UlasanAnime.com – The phenomenon of the X-Files, a show that once captured a significant cultural moment, sparked a wave of fan-driven merchandise and organizations. This widespread availability of fan-related items naturally leads to questions about the role of merchandising in a fan’s mindset.
Merchandise often serves as a tangible way for fans to express their passion and showcase their affiliations. This act of displaying one’s interests is not unique to any particular demographic; people from all walks of life engage in showing off things they genuinely admire or find praiseworthy.
Examples of such expressions could range from a custom-made alarm clock, requested to deliver an energizing morning message, to proudly displaying the achievements of a gifted child, or even recounting the story behind a battle scar.
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However, viewing the collector’s complex solely through the lens of outward expression provides an incomplete picture. There exists a segment of collectors driven not purely by love for the content, but by a sense of compulsion, often fueled by the very nature of limited-edition releases.
These collectors may acquire items from popular franchises that are bundled with seemingly attractive, yet ultimately less valuable, trinkets. The inclusion of these extra items, which can depreciate in value once used, adds another layer to the collector’s motivation.
This raises the question of value. Are there collectors who purchase special items without valuing them intrinsically, but rather for the sake of possessing or using the accompanying extras? It’s likely that such individuals represent a very small minority within the broader collecting community.
Back when the X-Files was a cult hit, one of my family member was pretty smitten with it. There was a lot of fan things to be done, and different organizations catered to the fans of this then-growing, popular franchise. Merchandising, specifically, was all over the place.
That got me thinking later on: how does merchandising fit in the mindset of a fan? It’s definitely something people use to show off to others. But showing off is something people of all segment and all cross sections do. After all, there’s nothing wrong with showing off something that is genuinely praise-worthy. Perhaps a live-recorded Momoi alarm clock is one of those, when you requested it from her to say something to get that blood sugar up in the AM. Perhaps it’s your straight-A student-child that you want to show off. Or maybe it’s some battle scar and the long story behind it.
Looking at the collector complex from this angle is getting just half the story, however. There are some collectors who do so out of compulsion and not out of love. It’s not to say they do not love the shows they are collecting, but they do it mainly out of the curse that has been set up before us. A limited edition of some popular show many people like, included with the DVDs are a bunch of pretty but also pretty useless trinket (in the sense that once you use them, the value of the collection depreciates).
Perhaps it’s out of value, then? Do we have any “collectors” who do not value the special stuff they are buying, but merely buy them because they want to have/use the extra stuff? I think it would be a very small number.
