When did you acquire the hobby that's gonna haunt you?

RadiO · Post by **RadiO** » 2003-06-27 07:54pm

The year is 1984. The weekly partwork War Machine is published - "the most comprehensive encylopedia of the military weapons of the 20th century". Part 1 covers the world's main battle tanks, Part 2 ("free with Part 1") is combat helicopters. I take an immediate interest and get the bundled free poster.
Thus it came to pass that - aged 4 - the last thing I see before I go to sleep, on the wall above my bed, is a three-view colour illustration of an Israeli F-16, around which is HMS Fearless, a GI holding an M16, a Hind and an MBT (a Centurion, IIRC).
It couldn't have been any other way, couldn't it?

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2003-06-27 10:57pm

The Internet. No other legal hobby is nearly so addictive.

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-06-27 11:23pm

Well, lets see:

Computer gaming: Well, shit, there's about 500-1000 dollars a year (if not more) on upgrades and who knows how much on software.

RPGs: About 40-80 a book.

Wargaming: Each army of mine is worth about 1000 new.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2003-06-28 12:00am

When I was a wee little tyke, I would visit my grandparents house and would spend hours playing Red Storm Rising and F-19 Stealth Fighter.

In fourth grade I was sitting in the library at lunch as it was raining outside. I saw a series of books titled Lord of the Rings. I couldn't get past the first page, until my dad suggested I read The Hobbit first...

Last fall I was starting Japanese class and saw an advertisement for Anime Anonymous, a group on campus. I thought Well, I might as well go since it could help with my listening comprehension...

Raptor 597 · Post by **Raptor 597** » 2003-06-28 12:00am

Chess I started in December, I now devote 75% of my free time to studying, improving, and playing. Also, the gathering of knowledge for the Civil War and World War II in which move memoirs and battle sccounts in and out of my closest.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2003-06-28 12:38am

Very young age, when my dad first let me hold a WWII bayonet, that was just the right size to be a sword for a little girl. Then, in college, when my roommate was dating a SCAdian, and after my first event I was hooked, adding fancy dresses to my collection of medieval replicas.

In college, I found the lure of the Pretty Dice, playing 2nd ed AD&D and the new game "ShadowRun". In 91, I started an on/off romance with Battletech. In '93, I played my first game of Magic: the Gathering, and later that year played Vampire:the Masquerade. In 94, I discovered LARPing. In '96, I was introduced to Susan Van Camp and "DragonStorm" rpg.

In college, I discovered the fun of posting to a BBS on a Comodore 64. The BBS was ran on a C-128. In '99 I was shown the wonder of AOL Gaming Community and joined a gothic horror RPG. In 00, I volunteered as a Community Leader and Narrator for the RPG that I met SirNitram through.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2003-06-28 12:41am

If you look at my pic, you can see that I am an avid weightlifter. I am probably a bit dysmorphic or OCD about it, but it's my hobby.

I started doing it after high school so that I could model. I did it and paid my tuition because of it. It didn't hurt my love life either...

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-06-28 12:43am

Around 5-6 when Dad decided to give me a stack of old Avengers comics.(Have over 30,000+)

So far this addiction has lead me down a long and dark road...one I gladly enjoy.

Computer gaming around 7...with the 2600(Unknown number...but not that much...maybe around 300 Max...not including PC material)

SW around 3...which I collect honestly toys.(Have too many to count...when I was young I would buy duplicates over virtually everyone and multiples of Stormtroppers and rebel soldiers)

Beer/liquor Bottles I've collected about 10-11 years(so around 17-18 )....have around 200.

-EDIT for smiley and numbers

Anarchist Bunny · Post by **Anarchist Bunny** » 2003-06-28 01:08am

There are magic cards scatter all over my house, the place could be bulldozed, bombed, and burned and there would still be magic cards found in the rubble.

StarshipTitanic · Post by **StarshipTitanic** » 2003-06-28 01:31am

I spend all my money on books, then computer games. Looking at my bookshelf, over half are scifi books, a fourth is ocean liner history, and the remainder is history with a biographies (I bought many book report books).

I need more history ones as my obsession is growing and there is only a certain amount of time I can spend rereading the ones I have.

