Collectors

I use to collect sports cards when I was a young boy and teen. I don't have those collections anymore and in fact I only collected them to pass the time. They really had very little actual value for me. Since those days I haven't really been much of a collector of anything. I have considered collecting again but other important matters in life seem to get in the way. What do you think about collectors, collecting or the tradeshow markets?

I honestly do not understand much about the tradeshow markets, but I understand collecting.

I horde books like trophies, especially old cookbooks, Bibles, and poetry ( i love the smell of the old paper). I also have a fondness for the metal lunchboxes, I have one whole shelf set aside for them with room for only about two more, so i'm going to have to choose the next one's wisely.

My husband collects star wars lego stuff and four leaf clovers. I still have all my old carebears too.

Collecting things that had or have meaning to you is a fun past time. We collect but we also get rid of things that don't matter, so as not to clutter the house.

a reply to: Asynchrony

I think if you are looking to collect to turn around and sell for profit. You should spend some time researching what people are collecting in your geographical area. IMO, baseball cards have reached their saturation point in most areas. If you had saved that old collection from when you were a kid, you might have had a few gems in the bunch.

What is your age range, as some things you have to be a legal adult to buy and sell, such as guns. If you have a criminal record can also effect what you can deal in. Just bringing up a few matters before you make any big investments.

What do you have an interest in already. If you are going to buy and sell things, make sure it's something you like, and make yourself familiar with what makes those things valuable.

Just because you may set up a table at a flea market or crafts fair, doesn't mean you'll sell anything if it's not what your demographic area wants.


Good luck!

Des

I have an unusual collection...i collect keychains.

To this date i have 30+ hanging on a dog choke collar (though i need another soon to accomodate). My prize gems are my mom's led zeppelin keychain and the one from the Queen musical we will rock you. I also have a star wars lightsaber.

I think my next find would be a zz top keychain from the eliminator era or any other novelty from 50's and up

I used to collect Star Wars toys,got to the point where I need an extra room to house the collection. Sold that about 8 years ago for 4 figures when I needed money. Now I have a collection of 1:24 scale Nascar race cars. I love rearranging my collections and setting them on display museum style. Especially after a joint session of congress.

a reply to: Asynchrony

To my mind, collecting things for the sake of having a collection of things, is not sensible, or useful. The only things I have collected over the years, have intrinsic value beyond the idea of having all, or most of a possible collection. For example, I have a vast number of books. The books I own, I own because I like the stories within their covers. There are no full series of books in my stack of volumes, because I do not care about the collector element of owning them, only the content of the books.

I collect hats of all various guises and sizes, though not intentionally

I was first bought a hat when I was around 7/8 years old by my mother whilst visiting our [then] local beach to keep the sun of my head. Well, I never took it off and wanted to wear it all the time, even to bed. At 8 years old I became attached to it, akin to a child with their favorite blanket and from this with my pocket money I would save up and buy another one.

As years passed by, friends and family members going on holiday would bring me one [or more] back. Having traveled a lot my self I would buy a hat from that region and/or representation of that country, town or village.

I am 41 years old now and the last time I counted my hats it was around 1900

The reason I keep them and not through them out is because of the way they make me feel when wearing them, just like it did the first day on the beach. In addition to this, I have hats that no-one else would have.....one off's....or at the very least only a few made. For example, I have a hat from the Fokker plant in Belfast when they used to make the planes there. It was given to me by my uncle and at the time they were only given to around 35 staff.....I feel honored wearing it

There are many, many various kinds from Ice Hockey to Billabong, charity to nature and wildlife and everything in between. I must say though, I love my Canadian hat the most, plain Red with a white flag on the front.....and every signature of the Toronto Mapleleafs team from 1991

I wear hats everyday, and because every day is a different day, I wear a different hat.

Cheers

My collection has a rather practicle use. I collect antique oil lamps. I have some very nice ones. They not only make nice decorations for the house, but in the event of a power outage they provide light and a little bit of heat.

Over this past winter there was an ice storm and the power went out while we slept.When we got up in the morning (we rise well before the sun comes up) I went around the house and lit all the lamps (there are a lot of them).We had light and some extra heat from all the lamps. It made the house look like it had gone back to the time it was built in 1910.

Last year I aquired a more modern lamp made by a company called Alladin. This lamp is the one to buy if you are looking for a lamp that provides a very good amount of light. They are somewhat expensive, but are well worth the price. I was fortunate enough to pick one up at a fleamarket last year for 15.00 (they are usually around 130.00). They use a mantle and a special ducting system to provide an enormous amount of light, and they are also fuel efficient.

Alladin mantle lamps

I used to be into ComicBooks but they lost their direction and have become too ultra violent.

I collect LEGO now! They are fun!

a reply to: abeverage

Ya, I forgot about comics. I had somewhere around a few hundred of them that I collected when I was around 14-16. I don't remember what happened to them. I think I gave them away.