Even the ones that trick you by starting out cheap
Even the ones that trick you by starting out cheap
125 comments
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This is why I turned to hardcore drugs. Much cheaper.
...Factorio counts as a drug, right?
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Yes
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Hey man, you got any of them combinators? I got a serious jones for some arithmetic combinators.
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Schedule 1. No inherent benefit whatsoever. Just time dilation.
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Most hard drugs are indeed very cheap. Alcohol and cocaine are the exception
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I mean, what else to spend spare money on besides the things I enjoy. Like other people spend thousands travel. I spend the same amount on a box of Warhammer. Jk. I can't afford Warhammer.
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No! You're supposed to be miserable for your entire youth by saving and investing every penny you don't need to survive! That way you can afford all the medical bills and therapy you'll need when you're old and retired and have had a life devoid of joy!!
Sigma grindset!!!!
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Am I the only person with financial self control?? (I hate joy)
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There's usually a point in hobbies where you can find a great price/enjoyment point. Until you want to go deeper down the rabbit hole
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Why go deeper when you can quit a hobby every 3 months.
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Oh yeah, so self controled... why don't you buy a 3d printer then hun?!
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Joy is DLC in my hobby.
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Don't worry, you can develop a WarThunder
addictionhobby and know neither financial self control, nor joy! -
Fellow people who grew up poor?
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If you don't spend money on things you enjoy, you are wasting your money.
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Mine is gardening. Cheap to start, gives you exercise, and ultimately pays you in food.
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Except if you plant flowers. Bulbs taste awful.
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My secret shame.
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You can trade or sell bulbs though
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Especially if you plant open pollinated varieties which are true to seed. So nice being able to save seeds and get more plants next year for free! Doesn’t work with everything but it does work with a lot!
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"All you need is a pair of running shoes!" And another. And another. And another. Ad infinitum $$$
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Take up running they said. It's free!*
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Sweat-wicking shirts! Compression socks! Non-bouncing shades! UV-proof hats! Neck buffs! Trail shoes! Gaiters! Racing shoes, carbon-plated! Recovery flipflops! Base layers! Jackets, rain and windproof! Reflective gear! A smartwatch! Training plans! Runners' memoirs! Club membership! Race signup fees! Gels! Electrolyte mix! Protein bars!
And have you tried spirulina, it does wonders for recovery (so they say)
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"I got into barefoot running but mainly for the savings"
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Never get into actual warhammer, only videogames.
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Or go for the cheaper alternatives. Or just buy a 3D printer, so you can have beautiful, unpainted armies that'll never see any action, just like 70% of all GW models!
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Turns out PC's are a cheap hobby.
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Many hobbies are cheap if you choose wisely out of your possible interests; and then go with cheap, good enough options rather than getting swept up in online echo chambers (where nothing less than top tier is acceptable).
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Yeah but they don't pull the dopamine like the expensive ones do
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Motorcycles: Excuse me
Sports cars: Hold my beer
Planes:
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Compared to other "adult hobbies" such as cars even the highest end PC costs peanuts.
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A relatively cheap PC with Factorio and you are set. You won't spend much on food either, so win-win.
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5k? I don't believe it. When in get home I'll total up my setup and compare notes
EDIT- So I bought some stuff at different prices than you'd get today (cough GPU) so I will list a few prices for.
PC Hardware
- Intel i5 10400 - $180
- RAM 16GB DDR4 - $40
- Mobo - $180
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (Used on ebay) - $215, New is about $450
- AverMedia HD2 Capture Card - $150 (now $99)
- PCIE Wifi Adapter (Amazon) - $20
- 250Gb SSD (system and files, gift) - $80
- 2Tb HDD (Games, tried to save on budget) - $80
- PSU - $120
- Total Spent - $985
- Total Value - $1300
Peripherals
- 40" TV - $200 new at time, got on clearance for $100. Now ~$130-150
- 24" gaming monitor (used) - $200 retail discontinued, paid $120 used, $100 on ebay now
- 4 Hard Drive dock (gift) - $100
- RGB keyboard pad (gift) - $40
- keyboard base - $120
- White switches - $40
- Custom etsy keys - $40
- Logitech mouse - $80
- USB Hub (Ebay) - $37
- Stream Deck (Ebay) - $80
- Microphone (Used Ebay) - $70, new is $140
- Headphones -$100
Total Spent - $787 (927 if free was included)
All in - I'm at about $2k and can run Space Marine 2 and Warzone.
