Collections
What is it about collecting things that we love so much? I have it on good authority, of course, that collecting is a largely male phenomenon, although I'm sure there must be lots of female collectors too, especially in blogland, I'd bet.Sure, everyone collects "music" and "films", in the sense that we all buy this stuff, but I'm more interested in verging-on-obsessive collections. I mean, I even considered starting a collection of video recorders at one point! I had five, including a really old top-loading Ferguson Videostar with "piano-key" buttons. What better start for a VCR collection?
I used to collect comic books. Not shitty British stuff like The Beano or black-and-white reprints of US Marvel stuff, but the real-deal American imports. Well, to tell the truth, I started with the black-and-white Brit reprints, but I was only about five, so I didn't have a lot of discernment back then. I remember always being so excited when my Spider-Man comic would drop through the letterbox with the day's papers.
Later came the UK's Hulk Comic, which also included stories of another few characters, such as Captain Britain, Black Knight, and Night Raven (pictured above). I fucking loved Night Raven, man. Again, though, I dare say most of this stuff was reprints, but I was nine or ten; what did I know?! I had it on order at my local newsagents, and I'd pick it up every week.
The next comic that I bought back then was the UK reprint series of the X-Men. This started right back from the old 1960s US stuff with the origins of the team. This was probably my first exposure to the X-Men and I loved them.
Anyway, at some point I guess all of these got thrown away. Then one evening, when I was probably about 13 or so, I was talking to a friend who was a couple of years older than me, and he said that his older brother ordered comics from the US every month and if I was interested I could order through him. Like, okay!
This went on for a couple of years, and I built up quite a nice little collection considering I was still at school and essentially had no money to speak of. This guy guided my choices to some extent, given that he had been collecting for many years and had a better idea of what might be hot or collectible.
I regret the day I sold this collection. A comic shop opened up in my hometown and I needed some cash to buy mics and amps and speakers for use in a band I was in. I think I got about, on average, 30p per comic, so probably about £100 or so. It seemed like an okay deal at the time, until I walked in a week later and saw my copy of Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #1 hanging on the wall with a £20 price tag. I was gutted. And worse still, I had found myself lured back into the world of comics. I started buying again, having just got rid of a reasonable collection.
And before I knew it, I was working in the shop, too. I'd become friendly with the owner, and I was bored with repairing shoes, which I'd been doing for about seven years. He needed a reliable manager for when he was out of the shop and someone who could run the mail-order side of the business for him.
So I collected again for a few years. I guess I'm an on-off kind of comic collector. I almost sold my current collection a few years ago, but the price offered was too low. I'm already glad I didn't sell.
Other things I collect are almost anything related to Adam Ant, although I've calmed down a lot on that front and no longer buy anything I've already got just because it's got a different cover, for example.
Tattoos, obviously.
Playing cards, too, although this is more on a basis of just picking up stuff I like, rather than actively seeking out particular decks. I am very fond of the Seinfeld deck that came with a limited-edition purchase of one of the DVD seasons; the Lesbian Girls set I bought on the Pigalle in Paris; and my Most Wanted Iraqis, which Red bought for me a few years ago.
I guess in a funny sort of way, I also collect posts on my blog, since I'm now up to 400. Yes sirree, this very post is my 400th.
Wow, I've waffled on a bit here, haven't I? Oops. Anyway, if you've read this far, tell me... what do you collect?
permalink posted by * (asterisk) at 9:25 AM
46 Comments:
No collections here anymore.
My book collection - gone. I took 16 boxes to Oxfam last year. The only books left in the house are ones I haven't read yet.
The comic collection - gone. Sold or recycled. I have a short box in the loft with Miracleman in.
Music collection...unless you count the contents of the HD...gone.
Porn collection...see above. I still treasure the works of Traci Lords.
I have a single action figure of Bumblebee Man from The Simpsons. And a little figure of Spider Jerusalem.