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-06-28 01:33am

Well, I started playing Warhammer etc back when Rogue Trader was the shit.

I played 1st ed DnD.

I remember playing pirated Megapede and Zaxxon and other games on an Apple ][e.

Post by **Zaia** » 2003-06-28 01:52am

Hmm, let me see. I do collect a few things, but I don't think I'm psycho about any of it.

Picture frames--I love them, and I have some which are rather plain but are made with gorgeous materials, and others which are more ornate and very artsy looking. Ewo got me one for Kristinmas, or was it my birthday? that is SOOOOOOO pretty--very faerie-like. Gorgeous. I have about forty, I think, and I'm always looking for more. Started being focused on getting interesting, quality frames when I got my first apartment, which was about six years ago.

Scanlan prints--(link) Beautifully textured, shaded, and vibrantly-coloured photographs. I'm always on a search for their prints locally (because the web prices can get astronomical), and have found a couple for half price, so my search continues... I first because engrossed in this particular gallery when I visited one of their locations in Park City, Utah three years ago. Seeing the photos on the web is so disappointing compared to how gorgeous they are in full size, hanging on the walls with proper lighting. Ahhh, so beautiful! I walked into the gallery and immediately fell in love with their prints.

Bizarre Australiana--Mostly because my best friend in Australia, Sarah, sends me strange things like Tassie Devil dung and mozzie traps (that look like miniature bear traps), I've developed a soft spot for it and hope for more weird stuff in the future (just no kangaroo paw backscratchers!). I guess this officially started when Sar sent me my Devil dung, which was a little less than three years ago. Fun!

Candleholders--Same idea as the picture frames, although I don't think I have quite forty yet. Different materials, styles, sizes. They're a lot of fun. I've been collecting them since I was in high school (fresher or sophomore year, when I started being a pyro

), so that's, what? Nine years, I guess? Somethin' like that.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-06-28 03:29am

MKSheppard wrote:
innerbrat wrote: You're never too young to damage your back.
Well, I equate "damage your back" with
"severe crippling pain that requires painkillers",
rather than a few pulled strings...

What the fuck do you think hauling and installing kegs IS!!!

pop's a handful of OCR muscle relaxers....

Six, My mom couldn't find day care so she plopped me in front of a screen with a typewriter, I encountered "NethacK", "Ascii Trek", and "Warmus" and have been hooked ever since then. Either that or when I made a Constellation out of Lego's followed eventually by a Mellium Falcon, a blockade Runner, an X-Wing and a Stardestroyer (all before their official kits came out.)

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-06-28 04:58am

The Yosemite Bear wrote:What the fuck do you think hauling and installing kegs IS!!!

That's exactly how Rob done his in...

...Bartending as a profession should come with a health warning.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-06-28 09:56am

Figured that, I got into a car accident (Fucking idiot tourists), plus keg and soda canister hauling.

Also I changed 2 Co2 Tanks, a Tank of Nitrus, Two Kegs, and 4 Soda crates. A soda Crate wieghs about 75 pounds, a Keg over a Hundred. Dude and guests are vicious about their need for it to be instantly restocked no matter what.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2003-06-28 10:32am

anarchistbunny wrote:There are magic cards scatter all over my house, the place could be bulldozed, bombed, and burned and there would still be magic cards found in the rubble.

Argh! Why didn't I think of tha- oh yeah, because I'm not at my house...

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2003-06-28 11:30am

Ghost Rider wrote:Around 5-6 when Dad decided to give me a stack of old Avengers comics.(Have over 30,000+)

If you're keeping them all at home you are definately well along the path I discribed.

You don't use boxes of comics to make up walls in your house do you, or the beginings of a maze?

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2003-06-28 11:34am

Having that many comics has got to be some kind of fire code violation.

Saurencaerthai · Post by **Saurencaerthai** » 2003-06-28 12:00pm

Hrm....I'm not sure if you can call it a hobby (as it practically DOMINATES my life,) but whever I can, I love to splurge on musical equipment, mainly things for my drumset. I'm looking at at least $40 right now to get new heads for the bottom sides of my drums.

