Collecting: Addiction or Profession?
Human beings are an odd lot. Man is probably the only mammal who collects objects of different values, for no reason at all. From bottle caps to matchbook covers and newspaper recipes to clocks, the personal satisfaction is immeasurable. Sometimes without any pre-defined thought of becoming a serious displaying “collector”, objects of comfort begin to stack up around us. As objects are grouped into special boxes or on shelves, miniature museums are created with happy and stress free feelings.
Collecting simply for pleasure enables any part of our lives to remain at our fingertips, bringing enjoyment. Items without monetary value bring the satisfaction of keeping things around us that are familiar to our lives. A salesman may collect pens, hung from special board and displayed on three walls of a garage. A truck stop may have a train traveling on a track near the ceiling, throughout the restaurant and convenience store. Whatever the collection, the pressures of daily living are decreased while the enjoyment level rises.
Collecting may be a costly addiction, or a profitable business. When one eats, sleeps, and dreams of miniature 18 wheelers, there is usually a connection of having a driver in the family.
The compulsion of this private world may be costly. The seriousness of acquiring a group of objects enables the desire to have an even larger collection. Buying, trading, selling, and conducting research are but a drop in the bucket, compared to the exhilaration of obtaining a new piece for the collection.
Auctions are exciting, and there is just no other work to describe them. Whether attending an estate sale after an elderly person passes, or someone who is retiring, the pattern remains the same. Arriving early insures the professional to obtain a low number and a place to see the entire crowd. Viewing everyone allows the buyer to clearly see who may bid against him or her. Arriving early also enables the purchaser to walk around and view the groups of items, and how they are arranged. It is common to see die cast models lumped together with all of the other toys. When this happens, each box will be sold as a group, and the collector may have to purchase several boxes to obtain all of the desired pieces.
The most important thing to remember is that collecting scaled models, whether it be airplanes, trains, cars, trucks, big trucks, or bikes, is that this is not necessarily an extension of childhood. Children, although entertained and amused, do not conduct research; attend boring auctions after auction; hang in circles of collectors in person and on the Internet; have expensive hobbies; or make collecting models a profitable business venture. So when you see someone at a flea market or yard sale with a tea shirt that says, “I still play with toys”, that person is really a serious collector. Maintaining a specialized as opposed to a diverse collection will be more impressive, and worth more money.
Collecting simply for pleasure enables any part of our lives to remain at our fingertips, bringing enjoyment. Items without monetary value bring the satisfaction of keeping things around us that are familiar to our lives. A salesman may collect pens, hung from special board and displayed on three walls of a garage. A truck stop may have a train traveling on a track near the ceiling, throughout the restaurant and convenience store. Whatever the collection, the pressures of daily living are decreased while the enjoyment level rises.
Collecting may be a costly addiction, or a profitable business. When one eats, sleeps, and dreams of miniature 18 wheelers, there is usually a connection of having a driver in the family.
The compulsion of this private world may be costly. The seriousness of acquiring a group of objects enables the desire to have an even larger collection. Buying, trading, selling, and conducting research are but a drop in the bucket, compared to the exhilaration of obtaining a new piece for the collection.
Auctions are exciting, and there is just no other work to describe them. Whether attending an estate sale after an elderly person passes, or someone who is retiring, the pattern remains the same. Arriving early insures the professional to obtain a low number and a place to see the entire crowd. Viewing everyone allows the buyer to clearly see who may bid against him or her. Arriving early also enables the purchaser to walk around and view the groups of items, and how they are arranged. It is common to see die cast models lumped together with all of the other toys. When this happens, each box will be sold as a group, and the collector may have to purchase several boxes to obtain all of the desired pieces.
The most important thing to remember is that collecting scaled models, whether it be airplanes, trains, cars, trucks, big trucks, or bikes, is that this is not necessarily an extension of childhood. Children, although entertained and amused, do not conduct research; attend boring auctions after auction; hang in circles of collectors in person and on the Internet; have expensive hobbies; or make collecting models a profitable business venture. So when you see someone at a flea market or yard sale with a tea shirt that says, “I still play with toys”, that person is really a serious collector. Maintaining a specialized as opposed to a diverse collection will be more impressive, and worth more money.