I have about 15 DVDs of my favourite films, ones that I will watch over and over. Oh and the boys are building an impressive Doctor Who DVD collection, I guess I'm a part of that too.
But that's it. I am an ex-collector.
(Going back to the porn collection, when I realised that I no longer needed my 'paper' porn collection, my dear partner offered to take all the mags to recycle in the paper skip thing in town. But every time she went to do it, there were too many people around for her to do it without being embarrassed - we are in a small town, remember. As a result, for a good couple of months her car boot was full of nothing more than boxes of Razzle and Escort.)
400?! Bloody hell!
Used to collect keyrings. Now just collect broken dreams.
PS Joking about the broken dreams.
I used to collect a lot of things.
Comics, had hundreds and hundreds. Spiderman, yes, The Punisher, Conan, Tank Girl, Silver Surfer, The Sandman, Batman-several series, well it was endless...I landed up selling the collection to a co-worker. I don't regret it, much.
Records...even though they were a monkey on my back I had so many, and moving was a nightmare...I do regret every now and then, I miss them.
Books...endless books...I had a huge issue where to put them, store them, keep them clean. My friends hated me. And I often moved. Don't regret not having them.
I collected decal glasses. This was a gorgeous collection and a phase for five years...between89-14. I had tons of them, ship themes, card themes, glamourous ones, kitchy ones...all bought for 25 cents each on average. i remember making Mister Anchovy pull off the road one time for a garge sale so I could look for glasses. Found a gorgeous set, 2 bucks or something.
I never had a problem finding them...then I couldn't find them anymore...or if I saw them in a second hand store they were getting more expensive, I realized uh oh, this mut be a big trend now...late 90's I sold most of them. Made a very pretty profit helped fund a road trip.
I really don't like having too many possesions...but I like being comfortable and havng some things...I do own books. I think I'm up to about 6 or 7 liquor boxes of books. All of them reference, or hardcover first edition of a few contemporary novels I HAD TO read when they first came out. Michael Faber, Chuck Pahalinuk, Donna Tartt, Cormac McCarthy...
otherwise they are all non-fiction and usually on physics, astronomy, mythology or Shakespeare...my biggest obsessions...
Stagg however has a t-shirt collection. Hundreds maybe he has two thousand t-shirts. It's impossible to manage them. So last week, seeing as he has every piece of clothing he has ever owned or worn...I sorted them. Deep in the back of his closet are clothes I deemd out of date or twoo small. One criteria is you can't wear that Cosby sweater!
Like I said, apparently I am a fashionista...not a collector! Heh heh...
(I have the Iraqi cards too I love them!)
- books
- tattoos from one particular artist
- fossils
- groovy tights
- found objects for art - esp. containers (usually clear plastic)
- shells (must be found, cannot be bought)
- doc martins (serious problem)
I collect 20s & 30s illustrated children's books, with illustrations by the likes of Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Jessie Wilcox Smith, Mary Tarrant, Heath Robinson etc. They cost an arm and a leg, unfortunately, so I try not to buy them too often - not that one finds them that often to agonised over anyway.
not a collection in the usual sense of the word, but i cannot bear to throw books away.
and music.
and my scooter magazines. which makes me mad, cos when we bought the house my mum asked what i was doing with the ones at her house, about five years worth, and i looked at the wife and she had a look on her face that sort of said "oh no you don't" and they went into the parental units bin!
bugger.
while i am here, are you absolutely sure it is only six months? i could have sworn you were already at it when i started!
that means i have been doing it 7 months? good god! wish i had taken note of how many posts i had done on the old one, oh well.
I collect Swatch watches and floatie pens. My best watch is called Tarot, and my best pen is the floating Pope John Paul II. Oh yeah, and tattoos, too.
I collect everything Star Wars (probably over 3,000 pieces from '77-now)
Aliens, Masters of the Universe, Marvel comics action figures and comics.