If not musical equipment, then I'm probably spending it on Anime, Manga, less main-stream comic books, a la Poison Elves and JTHM, or good tuna sashimi.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-06-28 12:09pm

Actually me and my dad(who owns nearly as many...along the same lines as well...some difference...he tends to try to get more older) have this storage area we use.

It's just a real big one(one should've been used for furniture that we rent that is temperature controlled)

I only keep around 4000 at the old place in the basement with dad's.

johnmarkley · Post by **johnmarkley** » 2003-06-29 12:42am

You don't use boxes of comics to make up walls in your house do you, or the beginings of a maze?

"No, don't move that! That's a load-bearing Silver Surfer!"

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2003-06-29 12:59am

All my hobbies seem to involve alcohol or my penis. Maybe that's why I've been so twitchy lately.

J · Post by J » 2003-06-29 02:12pm

Open ocean swimming is going to do me in one day. I started swimming in the sea while growing up on the coast of Nova Scotia, and every time I'm near an ocean I just have to hop in and take a long swim out and back. One of these days the currents will drag me out to sea, never to be seen again. I've already been pulled out a few times before and if I wasn't as strong of a swimmer as I am I'd probably have drowned by now.

El Moose Monstero · Post by **El Moose Monstero** » 2003-06-29 02:17pm

No specific hobbies, reading obviously, but that's not a hobby as I've been reading for as long as I can remember. The Moose Rebellion site is sort of a hobby at the minute, but not a particularly solid one, Risk games every now and again, but again, I dont have anything which is a hobby per se, I suppose Tae Kwan Do counts, but I do a lot of things, but none of them religiously...

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2003-06-29 05:26pm

When I was in third grade, I stole a comic card of Captain America's Motorcycle from some kids at lunch. Then I started stealing them more and more. By the end of third grade, I saw that they sold comic books at the grocery store. I asked my parents to buy me one, and they told me I should buy it myself. So, I went home and promptly swept the entire porch and driveway for my $1.25 to buy that comic book. It was an issue of Spectacular Spider-Man drawn by Sal Buscema, guest-starring the X-Men. They fought Professor Power.
I now have god-knows-how-many comic books, certainly enough to fill an entire closet with boxes full of them. I have the entire run of Uncanny X-Men starting with the first issue before Onslaught going through just a few issues ago, when I decided to drop Uncanny. I have the entire series so far of Spider-Man's Tangled Web and the most recent run of Daredevil (starting with Kevin Smith's storyarc). That, plus about a million others.

When I was in fourth grade, I saw A New Hope. I liked it, but didn't get hooked. Then, in fifth grade, I saw The Empire Strikes Back. Suddenly I was in love with Star Wars. For a while it continued just as a love for the movies, but then, a few months later, I played X-Wing at my friend's house. When my dad came to pick me up, I told him we had to go to CompUSA, so that I could pick up this game. I promised him I'd pay him back for it, and surprisingly enough, he agreed to it. As it turned out, the X-Wing Collector's CD-ROM wouldn't run on my 486. Not enough memory. So, I memorized every detail in the Prima Strategy Guide for the game. I read that book backwards and forwards many, many times, all 500 or whatever pages of it. I bought the TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM and did the same to that strategy guide. Then, about a year later, my family got an HP Pavilion, with a Pentium Processor. That computer was, in retrospect, a buggy piece of shit, but it ran X-wing and TIE Fighter, and that's all that really matters.
By this point, I was hopelessly in love with Star Wars. In 1997, I found Saxton's Technical Commentaries, and those shaped what particular aspect of Star Wars I would be interested in. I bought all of the Star Wars reference books, but never touched a novel. In 2000, On Saxton's site, I found the link "I want you for the Galactic Empire", credited to one M. Wong. The world would never be the same again.

The first DVD I bought was L.A. Confidential, from Blockbuster Video. My family didn't have a standalone DVD player, but my computer had a DVD drive, so I watched it there. This was in 2001. At Christmas of that year, my family got a real standalone DVD player. I now have 308 titles in my DVD collection, viewable here.

Just yesterday, I bought my first DVD on eBay, the discontinued Criterion Collection edition of Sid & Nancy. Then I bought another discontinued Criterion Collection DVD, Robocop. Now I'm bidding for The Killer, with a maximum bid of $200. I'll bid more if it comes to that.
Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.