My gummy thought for the evening. Among many other reasons, I think crypto/NFT shit got big because there’s less actual rare shit out there. And I don’t mean like Da Vinci paintings I just mean more commonly rare things. For example…
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Early in college I got my hands on a zillionth generation copy of original South Park Spirit Of Christmas VHS tape. You don’t stumble onto art like that anymore. That shit’s all on your phone. People don’t FIND things anymore, which means they never cherish anything.
I remember someone mailing me a tape of Heat Vision and Jack. I didn’t believe it was a real thing until I saw it with my own eyes, there wasn’t even Wikipedia to look it up!
Also, now everything bought up immediately to either drive up prices and flip, or to hold onto in case it becomes rare. Which it won't, because everyone's saving the same shit.
It occurred to me that my kids will never experience someone slipping them an unlabeled CD (or cassette, in my case) and saying "Dude, you HAVE to listen to this."
This is a big reason why musical tastes are nowhere near as big a part of young people’s identities. Everyone can find everything so there’s no cachet to knowing about and being able to get the cool stuff.
I would argue its even easier to find niche cool stuff that no one else knows, its finding niche stuff that lots of other people like that’s disappeared
How many of us have cherished Nintendo games that are obscure as hell and no one ever heard of because your parents only ever bought you like four and you had to be happy with what you got?
Nope.. vinyl actually sounds better, like it has actual merit of quality that neither cds or downloads/digital format can possibly match.. that's why vinyl made such a comeback.. oh and when properly cared for and handled, it also outlasts digital.
Sports cards I'll never understand..
Well, no, it doesn't sound better, you can make digital media sound "warm" or add hiss if that's how you want to mix it,
and while I do have a CD player (but not a digital tape player),
I don't think I've got a 78rpm player any more.
Vinyl ALBUM COVERS, though? Far better than little CD booklets.
Had a housemate in college (in the 70s) who said his medium-quality stereo was good enough to hear everything that was on his vinyl records - which meant that now he had to go find records from better orchestras with better conductors,
because that made a lot more difference.
Digital lacks the dept that analog has, that cannot me reproduced with "scratchy" effects or what have you.. perhaps your ears cannot tell the difference, but mine can..
Today I found salmon from last weekend in the back of my car. (In my defense, I hadn't driven in a week.) Last week I took 4 birth control pills in 24 hours.
Oof. Yeah, the struggle is real. I also have found food in bags that should have been put away days earlier, but I forgot it existed between paying for it and getting home. I think last time it was minced beef ("ground beef" in the US, I believe.)
people would have used the hanging ellipses ending as an opportunity to make it a prompt post and respond with all their own ideas of minorly rare collectibles
and if you go to any kind of pop culture convention you will see tens to hundreds of thousands of people looks for, buying and consuming physical copies of things they love. sdcc has only gotten bigger in its 50 years
It's almost impossible to even try to find something now. All the weird ass little stores that used to be there when I was a kid are gone. There's flea markets sorta.
Still have my copy somewhere. Got it from one of Clooney's roommates.
And you're right. I think that's why vinyl became popular. Having something to hold and examine is just human nature and it's how we process the world.
I still spend many a happy weekend thumbing through old record bins and used bookstores, there's still tons of treasures like that out there for ppl who care. Besides most crypto dudes are grindset dipshits whose artistic taste runs towards "Tyler Durdin was a badass."
As someone living in Hollywood at the time who saw a less than zillionth gen copy of that same tape, I do recall the awe of someone sharing that w (quietly) me cause it was “so wild”
There was nothing, absolutely nothing, like slicing the plastic cover off of a new album, sliding out the sleeve, and seeing that YES the lyrics are printed inside.
Somehow I got a copy of the family guy pilot like three years before it debuted and we couldn't make sense of a show that clearly has the polish of something they'd show on fox but was so different than any show on TV (not a huge fan of the show but the pilot was such a weird thing to see back then)
I found a crate of LPs sitting on top of a dumpster yesterday. The covers had some water damage, but the vinyl is good. All kinds of 80s keepers. Police, Siouxsie, Bangles, and fun things we'll listen to once and release. I'm not refuting your point just saying that was cool and nice.
Totally agree. No 14 year-olds ride their bikes to the library to grab a cd with a parental guidance sticker on it and hope they get the *cool* librarian that will let them check it out so they can take it home and make a copy of it onto a casset tape before their parents get home anymore.
Fuck "Drinking from the garden hose." The true GenX shit was a dubbed copy of 2 Live Crew playing in your headphones on a forced weekend trip to watch your sister's club volleyball games next to your parents and them thinking you had your Escape Club tape in.
You know how you feel when a band you discovered when they were nobodies playing small clubs ends up getting huge? Having a crypto play work out is like that plus you make a couple grand.
I love marvel but this is a good example of why many teen boys struggle with self-esteem. Many have perfectly healthy normal bodies, but our culture often leads them to feel they should somehow be extremely bulked up with muscle tissue. Anything less is deemed insufficiently masculine. It’s gross!
I started collecting oddball thrift store coffee mugs. They're a $1.50 tops, there's no eBay market to compete with, and when I'm bored with them I can just take them back.
Eh-used to collect old cameras, old tools. Then I started making shit: wooden strip canoe. 30'catamaran sailboat, music, 4000 sq ft off grid home n shop.
You create books- you know where 'true quality and value' lie..
I was into NFTs an amount that 2025 me is embarrassed by. Collecting them and profitably trading them.
It was this sweet spot of your thing (commonly rare is a great way to put it!) and they created scarcities within scarcities (an ape with a funny hat, e.g.) and endless stupid internet arguments
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Sports cards I'll never understand..
and while I do have a CD player (but not a digital tape player),
I don't think I've got a 78rpm player any more.
Vinyl ALBUM COVERS, though? Far better than little CD booklets.
because that made a lot more difference.
I found toast in the toaster from 2 days ago.
I will go for an hour without a drink, thinking I should really get a drink, while there's half a drink on my desk.
love this, and the thought 🧠📈
And you're right. I think that's why vinyl became popular. Having something to hold and examine is just human nature and it's how we process the world.
BOOM
Wife: What are you doing with your time?
Me: Posting this interaction.
In that same vein like to buy art when I can. Got thisAnthony Bourdain for my partner.
https://bsky.app/profile/shadow27.bsky.social/post/3lechud543k2j
I know a lot of people collect things and take great joy in it.
Personally, I've never felt the need.
You create books- you know where 'true quality and value' lie..
https://clcboats.com/shop/boats/pro-kits/Wharram-Mana-24-Catamaran.html
But NFTs are just BS, you aren’t even buying the copyright, it’s false scarcity.
It was this sweet spot of your thing (commonly rare is a great way to put it!) and they created scarcities within scarcities (an ape with a funny hat, e.g.) and endless stupid internet arguments