Published on 12, July, 2020
We hear so much about autistic people and special interests and so many people have them and enjoy them, but we never hear about people who can't afford them, what do they do?
I can't afford mine, I love early medieval history and things associated with it, such as archeology, but I can't afford it, I could easily spend £3-400 on books every month, many of the books I'd like are out of print or in limited print runs and cost between £80 and £200, I've looked online and many are as expensive as ebooks as they are print editions, if they exist as ebooks at all. Many journals are expensive too and online resourses are too and many are really aimed at organisations such as universities rather than private people.
It's frustrating to have an interest that I find so consuming, but can't afford to follow or find others to even talk about it with, but then how many people know the Anglo-Saxon conversion period even existed, let alone know anything about it?
This is such an interesting question and thread, thanks for raising it as it's so interesting to see everyone's take on the cost issue.
I'm a little stuck between a yes and a no on this one. My main special interest is, and has always been (since my 1980s childhood) Doctor Who.
There's always been a bit of a battle between completionism urges and self control.
At the minimum, in the present era of Who output, I must:
Pay my telly licence (I watch other stuff too of course) to legally watch the newest episodes.
Get each month's Doctor Who Magazine
Buy one or more of the audio adventures monthly
Buy the Bluray Season sets as they come out (2-3 times a year) - this having already bought all the stories individually as VHSs, audios, DVDs over the years as things evolved
Get the books (largely factual/biographical) that most interest me
At a maximum, I would hope to:
All of the above, plus eventually get all the audio stories.
That last is something of a vain hope. In the early days, the company licensed to make them had one or two new Doctor Whos and associated spin-offs come out per month. Now, between various strands, there could be as many as 5 or 6 in a given month. Short of a lottery win... I must come to terms with never making up the lost ground.
Despite how it may sound, I'm basically an essentialist: it's the complete expanded canon that I'm fascinated with/invested in, so things like action figures, merch, collectables etc. are not a big part of my fan experience, and to be honest I'm not sure how anyone could afford to keep on top of all that - though fair play to them if they manage to.
While Doctor Who is my first love, adjacent fandoms also have a place in my heart, so I will be unable for instance to resist buying the Blake's 7 Blu-ray collector sets shortly to come out - with all those new lovingly made documentaries etc. as 'extras' that's too essential a purchase not to make.
Other series I've bought on DVD over the years: Sapphire and Steel, The Tomorrow People, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Doomwatch, The Omega Factor, Star Cops....
Of course that's been over decades. But it's no wonder that I always had more debt than any glimmer of savings. I hope to be able to change that soon, remembering to keep essentialism as my guiding principle...
One thing I'm especially grateful for: the fact that the podcasts I religiously follow (many, but not all of them, Doctor Who ones) are free, labours of love that they are. I guess they've taken the place of what fanzines (which were never free as such, but definitely breaking even at best!) were in the 80s/90s. The really deep dive stuff can be indulged in these for hours on end. And all for no financial cost. Fab.