Sunday Scriblings #77 9/16

#77 - Collector Personality
Some people are collectors -- others are not. I would venture to say it is a personality type, that urge to gather together and own and organize particular things. It's fascinating what some collectors collect. Are you a collector? Of what, and to what lengths will you go? Do you know any quirky collectors? You might also imagine a rather difficult collection to maintain, or a particularly creepy or obscure one. Have fun!


I would venture to say that a collector personality is just an adaptation of an addictive personality. Some people like to drink or do drugs. Some people like to buy things. Sometimes these things are random and just about the addictive act of spending money. Other times it's specific things that don't necessarily serve a real purpose, except for collecting.

My wife and I collect stuffed animals made by Ty called Pluffies. They are not Beanie Babies although they often have beans in them. They are much bigger and very soft. About every animal that exists has multiples of them. We have well over fifty at about $5-7 dollars a pop and just bought one yesterday as a matter of fact. This type of collection is sentimental because it was one of the first things I bought her and I liked them as well.

I collect weapons such as swords, knifes, anything oriental in nature with a blade basically. I have lots of them. They are also worthless basically. I don't pay top dollar for folded steel samurai swords that can actually be used in combat. Although much of what I have is razor sharp, they are meant for display and I don't even do that. I just like swords and these are better than not having anything. If I had the money I am sure I would have some "real" ones.

I also collect movies and video games. Those have a tangible value. Sometimes I sell ones I am sick of to further the collection of ones that I like. I have had every video game system Nintendo has ever made except for Nintendo DS. I opted not to buy that because I have very little time outside of the house to play games, and I had a laptop so I saw no purpose in it. I am big on electronics, camera, and other gizmo's to make life easier or more memorable.

Since I used to have problems with addictions and I have been diagnosed with an addictive personality, I think I just moved my money spending from one place to another. The main problem at one point was that I wanted to feel good. Once my life got good on it's own (actually through much hard work) then I began to use my money to fill in the gap for the addiction.

This is my personal view, although many people share it with me. I don't think once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. But once an addict to something, always an addict to something. It's just that the something changes often. Like I still love shot glasses, but I don't drink.

Quirky part-My father collected baseball cards until he was 60 grand in the hole. You would think that is a good investment if you know nothing about them. It isn't. Cards, along with most stamps, coins, comics, and most collectibles are useless except to other collectors. People that know the value also know that it's very hard to find others who want to pay the value so they rip you off. My basic rule is if I want to make money, invest in a mutual fund or something. The value of even a simple bond goes up faster than baseball cards.

I'm done.