Honestly, it's the nostalgic feeling of getting a preorder after work, the looking at my gaming shelves and seeing a visual representation of the backlog I have. Like, I buy games on steam and I'll go back like damn, when did I buy that? Lol. First world problems, I know.
Lastly, just habit. My gamestop had always been cool. The same manager that sold me The Ocarina of Time sold me NBA2K23. They don't try to push funko on me. I just get my physical copy and bounce.
Just a combination of all of these.
Agree on the nostalgic