Soapbox features enable our individual writers to voice their own opinions on hot topics, opinions that may not necessarily be the voice of the site. Today, Alan grabs his accountant visor and tots up how much money he wasted wisely invested in the Bank of Nook over the past year.
On the corner of my desk, there’s a small, plastic trinket always sitting near my pile of business cards, next to an overstuffed basin of discarded pens: it’s a teeny-tiny house, maybe two inches tall, with teeny-tiny windows and a teeny-tiny door. When you pry that little door open, a red otter named “Pascal” slides out. I pull him out whenever I’m sad. I love it, it’s cute.
Pascal and the house he lives in hail from the town-building phenomenon, Animal Crossing. Maybe you’ve heard of it. Imported all the way from Japan, his little plastic home has been sitting on my desk for almost a decade now. It was the only Animal Crossing thing I owned for years.
That was my quaint life, before March 20th 2020, the day I bought Animal Crossing: New Horizons for my Nintendo Switch for $59.99.
You know what happened next: the world succumbed to a global pandemic; we all huddled indoors; we clung to our make-believe animal friends for comfort. It’s somewhat painful to realize it’s been an entire year since my obsession with Animal Crossing started.
And no, I don’t mean I became obsessed with the game itself. Honestly, I mostly enjoy watching others play it. I don’t fuss much with the little details of the gameplay anymore. My villager’s hair would often lay a mess on its head, a sign of infrequent log-ins. Rather, the silver lining to my lost year was the opportunity to let out some pent up fandom for something I didn’t even know I cared so much about.
My Year of Animal Crossing
It all started with the trading cards. Why does it always start with trading cards?
A slight revision: I did actually buy one other Animal Crossing thing, apart from that little plastic chachki. Until recently, virtually the only modern merchandise for the series Nintendo ever released state-side were four series of amiibo cards, each card featuring a different animal from the game’s history.
The timing of their release (2015) was certainly off. Despite having tiny chips inside that let you scan them into games, they sure as heck didn’t do much back then. Piles of these things were literally spilling out on aisles not long after their release. My local stores could hardly give them away, slashing their prices down to pennies on the dollar. So yeah, sure, I indulged. I eventually bought enough discounted packs that I almost completed the whole dang collection before even I gave up on them.
But when Nintendo announced five entire years later that these random cards were literally the only means for inviting the animals into your game, these discarded pieces of paper instantly became eBay gold; so much so that people who had been out of my life for years were cold messaging me asking to borrow random animals. For all my pointless hobbying, I had become a god among mortals... except for the fact that I was missing maybe fifteen or twenty cards still.
I’m not exactly proud of this, but I spent the first few weeks of my quarantine trading duplicate cards in the mail, over Reddit. But eventually, even trading became too pricey. (“You want HOW many cards for Pietro?!” was a real thing I told somebody.) After researching trustworthy sellers online, I purchased:
- POMPOM #373 - $2.95
- ANCHOVY #219 - $1.55
- PIETRO #356 - $35
But then, another wrinkle: I bought official card binders for the first three series super cheap, back on release, yet I never found the Series 4 binder. No problem, I found it on eBay for a not-exactly-cheap $51, after shipping. I was so close to finishing the set, so why not?
This whole excursion eventually left me needing only four cards, unfortunately some of the most popular animals which I wasn’t lucky enough to randomly get in packs years back. For the privilege of snagging Rosie, Lucky, Wendell, and Ribbot, I haggled down an online seller to a mere $86.10. My Animal Crossing collection, finally, was complete...
Nook, Inc.
Except no, it wasn’t, actually. Because then came an official Animal Crossing “companion book”, an encyclopaedia of in-game minutiae that today is re-selling for outrageous prices well north of $100, but which I was able to pre-order on release. I only paid $24.40, an absolute steal! (I also put a pack of Animal Crossing stickers in my cart, but that was only $5).
As Animal Crossing grew in ubiquity during quarantine living, that’s when second-hand art became huge online. My friend made an art print she sold for charity, so I paid $20 for it. Some time later in the year, an entire series of ridiculously cute pins showed up on my Twitter feed, and in all the hype of a low-stock alert, I decided to buy every single one still available. That totalled $110.50. (Hey, it’s important to support small businesses during a pandemic!)
