I’ve had amazing luck with hobbys that should be expensive, but weren’t.
Me & some friends have a small computer museum. We collect minicomputers & workstations. (Stuff used in science & academia.) We have computers dating back to the early 60s. But we started in the mid 90s, when NO ONE was interested. So we got everything for free. (Well… for the cost of renting large trucks.)
I’m a photographer. My DSLR is old, from just when DSLR’s were getting “good enough” at a reasonable price. I bought it used when it was already “obsolete”. And then someone gave me an exotic industrial camera they had at work which was “broken”. It was too broken for industrial use, but works fine for studio use. I had to build some hardware & write all the software to use it, but… the results are fantastic. It blows away my DSLR. (But uses the same lenses!)
My library has probably cost a lot, but that’s spread out over 40 years, so I don’t notice it. (Also, I worked in a used bookstore for a bit, and that’s a good way to get a lot of books CHEEEEEEEAP. Employee discount? Yes. Discount on books in the back that are slightly damaged and unsellable? YES.) And I’ve occasionally sold a rare book, so that offsets things.
Etc.
(Note: my home computer collection spans ten full-height racks. A few of those are on loan from the museum, but most are mine. Spent close to nothing on that. Somehow.)
There’s a whole class of cameras called “machine vision cameras” - a DSLR-quality sensor in a box with no user interface, intended to be embedded in a machine. Factory automation, scanning cinema film, hunter-killer robots, etc. The one I have has a 35mm sensor and an f-mount adaptor, so it’s compatible with old manual Nikon lenses. (Nikon lenses were really popular in scientific and industrial applications all thought the 70s/80s/90s. Probably not so much now.)
Oh boy, I’m not the worst but I’m pretty bad when it comes to “rabbit holes”
Vinyl records and hifi audio, photography (especially film), mechanical keyboards, cigars, old german cars. I just recently got into music production and modular synthesis. Someone needs to stop me.
It looks like there’s no better time than now to be getting into production though tbh. You can get cheap equipment now that perfectly recreates the effects of stuff that would literally burn a £5000 hole in your wallet before.
I thought, I can buy a Hornady press, use range brass, and same some cash!
And, well, kind of. But mostly no. Yes, buying primers, bullets, and powder, and using range brass is indeed cheaper than buying boxes or cases of ammunition on a per bullet basis. Sure, a set of dies can get expensive ($200+ for match-grade dies if you do, e.g. long range shooting competitions). Oh, and you need to clean your brass, preferably in a wet tumbler, and then dry your brass, and also get a trim station to trim to length, and possibly a primer pocket swager if you’ve picked up military brass with crimped primer pockets… And a scale, you gotta have a good scale so that you know exactly how much powder you’re using (seriously; you need a good scale, you cannot skip this), and you need a chronography to measure speeds to develop the most accurate loads…
…And then you start getting into progressive reloading presses that are intended for really high volume shooting that start at around $2000, and top out at around $10k, plus things like annealing stations so that your neck tension is always consistent after you’ve crimped the case, and powder tricklers for when volumetric powder dispensers aren’t accurate enough…
But the real expense hits when you’re shooting 10x as much because now ammunition is “cheap”.
BRB, gonna spend $400 on 8# of Varget powder and $300 on 1000 Hornady ELD-M .224 bullets.
That moment when your hobbies are most of the comments. Running, biking, camping, computers and photography (haven’t spent any money on this yet so we good) :/
selfhosting/homelab. Originally started just using retired gaming PC parts to build a server. All it cost was the power to run the system. Years later and with more things/content I have, I just added a 5x 18tb hard drives and 3x 8tb. Just the 5 18tb drives was like $1500.
I have 65 TB of movies and shows for a Plex server. That is what the 5x 18tb drives are for. I download primarily REMUXes or highest quality available.
The other drives are for backing up photos, my server, and anything important.
For me, it’s board games. I figured a few good board games could last a while. I’m sure you are (incorrectly) guessing the next step, that I just bought too many.
No, I bought Kingdom Death: Monster. And now I want the expansion packs, which combine to nearly $3000.
KD:M may have its imperfections, but I don’t think I’ve ever played another game quite so beautiful (if you’re into that existential dread type of beauty).
Maybe you can help me. I don’t understand “boardgame people.” Like, enjoy boardgames and tabletop games, but not playing a brand new one every time we get together.
What’s wrong with playing poker or Catan or NBA Jam for the thousandth time?
A lot of board game geeks hate Catan. I also hate Catan, but my reasons probably aren’t their reasons. So there’s that.