Such a nerd...
I think I have a collection of accordions - 5 currently, as I traded one for a mic job and a bellows repair on another instrument. Tuffy wants me to bring one to Portugal, but she doesn't want me to buy another one while I'm there.
BOOKS, BEER CAPS, DVDS is what I collect.
I should be doing something "artistic" with my beercaps soon.
Shep: That sounds like a lot of stuff gone, man. Shame all those books went, no? I have lots of books that I think one day I'll read again. But I am a real hoarder; I kind of collect everything, really. I have a few Traci Lords movies, obviously -- all on tape, along with most of the porn collection. Should transfer some to disc, I suppose. (BTW, I like the phrase "I no longer needed my 'paper' porn collection"; the use of the word "needed" is magic!)
Will: A friend bought me a Lego Boba Fett keyring the other day. Sorry about the broken dreams. (I know what they say about true words being spoken in jest.)
DS: Those ads were great, weren't they? I remember the ones for X-ray specs and Charles Atlas with the sand-in-face guy, yes. And what about the ones for sea monkeys, do you remember those? Do you still have any/all of your collection?
Candy: I can just imagine you collecting EVERYTHING, but I'm surprised that you then get rid of it all. But equally, I'm not surprised, if you know what I mean. You seem to have so many interests and passions that it would simply be impossible to keep everything that piques your interest, I bet. I sort of have a T-shirt collection, too. T-shirts are the item of clothing I buy most of. I probably have in excess of 100, at least 20 of which are Manic Street Preachers shirts and another dozen are probably tattoo designs. On the subject of cards, I love that American cards are bigger than UK cards; or rather, i wish UK cards were bigger!
Lee: How many pairs of Docs do you have?! What constitutes a serious problem? And who is your tattoo artist, if you don't mind me asking? I don't think I've seen any of your tattoos. Is that a conscious decision not to put them on your blog?
Spangly: That sounds like a cool collection. There are some books that I'd like to get first editions of; ones that are still pretty recent, like all of Palahniuk's books, so, comparatively speaking, they'll be pretty affordable. Where do you find yours? Presumably rarely in Rome.
Cappy: I can't bear to throw books away either. On the rare occasions that we need a culling here at Casa AsteRed, we tend either to give them to charity or sell them to a secondhand bookshop. But it's rare. Shame about the scooter mags. I've got about seven years' worth of Skin Deep tattoo mags that I never look at. Think I'll put them on eBay; better than the bin, eh? What about your collection of badges? You must have a fair few, no? On the blogging front, I think a lot of us starting at or around the same time, but I'm pretty sure that you, Dullard, and English Ranter were all up and running when I began. And Dinners had been at it on and off for quite a while before that, I think.
Camie: I have a small handful of Swatches. Thery are so popular in Italy that I bought one on each of my first few visits, and Red already had a small collection when we met. I had no idea that they even had a presence in the States. That's cool. Do you have Swatch stores there, like we do here, where they sell nothing but Swatch products? I love floatie pens, but I rarely see them around anymore. Cool idea for a collection.
Adam: That's a big Star Wars collection! I'm sure my brother wishes he kept all the stuff that he had at the time. He and I were always buying the figures, but he was a little younger and got lots of other stuff, too, like the Millennium Falcon, AT-AT, AT-ST, and Slave I, for example. Do you collect the Star Wars Dark Horse comics, too?
Mr A: Accordions are a cool thing to collect, I think, especially since you can play. Even better. You should definitely buy one in Portugal, though!
_z.: The beercaps sound particularly cool. What will you do with them, some sort of collage or something? You must post pics afterwards!
Thank you all for sharing. It's been lots of fun learning what floats your boats.
I go to specialist antiquarian children's bookshops (such as Stella & Rose's books in Hay on Wye, or the Old Children's Bookshelf on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh) or to general antiquarian booksellers who have good illustrated sections, such as Henry Pordes' on the Charing Cross road, where sad to say they remember me and know what I like.
