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  #1  
Old 11-04-2019, 09:47 AM
Guest 33123
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Default collecting: binge and purge?

Hi guys,

I've pretty much been a collector of some sort or another my whole life. Models, comic books, artist specific LP collecting, movies and TV series, movie memorabilia, etc. and obviously guitars. I do have a pattern it seems. I get super interested for a couple of years, learn a lot about the topic, build a collection and then the interest dies and I purge the collection, usually with nothing remaining. I've even done this with guitars. So right now I'm down to guitars and related equipment and a small amount of movie memorabilia. I actually just sold off 85% of my movie memorabilia but I'm going to keep the last bit because it still has meaning to me.

Do you guys ever do the same? It's a costly habit but it keeps me out of trouble.

Last edited by Guest 33123; 11-04-2019 at 10:43 AM.
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Old 11-04-2019, 10:31 AM
CoffeeFan CoffeeFan is offline
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I collected Bald Eagle figurines for years. I'm in the process of boxing them up now and will sell them at some point. I'll keep two or three select ones, but I'm just not that into Eagles anymore.

I now collect old cameras (of all manner), old photo accessories (timers, light meters, developing kits, etc) and die cast Kodak vehicles like this:



I've got 22 in the collection thus far, and I'm always looking...
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Old 11-04-2019, 11:20 AM
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fitness1 fitness1 is offline
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The only thing I've ever "collected" was music - first LP's and then CD's.

I ran a store from '79 to'87 and ended up with about 3200 LP's and probably 300 CD's.

Over the next 10 years I sold off my record collection at local shows down to about 350 and upped my CD collection to about 900.

I also have about 1000 titles on CDR's recorded from various sources (local library) and probably 3-4000 titles on very high quality cassettes from the record store days......I had/still have a few great decks and the quality on these recording are really good.

I look at it all and think it's overkill sometimes, but market value-wise it's not that much. I still think about selling the turntable and vinyl (probably get me 700 at best) but for now that's my "collection" status! They are all stored "properly" so access is a cinch and I can enjoy them on demand.

When everything you own fits in less than 400 sq ft, you learn to prioritize pretty quickly!
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Last edited by fitness1; 11-04-2019 at 12:13 PM.
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Old 11-04-2019, 02:51 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Throughout my life, I've noticed that most hobbies or interests have a four-year half life. After roughly four years of active participation, I have achieved most of my goals and developed all the skills likely without working REALLY hard at it. Then my interest has waned in things like scuba diving, kayaking, cycling, flying, motorcycling, disk golf, radio controlled aircraft, etc. Some of them fade because of physical limitations and injuries, others due to simply being distracted by newer interests. Guitar playing, target shooting, and martial arts are the hobbies that have lasted longest.

Now as we age, there is a strong desire to simplify and downsize. I still have too many guitars and too many CD's, and a bunch of tools that just don't get used often anymore. The next likely move (hopefully still a few years away) will be to a retirement community and most of this "stuff" will not go with us.
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Old 11-04-2019, 03:19 PM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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It seems I read/hear a lot about folks downsizing to move into retirement. But, then, the issue in retirement becomes what to do with all that time. One obvious partial solution is to do volunteer work. Hopefully, enough of us retiring folks will do that, so as to make a real difference.

However, that still leaves a lot of time for other things. Personally, I like to engage in something that I can do every day, that is an endless journey on which I can improve. Music is perfect for that. For me, that is guitar and piano.

If I a collecting anything these days, it is downloaded lessons from Homespun, Guitar Workshop (Stefan Grossman's catalog), Truefire, and a few others. I don't want to get involved in things that have to cost me money every time I want to participate, such as golf. There is a lot I want to learn on both piano and guitar, and budgeting for the purchase of lessons works because once I have the lessons in hand, they no longer cost me on a continuing basis, yet I can focus on what I want, loop as often as I need to, slow it down as much as needed, etc. By purchasing this material when it is on sale, I get by fairly inexpensively.

I also have a nice collection of fakebooks, guitar books, and piano books that I have collected over the years, many no longer in print. I have heard of folks being able to sell stuff they have had for years and make big money from it, but that has not been my personal experience. I guess I just don't have anything of value in whatever market there is for this stuff. That is fine, since I am actively using the stuff anyway.

I do know some folks personally who collected certain kinds of dolls or other knickknacks, believing they would someday be worth big money, but that never materialized and selling would mean taking a rather large loss. So I am not alone in that. Fortunately, I have not collected anything for that purpose, instead acquiring for its practical value to my own interests. There has always been at least intrinsic value in that for me.

