting up an “Antique Shoppe” sign in front of his house. (To be fair, he did have some nice stuff…). He had, by my estimation, about 25,000 records in his basement.  They were all in piles about 7 feet high, about 35-40 piles that I could see all throughout the basement.  I could only access about ten piles, and at that down to only a couple feet before each pile became unstable.  The mold stench was almost overpowering, and I could see some water damage on many or the sleeves.  I only found two records that I was interested in before I had had enough, and they were both local singers that my dad grew up with (Dick Curless - “A Tombstone Every Mile” and Hal “Lone Pine” - “Sings His Favorites” 

The second guy was someone I knew from record buying; he and I would often run into each other and chat at the flea markets and record stalls. He had a stroke and died, and his wife called a few of his record acquaintances to help sort out the house.  There were about 5,000 records in the basement, neatly boxed by genre (more or less). Then the widow says, “There’s  more in the garage, and we haven’t touched the trailer yet…”. More records than he could ever listen to.  Definitely a hoarder.

But those two situations affected me.  The first hoarder was stuck in an unhealthy, dangerous situation.  He was under legal threat.  His hoarder mentality had completely taken over his life.

The second hoarder situation was worse, in my opinion.  The hoarders widow was left to clean up.  She had to deal with thousands of (some extremely valuable) records while mourning, clean up a house and sell so she could move on. She was overwhelmed. I did not have as many records (at the time, 2600 or so), but I was trending in that direction. I suddenly realized I did not want to put my wife in that situation. 
 

A couple months later my wife got a new job with increased responsibilities, and we decided to move into the city to be closer to her work.  We would have to make due with a much smaller space until she retired in a couple years. I sold my records to a few shops I had dealt with (the week before Record Store Day 2019, as it turned out), got rid of my equipment and bought a streamer.   

 The pandemic upended our plan to move; my wife’s new job became WFH and we decided to hunker down until things blew over. But during all this, I had space and music in my man cave.   I used the money I got from selling my record collection to upgrade my equipment (Zu DWs), and get a really nice ergonomic Stressless chair, as well as spoil the grandkids and wife.

I am extremely happy with my decision to avoid being a hoarder.  Of course, YMMV.