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That's only if you are in the subset of PC enjoyers who like state of the art equipment, expensive accessories and expensive recent games.
I consider myself a PC nerd but 5K is more than I spent in the last 10 years on the hobby. I've built my main rig for <1K, own a few raspberries and my home server is an old work laptop. It absolutely doesn't have to be an expensive hobby.
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Be sure to see if your local library or community center has hobby stuff to check out or cheap classes! YMMV depending on how well funded they are, but it’s becoming really common to have a 3D printer, specialty baking pans, tools, etc.
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Bruh. 3d printing is a mildly expensive gateway hobby that funnels things into other hobbies
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It’s free at my local library because it’s new. Their cost plan for when they start charging is free for the first 3 hours of printing and then a max of $10 for a 10 hour print.
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Gaming used to not be like that, but now a good GPU alone costs 800 to 2500 bucks. Sure you get away with cheaper components but at what cost, you got to be patient gamer to enjoy this endeavor.
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The Main Reason I became an Indie Gamer.
It's not that I can't afford it, it's just that it isn't worth it for me.
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You just should play different games.
For example ping pong runs on integrated gpus.
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Bought a 4070 super for 600. They have come down a lot
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my gpu is 8 years old, and it runs everything perfectly. I've never had any issues with high quality shaders in Minecraft, and i have a million mods in Teardown and i don't really see it lag unless im testing my PCs limits lol
i really really don't think you need to spend nearly that much money to enjoy video games
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My 15 years old i5 750 upgraded with a 1060 can play almost anything. You could literally play great free games for the next 10 years on it without spending a dime. Maybe some gamers are doing too much? There's no need to upgrade your pc every years to get 2 more fps...
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Can be true but like all things it depends. In the 6 years I've been into 3d printing I've observed that lots of people compulsively mod their machines. I just print stuff. Filament is cheap and I use free online software to do designs. The repair parts I've made have actually paid for the machine by being able to keep broken stuff instead of replacing them. But I'm cheap. I think people who are determined to spend money will find a hobby to spend it on.
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Never understood the obsessive tinkerers, all that work to have something worse than a Bambu P1S. To each their own ig, I just see my printer as a means to an end I don't want to mess with it. I want to mess with the stuff I build with it
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TBH the 5 years I spent tinkering with my Ender 3 were a lot of fun. Overcoming the little problems and getting the settings right was always satisfying. But at some point enough was enough. My A1 is like a little robot wizard - I hand it a file, it conjures me an object and plays a little song when it's ready. I'm loving it!
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a printer is a means to a means to a means to a better printer
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My hobby is hobbies. I start something spend whatever money I want whilst it entertains me and then drop it without reason and move on to something else. Some I will come back to years later.
The curse of ADHD.
When friends comment on my ever changing hobbies and dropping them, my reply is simple; it’s the journey for me and not the end goal.
Current hobbies and durations:
- Rubik’s Cube - 6 years
- Indoor bouldering - 4 months
- Running - 25 years on and off, currently off.
- Lego - 1 week. Only have one set. The Bonsai Tree.
- 3D Printing - 2 years but off right now until I can get a new printer that isn’t so high maintenance.
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Indoor bouldering
Wait, what? Is this a Sysiphus kind of hobby that I haven't heard about yet!
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I’m not sure if you’re being serious right now and it doesn’t help that my Greek mythology knowledge is severely lacking (something I’ve wanted to learn more about).
So in case you don’t know what I’m talking about, indoor bouldering is like indoor rock climbing but not so high you need a belay system. Also, the climbs imitate boulders and so you might climb with all the holds being above your head, like the top of a cave.
As an expert in hobbies, I can honestly say this is freaking amazing. It’s got physical activity mixed in with problem solving and all the people I’ve talked to are super nice too (geeks, we are all geeks). If anything like me I find it hard to turn off my mind; this does that for me though. It’s meditative for me.
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Having a hobby in a price gouging capitalist hellscape.
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Never get into Modular Synthesizers.
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A nice ukulele is around 100$. Voilà.
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A shit one is even cheaper
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Agree. But having played on many different ones, I'de say instruments under 50$ are too shitty too be enjoyable, especially if you're learning.