If there's something particular I'm after I will also hunt around online, using bookfinder.com, and it's always worth poking around at book fairs, in second hand shops, and at markets. Since I once picked something up worth about £200 for £40 on a junk stall.
In Rome, these are few & far between, luckily for my wallet. Otoh the tempataion to diversify into, for instance, Roman prints of the Romantic era is quite strong.
I used to work opposite Henry Pordes...a great place. Shame all the businesses in Charing Cross Road are being forced out by nasty landlord types. I used to love hunting the basements for proofs of good stuff. I have a Tom Wolfe first edition from Henry Pordes somewhere...
A*, Swatches appeared over here in the early '80's. Marshall Fields (now Macy's) used to carry them, but stopped long ago. I have gotten quite a few from EBay. There is no Swatch Store in Michigan. Ron and I went to one in NYC, though. I spent far too long in there.
Floaty pens are hard to find. That's why they are cool to collect.
Hey, I asked Shep (at his blog)about the banned Traci videos. Now I see that you have some too. My buddy zeneric (on my blogroll) is a huge fan and is lacking the vids (only the underaged ones). Any chance I can get copies for him?? Let me know.
yeah I suppose... stick them on a canvas. then try to see which brand of beercaps I have the most of, and draw a subtle silhouette in the midst of chaos.
ah, the badges. most are new in the last couple of weeks, but i did used to have hundreds!
Spangly: Ah, yes, Hay-on-Wye. I used to work on a market stall there once a week when I left school. Cool place. Saw Billy Bragg there too, at the Literary Fest. I've been into a few of the bookshops, but it's so hard to know where to start (and when to stop). It's cool that they know you in Pordes; at least that means they might pick stuff up with you in mind if they happen upon it, no?
Shep: I was amazed when I was last down CXR to see how many of those shops in that parade are now closed. Terrible. I was going to go to Comics Showcase, but it's gone!
Camie: Wow, how many Swatches do you have? Sounds like it must be a lot. Re the floaty pens: anything that's pretty much out of production is totally worth collecting. I'll email you about the other thing.
_z.: It'd be interesting to see which beer you drink the most. Or perhaps you already know....!
Cappy: Okay, I thought you were maybe adding to a pre-existing collection. Even so, the amount you've bought recently means it is a collection now, no?
if u ask my da he tells u i collect dust
camie u needa get that bunny sutra swatch
Ooooh! Where can I get me a pack of the lovely naked ladies?
Comic Showcase was where I was manager for 4 years. Happy days. See here for the obit.
I used to collect hundreds of comics, now i dont. Id like to but i dont know where to start theres thats many now. So Wwhat do i do?
Pup,
My friend has the bunny sutra watch. We were bidding against each other on EBay, and outbid me in the middle of the night. Beeatch!
Thanks *A! You should see how trembly zeneric is....
My tattoo artist is John Hoyes, who owns State of the Art Tattoo in Winchester, VA. I would go to no one else for Asian work or anything with scales, Despite being quite open on my blog, I'm camera shy. One of my pieces is on his site, but it's just too damned hard to explain where! I've got some photographer friends...I'm hoping to do it right...then I'll put them up!
Oops...John Joyes. TWD (typing while drinking)
WV: ixkrinza
DP: I collect dust, too!
Tanya: Like I say, those were from Paris, but I dare say you'll find something similar on eBay if you look hard enough. By "look hard enough", I don't mean get a shaved head and loads of tattoos, I mean ... well, you know what I mean!
Shep: Yeah, I was amazed to find it gone when I popped down a couple of months back. Sad. Cool that that was where you worked.
David: There are so mnay around these days, I totally know what you mean. It's fucking insane. Check out Comic Book Round Up for inspiration.
Camie: I'll be in touch. Poor trembly Eric!