I wasn’t fast enough to get them all, though. Don’t worry, I picked up the ones I was missing a few months later during a restock for $43.
And then came the motherload of all Animal Crossing memorabilia, at least price-wise: designer clothes. After a presumably successful run of other Nintendo franchise-based clothing, the trendy Australian outlet BlackMilk hopped on the Animal Crossing bandwagon with a dazzling line of outfits.
It had been my lifelong dream — or so I decided right when my phone finished loading the newsletter I had previously signed up for — to see my partner in a Timmy and Tommy dress. Two of them, actually. She also would look great in a neon blue t-shirt with a tie in the front, I gambled.
Admittedly, I knew what I was getting into when I paid $197 for all that stuff. And the other Animal Crossing outfit I bought a day later for $114.32? That was a gift.
It's Your Itemized Bill! Yes, Yes.
You may read all this and think that I’m just some rich guy. I mean, I have a job. But no, I’m not. I’m normally pretty great with money, actually. Except maybe for that time a month or two ago when Nintendo finally re-released the Animal Crossing trading cards — the ones that got me into this mess in the first place — and made them available online for (and correct me if I’m wrong, fanatical people in the comments) only a few hours, tops. I bought nine packs for $45.75 just to have them, unopened.
I sure did play a lot of Animal Crossing, but most of all, I played myself.
This is a cautionary tale of what happens when one of your favorite things hits a cultural vein — in this case, against all odds, a digital meditation on not life, but on living, expressed through anthropomorphic animals. By the time I picked up some freaking Animal Crossing makeup for $24, I had arrived at the one year anniversary of New Horizons with a $820.56 tab. That’s money expressed in real currency, not bells.
The good word of Animal Crossing even goes beyond all the crap above; since the New Horizons craze, where there was once barely anything, there is now everything: plushies, office supplies, stickers, calendars, t-shirts, patches, you name it. I literally got an email trying to sell me Animal Crossing socks while writing this piece. To indulge at the level the marketers plead can only be described as living an all out “Animal Crossing lifestyle”, enveloping you in a lifestyle about playing lifestyles — the ultimate ouroboros of fandoms — all busting out in a single calendar year. (Thank god I didn’t spring for the Animal Crossing-themed Switch for $299.99. Can you imagine?)
And yet still, of all the Animal Crossing stuff I own, my favorite thing remains my little Pascal, sitting on the corner of my desk. I still open up his door and let him out from time to time. In fact, I pulled him out while I was totalling up the cost of every single video game thing I bought over the last year—just the Animal Crossing stuff though. I definitely won’t admit to you how much I spent on other video game things.
I’m not crazy.
Comments 59
Kinda sounds like a self-own!
Joking aside, I don't care how folks spend their cash as long as they can still support themselves.
That's nothing. I bought $1200 worth of LEGO last year.
I need help.
I still want to complete the amiibo card set....
Okay, but the Blackmilk clothing line was super cute. I may or may not have "wisely invested" 400 dollars in various items.
I bet at least $750 of that would feel better in yr bank account
See, those cards are my one major gripe with AC New Horizons because it feels like the developers made the process of getting new villagers/rid of villagers you don't like extra tedious and annoying in order to make you buy those cards to get the villagers you actually want. It almost gives the game some Freemium vibe aka "wait 2 months for a chance to get your villager or spent 5 bucks to get it immediately". Anyway, enough ranting from me, that dress in the picture looks pretty cute.
This sounds like me and Zelda or Sailormoon merch. It’s a money pit, but remember you aren’t alone. And think of the joy your new stuff brings you! (And they can be assets)
-Collectors Anonymous
I bought $2500 worth of action figures in the past 3 months alone. We’ve all got problems.
But for video games I’ve only spent $20 so far this year. Not too shabby.
Keep that stuff in good condition, and especially keep the boxes! Sometimes that stuff becomes a good investment, and you never know when you might need it. I had to generate money quickly this week and I sold over $1000 in rare games from my Japanese Sega Saturn and PSOne collection. Mind you, that was only across 7-8 games! Pretty shocking how much value these things accrue over time. But yeah keep the boxes!!!
