The overflowing bookcases...

[Cergorach]

Maybe this sounds familiar? You've been in RPGs/Wargaming for a LONG time (~35 years in my case) and your collection has been growing over the years, you've moved to a larger place, more space for your hobby, etc. But eventually that abundant space fills up again... You start stacking books in places they don't belong...

I've got ~33 meters (~110 feet) of book shelves dedicated to RPG/Wargame books/magazines, those have been full for years! I've mostly stopped buying physical books altogether and my (legal) pdf library is already huge, but occasionally I have a weak moment and buy some more physical books for my collection. All of my novels, and 95%+ of my comic/graphic novel collection is already in boxes... Not to mention my large collection of board, card, and miniature games...

I've started culling some stuff. Especially the D20 glut era books. Recently there was a Bundle of Holding with a bunch of Mongoose old books, I bought that with in the back of my mind "I can finally toss those books!"... I just bought another pdf bundle on DTRPG to be able to toss another couple of Mongoose D20 books. 20 years ago, I might have bought just about every D20 release that was available around here (Netherlands) some of it isn't exactly high quality... Things like my 2e/3e/4e D&D collection I won't ever touch, the same goes for my FASA era Battletech, Renegade Legion, Shadowrun, Earthdawn of the WW era Vampire stuff, etc.

It's weird, I've always been attached to my books, but as you get older (46), you start to realize that there have been periods of your life that you were not collecting the greatest quality books and that, if you're honest with yourself, aren't as attached to as you were 10 years ago...

So I'm wondering, how are others culling their (RPG) game/book collections? Or is it 'normal' to eventually wind up with a library/warehouse?

 

[Mad_Jack]

I think, eventually, all of us start getting rid of the stuff we picked up over the years that were mostly impulse purchases or out of curiosity and were never of much use. We tend to keep the stuff that was memorable or useful, but at some point, we all look at the more random stuff we bought over the years and say, "Why do I have this? I don't really need that..."

If you're not collecting something to be a completionist, and you've never really used it, and there's no real nostalgia value to it... May as well sell it if there's any money in it, or just donate it to someplace where someone else might find it.
There are a number of places online that deal in secondhand rpg/gaming stuff. I mostly use Noble Knight Games when selling my stuff, since they buy pretty much everything, and they have an ever-changing list of stuff that they're actively looking for because their customers have placed them on their want lists.


I've unfortunately been in the position of having to sell off pretty much all of my rpg stuff that I could stand to part with over the years due to several extended periods of unemployment... I just got rid of all but a couple of my old BECMI and AD&D modules, which means I'm now down to my absolute core collection of previous-edition D&D books plus a few random others that weren't worth anything or in good enough condition to sell.

 

[Celebrim]

I rarely if ever cull books of any sort, least of all RPG books which are often rare and hard to replace (and increasingly expensive to replace as people begin to realize the demand for out-of-print works that were highly sought after).

It is absolutely normal for nerds of any sort to end up with a library which would double the collection of some of the small rural libraries I grew up with that themselves had barely more than 33 meters of shelves packed with decades old books from donations or some brief period of prosperity in the little town's past.

 

[schneeland]

So I'm wondering, how are others culling their (RPG) game/book collections? Or is it 'normal' to eventually wind up with a library/warehouse?

Personally, I have mostly switched to digital. Half of my RPG collection is already sold, the other half contains a few things that are less easy to part with (among others, because they are pre-digital age German books), but they too will have to go. I'm planning on keeping one or two EXPEDIT/KALLAX sections (three if we count the Lonewolf adventure game books).
For people with collections as large as yours (mine peaked at "only" about 6 meters), I think most of them never sell their stuff and often keep on collecting until they run out of space.

 

[delericho]

For a very long time I resisted any urge to get rid of things, but was eventually compelled by the collapse of a set of shelves. I've since cut the collection twice. The first time I got rid of a load of d20 dross, orphaned sourcebooks, and games I'd never run. That, somewhat to my surprise, left me with a smaller but much better collection - the items I'd gotten rid of were just taking up space.