But I don’t entirely disagree. It’s complicated. I bought multiple games to find ones I’d love more. I find most people with board game obsession still have a favorite.
Like me, I’ve spent more time playing KD:M and Spirit Island than the next 5 combined.
I also have a butt load of boardgames, I like playing Catan not a lot but maybe once a year. The ones I keep going back to are Star wars epic duels, Eldritch Horror, and Arcadia/Starcadia Quest.
Eldrich Horror is on my to-buy list. My wife got really burned out on board games so I’ve leaned into my ultra-crunchy solo-friendly stuff, but she enjoyed Arkham horror for quite a while.
But yeah. Last time I played Catan I wanted it to stop by round 2. I have horrible dice-luck, so a game’s gotta be fun when I roll worst-case 5-10 rounds in a row. In Catan, it means I get all nerdy placing my towns on strategically sound intersections, and then watch everyone else play and I pass as numbers like 6 and 8 never roll for an entire game. My record is like the first half of the game getting no resources. Then getting one or two. Something about seeing the 3rd or 4th 2 roll give someone resources before you’ve gotten anything just makes you want to flip the table.
I get what you mean lol. I used to get pissed at the luck, but enjoyed when I was outsmarted. Now I enjoy all outcomes cause I have been able to get others into boardgames. If I play with new people I try to play towards getting them to win cause that gets them to want to play more. And once everyone knows how to play I get to play an earnest game. I’ll even take a day off work every month to get friends together for boardgames, food, and drinks.
I guess that’s kind of a reason I have so many boardgames, depending who’s playing we might enjoy one more than another. But I noticed more people liking the co-op ones more than vs games lately. Started with pandemic, then Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness, and now Eldritch Horror is what we’ve played most. Hopefully I get to try some of the new ones I got, looking forward to Unfathomable.
I agree re: coop. They seem to be the way of the future. Some people I game with get really frustrated being less competitive than the rest in games like Dominion, where taking your time and planning out your turns has huge return but makes everyone have to sit and wait (and don’t talk to me, I’m figuring out whether I’m going to play my Laboratory or my Sentry first!)
For some reason, though, Pandemic goes over like a dead weight to most people. So much so, I’ve never bought Pandemic Legacy as good as it looks. Arkham horror is too crunchy for some, but just right for others. Spirit Island, surprisingly, has been a sweet spot for some recently. It’s a little hard to get good at, but the sliding difficulty scale is really granular.
Oh man, my friend bought that game and has been trying to get us to play it, but I had twins, and have not more time for board games. It looked fun though
It’s incredible, and a blast. A full campaign (assuming you don’t lose halfway through) runs about 60 hours. So I get it :)
The digital version might be more accessible. I really wish they’d sell it without the minis. I just don’t have the time to paint minis, which means I don’t get the value worth in minis.
I had the good fortune of meeting a couple of board game nerds before getting into the hobby myself. They had a seperate insurance policy specifically for their games.
Interesting. Because you were doing too well? The only way KD:M gets a little boring to me is if I’m trying to min-max and only fighting the most appropriate monster for maximum return at each twist or turn. All those underleveled lions for 15 rounds, then all those antelopes, avoiding phoenix and any unique monsters, etc. I did a playthrough where I suicided extra population against most bosses instead of risking my better ones. Ok, that can get boring.
But throw all those in? Nothing quite like going for the overpowered unique phoenix and trying to land his death bonus on my character with Immortal disorder. Also nothing quite like that character making it, then constantly being targeted with “instead of damage, roll on critical injury table” and having to blow my party’s rerolls to save her. (For the record, no she didn’t make it to LY30)
But honestly, to each their own. I really enjoy it. And adding a few more hunt or showdown monsters (when you really “know” your base prey) is enough to keep an entire campaign fresh. And if not, PotSun and PotStars is a blast (said in Tabletop Simulator because I can’t afford all that)
Comparison with Kingdom Death? Interesting. I made a point of watching a few let’s plays of Pathfinder the Adventure Card game, and it seems to me as similar as Catan and Pandemic (which is, not at all)
The comparison I see is Townfolk Tussle, which I intend to someday buy for a faster/easier campaign.
Bicycling for me. Started off with a cheap old bike that I tried keeping in as goid condition as possible without spending too much on it. Problem with old bikes is wear and tear so things break and new old parts are hard to cheaply. So it became a hackjob. Then got me a new one and realised riding on roads only got boring so I started experimenting with gravel and singletrack.
