Taking up a Collection


Wherein Our Heroine Examines Hobbies.
Someone once asked me, "What do you collect?" The question threw me. It wasn't, "Do you collect anything?" or "Do you have a collection?" The query automatically assumed I collected something, some variety of tchotchke, bauble or other item designated as "collectible." My eloquent answer, "Um... I don't collect anything," elicited great surprise. Apparently, there are great swaths of the population for whom having a collection is What People Do.

I guess I have always only half-aware of the general urge to collect something - to have the whole set. I do remember being eight and thinking that getting all of the Star Wars trading cards would be a good thing - after all, everyone else in the second grade was getting them. I had a stack about an inch high when I lost interest. Then there were Breyer Horses, which I wanted because they looked like the real thing and I could play with them. Even in the seventies, I knew there was no way I would ever have a "complete set" of those - there were hundreds even then.

In my youth, I know there were various fast-food promotions I got excited about because of the toys, and there are even some I vividly remember. You can tell if someone is in my age bracket by inquiring if they ever desperately wanted a plastic pickle whistle from Burger King. Whether or not they did, if they know what you mean, they are likely to be in their mid-thirties. But if the desire to "have them all" ever possessed my waking thoughts, it was fleeting. If I were a member of the "catch 'em all" Pokemon generation, I am sure I would be hopelessly out of the loop.

BBC America has a show called "Cash in the Attic" which helps people value their antiques and collectibles, selling them at auction to raise a sum towards a given project. It's an interesting view on collectors, and I'm often amazed at the sums given for some small "whimsy" or (to my eyes) appallingly ugly Staffordshire dog. So there is a good fiscal reason to collect - at least as a form of speculation. But again, I can't imagine having a lot of china stashed away just in case it was worth something someday. I just don't have the collector's gene, I guess. If I amass a quantity of something, it's generally because I want to use it - not for its intrinsic value.

There are things that would be fun to own a complete set of - vintage Tintin or Asterix comics, for instance. But because I would really want them to read, not to inhabit a plastic sleeve, the vintage ones would actually be wasted on me.

Better to have a new set, and not offend the sensibilities of the collectoriat.

Posted: Wednesday - April 07, 2004 at 08:44 AM         | |

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