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I got a couple Rubik's cubes for my kids a few years ago for nostalgia and they didn't want anything to do with them once they realized it wasn't easy to fix.
I tried to encourage them to keep plugging at it but they said "how am I supposed to do this if you can't?" I realized they had a point so I downloaded an illustrated book that takes you step by step through the beginner method, and after a couple of hours I solved it!
I felt like I had climbed Everest and the first thing my kids did was scramble it again as soon as I showed them. That was the beginning of me getting into cubing as a hobby, and I have to say it's one of the LEAST expensive hobbies I've ever been a part of!
Like with any hobby there are entry-level cubes and then enthusiast cubes that are more feature-rich and expensive. But the Delta between the two is surprisingly small. The cube that I use the most is one that has won world records and it was about $20 I think?
I have bought several variations of the 3X3 and other form factors. I have also bought a few as gifts as well as a Bluetooth connected cube with an accompanying robot and I don't think I've spent more than $300-$350 total for the lifetime of the hobby.
That said you could easily be competitive with a world class cube, a timer, a mat, and some "Cube Lube" for maintenance all for about $60-$80 no prob. It's about the only hobby I have my wife fully endorses, lol.
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I was reading your post and I briefly thought you were trying to say it IS expensive, not that it is not. And I was like is this guy on crack, cubing is cheap as chips.
Anywho, glad to see I was wrong. I learned cubing at the same time as my buddies kids did, and while I never got faster than I think a minute and a half? They are well under a minute now, it's crazy.
I still cube occasionally, but mostly just to fidget while watching TV 🤷♂️ Also so I don't forget how to do it.
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Yeah, it's cheap. Sorry for the lack of clarity and brevity. Lol.
I couldn't get any faster than about a minute and a half using the beginner method so I decided to try learning CFOP. At first I got way slower because there are more algorithms to remember but I saw how some others have modified it a bit to make it simpler and practiced when I could (i.e. watching TV like you lol) and now I can solve it in about a minute.
That's clearly not competitive in any way but I'm really just competing against myself so I'm happy with any Improvement. That's light years better than where I started and to people that don't know there are 11-year-olds online doing it in 8 seconds, my one minute is pretty impressive! 😂 Happy cubing, my friend!
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My bike is my pride and joy but good god she is also a money sink.
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Do you mean bicycle or motorcycle? What do you find yourself spending most of your bike money on? Most of my bicycle maintenance is for brake pads and the occasional replacement chain; not as many replacing tire tubes after getting nicer tires. Although I haven't been able to enjoy mine lately after putting on weight and 4 seats I've tried still make my butt numb after 20 minutes.
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I ride downhill mtb. Most of my money is spent on replacing broken parts from crashes and maintenance. Can’t have things failing when you’re flying down a mountain.
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#expensivehobbyautism it gets us all at one point.
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I got some 35mm film cause I was playing with the idea of film based astrophotography on my 3d printed telescope and wanted to test out a few different types of film.... And since the local places are charging $16+ per roll, was going to develop them myself.
Am I doing this right?
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Yes, this checks out.
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Horses, recreational vehicles, motorhomes, boats, sports cars... I'll just settle with my watercolors. I will however splurge on Daniel Smith paints.
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Paint for whatever reason needs this sliding scale of ‘archival’ which I don’t understand why student grade has to exist. it should all be archival and to be affordable. I suppose it comes down to pigment and binder but you could probably mix your own to maybe make it affordable.gum Arabic can be as cheap as less than 20$ a bottle
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There is a hell of a lot of things I would have loved to turn into hobbies if weren't for the money
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The boobs on that dude on the left.
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A 7€ MTG Starter Set.
And now I'm stuck.
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I remember when the game started in the '90s, booster packs were like a buck. I can't afford to stay in standard and most popular formats I enjoy won't let me use cards I like.
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Saw a YouTube video yesterday of a sim racer hobbiest that spent upwards of $700+ on literally just a wheel, shifter, petals, etc. Like not even the seat or computer or monitor or anything. Literally JUST the wheel parts.
Which is crazy but I have no way to complain as I've spent like 1,000 on my computer setup at least even excluding the actual PC.
