Do you collect anything?

[Merritt]

There's something that really appeals to me about being a collector. I think I have this sad impulse to believe that if I own something cool, it'll make me a slightly more complete person. Then I keep having to get more and more cool stuff to top up the feeling. Then I realise I'm just hoarding, and don't really care that much about it anymore. Then I do a big clear out and start again with something else. I want to collect something, I just don't know how to be a collector, if that makes sense?

My current thing is books. I'm reading a lot more these days, but I still buy about ten books from charity shops for every one I finish. I try to keep it to things I could actually see myself wanting to read, but still. It's a bit sad, but scouring charity shops is one of the few things that encourages me to go out I get a genuine buzz from finding copies of older paperbacks, or old ex-library hardbacks.

I used to collect video games. I had hundreds and hundreds of them, picking up every cheap one I could find as a hobby, until I finally realised I'd never actually play 90% of them, and they were actually becoming a bit of a suffocating clutter. I worry that my feelings for books will suddenly switch off one day too. They probably will. But at least I'll have the pleasure of giving them back to charity shops, like an Oxfam Santa.

I briefly (for, like, a fortnight) collected novelty rubbers. I've thought about trying to collect bookmarks. I wouldn't mind a collection of cool looking pens and pencils. I live in hope that I'll find that particular thing that'll turn me into one of those people with a shrine to their ridiculous collection, but hopefully not like Jed Maxwell from I'm Alan Partridge. That said, I've always wanted a tattoo...

So, yeah, do you collect anything? What bits and pieces and knickknacks are cool to you? What would you like to collect? I bet someone here owns, like, 700 egg cups, so if that's you, tell us all about it.

[Indigo_]

I have amassed a large collection of carrier bags, it's an affliction

I love pigs, so I used to collect those, not real ones obviously I had hundreds of ornaments, which are now stored safely away in my parent's loft.

My dad is a big collector. He collects bookmarks, magnifying glasses and letter openers. He has a lot of Bowie stuff too.

[gregarious_introvert]

I collect things which people normally throw away: my most obvious collections are my vinyl records (they do take up far too much space) and concert programmes (ditto) but I've also kept the ticket stubs of every concert I've attended and when I'm travelling, I don't buy souvenirs of the place I'm visiting (although I did recently at Mount Etna, because I wanted an ashtray made of volcanic lava, even though I no longer smoke) but I do keep things like the free maps from tourist information booths, travel cards, entry tickets to certain attractions (like the Colosseum in Rome or the Louvre in Paris, for instance). I also collect memorabilia relating to my favourite band, but this tends to happen in fits and starts, only when I have "spare" cash, as the things I want are limited edition, often autographed and quite expensive.

I used to collect football programmes but stored them in the loft of my flat in London and some rats found their way in - by the time I realised, my collection had become nesting material! At the time, I also had a collection of NMEs going back about a decade (I started reading the NME when Sounds was no longer being published) which the rats also seemed to enjoy ripping up!

[Mr. Nobody]

I have been quite a collector, I've wondered if it's a 'spectrum' symptom or affliction.
when I was young it was almost a compulsion, I think it's a bit of a psychological problem,.
like it's an attempt to somehow fill yourself in some way and feel full or complete, "look at all I own, my being has increased"
I obsessively collected toy cars when I was very young, I think about 90% of them belonged to other kids in the street, I basically went around their houses collecting them all and hoarding them in a kitchen cupboard..lol
then it was obsessive stamp collecting, which I loved,. whenever I got some pocket money, I was off to search out some cool stamps to add to the collection,
then, a few years later it was vinyl records, I'd buy 1 or 2 second-hand ones almost every week.
sadly, in my late teens it was porn I was collecting, basically.
my porn collection was legendary,
then it was video games, up to a point,
lately, in the last 10 years or so, it's been feature films on DVD, books, and CD's.

it's all a bit sad to be honest, I'm not happy about any of it,
but yeah, I've been a bit of an obsessive collector over the years.

I came to the point a while ago where I saw that you literally cannot actually posses anything in life, your hands are really always empty, possession is a kind of impossibility, you can use stuff yeah, but possession seems a natural impossibility somehow?

possessions weigh you down and tie you down, I know that, but I still haven't quite learned how NOT to collect stuff, or truly seen through the whole idea of possessions.
I still covet quite a lot of things and feel an odd need to have stuff,
it's like, I'm not enough on my own, I need stuff to feel like I actually exist or am someone.