NINJA APPROVED
My friend I offer this advice in complete sincerity. Delete this post immediately.
I think if you’re a certain age and you’re still collecting crap there’s a serious gap in your life. Stuff is also so mass produced and readily available these days it has literally no value as an investment.
@ObeseChihuahua2 "I bought $1200 worth of LEGO last year."
But for Lego that's like only 1 Millennium Falcon. 😉
I dont' think I spent any money on ACNH last years, besides $60 for the game, but I did spend about $15 on S&H to Nintendo for all the free stuff I got. 😝
Mr and my partner are the same for manga, to a point where we could open our own manga library lol easily spend £2000 a year on manga. Only thing my partner wants animal crossing wise is a animal crossing loungefly bag but unfortunately for her that collab doesn't exist.... Yet!
You, Alan, and people like you are part of the problem.
File under addiction. Unless you have shares in Nintendo. 😱
In the last 7 days I've spent around £200 on SHMUPS and I regret none of it.
ESP ra. de psi
Aleste Collection
Cotton Reboot
G-Darius
Cozmic Collection Arcade
Crimzon Clover
Strikers 1945 Plus
Strikers 1999
@ObeseChihuahua2 haha! Lego Mario? I gave that one a pass but caved in for the blacksmith shop this year. I just hope they wont bring out lego zelda this year. Actually I hope they will! Lol
@Poco_Lypso I mostly bought LEGO Minecraft and Creator Expert sets. Rent isn't important, LEGO is.
I use Amiibo card clones for ACNH to get specific villagers i want and i use them too for Amiibo Festival and New Leaf.
For some reason I ordered a bunch of Animal Crossing amiibo before the game released (back when they were £4/5 each).
I just remember running out to collect them before my city went into lockdown...I think the journey was more exciting than what they unlocked
What a moby.
I like playing games.
I buy them and then I play them.
All that other stuff is just wrong.
You will never find me buying plush mario toys or geeky Pokemon cards.
@BloodNinja it sucks you had to sale your old games, but you gotta do what you got do. I have a collection of old rare games from my childhood that are worth a lot. It’s in storage at the moment and I would like to return to them someday. It’s also nice that they have cash value for those just in case moments. One of the reasons why I still try to buy physical.
Speaking of collecting old stuff, I recently brought out my collection of Pokémon cards from the base set and early expansions. I’m literally sitting on a gold mine of cards worth thousands. Just need to get them appraised.
It pays to be a nerd.
Honestly, if it's your money and you are happy with what you bought, NEVER ever calculate the total of what you spent! It's easy to look back at the past and think "I don't know why I bought this because I barely used it". If I was rich enough I'd have an entire room/museum dedicated to all the Zelda crap I can get my hand on and I would never regret it!
@shining_nexus Oh definitely! Collectible cards can make bank. Made a good amount when I sold my Magic The Gathering collection years ago. I still kept my Nintendo consoles and some of the games there, those I will never sell they are too close to my heart! It really does pay to be a nerd hahahah
NINJA APPROVED
@HamatoYoshi Is there a gap in your life if all you can say are disparaging comments about other peoples spending habits on a gaming forum?
Is it bad that I now kind of want Happy Home Designer on Switch?
I was hoping they would have incorporated it into New Horizons instead, but they haven't. It would have been nice to have more villagers per island, as well as other facilities that villagers can be spotted attending throughout the day.
My amiibo card collection is close to completion (minus any Japan-exclusive cards that I won't bother with) though it's been more bothersome than it's worth.
Am I allowed to say:
What a beautiful woman in that dress! good you spent bells for a present for her. Bells indeed well spent.
The whole Animal Crossing series (450 cards in total) is currently on sale for 200€ on AliExpress. I don't think anyone would care about if the NFC-cards in your collectors album are official. After I saw this site https://amiibo.life/series
and how many amiibos exist I wanted to have aaaaall of them. But I also don't want to spend 200€ on NFC-cards that havn't just barely any function (We aren't talking about the Zelda series here, right?) but are outside of Animal Crossing useless. I just learned this week that the Zelda amiibos even work in Skyrim and give you Zelda-themed stuff...
