@STORMS Nice to meet you too!
I’ve seen your pictures in the welcome thread and believe me, I’d pay that much or more for some of those records (DOTP seriously I’d fork over a decent amount of dough; $150 seems quite reasonable).
Most of what I have are just the CD versions of their catalog through DU, minus some of the very early EPs. I bought them all except Very Proud of Ya in mint condition, unopened. (No longer have VPOY as it got ruined a few years ago when I moved). I tried to acquire some vinyl from the Nitro years a few years ago, but that turned out to be something of a disaster and I never received them. However, I did manage to get my hands on Clandestine around 2012, still in the original shrink wrap, for $40. I don’t think I will ever come across that kind of a steal ever again. 
I have a few other little things, some tees, a few stickers/button, a poster and several pictures, all from circa 2000 - 2003, but that’s really the extent of my collection. I’m very proud of it though. In the event of a fire or something that’s probably the first/only thing I’d grab before running out of the building. It’s very special to me and in my opinion those things are irreplaceable for the most part. I keep everything except the poster in one of those big plastic container things with a lid unless I’m spending quality time with them, because I’m totally paranoid about them getting ruined or lost or whatever (found that out the hard way with VPOY). I’m still looking to replace it, and always on the lookout for vinyl, but right now I’m in between careers and currently only working part-time, so not much expendable income at the moment.
Like you, AFI has always been and still is my favorite band. Something that really, really strikes me about them is that whenever I listen to one of their older albums - Black Sails, Drowning, or Sing the Sorrow, or any of the EPs from around that time - from cover to cover, it still excites me exactly the same as the first time I ever heard it years and years ago, it still blows my mind. I also pick up new things in those albums, certain little details in the instrumentation or the meaning behind the lyrics or something expressed in Davey’s voice that I never noticed before even though I’ve heard those songs probably thousands of times, and it just blows me away. I’m not sure how many bands can claim that.
I’ll tell you a funny story - last week I had to drive about 40 miles from where I live to have some x-rays done, and I listened to AOD on the way just for the hell of it. I haven’t listened to that album front to back in maybe a year and a half. By Sacrifice Theory I was singing along and grinning like such a freaking dufus, I’m sure I got a lot of strange looks every time I stopped at a red light. Oh well, it was freaking fantastic, and reminded me of how much I just adore that album.
I was always sort of a fan from the outside as well. I have, most unfortunately, never seen AFI live, and I have never met a serious fan in person. I grew up in a really, really small town, some three hours from any city they played back in the day. Of course, my parents would have done everything to prevent me from going anyway, but I didn’t know any other fans, I didn’t know anyone to bum rides from. Even if all of that had worked out, I was just so young at the time, it kind of makes me laugh to think about it now. I was maybe 10 years old when I discovered this band. They were by far the heaviest thing I had ever listened to. I can’t quite remember exactly how I found them. I remember hearing Totalimmortal, God Called in Sick Today, The Prayer Position, Smile, Third Season, maybe a few others. Their signature sound in those songs, on those albums, was just so amazing and different to me. It still is.
Over the last several years I’ve considered going to see them, but I don’t enjoy concerts as much as I used to. Concert etiquette has changed a lot (not in a good way, in my opinion) and I have PTSD, so being around that many people is very stressful for me. I really thought about going to the Atlanta show next month even though it’s a few hours from where I live in NC, because I’ve always wanted to see them play the Tabernacle (the ambiance seems like it would just be perfect for them, although I don’t think they have that huge chandelier anymore, what a shame). But I probably won’t, because I really don’t think I’d be able to enjoy myself like I would have in the past.
Now watch them play fucking Synesthesia at that show just to make me regret my decision.
By the time I was old enough to have my own job and pay for a membership myself, it was always closed. Ah well…