Tony
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Old 11-04-2019, 03:52 PM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J-Doug View Post
Hi guys,

I've pretty much been a collector of some sort or another my whole life. Models, comic books, artist specific LP collecting, movies and TV series, movie memorabilia, etc. and obviously guitars. I do have a pattern it seems. I get super interested for a couple of years, learn a lot about the topic, build a collection and then the interest dies and I purge the collection, usually with nothing remaining. I've even done this with guitars. So right now I'm down to guitars and related equipment and a small amount of movie memorabilia. I actually just sold off 85% of my movie memorabilia but I'm going to keep the last bit because it still has meaning to me.

Do you guys ever do the same? It's a costly habit but it keeps me out of trouble.
Lots of positive reasons why being interested in the items you mentioned are healthy if it keeps you out of trouble.

I started collecting sports cards in the late 70's and continued into the early 90's. I still have them all, about 35,000. Included are also lots of 70s tv/movie cards like Star Wars (those are cool), Charlie's Angels, Mork & Mindy, etc. Don't know if I'll ever get rid of them though.
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Old 11-04-2019, 04:42 PM
sevargnhoj sevargnhoj is offline
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My Mother was a "collector".

It started with antiques and chain-reacted for the rest of her life to include more categories than I could list. She loved the chase and enjoyed her conquests throughout her life.

We just completed the estate sale this past weekend. It took a month of concerted effort to inventory her collection. My guesstimate is that we liquidated maybe 3/4 of her collections.

The whole process was eye-opening with regard to the sheer volume of stuff that she had "collected" over 60+ years (she was 84).

Here's a link to the sale site with pictures of the "stock":

https://www.estatesales.net/NC/Westfield/27053/2386563


Lots of pictures. Take a look, then tell me about your collections.

Oh, she never purged.
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Old 11-04-2019, 08:48 PM
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fitness1 fitness1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sevargnhoj View Post
My Mother was a "collector".



Oh, she never purged.
Dang - she had it "bad".
Like having her own store!
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Old 11-04-2019, 08:55 PM
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DenverSteve DenverSteve is offline
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Nope. I have the essentials and a few extra guitars. The essentials would be one guitar. So, I have a few more than the 1. However I have to have a place for everything and everything in its place. It may partially come from being a military brat and having to move at the drop of a hat meant nothing more than essentials.
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  #10  
Old 11-05-2019, 10:43 AM
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Glad to see that some people share this affliction.
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  #11  
Old 11-05-2019, 12:59 PM
emtsteve emtsteve is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sevargnhoj View Post
My Mother was a "collector".

It started with antiques and chain-reacted for the rest of her life to include more categories than I could list. She loved the chase and enjoyed her conquests throughout her life.

We just completed the estate sale this past weekend. It took a month of concerted effort to inventory her collection. My guesstimate is that we liquidated maybe 3/4 of her collections.

The whole process was eye-opening with regard to the sheer volume of stuff that she had "collected" over 60+ years (she was 84).

Here's a link to the sale site with pictures of the "stock":

https://www.estatesales.net/NC/Westfield/27053/2386563


Lots of pictures. Take a look, then tell me about your collections.

Oh, she never purged.
Wow, that's a lot of stuff! Cool house too.

I am in the process of liquidating my mother's estate, sale is this coming weekend. No where near as much as you had, but enough to keep 3-4 of us busy for 2 weeks organizing and prepping for the sale.

I am slowly getting rid of extraneous "stuff" in my life.
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  #12  
Old 11-05-2019, 01:35 PM
PorkPieGuy PorkPieGuy is offline
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I just posted a thread sort of like this. I have relatives that are very much like this. First it was Depression glassware, then jewelry-making, then farming, then beekeeping. There are other examples of this, but I can't discuss them here.

Heck, I guess I do this too, but it's mainly with instruments. It started with playing in the band in middle school and high school. Then it was piano, then guitar, then drums, then guitar again, then dulcimer, then drums again.
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Old 11-05-2019, 02:11 PM
FLRon FLRon is offline
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I have a 50 year collection of fishing lures that I am still adding to. Why,I have no idea because I don't actively seek them out any longer. If something comes up I find it hard to resist.
I told my daughter that I better get busy cataloging all of them because it will fall to her to unload them one day.
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