4 ms·

I guess the charitable take is they’re just collectibles. As someone who has a moderate interest in collecting physical things (such as vinyl records) it’s hard

by cmckn 4y ago

I guess the charitable take is they’re just collectibles. As someone who has a moderate interest in collecting physical things (such as vinyl records) it’s hard to understand why anyone would enjoy “collecting” an entry in a data structure.

LarryMullins 4y ago
Collection of products manufactured with the intent of being collectables is another thing I can't wrap my mind around. Intentionally rare baseball/pokemon/magic trading cards, beanie babies, funko pops... I just don't get it. If you're going to collect something, doesn't it seem more authentic to collect something that was never meant to be collectable but became that way as the passage of time attrited that thing? Things which became collectable organically, rather than being manufactured with the intent of being collectable, stand a much better chance of retaining their value and seem intrinsically more interesting. I guess in some cases the line is blurred. Like stamp collecting, and the existence of limited-run stamps originally intended to entice stamp collectors.
- nerdponx 4y ago
  I don't get it either, but I think I understand why people do. First is that collecting stuff can be fun. There's an element of the "thrill of the chase" tracking down individual items, and of discovering new things, and of completing a project of some kind. There's also sometimes an element of belonging to a community, The hobby of collecting becomes an activity in and or itself. Second is that it's not entirely about scarcity. Baseball cards are desirable because people like to follow sports and athletes and stats. Funko Pops are desirable because people like pop culture and want figurines of pop culture figures. Fine art is desirable because it ostensibly looks nice (or fits some other definition of "art"). Most NFTs are also "art" or otherwise visually interesting, and moreover represent some kind of techno-futuristic optimism that appeals to people. Of course, things get a little hairy once "real money" gets involved. There are orders of magnitude more money involved than, say, rare books or Magic: The Gathering cards, and the fact that everything is digital and highly liquid (in the financial sense) makes it all seem a lot more accessible. And of course that accessibility, coupled with the thing being poorly understood and widely hyped, makes it a uniquely tempting arena for scams and financial speculation.
- aardvarkr 4y ago
  Collective mania is a thing. Why do you want that rare Pokémon card? Because all of your other friends play Pokémon and they want it too so it has value to you even though it’s literally just a piece of paper with a cool graphic and happens to be artificially scarce. NFT’s are the exact same thing but instead of it being your school friends that are jealous and obsessed over your rare thing, now it’s a discord community of 10k+ that are going nuts over a golden jpeg. Every NFT project has to have a strong community that is incredibly excited about that artificially scarce collectible. I’ve participated in NFT mintings and it really opened my eyes. They make 10,000 of these randomly generated images and sell them to a rabid community of speculators who are willing to throw hundred if not thousands of dollars at their chance to strike it rich.
  - baandang 4y ago
    I am just too old for NFTs but I can completely understand how that is cool having grown up collecting baseball cards. There is really no valid argument that paying for a jpeg is any more ridiculous than paying for a piece of ultra thin cardboard with a baseball player on it that tends to gain in value based on going back in time in the players career. As if the rookie card being worth more than the second year is purely logical and not just a type of supply/demand herd mentality.
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by cmckn 4y ago

LarryMullins 4y ago

Collection of products manufactured with the intent of being collectables is another thing I can't wrap my mind around. Intentionally rare baseball/pokemon/magic trading cards, beanie babies, funko pops... I just don't get it. If you're going to collect something, doesn't it seem more authentic to collect something that was never meant to be collectable but became that way as the passage of time attrited that thing? Things which became collectable organically, rather than being manufactured with the intent of being collectable, stand a much better chance of retaining their value and seem intrinsically more interesting. I guess in some cases the line is blurred. Like stamp collecting, and the existence of limited-run stamps originally intended to entice stamp collectors.

nerdponx 4y ago
I don't get it either, but I think I understand why people do. First is that collecting stuff can be fun. There's an element of the "thrill of the chase" tracking down individual items, and of discovering new things, and of completing a project of some kind. There's also sometimes an element of belonging to a community, The hobby of collecting becomes an activity in and or itself. Second is that it's not entirely about scarcity. Baseball cards are desirable because people like to follow sports and athletes and stats. Funko Pops are desirable because people like pop culture and want figurines of pop culture figures. Fine art is desirable because it ostensibly looks nice (or fits some other definition of "art"). Most NFTs are also "art" or otherwise visually interesting, and moreover represent some kind of techno-futuristic optimism that appeals to people. Of course, things get a little hairy once "real money" gets involved. There are orders of magnitude more money involved than, say, rare books or Magic: The Gathering cards, and the fact that everything is digital and highly liquid (in the financial sense) makes it all seem a lot more accessible. And of course that accessibility, coupled with the thing being poorly understood and widely hyped, makes it a uniquely tempting arena for scams and financial speculation.
aardvarkr 4y ago
Collective mania is a thing. Why do you want that rare Pokémon card? Because all of your other friends play Pokémon and they want it too so it has value to you even though it’s literally just a piece of paper with a cool graphic and happens to be artificially scarce. NFT’s are the exact same thing but instead of it being your school friends that are jealous and obsessed over your rare thing, now it’s a discord community of 10k+ that are going nuts over a golden jpeg. Every NFT project has to have a strong community that is incredibly excited about that artificially scarce collectible. I’ve participated in NFT mintings and it really opened my eyes. They make 10,000 of these randomly generated images and sell them to a rabid community of speculators who are willing to throw hundred if not thousands of dollars at their chance to strike it rich.
- baandang 4y ago
  I am just too old for NFTs but I can completely understand how that is cool having grown up collecting baseball cards. There is really no valid argument that paying for a jpeg is any more ridiculous than paying for a piece of ultra thin cardboard with a baseball player on it that tends to gain in value based on going back in time in the players career. As if the rookie card being worth more than the second year is purely logical and not just a type of supply/demand herd mentality.

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