But yeah, when it's about money... Well I can throw it away easily and people roll their eyes, but TCGs for example I would rather do in games than in real life. Because that's a lot cheaper... I don't like the concept of booster packs. That's like real life lootboxes, and nobody likes lootboxes, right? Never had Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Why should I, when I could just buy a Gameboy game...
But overall I would say that's a nice idea. Trading cards with people via Reddit in quarantine. Sounds like fun. Like uhh... pen pals was the English word I think. Back then when there was no internet... Mh~ It's good to see that socializing isn't death yet these days. Often I feel like nobody actually cares about anyone and that people only want to be "better" (financially, hotness of their girlfriend, achievements, kills in a multiplayer game, materialism, etc) than others and that people are only on antisocial media to advertise and brag about themself... Can't even have an opinion or like anime these days without someone being mad at you for no reason.
@ObeseChihuahua2
Lol! Yeah, at least once a year I get the lego itch. Unfortunately they don't make too many sets that Id be interested in. Im mostly into pirates, castle and western. Welp..
@ObeseChihuahua2 well I don't even want to know how much I did spend on games (Switch/Vita) last year in total...
Oh and I just stop about my anime figure collection...
As long someone can live normally, pay the bills, have enough money left then such hobbies are fine, I mean I buy what I want when I want but I always know beforehand if I have the money for it, and unless I consider it not wise to buy I get it.
And while it all sounds like my house is full of crap, well luckily no it only sounds that way (it's all in the gaming room so thats fine)
@BloodNinja we’re all entitled to our opinion, and personally I value much more in life than material junk
@HamatoYoshi That’s great! Why do we need to know about it?
I have 50-60 Amiibo. Uggghhhh... $900 of stuff I would be lucky to resell for $100.
It's really easy to get swept up in a fandom or a hobby, and unfortunately gaming is both. Completionism is dangerously seductive. Ask me how I know.
Everyone wants to be supportive and positive, and I get that, but the tone of the article says that $820 is a pretty good sum of money for them - as it would be for me. In that case I have to say, definitely think about setting budgets. But I don't think it's terrible to spend money on stuff that you love. Like, that dress is rocking, and clothes are a necessity after all. The dress just happens to be Animal Crossing themed. So you're good there, at least!
@Altina Playing digital for TCG games is the way to go for me too. I absolutely adored and enjoyed playing Hearthstone, but the money needed for new cards were getting too expensive. I stopped playing because of that. Old cards would get obsolete when new expansions came out, essentially losing value on those digital cards.
That’s why I love Pokémon TCG on the Gameboy and SNK Card Fighters Clash (I highly recommend this game!) on the NeoGeo Pocket Color. All the cards are earned in game and there’s a full fledge adventure to go with it.
And yeah, booster packs are kinda like real life loot boxes, but at least they have value (physically anyway) that can be sold or traded with others.
Card Fighters Clash Retrospective -
https://youtu.be/J9GKf8OFKCU
@HamatoYoshi So you come in here and are directly insulting and then try to divert into something meaningless, that’s nice. How about you think a little bit about the reaction you may receive for your insults disguised as opinion.
NINJA DOES NOT APPROVE OF INTERNET BULLYING. BE NICE NEXT TIME.
@JasmineDragon I could afford all this stuff, I just wanted to reflect on the one year anniversary using the angle of Animal Crossing becoming a marketed phenomenon (after 15+ years of licensing silence). I just dragged myself to make the point, cause it’s more fun that way. I do hope there aren’t tons of people in my position who can’t afford their hobbies!
Also, another way to look at this is that I spent like $68ish dollars a month on AC for a year. That’s just dopey, not CRAZY.
@HamatoYoshi @BloodNinja Ya'll need to chill. Many different people walk many different paths of life. Some get enjoyment from physical goodies and material things, others get it from non material things. Neither is better than the other as long as it leads to a fruitful happy life for the individual.
REQUESTED NINJA APPROVAL VIA TELEGRAPH.
@HamatoYoshi I’m sorry, but I don’t melt as soon as someone calls me out on my BS. Trolling and harassment are not good things to do, I suggest you cease and desist.
