Pondering Pikachu: Learning to Steward our Hobbies Well

Collectibles and memorabilia are significant commodities in our culture. Here you might imagine many things—comic books, baseball cards, action figures, Hot Wheels, Funko Pop figurines, or Pokémon cards. Collecting collectibles is a thriving hobby with an equally aggressive economy. Some people collect for sentimental or aesthetic reasons, but many turn their attention to the collectible marketplace.

The appeal may not be obvious at first, until you discover a market infused with nostalgia, memory, and history. Many of us have been there—you bought a pack of basketball or baseball cards, a comic book, or that first set of Pokémon cards. As you grew up you threw them in a shoebox in your parents’ garage or attic, and years later you rediscovered them only to find a card or comic that is now worth a significant amount of money. The thrill of the find turns many people onto a new venture with many points of justified entry. And once you begin, a question begins to appear—how far down the rabbit hole will you go?

Calculated Risk

Collectibles combine childlike excitement with real-world economic features. Those deeper in the world of collecting can even gauge the collectible economy and find that they have several pieces which hold significant monetary value. Collectors and enthusiasts consider multiple economic components—market value and liquidity, opportunity costs, authenticity of the product, depreciation, appreciation, preservation, and conservation.

The motivation for accrual is related to this. In an economic endeavor, you want to make a return on your investment. But in collectibles, that return can look different for many people. For some it is direct profit, for others the joy of collecting. For me and my family, it is the fun and thrill of the chase. We primarily collect Pokémon cards. I have some basketball and baseball cards from the 90’s, but as far as collectibles go, we like Pokémon. I have done some eBay selling, card grading, and binder appraisal. We enjoy the world and the game of Pokémon. And the calculated risk has not just been one that is fiscal, but also spiritual.

In this hobby there are important implications and principles that I am teaching my children, as far as value is concerned. Do we spend money on the chance of a rare card? Do we travel to other cities to chase that elusive single card we want? How much is too much to pay for something that, all things being equal, is just cardboard? Is the value that we really gain from this one that is investment-oriented or familial in nature? If I consider value to be a critical component, then spiritual value should be at the top of the list. How I pursue collectibles will affect my spiritual life and have implications for what I am teaching my family.

Idols of Intrigue

It should be said that there is nothing wrong with tracking down collectibles as a hobby. A prudent principle here is obvious—moderation in all things. Nevertheless, it is the case that collectibles offer something more on the surface than other types of investments display up front. Collectibles offer the promise of fun and childlike intrigue initially, but in turn can also lead to addiction and obsession.

This is nothing new.

In the garden, Adam and Eve were given the world, and yet they traded that for the shiny bauble of a “promise” that brought shame and loss. Collectibles, like any other investment, play on the desires of our hearts. If we are not careful, then those desires quickly become idols of intrigue—things we believe we must have to be happy, and things we eventually think we deserve because we assign too much value to their importance.

Collecting collectibles is an incredible hobby, and there is nothing inherently bad about enjoying it. That should be made clear. But here vision and desire can quickly outpace reality, and there lurks the danger. In Augustinian fashion, we might note that misplaced desires can lead to spiritual decay. And spiritual decay can lead to eternal ruin. We should also note that desire for possession with the end goal of filling a perceived need for contentment breeds loss, not gain. Ecclesiastes 5:10 states, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.” If at the end of day I am motivated by the rat-race of the collectible economy, then I have started to display that my desire has led to obsession and my obsession to idolatry, and idols are cruel taskmasters. A better way is one of moderation, one of stewardship, and spiritual calculation. Collecting collectibles is fun but hardly worthy of worship. Let Christ be the one that rules the heart, and all other things will have their proper place.

Photo retrieved from Unsplash