I wasn't really a collector until I found a mint condition Sega Genesis system put on the curb for garbage pickup while I was jogging in 2012. It had all the papers, plastic baggies and pieces needed to play. The person had threw away a PS1 system CIB as well. I experienced a huge nostalgic rush.
I checked online to see if anyone else was playing these old systems anymore. I found a website called Sega-16 that had tons of reviews, articles and a bustling forum. I really liked the Genesis when I was a kid, but I was more a NES and SNES kind of guy.
I started looking around for a SNES equivalent of Sega-16 and couldn't find one. So I started my own SNES website with reviews, articles and a forum just like Sega-16 had. But it never really took off.
But during that time I started to catch the collecting bug and now in 2020, I have more than 600 games spanning many systems in my private collection. I spent more money on video games in this time period than I would care to admit.
I sometimes wonder what if I didn't go jogging that day and never found that Sega Genesis system? How would my life be different right now?
Probably for starters I would have purchased my own house by now.