Tacky Consumerist Tat

[megpie71]

I realised just a moment ago that I tend to solve the problem of being in a job I dislike by "laundering" the money I earn from it into consumer goods - and once I've essentially bought everything I like, I just keep spending on what I can best describe as "tacky consumerist tat" - the sort of stuff you wouldn't buy if you didn't need a reason to get rid of money that was burning a hole in your pocket.

So, what's everyone's favourite / most regrettable / least justifiable bit of tacky consumerist tat?

I'll go first: I went through a phase where I decided I really, really wanted to get hold of every movie Johnny Depp had starred in (Pirates of the Caribbean had just come out... I am not ashamed of this). I therefore own region 4 DVDs of things like "The Astronaut's Wife" and "Ninth Gate", among other things, although I never quite managed to get hold of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". But I think I do still have a copy of "Lost in LaMancha".

(I really need to Konmari my DVD collection one of these days).

Comments

[cimorene]

I don't know if it's tacky, but at my last real job I tried really hard to buy one of every bright color of eyeshadow I liked at all. I had to get one of those big magnetic z-palettes to hold them all. I almost never wear makeup, and then p. much ONLY eye makeup, so in day-to-day life I barely touch it and even at work I only used the tiniest bit of it.

[naath]

I have a "get the whole set" compulsion that I am trying to fight with BPAL and giantmicrobes; I don't really have that much money to space...

[ruuger]

I'm very good at not buying useless 'collectables' just because they look cool. Except when it comes to Queen (the band). Every time anything Queen-related is released, no matter how expensive or ridiculous, I get an urge to buy it. Case in point, I just bought bunch of stamps from Royal Mail even though I don't live in the UK just because they were Queen themed...

[swingandswirl]

Christmas ornaments. No idea why, as I'm a) atheist b) was raised Hindu c) not in the habit of putting up a Christmas tree.

But one year I was in Paris I found an ornament of Santa climbing the Eiffel Tower, and the goofiest-looking reindeer you ever did see, and thus began my quest to collect ornaments from every place I've visited or lived.

[mllesatine]

Where do you display them if you don't put up a tree?

[falkner]

Stickers. Sooo many stickers. 99% of the time I don't even, you know, stick them anywhere, they just sit in their original packaging in some forgotten box under my bed. Recently I've been cleaning out most of my possessions as I get ready to move to another country next year, and I found literal thousands of stickers I bought through my whole life.

[moon_custafer]

I bought a rainbow eyeshadow palette back at the beginning of June to cheer myself up, even though I didn’t think the bright colours would be very wearable. I actually have been getting more use out of them than I thought—since at present going out in public entails covering my mouth and nose, I feel entitled to go a bit more elaborate with the eye makeup than I usually do.

I also bought a red faux-suede purse online a few weeks ago because it matched my favourite high-heeled shoes. Some day I’ll have the opportunity to wear them out somewhere again.

[cupcake_goth]

I generally don't collect Funko Pops, but do I have the full set of Gerard Way from MCR ones sitting on my desk? Oh yes.

In terms of my favorite thing to browse & impulse purchase: vintage gothic romances. Will I ever read all of the ones I've already got? Probably not. But the cover art is like catnip to me.

[suncani]

I was very bad at buying cute stationary even though I did nothing with it. This is why I won't even look at stickers as I know I'll end up falling back into that pit..... especially for fandom ones.

I also collect fabric but I justify that one by saying I WILL do something with it (at some point)

Speaking of Johnny Depp movies, did you ever see Arizona Dream? It's very surreal and by a Serbian director who's known for very odd but moving movies. Unfortunately, the thing that stuck with me is the giant fish floating in effectively a desert.

[ruuger]

Oh, wow, I had completely forgotten about that movie. I was really into Balkan cinema back in university and I remember liking that film. I haven't thought about the movies I watched back then for ages and now I want to go and rewatch them all :)

[suncani]

Yes, do it! I remember going through a phase of trying to watch all of Emir Kusturica's movies and although Black Cat, White Cat and Underground are the only ones I come back to (black cat more than Underground tbh) they were all pretty interesting. Which other ones did you see?

[highlander_ii]

i have a whole collection of Van Helsing (the movie) action figures and playsets. (the ones i don't have are on my amazon wishlist) the collection lives on my mantel. there's also a Wolverine and The Spirit up there. XD

as for new things - i'm trying v v v hard not to launch into a wild spending spree on fountain pen ink. i have like 6 pens and do not need all the ink ever. (except i do!)

[tielan]

Photos signed by actors from conventions, back before they got big and Disneyfied.

I was part of a sci-fi watching group that gathered once a month to catch up on the latest episodes of various sci-fi/fantasy shows back in the day when shows were mostly shown on American networks and trying to see them in Australia was a crapshoot based on whether or not the station had anything 'better' to show, or whether you could afford 'Pay TV' (ie. cable).

The organisers of the group also did fan conventions, so I attended quite a few of those over the years. But, yeah, I bought heaps of photos signed by actors, even though such collectibles wasn't really my thing and never has been.

Ah, the old days of fandom, before things went mainstream.