The second time was to get rid of all non-adventure material for Pathfinder (1e). I'd long-since concluded that I was never actually going to run it, and besides I actually have all that stuff in PDF anyway (thanks to a Bundle of Holding), so again it was just taking up space.

The third, if and when there is one, will be to get rid of various single issues of random gaming magazines - a few issues of White Dwarf, Arcane, Backstab, and so on. I haven't looked at any of these in decades now, they have neither sentimental value nor monetary value (they're in really quite bad shape), so again they're just filling space.

These days I buy almost nothing, and what I do buy is digital. At some point I may start replacing some of my more obscure items to PDF versions - that would be the point at which I maybe start getting rid of hard-copy adventures or D&D material.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I have purged my collection down to about 25 print items. Over the last few years I have thrown away a dumpster's worth of RPG books, and numerous ring-binders filled with printed or even handwritten notes ( I switch to a pure electronic format around 2005).

I only buy pdfs anymore, and few of those. Gone are the days when I bought stuff just to have it; now I only buy what I will certainly use, and even so, that is quite rare. Between my pdf library and the vast amount of free stuff available, purchases are rare.

At some point, I will chunk the remaining 25 print items.

 

[Lanefan]

At some point, I will chunk the remaining 25 print items.

Before chucking them, if they're in decent condition maybe bang a note up on the forum here and see if anyone wants them for the cost of shipping (or to pick them up in person) - always seems like a waste to throw away something that someone else might be able to make use of.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Before chucking them, if they're in decent condition maybe bang a note up on the forum here and see if anyone wants them for the cost of shipping (or to pick them up in person) - always seems like a waste to throw away something that someone else might be able to make use of.

I don't like the idea of my books ending up in the hands of the unwashed masses. People dog ear pages, they write or highlight in them...it is wholly unacceptable.

 

[Jahydin]

This scenario is all to familiar...

I have an entire wall made from cube storage racks in my game room and I still have to cut books to make room. But I've gotten better...

My first rule it to keep any games I've played a fair amount of time with. Any object you can pick up that reminds you of good times people is worth holding on to. Plus, you're at least familiar with it, so the chances of it getting played is higher than non-played games.

Second, is consider getting rid of unimportant sourcebooks to the games you no longer run. If there is game that hasn't seen play in 5 years, what are the chances it will see play again and use all of those sourcebooks?
For me, that means I'll keep the core and maybe a few adventures that are specific to that system; that way, in the off chance I do play, I'm ready to go.
Oh, and for future purchases, think about getting all your sourcebooks/adventures digitally and only core books physical.

Third, get rid of all your "ugly" or "uninspiring" books that are no longer played. I love grabbing a book off my shelf and seeing art or mechanics that inspire me to run or modify my currently played games. As much as possible, try to hold onto those.

Fourth, if you have a game that completely overshadows a similar one, get rid of the lesser versions. We all have limited time, so if the chance comes up to run a sci-fi game and out of the three you own there is no question you'd go for one, get rid of the other two!

 

[aco175]

I did have a fair number of books over the years. Some of my problem was that I play mostly with my family. A lot of my 1e/2e stuff was shared with my family when I lived with my parents up to when I came home from the Army. Most of that ended up in a box when 3e came out and I tended to collect too much of that along with the 3pp books. When 4e came out, my shelves were getting full and I realized that I was not playing 3e anymore. I sold some at a yard sale and gave some of the 3e stuff away.

I was laid off several years ago and needed to sell the rest of the old stuff which was worth more than I thought. This was shortly after 5e came out, so I did not mind clearing out the 4e stuff as well. I find that I have not missed any of it looking back. I have moved twice since then and now only have a box with some old campaign stuff that is mostly for nostalgia. I will likely purge the 5e books which is only a limited amount when 5.5 comes out next year. I likely will not even buy the MM since most of that is online and I have a giant Word Doc with everything I will need.

Now, if only I could start purging my golf stuff like I did with the D&D books.