I'm scared to start collecting things again but I really want to

[L3moncake]

I want to start collecting things again but I'm really scared to. I used to collect things but every time that I did, those things would end up being taken from me. A few examples: when I was 6 I started collecting Porcelain dolls. They meant everything to me, but then two family members got into a drunken argument and one of them smashed them all. When I was 9 I started collecting ornaments of swans but most of them were broken when I moved house.

I would collect teddy bears and barbie dolls but because they just sat on a shelf and I didn't "play" with them they were thrown away by my parents. Since these incidences I've mostly avoided collecting specific things. I am a bit of a hoarder of random objects though.

I've been wanting to collect again for years but I'm so scared that something bad will happen and I'll be so upset all over again. Can anybody else relate to this? Did you get over it?

 

[Jeepcarpenter]

I went through some of the above as a child, GIJoes I mainly collected.. I -would- occasionally play with on my own but usually because a guest or cousin wanted to play, because of collecting dust on various modified shelves and pieces together structures like diorama’s, or because of misbehaviour; got trashed.

I didn’t collect stuffed animals exactly but rather textures, some of them being stuffed animals like a plush Christmas bear wall ornament for holding candy, some pieces of clothing or fabric, some just odd and ends, though all kept together and was discouraging to my parents.. in part because I seemed to have an interest in various women’s clothes because of the texture diversity. Wound up having all but a small piece of flannel blanket from my youth; thrown away.

Several others likened to the same.. but I lost it all in a house fire anyways, my family fell apart shortly thereafter and I did not have any area of comfort or stability in my life for a long period afterwards and was essentially forced to grow up and start adulting before the age of 13.

I still collect things.. but nothing like that anymore.. nothing I can let passion or love of take off with.. only things that i can’t let go to waste for seeing potential or possibility in.. which is hard in itself because I can see that in almost anything, so essentially a hoarder that has to watch not to clutter my home with junk.

I miss collecting things.. but I don’t think I can allow myself to do so, brings about too much worry of pain.. and I hate putting so much emotion to inanimate objects.. I know how good it is for me but I have so many other more important things to concern myself with.. and I can still get some enjoyment seeing the collections of my wife’s interests and her enjoyment of, even though I don’t share her feelings towards.

 

[Forest Cat]

Maybe you just need a sturdy cabinet with a good lock on it, to store your things safely? And a baseball bat in case someone tries to break into it.

 

[Tom]

I have been a lifelong collector, but I was fortunate not to be in a situation where things were broken or taken, though a few times I had things stolen.

I did run into a problem of collecting too much and having space and practical issues, like not being able to afford too many types of things.

So I gave away or sold much of it and retained only the most important stuff. For me it is currently specific types of toy soldiers and Lion King trading cards and stickers from all over the world. One is connected to my son and the other my daughter.

The soldiers take up space, but the cards do not so are a lot easier to keep safe in a sense. But while the soldiers have value and could be sold (They are generally 50 years old or more) the cards do not have any real value even though they have cost a lot of money over the years.

If you get into a more independent situation some of the issues will go away. No one would toss them out except you but then you have to consider space and expense. While you are in a mostly dependent situation some small and sort of under the radar might be easier to keep and protect. You seem to like figurine type things mainly (as do I) so some real miniature items or artwork might work.

 

[Crossbreed]

I have a collection of 192 action dolls (Classic Collection-era GI Joes & articulated Barbies) that I customized into lay figures (with an emphasis on varied faces). I have been collecting them since the early 1990s, mostly from resale & hand-me-[ups?].

I stopped adding to my collection after I reached a certain milestone, but I still have them on-hand for drawing. Over that time, I have had to replace bodies from time-to-time due to a type of plastic rot, but (so far) I haven't lost any of their heads.

The Trumpeter

This image was modeled by one of my ladies.​

 

[Jeepcarpenter]

@Crossbreed : I love it! Mind you, I’m into cyberpunk, sci-fi and femme fatale type things so.. maaaaybe I’m a bit bias. Beautiful.

 

[Nitro]

< hoarder/collector

I live in what I call my Museum of Oddities

There are items displayed on every wall
Curio cabinets everywhere lined with treasures I find along the path called life.

Antiques, antique toys, mountains of brass items

There are three Barbie dolls in my collection that are special to my interests

HO and N gauge trains

Hundreds of Hotwheels and Matchbox cars
I have over 300 new in box Hotwheels cars that were hand selected for being examples of the musclecar era.

Over 100 1/18th scale diecast musclecars

U-control model airplanes, engines and kits that date back to the WWII era

One huge curio cabinet is filled with brass dolphins
The waterfoul collection includes a 3 foot tall swan and several full sized brass duck decoys
Loads of smaller ones too
Enough brass candle stick holders to hide behind

Old electronics, machinetools, dinosaur computer gear and obscure audio gear

Firearms that date back as far as 1905

My original Marx cap guns are displayed with them

There is a dedicated radio shelf with nearly any broadcast band on it that is available

Automobilia, motorcycle related objects and general motor vehicle mayhem

Four active freshwater aquariums

Antique clocks abound

Weather monitoring gadgets, like maybe a dozen of them

A cast iron dinner bell in the kitchen that has a farm tractor on it

I have an active hobby machineshop and a dedicated woodshop inside it too
(The woodshop occupies the original master bedroom)

And tons and tons more that all get displayed in rotations as I see fit

 

[Jeepcarpenter]

Geez Nitro.. can I come to your place? I don’t know what the price of admission is but it sounds like a fantasy world.