@XenoShaun You get all the approval LOL
NINJA APPROVED
@BloodNinja isn’t it past your bedtime?!
@HamatoYoshi Like I said, you should reconsider the trolling thing, it's not a good look for you. You'll have a better life if you don't enter every chat forum with fists flying.
YOLO. Whatever makes you happy.
Buying Animal Crossing merchandise is nowhere near as insane as Pokémon. With Pokémon, we all decide to buy the games, despite our NUMEROUS complaints, especially with SwSh. No matter what we say, our wallets will always die at the hands of Pokémon.
@BloodNinja That's interesting. Today you seem to feel insulted by them. But two days ago you told me that you don't care about my opinion because you don't care about what someone on the internet tells you. ...What will it be tomorrow? :3
@ModdedInkling I actually enjoyed SwSh even though I'm playing this series since the very first entry that got released in the west (So, no, it wasn't Green before anyone asks.). I don't know what high demands and unrealistic expectations people always have about everything... But I wanted a Pokemon game and I got a Pokemon game.
Sure, Galar felt kinda small and like they needed a bit more time... But I really need to say that I liked it. Also, it has Marnie! Best PokeGirl ever. GloriaXMarnie, make it happen!! x3
...uhm... Anyway... I enjoyed SwSh, yes. The DLC was a bit too expensive though (but I can have Marnies clothes and haircut! Money well spent! <3). But it's cheaper than buying a third edition, yes. So... it's still an improvement compared to previous entries, right?
There are a lot, and I mean A LOT, Pokemon available in SwSh these days but I wonder why people complain about it not having all of them. OR/AS showed what happens when you put TOO MANY Pokemon in a game. That really felt unsatisfying, because it was throwing kinda like all Pokemon at you... My Pokemon Bank apprechiated it, because I'm working on a Living Dex (I only need mythical Pokemon for the 100%), but it felt really wrong, forced and unnatural. Also you can import your older Pokemon via Bank/Home, why would you need ALL 989 Pokemon in ONE game? The maps in Pokemon games are way too small to support such a high number of animals... G/S/C had Johto and Kanto, TWO REGIONS, and had only 251 Pokemon, and you still needed R/B/Y to complete the Pokedex. And that was okay. Now lookup how many Pokemon can spawn in Galar... Really, that are way too many and feels not like intended but more like it would have been forced because people these days cry about everything.
@Altina It’s not a very interesting conversation. honestly there are better things to talk about, rather than trolling each other on the forums and playing “gotcha” cause we are bored.
@BloodNinja But you told me that you don't care what people on the internet say. So, why do you feel insulted? Or why do you even bother with talking to people when you don't care about what others say?
@BloodNinja I approve of your posts.
I understand the shock when you calculated the cost but that is still quite an impressive collection. (How much does the average poster here spend on gaming?)
I bet your town ìs impressive too.
I understand you... Or, as the meme says "I'm in this picture and I don't like it" haha
I have spend so much on games and Manga! I don't have a lot of extra expenses, as I don't really buy things a lot and like to usually keep my money for this kind of stuff : I have a growing collection of cute nendoroids, my Zelda shrine is getting bigger by the day with all the things I collected, and I don't have place anymore for my mangas. And I am happy about it, because these ones spark joy /!!!
@BloodNinja don't worry pal, and don't feed the troll, take my "fellow gamer approval"!
@Altina
I suppose you're right. Quality over quantity, as they all say.
@ObeseChihuahua2 so you only bought five sets? That's how I feel when I took my daughter out to buy legos the other. Over one hundred dollars spent. On a basics bucket and a bunch of large panels to make a lego table.
@Pandaman Sounds like you're on top of it and having fun, and that's all that matters. Enjoy your stuff!
@NightMiroir Yeah, you’re right. It’s better to starve them out of the attention they seek. Thanks for the reminder!
NINJA APPROVED
@TryToBeHopeful Thank you!!!
NINJA APPROVED
@Altina I don’t feel the need to explain all that, but thanks for asking. Have a good one.
This is a really pathetic post and you should feel bad.
@ObeseChihuahua2 As fellow AFOL, I'm currently building BrickHeadz of all the Animal Crossing major characters. I've got over 20 so far.
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