Lee: Good recommendation. I have some scaly Asian-style stuff, and as much as I like it, I know I could have / shaould have chosen an artist who was more deeply entrenched in the style. I'll definitely look forward to seeing your work.
Um, well there has been more.
Board games. Shoes. Purses/handbags. Vintage clothing. Postcards. Stamps. American Cinematographer magazine. Culinary equipment. Recipes. Aluminum hand-hammered trays.
I have been lucky that my interest is some thing was often just before it became a trend...and when ever I realized I was having too much stuff in my place, I would organize and sell off some things I had been collecting. This was always unconscoius and just a phase I would go through. Often incredible learning experiences but I had no idea until I was changing interests or simply didn't have enough room to keep stuff.
In some weird bizarro world, I would love to be a person who lived in an austere modernist environmnet...but somehow I always land up with a ton of shit hanging about. And this from a person who hates shopping?
The decal glasses and the hand-hammered aluminum plates turned out to be very lucrative coincidences. I don't regret collecting them, as I learned alot about manufacturing history and the culture/people who makde these things.
I do have one thing I wish I could afford to collect and it is hobo culture...maybe I should go make a post about that...hmmm...
Oh and regarding the Docs...I've only got about 15 pair, but the real problem lies in all the time I waste scouring ebay and thrift stores and the like looking for another unique pair. Storage isn't the easiest either.
Do you have tat pix up?
Candy: It's amazing how easy it is to get obsessed with stuff, isn't it?! I'm with you about thinking it'd be nice to live in a clean, sleek, modernist place, but before you know it there'd be dvds on eavery surface, magazine, books... chaos!
Lee: Fifteen pairs is quite a few, though. I have some tatt pix up: try this post, this one, and my HNT blog, scrolling through.
I think it is going to be Stella... or Almaza (diamond), our local lebanese beer.
yeah yeah, I am ashamed to speak of my commercial beer tastes... but I do prefer blondes :S
Ok this is a bit weird...but we have a lot of the same tattoos in different places. I've got the Chinese script "Buji" on the back of my neck, which means "no hurry" (It's a Taoist thing), I've got a blue dragon wrapped 'round my right arm and two (eventually three) large koi going diagonally from my shoulder to my lower back. Kinda funny. Once I finish the koi, I think I'm done. I'm pretty inked for a girl as it is and I don't put tats on parts that will sag!
Yours are really beautiful...do you think you'll just keep going till you run out of skin?
Found this fascinating! The nearest thing to a collection I've had is cacti - I still have my certificates (including those first prize). I have amassed a lot of books but I don't think that quite counts.
Well, I collect children - I'm up to 5 now LOL
Being serious, I collect frogs, and shoes. The frogs came about by accident, I like frogs ('cause I think they are cute) so when people were stuck for a present to buy me, they got something frog related. After a while I started buying frog things myself and a collection was born.
My shoe collection was deliberate, and it's not just a case of having lots of shoes, although I do, but because I have so many pairs they don't wear out and I now have some wonderful examples of vintage shoes.
I also have a collection of 50s cocktail dresses but they live at my Mum's.
I'm still proud of completing my Panini 1985 football sticker book.
I may one day include it upon my CV.
(Without mentioning the fact I sent off to 'em for the final three stickers, having wasted too, too much pocket money on packets of stickers which proved all too "Got, got, got, etcetcetc..."
Just moving home, I was slightly surprised to discover quite how many books about The Beatles I owned. That must be my most extensive adult collection.
Well - that, and black Bic Biros which look to have plenty of ink left in them, but just won't write at all, at all...
