Mancave Collection Home

The Gaming Collection

My video game collection has grown out of my increasing interest in video games over several years. I have never been a huge "gamer", and I've never played most of the hardcore or mature games out there, but I have collected a lot of gaming stuff for about ten years. I have always been a Nintendo fan ever since I watched my older brothers play when I was three or four. I've played Nintendo games with family and friends as long as I can remember, and because of that I'm more of a casual gamer who isn't that good but loves to play with friends and have fun gaming.

My collection isn't much compared to other collections out there, and it mainly consists of a Nintendo Wii with accompanying games (which I don't use anymore) and a Nintendo Switch with its accompanying games. I also have many older or outdated game consoles, controllers, and games that me or older siblings have used at one point, like an N64, a DS, and even a Super Nintendo from the 90s. My sole non-Nintendo gaming device is a Playstation 3 with a couple of games. Video games have always been a great hobby for me that can make fun memories with friends and even relieve stress, and the collection should only grow in the future.

The Nintendo Switch

The Switch is the console I play currently in my free time.

Switch Controllers

These are the controllers I've gotten for the three years I've owned a Switch. Since I often play with friends, I needed more than one.

My Switch Games

These are the only Switch games I own physically, and I have several other games downloaded on the console.

The Nintendo Wii

My family bought a Wii back in 2007, and we played it often for several years. We had several controllers for it, and it worked until last year when it broke. Fortunately we had another red Wii pictured here, that we now use. I keep the Wii and all the controllers (more than pictured here) in the Mancave, so it can be played anytime.

My Wii Games

These are all the Wii games I've collected for a long time. I was surprised at how many there were, and there is more than one copy for a few of them.

The Playstation 3

This is my older brother's old Playstation 3 that hasn't been used in a long time. I only have a few games and one controller, and I haven't used it yet but excited to try it out.

The Nintendo 64

This very old N64 was also my older brother's, and we found it and dusted it off last year. We could only find one controller and one game, but it's still a very cool old console that I didn't know we even had.

The Gamecube Stuff

I don't actually have a Gamecube, but my older brothers once had one (I'm not sure what happened to it) and we did find two controllers and these games. I keep this stuff around because it's compatible with the Wii and just good to have around.

How The Collection Was Acquired

This video game collection was acquired mostly from my older siblings, who don't need all this stuff anymore. They played video games a lot so I inherited many old gaming items, and I'm sure there's even more in storage somewhere. The collection has also grown a lot by me, especially the Wii and Switch stuff I've bought and collected. Having several game consoles around is helpful since I can play them whenever.

The LEGO Collection

The largest collection that I own, and one of my favorite hobbies as well, is the LEGO collection. LEGOs have been a hobby for me and my twin brother ever since we were three or four, and we would go upstairs all the time to play with the LEGOs our older brothers had collected. Some of my earliest memories are of building with LEGOs and role-playing silly adventures in the large playroom upstairs. As I continued growing up LEGOs were still my favorite thing, and I would ask for LEGO sets as Christmas presents and buy them with my monthly allowance. Of course having trouble walking and getting to the LEGOs upstairs is what led to the collection moving to the Mancave, and my love for LEGOs didn't wane there. As I kept getting LEGOs the collection kept growing, and I built many of my own creations and basically lived and breathed LEGO until high school. This is right around where my muscle disease made it difficult to build LEGOs, and naturally in high school I started focusing on other things. The collection's growth slowed down quite a bit, but I still build new LEGOs occasionally. I hope that LEGOs will always be one of my hobbies.

As of now, most of the LEGO collection is in large plastic boxes in my storage shelves. There are tons of pieces in all of these boxes, and any number of creations could be made with all of the parts.

In the higher shelves are sorting bins in the time since we tried to sort some of the collection, but we gave up on that. There are some pieces in all of these sorted by type, like LEGO figures, bricks, plates, etc.

Not everything is so well-organized, as there are LEGO pieces scattered all over the place. My nephews love to play with LEGOs so there is the associated mess! Scattered LEGO parts is just part of the fun ;)

Probably the best-looking part of the Mancave is the display shelves. To the right of the biggest shelf is an improvised shelf made from stacking two tables, and on top of the tables is my mother's collection of LEGO buildings. Yes, she loves LEGOs too.

The main shelf is the first thing most people notice in the Mancave, and we actually put it in less than a year ago. I got it from IKEA and filled it with most of my completed LEGO kits, mostly Star Wars related. We even put LEGOs on top of it when we ran out of space.

Finally, in the corner by my desk is a manual bin where I keep all the LEGO instruction manuals I've had over the years. There is a shocking number of manuals in there, and it's full to the top.

That's the entirety of the LEGO collection. There are bigger collections out there, but this one is big enough for me. I always enjoy it when people see the Mancave for the first time and let out an audible gasp because of the LEGO collection, and it just goes to show how important LEGOs have been to my childhood and entire life.

How The Collection Was Acquired

Me and my twin brother's LEGO collection was originally inherited from our older brothers, and it's been a large collection ever since we were kids. It was all upstairs at first, and was composed of parts and custom creations. As we played these custom creations were disassembled, and we had more of a focus on getting LEGO sets and building them as time went on. Me and my twin brother made many of our own creations too, but with us getting new sets often, the collection grew. When we were younger most new LEGOs were gifts from family, or bought with allowance money. Being an adult now and spending my own money is one reason I buy less LEGOs now, haha. As time went on, old sets were broken as new ones were built, and that's why there are tons of half-built things and LEGO figures all over the room. Of course, the collection growth slowed down in recent years, but it is still growing slowly as I buy a new kit every once in a while.