collecting - the idea??

swiss · 13-03-2002 11:34pm #1

I wonder if this is the appropriate forum for this thread

Over the course of my life, I have made half-hearted attempts at collecting stamps and coins. Now having given up on these as a rather antiquated means of distraction (all I now seem to collect are bills!) I wonder what possessed me to scrounge together worthless trinkets that seemed to have no value except that attached to sentiment alone.

Is the idea to collect a mere hoarders' instinct, a throwback to the hunter-gatherer man of yesteryear? Barter has now become a somewhat outdated method of trade (one would think

) and so the idea of collecting in order to trade/make financial gain has also become defunct, with the exception of items expected to increase in value in the future, such as a valuable painting or item of historic merit.

This opinion does not relate to collecting such items that are used/reused from time to time, such as videos/posters/books etc. I am referring to items that appear to have little or no economic value or merit (such as the aforementioned stamps/coins).

Is it merely the pull of nostalgia - a very powerful emotion - which persuades us to hang on to these trinkets, or is there another overriding factor at work here?

Opinions??

bombidol · 14-03-2002 10:21am

i think its just that manly urge to "Have it all!", i have the best!

bomB

azezil · 14-03-2002 11:31am

Save a memory?
Greed?
Fanancial gain?

Khynareth · 14-03-2002 4:17pm

Passion.
When you like something you want it. When you have it you're (somehow happy). I love books. I have read nearly all the ones I have, but I always buy them faster than I have time to read.
Even when I can't read, it's a pleasure to have them there for me.
Just like an old friend you haven't seen in a while and take time to re-discover.
You know they bring you pleasure.
Collecting is pleasure driven, I think.

havok* · 14-03-2002 8:46pm

Originally posted by Khynareth
Passion.
When you like something you want it. When you have it you're (somehow happy). I love books. I have read nearly all the ones I have, but I always buy them faster than I have time to read.
Even when I can't read, it's a pleasure to have them there for me.
Just like an old friend you haven't seen in a while and take time to re-discover.
You know they bring you pleasure.
Collecting is pleasure driven, I think.

Definitely,

I used to collect coins when i was younger. I still have hundreds of foregin and old (world war and pre world war) coins. I also have some genuine millatary gear dating back to WW2 (just a phase:)) Starting getting back into comics when i was working last year, but as i'm i pennyless student again i dont have the dosh. I normally collect comics for there artwork first and foremost (and try not to paw them to much) ,if the storyline is good its a bonus.
None of which where ever planned for fanancial gain.

Now that i think of it i also used to tape all the Formula one races (have over 3 years of f1 reaces on tape)

Irish_Ranger_IR · 15-03-2002 11:57am

I am not sure why I hold on to things, I never want to throw anything away, and I never did for years, I moved out of my parents houes last year, so I left all my stuff there, from 1.5 years in Oz and 4 summers in america, loads of crap that mean the world to me, funny that, but every ticket and every flyer, plane ticket, matchbox, everything has a little story and they are my memorys and that's what is important to me to hold on to them......

Khynareth · 15-03-2002 1:25pm

When I think about it, I do that too. I think keeping things and collecting stuffs is a link to reality, both to your past ans to yourself, somehow...

Now, if I look at my house I realise I am a manic collector... Carved skulls (about 20 of them), quality fountain pens, tapes, cds, books, games...

When I get into something I always want a lot of it... Mmh... Disturbing...

(Retreating inside the fortess, inside herself to face the little manic collecting monster she just discovered, hoping to tame it)

Kalina · 21-03-2002 7:50pm

I've collected almost a thousand callcards during secondary school.
I was attracted to the idea of collecting these because they were easy to come by (people used to just discard them in every phone-box) and some of them will be worth a fortune to me in a couple of decades time, as they are hardly being used anymore due to the increased popularity of mobile-phones.
Maybe nostalgia has something to do with it, they're nice to have and look back at from time to time but I'm mainly in it for the money!!:p

Lenny · 26-03-2002 7:08pm

I collect call cards too, I bought many of the rare ones, mine are worth loads now.

I also remember buying a set of "EU" callcards, were each country in the EU made its own custom callcard, and it was made into a EU pack, there was only 3,000 packs made, and Ireland got 300 of them, I bought two for £60(£30 ea), and a day later I saw it selling for £350 as a collecters item, I'd like to know how much its worth now

azezil · 26-03-2002 7:17pm

weren't kellog's call cards amung the first in Ireland? i think i still have one!!

apiou · 02-04-2002 4:39pm

I ocllect post cards - had coins but my brother decided that they would have a better home with him (I did not ask his opinion) - I have the most amazing post cards - some are 75 records - some are hand stiched - some are of places that no longer exist (ex Beirut - Not one building on my post cards of Beirut exist today) old ships such as USS Lines no longer exist. So much history in post cards - a still photo of a time gone by. Amazing -
I also have call cards - some from different places aroudn the world and donot know what to do with them. Also a colleciton of pins that I do not want (But I am keeping the post cards)

IRISHLILY24 · 09-04-2002 1:46am

A reality that I have had to face that yes, while collecting things you love is fun and some stuff has sentimental value, in the end it all gets thrown away anyway

Because I am making this big move I went through things I held on to since elementary school and had to decide if it was important enough to lug acroos the ocean with me, and it came down to no. I threw away atleast 10 boxes worth of stuff that I thought were so important at one time, I just decided to keep the memories instead....although I couldnt bring myself to toss out my baseball card collection, of which I have over 2 thousand since junior high school

I guess some stuff is just too hard to let go of

not to mention that someday they will be worth handing down to my children if I have any, which is a reason for women collecting things that they do, to one day give it to thier children , or share with...anyway thats my 2 cents worth

Khynareth · 09-04-2002 2:48pm

I move regularly (once every 1/2 years), I had to move country too and instead of throwing things away, I give them to people/charities.
If you don't want it, or can't keep it, why throw things away when you can make somebody happy?

Raskolnikov · 13-04-2002 11:03pm

To tell the truth i collect only for financial gain, i know it's probably not what you're expecting to hear but i don't see the point in accumlating what is essentially junk that has no use or value.

collecting - the idea??

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