I have hundreds.
i used to have stronger "collector tendencies" when i was younger... i collected stamps throughout my youth, and still have my little collection packed away in boxes. i sorta wonder how much it's worth now (if anything)
nowadays, i suppose i mostly collect books. i'm obsessed with owning books (i have hundreds i haven't even read yet... and hundreds i've read multiple times)... i've specifically started collecting children's books because i just love 'em so much
and i suppose you could say i collect original artwork by people i know personally. anytime i befriend an artist (of any kind) i batt my eyes and ask politely that they create something for me. i've presently got paintings, drawings, photographs, etc. from friends and family decorating the walls of every room in my quaint litle apartment.
i'll end now... good night *... good luck with the collecting :)
_z.: I prefer blondes, too, beerily speaking. I've not heard of Almaza, but I always like to try out relevant beers when in restaurants. I quite like a drop of Stella from time to time or Peroni, but I must confess that when buying beer only for me to drink at home, I kinda go cheapskate. I just buy the decent stuff when guests are coming!
Lee: That's really interesting. It'd be excellent to see your when you get around to posting. I always love seeing other people's ink. You think you'll stop once the koi are done, huh? I can't imagine stopping. Having said that, I feel like I've stopped right now, since I've not been under the needle for so long. Plus, I'll never do my face. Wife thinks it's strange that I have so few friends who are tattooed. Like, almost none. Do many of your friends have tatts?
Ems: Cacti are cool. I use to have a few as a kid. No prize winners, though!
Kate: Yes, the kiddie collection. I'd sussed that one already! Interactive, too, 'citing. Frogs sound fun. That's the sort of thing I can imagine getting out of hand. As soon as people start buying you something, it can get crazy, can't it? Did you end up with loads of "doubles" of the same piece? And ladies love shoes, don't they? The 50s cocktail dresses sound great. Who doesn't love that look? Nice one.
akr: Ah yes, those were the days! I always remember wanting to send off for those missing last few stickers but never did. I think my mum thought it was a waste of money. I had more success with the tea-card collecty books. Beatles books, too. There are so many of them out there, though, I can totally imagine how easy it must be to buy them if you're a fan. I've got two or three but haven't read any of them! And don'cha just hate that Bic thing?!
Martha: I'd sort of forgotten I used to collect stamps, too, and autographs. I like the idea of collecting art by people you know -- that's a great idea. Especially stuff created just for you. Our walls are very bare right now, but we intend to put up old photos of our family, mostly from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.
akr, if you read the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, you will realise that eventually they will all leave to go to their own biro planet!
keep your eyes on them, one day they will all be gone. it's true, i read so!
good fucking lord that was a shitload of comments to scan through.
I collect frogs and now in my aging years freckles...going by the multitude I have got on my shoulders I am somewhat good at it too.
The best thing about this World Cup was 'helping' my Eldest with his Panini collection. And comparing it with the one we did four years before. I did have to try very hard not to lose it as he haphazardly stuck on the stickers without paying enough attention to whether it was perfectly straight or not.
I mean, really...kids these days...
Cappy: I wouldn't know that, but that's cool. I like!
APP: I know! It's great, isn't it?! I'm so psyched to have broken through the 40-comment barrier. Who knows where it'll all end?! Another frog collector: you and Kate will have to get together and exchange notes. And y'know, I've got more freckles on my shoulders than I ever had. That's weird...
Shep: Jesus Christ, getting them straight is all part of the fun. I mean, you want it look neat and tidy like a proper book when you're finished, don't you. Did you give him a big slap? Kids, indeed!
Never thought about it before, but no, not many tats on my friends. In fact, only one friend has one small one that he wants to cover. Very interesting. I've just always liked them. Didn't get my first until I was 29. If I'd started when I was 17, like I wanted to, I'd probably have a "Made in Taiwan" tag on my butt, or worse, "Van Halen Rocks!" ;)
yeah I noticed there was another frog collector after I commented. we are everywhere!!
can clock up another comment to this one now ;))
Lee: "Made in Taiwan" would be cool, man, but the VH thing: definite no-no. It's weird about the uninked friends, isn't it?
APP: Yeah, another comment! Thanks. And I'll keep my eye open for more frog fans in blogland.
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