Keep it in the box!

- My iD L English when it was still worth $75 USD -

The other day I came across a thread on TamaTalk where someone had just bought a P1 and was asking how to best replace the batteries. Everyone soon came to his aid and helped him out. But there was one post that was different:

- Name and other info removed. Not bashing people for their opinions here -

I know that this rule of "Don't open the box" goes for many collectible items, not just Tamagotchi's. I look at these boxed Tama's and I remember that feeling when you get this brandnew one in the mail and it's all crisp and packaged... AND THEN BRUTALLY RIP IT OPEN! Lol. That last bit is the most important one for me: open it up and feel the new shell. Admire the colours. Read the manual cover to cover and then all over again. I just love it.

Keeping it in the box feels like I did not finish the fun part (yet). I've been waiting for it to arrive for weeks most of the time. To then just put it on a shelf and not do anything with it just because of it's economic value feels wrong to me.

- Together these are worth about $1000 USD -

I think that buying a Tama and then not playing it makes it a investment. I'm not a investor. I'm a player. I collect them not to look at them in a box and wait for them to be worth more. I do see why people would feel that way. It's as if you just threw away money. But I think NOT opening them is wasting money. Guess it just depends on how you look at it.

- And now they're worth about $600 USD if not less -

However, the person asking the question in the thread I mentioned bought it to play with it. Currently, I see P1's going on eBay for around $100 USD. Used ones go for around $32 USD. How much of a waste is that? Not much to me personally. I understand that in the future, they might be worth a lot more than that. But again; he bought it to play with it. He knows what he paid for it. 

I think what the person was trying to say was: "Buy a used one if you're going to open the box anyway". But to me: that would spoil part of the fun. I want a crisp, new Tamagotchi and get that "opening of the box" experience.

Are you a "investor", a "player", or are you a "collector"? Or maybe all of the above? Let me know what you think in the comment section.