Guess what? Time for a new bike. And a more expensive one. Carbon. And to maintain it I needed more tools. Also new tubes as the spare ones I had didn’t fit that big of tyres. Also moved to a new place and now I got a MTB arena within a few km from home. So of course I had to get me one of those. And to maintain the suspension I needed new stuff, oils and tools.
Clothing. Bags. Events. It becomes a lot after a while.
Also planning for bike nr4, a steel fatbike. Promised myself not to buy anything this year, but the year is soon over…
Did I mention bikepacking? Yeah that is another big black hole of expenses. But a fair bit of overlap with backpacking so costs are split.
I remember when I first got into cycling I went to get new tires and noticed two tires that looked the same to me but one was more than double the cost of the other. I asked the guy what the difference was and he just said, “maybe half an ounce.” It’s unreal how expensive cycling stuff can get.
Marginal gains. Expensive marginal gains. I’m glad I’m not into that. When it comes to saving weight it is far better for me to shave it of me rather than the bike. And cheaper too!
In my opinion they aren’t even gains. Making the bike more efficient just makes it less exercise efficient. You have to bike longer to get the same workout.
Upgrading the drivetrain can make sense. Perhaps the brakes. Shocks if you are mountain biking. But no one needs a carbon fiber frame unless they are competing.
I have a $2200 road bike, a $600 mountain bike, and a 20+ year old hybrid that I bought on Craigslist for $100. Guess which one I enjoy riding the most?
That being said, the latest bikes with their electric wireless shifters, disc brakes, built-in phone holders and no cables anywhere are making me a bit jealous. But I’ve been able to resist the urge so far.
The Craigslist hybrid? Riding the beater is often so much fun because you feel like you are allowed to ride it hard. Or it couldbe the older geometry making it more lively.
Here I am thinking “I need to get more active and it’ll be fun to do stuff with my best bud Link” (Link is a 4 year old golden retriever)
Starts with basic training obedience classes, no biggy. Then they offer Rally classes, which is basically obedience plus some fun stuff, cool, I’ll take that class. Oh, I can get a cool title for him? Sure, we already trained him, why not! Ok he needs 3 successful runs, and each run attempt is $25…? k…
Rally Novice acquired…fun but… Was that really worth 150 for the class + $75 for the three runs? …sure whatever
Ooooo agility sounds fun! Let’s do that! $150 for a 6 week session, that’s not bad! 6 months and many sessions later + buying practice equipment… I’m officially poor. My dog is a happy boy, and I’m more active, but FML this is a rabbit hole lol
We’re having a lot of fun, and my dog is a happier more obedient boy, but man was I not expecting the crazy expense. Those people with the dogs that have a bazillion titles and letters after their names? They’ve spent a literal fortune on that dog. It’s absolutely mind boggling.
From the Canine Competition universe… confirming fortune spent on doggos. I definitely did not spend 4 figures on entries fees for 3 dogs in a multitude of sports in one weekend… ~
As in fully functional animatronics with hapatic feedbacks, micro-hydrolics, and micro-heater elements? Oh, and whatthehay - synthetic voice? I’m guessing.
Most of them are high end silicone toys from Bad Dragon and Mr Hankey’s toys and hold their value quite well. I purchased around 80% of them on the used market and can turn around and sell them for about the same amount so the depreciation hit is minimal.
Came here to also say knitting! Which also lead to me spinning yarn, which lead to processing my own fleece/fibers, then dyeing….just waiting for the day I decide to buy sheep and goats
I started knitting for my kids when we were living in colorado.
so I ended up processing wool from raw fleece -> hat
raw merino fleece, raw alpaca fleece, Scouring soap, dye, dyeing classes with natalie redding, spinning wheel, drum carder, hackle, table loom, warping thing for yarn
Math
ended up going to school for math education (with pell grant $500 per 6 month term) I can’t pass the exit exam. tried 5 times out of those I had to pay out of pocket for 4 of them $480.
and surprise, I got dxed with ADHD. That’s why I couldn’t pass the tests. now I pay $50 a month for it (doc + meds)
My sister has knitted since she was a kid. Later started creating fleece items. Then she bought raw wool, washed, spun and dyed it. Then bought a wooden … loom? to make carpets from it.
Music production. Started with a old pc and a pirated version of ableton. Now I bought my first top tier laptop and a license of ableton… and oh whats that around the corner? Is that a modular synth?
Oh boy I know exactly where my next spare money is going… first a syntakt and after that my eurorack journey will finally begin! And I will be broke and happy!
Before you get into physical modular synths, have you tried VCV Rack? It could exacerbate things for you, but it helped me avoid/delay falling into the rabbit hole of buying such hardware haha.
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