[Indigo_]

GI has reminded me that I collect theatre and gig programmes and tickets too

[anxiouslondoner]

Old computers and consoles
foreign coins and notes

[gregarious_introvert]

anxiouslondoner has reminded me that I collect foreign currency too (although you could probably guess this, if I have Hungarian bus tickets!).

[Chess&Junkfood]

^
My ceramic frog collection seems rather dull in comparison. Although when I say collection, I only have 3 ceramic frogs, which I suppose isn't much of a collection.

[Oddity]

Nope, never understood it myself I guess I might hold on to stuff which was significant for nostalgic reasons.

[Vienna]

Starting to collect postcards again.
Collected about 100 when I was younger but then one day I was in such a bad mood and threw them all away.

[kirbycrackle]

I used to love collecting stuff as a young son of a gun.

I had a baseball card collection ( I watched too many American films lol)

I also had a great collection of old marvel comics I'd gathered from car boot sales etc. That I wish to god I'd kept.

Collecting stuff can be fun. It's the thrill of the hunt!

[Mo34]

Originally Posted by _Tink_

I have amassed a large collection of carrier bags, it's an affliction

me too.

[Indigo_]

Originally Posted by biscuits

my enemies’ souls.

You win.

As a child, I collected Pokémon cards. I then sold them all at a boot sale

[gregarious_introvert]

Originally Posted by _Tink_

I have amassed a large collection of carrier bags, it's an affliction

My carrier bag collection grew until the 5p charge was introduced; now it's gradually getting smaller, but I've still never paid for a carrier (although I put most of my shopping in a backpack).

[Indigo_]

^ I've got four or five real sturdy re-usable ones which I constantly leave in the cupboard when I go food shopping, so I keep buying more

[flumpsy]

I just collect dust.


Oh, and retro watches, LED, calculator and funky seiko type of thing.

[Mikei]

I am mindful to not collect things, I did once have a compulsive collecting habit, and was running out of space to keep things, the good feelings that came from collecting have been replaced with shame so that alone is quite discouraging but I don't know if it's healthy. My current difficulty is having too many unfinished projects and ideas, things that I've started but haven't got the time to invest in fully.

[Mr. Spaceman]

I went through a period of buying old Matchbox and Corgi cars on Ebay, particularly ones I remember having as a child but which somehow got lost or busted (usually by someone else..) I feel like I'm partly buying them for my childhood self and it gives me a nice feeling. I've also amassed a collection of Hot Wheels, I'm a sucker for bright colours and it gives me the same sort of thrill as buying a bag of colourful sweets.

In years past I would obsessively buy and records and cds, and also music papers and magazines which was becoming a problem space wise, but as I got older the desire to hoard them lessened and I've probably sold about half the records and got rid of almost all the magazines. The internet coming along was a wonderful thing. My mp3 collection is huge but I'm only spending a fraction of what I used to on buying music and unlike a lot of people I have no nostalgia for the physical formats.

[Mr. Nobody]

Originally Posted by flumpsy

I just collect dust.

[Merritt]

Originally Posted by Vasco Da Gama

like it's an attempt to somehow fill yourself in some way and feel full or complete, "look at all I own, my being has increased"

That's exactly it, yeah. It can make me feel like I'm one piece of whatever I'm collecting closer to being a full person. I feel empty most of the time, and like I don't know who I am, so it's comforting to believe I can sort of build up my personality and sense of self with... stuff. I never end up feeling more complete, no matter how much I accumulate, but it can be like scratching an itch. If it gives me even a temporary illusion of fulfilment, it's hard to resist.

[gregarious_introvert]

Originally Posted by Mr. Spaceman

I went through a period of buying old Matchbox and Corgi cars on Ebay, particularly ones I remember having as a child but which somehow got lost or busted (usually by someone else..) I feel like I'm partly buying them for my childhood self and it gives me a nice feeling. I've also amassed a collection of Hot Wheels, I'm a sucker for bright colours and it gives me the same sort of thrill as buying a bag of colourful sweets.

In years past I would obsessively buy and records and cds, and also music papers and magazines which was becoming a problem space wise, but as I got older the desire to hoard them lessened and I've probably sold about half the records and got rid of almost all the magazines. The internet coming along was a wonderful thing. My mp3 collection is huge but I'm only spending a fraction of what I used to on buying music and unlike a lot of people I have no nostalgia for the physical formats.

If you're selling off any more vinyl, please give me a shout! Maybe I could pay in Matchbox and Corgi cars (they are used, mind, not boxed but mostly in good condition) as I discovered when my dad died that my parents had saved all my toy cars from the 1960s (and early 70s)?