 

[Nitro]

Geez Nitro.. can I come to your place? I don’t know what the price of admission is but it sounds like a fantasy world.

it's a very busy looking home.
Too much to take in in one sitting.
The price of admission you ask?
Putting up with the weird old guy that lives there

 

[Nitro]

This 21 inch tall brass specimen followed me home on Monday morning

 

[Jeepcarpenter]

Well much as that brass pachyderm is a wonder to behold, I regret to inform you that it seems a bit petrified.. and no wonder, cast with so many dogs lying in wait..

And you need to up your admission fee, pretty sure others like myself would be beating down your door for that price.

 

[Nitro]

View attachment 83852
This 21 inch tall brass specimen followed me home on Monday morning

This is sitting on a Civil War era planer table machinetool I hope to get running out at the turn of the century lineshaft machineshop I am in charge of running out at our Steam Gas and Horse Association preservation society showgrounds.

We just held our three day summer show last weekend

 

[Jeepcarpenter]

Oh you’re killing me now @Nitro .. did I mention antique machinery and tools, steam power and sterling motors were a fascination that never left me from childhood??

Geez.. nowhere near intricately versed and detailed in the matters but captivated none-the-less.. you are living a dream to me. Most of my wood shop tools that were pre-WWII I had to sacrifice over the years, being far too bulky and heavy to accommodate moves and efficient use of space.. but the insurmountable power of their time, longevity and accuracy, incomparable.

The bandsaws i had, nearly the size of a Volkswagen Bug; insurmountable to anything I could buy today.. the planers, though having a fairly dangerous runaway if left unkempt; handling any feed without so much as a splinter from the knottiest density..

After the pandemic struck and with the economy staggering, prospects of building a home shop were fleeting so I liquidated the last of my revered aged wonders that were simply aging unwell in the confines of storage without climate-control..

I’ve let too many things degrade over the years harbouring want for but never having room as business kept pressing for production and not diversity. I resigned to let majority go to others who had use of, so that they would see use and not with and rust away. Several being some of DeWalt’s first productions.. regretful of but preferable to the alternative I was leading them to..

But I mean every word when I proclaimed it earlier.. you are living what I have only dreamed. Maybe someday I can get back to something similar, for now I am going to have to pretend I didn’t hear any of it.

 

[Darkkin]

I have a library, sad house plants, small glass, ceramic, wood, and stone animals, and a number of coveted Lego sets. But like with any healthy collection, I go through what I have and curate the contents at least once a year.

I cannot stand mess or clutter, so I have to ride herd on my impulses.

 

[Gerontius]

I had my father destroy my collection of antique phonograph records, some two hundred discs dated from 1920 to 1948.

I now have about 1000 to 1300 records, I think, and a damn fine collection of antique hand-cranked phonographs to go with them--both the disc and the cylinder type.

Destroying the records didn't exactly destroy the interest.

 

[Nitro]

I have a library, sad house plants, small glass, ceramic, wood, and stone animals, and a number of coveted Lego sets. But like with any healthy collection, I go through what I have and curate the contents at least once a year.

I cannot stand mess or clutter, so I have to ride herd on my impulses.

I have over a dozen hand selected specialty Monopoly games and about ten Gilbert Erector sets that date from WWII to the early 70s
My most prized one is an unused one from 1959.


My Gilbert collection is quite extensive including a chemistry set, a microscope and a nitromethane fueled model airplane engine.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I enjoycollecting a few things. Primarily I have enjoyed collecting minerals and fossils. I had given nearly all of the material I collected myself to Northwestern University.and right now putting a collection together of at least one Trilobite from each family in the Devonian and Ordovician of Morocco. I will have them for a little while before they go to another home. The past few decades I like what the US Mint has been doing with quarters and I have been buying a silver, proof set each year, since about a decade ago.

 

[Darkkin]

One of the things I love about cleaning my bookcases, I get to renew acquaintances with books I forgot I had, plan a new cycle of rereads, and page through my art and picture books as I go.

I have to own my books. Even the thought of damaging a borrowed book gives me so much anxiety that I cannot truly enjoy the book. Luckily I come from a family of readers on both sides, so I never wanted for books as a kid.

As soon as I started working I started accruing books. I am also fortunate enough to have a job that allows me to indulge in my passion more than I would otherwise be able to afford. I also play book shepherd to our family. Both sets of grandparents entrusted me with the books I loved as a kid. My Grandma also gave me my master bookcase that lives in my room.

My older sister (who throws everything anyone has passed onto her away) is still mad about that bookcase and the books I got. Every time I saw her she demanded I hand over certain books and the bookcase because she can profit from them on ebay. She was dumb enough to say this in front of Grandma and Grandma went off on her. Closest I've ever come to seeing someone have their hair set on fire. (And I am petty enough to admit I enjoyed the sight.) The subject hasn't been raised since.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

As soon as I started working I started accruing books.

I love reading! I sorta keep on buying some to complete what I remembered. I just purchased Norstrilia to add to the volume of Cordwainer Smith's short stories. Next I plan to get A Canticle for Leibowitz because I can't bear to be without the finest Scifi novel.

One bad thing happened. In one move, I lost all of my Pogo books! At least I have the three volume hardcover set of the entire Calvin and Hobbes canon.

I have my eyes on a first edition of A Thief of Time, signed by Tony Hillerman at the best local bookstore in our area.

Plus, I have reproductions of several of the original printings of Mark Twain's novels. If you would like to see Samuel Clemens' politics quite clearly, get the reproduction of A Connecticut Yankee. It is no lighthearted farce when one sees the illustrations.

 

[Fino]

The incidents you relate both happened as a small child. You're an adult now.