You can argue that most everyone has a collection of some sort or another. Maybe you collect sports memorabilia, stamps or rare coins.
Collections often happily clutter your favorite room of the house. It is not hoarding, mind you, but collecting items that bring back memories or maybe line your pocket with some extra cash when you sell something.
For me, it all started in high school. I was in my school’s production of The Wizard of Oz. I was the best talking tree along the Yellow Brick Road ever, by the way! I always loved watching the movie when it came on television every year, but my high school musical debut sparked my collection.
I now have well over 1,200 items piled high in my home office. Some items are worth more than others, but I love every last piece. People ask me how I know what I have, but I do. I can pretty much identify every item and know whether I have it when I spot something for sale.
I have collectibles from 1939 when the movie premiered to the current day now that Ted Turner owns the movie rights and creates sale items all the time. Who would have thought that the $3.00 vacuum from 1939 with the Wizard of Oz label on it that I found at a thrift store is worth about $1,200 now.
The problem is I would never think of selling it. It, along with the 1,199 other items, are my pride and joy.
I collect for fun and the chance to meet with others who share my interest. Believe it or not, there was a festival that for years brought ‘Ozians’ together to swap and share their finds. Just let me say that my rare vacuum was the bell of the Oz ball one year.
Psychologists say I am no different from other collectors. We collect mostly for the joy of it whereas so-called hoarders tend to collect hazardous items and put themselves and others at risk. It is the ‘dark side’ to collecting where mental health issues are involved, but that is not what this type of collecting is about.
Susan Gray collects Brady Bunch collectibles. She’s the first to admit that the items from the early 70s TV show are hard to find, but that is what she loves about it.
“They are hard to find. You can’t just go to Walmart and pick up a Brady Bunch item. It takes time and makes it exciting when you find a piece,” said Gray.
Photo Gallery: Collection craze you have to see to believe
Why the Brady Bunch, you ask? Susan grew up loving Brady mom, Carol Brady. She probably wishes I did not divulge this, but a school paper she wrote about what she wanted to be when she grew up says it all. She said she wanted to be Carol Brady and have a lot of kids, neither of which came true.
Nikki Sells loves M&Ms. Sure, she eats the candy, but it is the collectibles that she craves. She’s been collecting for nearly 25 years, filling up a room in her home. She knows exactly which piece was her first. It is a basketball playing M&M that she received as a gift. Now, the flood gates are open.
“My family goes looking for them now and keeps an eye our for me. One friend gives me a dispenser every year,” said Sells. “I’m just disappointed that I don’t have more room to put them everywhere.”
Maybe Nikki takes her M&M passion too far for some. She takes it with her everywhere she goes in the form of a tattoo. Now that is dedication to the collectible cause.
Collections go on and on. Marilynn has more collections than you can shake a stick at including Santa Claus, dogs, McCoy Pottery (made right here in Ohio) and chickens.
“It’s a great way to decorate your home,” said Marilynn. “I love going to garage sales and looking for great finds.”
No matter your reason for collecting, writer James Halperin, says collectors learn, relax and preserve pieces of history.
Maybe there is one note of caution to pass along. Unless you are a master duster, you will have to live with a little dust on the collection shelves.
Too bad there isn’t a duster collection that keeps itself clean. I’d probably collect them. On second thought, someone out there probably has one I can borrow.
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