Then there's Steam..
note I bought 2 steamdecks in that time and my account is like 4 years old
Compare yours with mine! https://help.steampowered.com/en/accountdata/AccountSpend
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Oh dear, I think I have a problem. I wonder if that counts keys bought for games from other sites like humble bundle redemptions? Even if it does, I guess I should focus on my backlog.
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700 bucks for a wheel is kinda mid tier, I say this with a 300 buck logi wheel.
Starts getting pricing when the drive motor alone is 1000 -2000 see fanatec
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If you're good enough you can compete against real NASCAR drivers. Much cheaper than even the most basic amateur racing such as auto cross.
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Uh oh, I've spent about $2,000 on my racing setup (moza r9 wheel base, SR-P pedals, RS V2 wheel, FSR Formula wheel, and ES wheel) and for me its been worth it, but it is ludicrously indulgent. Raced against (drove in the same race 3s slower a lap) a bunch of F2, F3 and F4 drivers and even Romain Grosjean. I was running on a cheap second hand G27 for 6 years before upgrading though, I would recommend going through that first to make sure you really want to race frequently enough to justify the cost.
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Over a decade+ that's not horrendous. I've probably spent around $2000 on computers for gaming in that same period. I know people who've dropped far more than that in a single day for their hobbies so gaming really is a pretty cheap hobby
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Well it's not like I can spend it on house,kids, vacation or anything else high ticket.
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Me with 30+ Libreboot desktops/laptops.
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A lot of expensive hobbies don't have to be expensive. I'm a musician, and I have spent thousands of dollars on musical equipment but realistically, if I weren't going to play out, or record high quality songs, you can get away with just a $200-$300 guitar (you might even be able to go lower. Cheap guitars are crazy good these days), a used amp, a tuner, and a cable. With that alone you have a lifetime of entertainment and challange, and the most expensive long-term cost is your strings. It's honestly a steal in term of cost to entertainment ratio.
Now. That said. The real challenge is not falling into GAS (Gear Aquisition Syndrome), which is a real challange. And if you become even mildly capable on guitar you're probably gonna wanna play live and record too, so, easier said than done, but it doesn't have to be expensive.
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I totally feel the GAS issue, (lol that sounds bad). In high school and college I totally got away with a budget setup like you described: cheap guitar, used amp, laptop, a couple of effects pedals, some cables and I was in solid shape. I recorded A LOT! Hell, some of my best work was done with that budget setup. Audio quality wasn’t the best but it didn’t matter to me, just for fun.
As soon as I got out of college and had more than two nickels to rub together, my gear setup had gotten out of hand. Multiple guitars, amps, midi controllers, mixing boards, usb interfaces, studio monitors, full pedal boards, multiple mics, electric drum kit, cables cables cables. Just insane, thousands of dollars. I still do plenty of recording and playing but not nearly as much as my budget days. Some truth to less is more I guess. I have so many toys I don’t know what to do with my hands.
The upside to having more gear is I can host karaoke at parties, jam sessions can be recorded live in very high quality rather than relying on cheap hand recorders, and my own records are much higher quality. Plus, lots of toys, so I can never be bored.
I will say though, I much prefer a minimal setup. It keeps everything tight. It’s very hard to avoid all the novelty of having new toys to play with. But it’s true, playing guitar can be a very cheap hobby!
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my current hobby has so far cost me about $5k over 10 years
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Honestly, 500 bucks a year is not that much to spend on a hobby as long as you're enjoying yourself.
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trudat
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hobbyfamily
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We are not a waste of money!
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Me who enjoys reselling as a hobby.
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What do you resell?
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Gunpla gives me great joy, until I look at my bank account.
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I do some cross stitching and it hasn't been bad. Even using kits instead of doing custom ones. I've got like $120 CAD worth of large kits and, at the rate I'm going, they'll probably last me a decade or maybe my daughter will inherit some of them.
I'm well into year 2 of working on the current one.
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Relevant af... Been flirting with the idea of finally buying pro DJ gear after like 16 years of being a DJ. Have done a jillion weddings, and a healthy dose of misc functions from corporate shindigs, galas, house parties, bars, etc...
Have limped along so far by borrowing gear whenever I had a proper gig (plenty of friends in the scene) but now I have some fun money budget. The spicy pro gear is soooo stupidly expensive but about time I had real gear off my own. The cereal box bedroom toy deck only gets you so far.
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