Are you a collector?

[columbine]

I've always disliked the marketing of things as "collectibles" because I grew up thinking that amassing mounds of Stuph that you didn't have any use for except simply OWNING it was foolish, and the marketers thereof were crooks. So the "created needs" that result in the "victim collectors" you describe above tick me off, especially since the collectors tend to be people who really could use the money for something else (like not getting the utilities shut off).

Self-motivated collecting, though - mine's mineral specimens. Small, pretty mineral specimens. It's not "collecting" in the purest sense because I do occasionally come up with a brilliant idea for a jewelry piece for one or another of them, but I mostly just like looking at them!

Love, Columbine

[Twisterdog]

The "accidental collector" paragraph is sooooo true.

I collect Steiff teddy bears. I don't have thousands, honestly, I have like twenty. (Only because they are expensive, though! ) I like these particular bears a lot, but I not particulary fond of bears in general. People don't get that. My family and friends insist on buying me keychains, sweatshirts, drinking glasses, etc. with random images of teddy bears on them. No. Not the same thing. And they buy me any teddy bear they see. Nice gesture, and I hate to sound like a snob, but stop it already. I want a few dozen carefully-chosen, authentic, imported Steiff bears. Not a few hundred generic stuffed animals from Walmart.

My sister once found a set of kitchen stuff - canisters, salt and pepper shakers, dishes, etc. - with green frogs on it. She thought they were cute, and inexpensive, so she decided to change her kitchen to frogs for a year or so just for fun. What happened ... she received 500 frog items over the next decade. She said, "And frogs ... real frogs ... actually kind of creep me out. I just liked these one particular cartoonish-looking frogs on this one item." People mean well, and you just have to laugh, but wow! does it clutter up your house!

I have found, over the years, that my desire to collect and hoard meaningless items grows in direct proportion to two things ... the amount of space I have to put it all in and the amount of time I have on my hands. If I'm bored, I shop. And if there is room, I fill it. There used to be two people in this house, with several extra rooms ... rooms I filled with stuff. When I got married, now there are six people in the house, with not an exta shelf available. This has, fortunately, drastically cut down on the time and money I spend searching ebay and antique stores for The Perfect Insert-Obsession-Of-The-Month-Here.

[lizbud]

Self-motivated collecting, though - mine's mineral specimens. Small, pretty mineral specimens. It's not "collecting" in the purest sense because I do occasionally come up with a brilliant idea for a jewelry piece for one or another of them, but I mostly just like looking at them!

Love, Columbine

Self motivated collecting.... I like that. Not a complusion, just motivated.


I loved collecting interesting stones when I was a kid. Had quite a
good collection too. I had forgotten all about that.


I also collect old coins from the US and other countries.