What DID You Collect?

Glamkitty harped and harped on me…and finally, in an effort to appease my collectable friend…here it is. ADeadHeart’s second foray into the mad, mad world of collecting.

Since I collect so few things…men and silver picture frames aside, I decided that my best bet would be to ask other people what they collect and then write about it.

So, here’s the message I sent out to readers of BackWash.com and members of CKKL, a community for Counting Crows fans.

I'm interested in finding out how what you used to collect as a kid compares with what you collect now...

Did you collect stamps at 10? Do you still? Or have you moved on to a different collecting hobby? Something more "adult"?

Did you collect bugs and butterflies and now you collect Faberge Eggs?

Or do you still collect the same great things you did as a child?


I found it very interesting…so many people let go of their childhood collections in favor of something more “appropriate”. But many of them held on to their few favorite things…here’s what I got. Not only that, but just seeing HOW people approached the question…it’s nifty to see.

(Please note that these have indeed been edited for spelling, etc. Special thanks to the BackWasher’s and the KooKoo’s who helped out!)

For the curious minded, I used to collect Rose Petal Dolls and Garbage Pail Kids...now I collect silver picture frames, pens, stationary, postcards, beads and scrapbook stuff, as well as books and music

Uumommy (CKKL) - As a kid I collected cat things. You know, pictures, ceramics, that kind of stuff. I'd like to collect Totoro stuff but it's too expensive. Since no one ever knows who/what Totoro is, I'll include a picture. He's a Japanese children's anime character.

Gms (CKKL) – As a child, I collected Smurfs and Garbage Pail Kids. I still have all my Smurfs in a little bright yellow and orange Smurfette tote bag. Ieven had Smurf houses.

As an adult? Hmmm. I don't really know if I collect anything. I have a habit of buying a lot Post-It notes that are different shapes and colors. I also love things with stars, so I end up buying cute star stuff.

Pezcrow (CKKL) - I don't know about when I was younger, don't think I collected much. But I started collecting pencils in junior high. I have a wall by my door that is exactly the size of a pencil so I have a pencil wall. Then of course I collected Pez. I guess I also collected novelty lighting like different lights and lamps. **Oh yeah! I guess my brother and I both collected football and baseball cards when we were young. I had forgotten about that. We kept notebooks with all our cards but that was a long time ago and I don't collect them anymore.

Bgrant9000 (CKKL) - When I was 8, I had a lint collection. Various colors and shapes. Yep, from the dryer. I kid you not.

Dawnmarie85 (CKKL) - I used to collect heart-shaped boxes. And KISS cards. And Billy Idol pins. I still have them all in my basement. Now I collect toys from my childhood. And cool Counting Crows stuff.

Earlbny (CKKL) - I collect Postcards from around the world.

Gypsygirl57 (CKKL) - Well, I have been collecting Christmas ornaments and Santa Clauses for years, but I also collect bootlegs from various shows.... especially Fleetwood Mac and the Counting Crows.

Bmarley (CKKL) - As a young boy...baseball cards, He-Man, and Garbage Pail Kids trading cards.

As an adult...rejection letters from jobs, rejection e-mails from girls, and a bunch of bad CDs from the late 80's and early 90's.

That sums up that last 30 years in a nutshell.

Ehmiller (CKKL) - As a teen I collected unicorns. I have no idea what happened to them - I still have a Christmas ornament and a painted mirror.

As a young woman I collected fans. I still have most of them, but several have just fallen apart.

I have quite the collection of Christmas ornaments from all over the world, but truthfully my mom did all the traveling and bought us kid’s ornaments everywhere she went. But she helps decorate our tree every year and re-tells all the stories about where she got them.

I have a small but ongoing collection of Hard Rock Cafe shot glasses. I don't get to travel all that much, so I only have
Denver, San Antonio, Phoenix, and Lima (Peru) compliments of my mom.

**I remember going through my grandma's button collection as a kid and just loving them.

I forgot that I am also collecting the state quarters. I am doing well with the
Denver Mint, being in the west, but it's hard to find Philadelphia mint coins here. Anybody want to work a trade?

Mindy042 (CKKL) - I used to collect Beanie Babies. I have about 400.

AnDiE2001 (CKKL) - I used to collect rocks. Ha ha. I was a dork. Oh, and coins. I still have lots of really cool coins in a piggy bank at my mom's. But it's a dog. Erm…doggy bank??


I don’t collect anything anymore. I'm a horrible pack rat and have been trying to throw away/get rid of everything I don't need, cuz I'm never gonna put myself through a moving experience like the one I had last time again! NO MORE STUFF!!

Nuttysara (CKKL) - I used to collect stamps…hmm…no wonder I wasn't popular... Now I collect pens...I love pens. Good pens...gel writers are my favorite. There's nothing like a good pen.

Deron11 (CKKL) - Baseball and basketball cards, CDs, DVDs. I used to collect stamps, LPs, stuff and such.

Call me B (CKKL) - Kid - Stamps, coins and rocks.

Now - Guitars, stamps, CDs, movie posters, ET items, Zippos, murder case books.

Bd8802 (CKKL) - I used to collect sports cards…until they officially priced kids out of the market.

During high school, and part of college, I did the whole "Magic: the Gathering" thing. But that also got too expensive and sorta unhealthily addicting.

Currently I would say that I collect bootlegs, and collect blade putters (golf club). They are a certain type of putter that not many people make any more. I have a modest collection of 4 of them right now, but hopefully that will grow soon when I have some more cash flow coming in.

Confidence Eroding (CKKL) - I like to collect First Edition books as well as LPs and CD singles. I also have quite a Counting Crows and Pearl Jam bootleg collection. I collected Star Trek and X-Files cards as a kid.

Hysterical (CKKL) - When I was a kid, I had a stamp collection for a short period of time. I still have the book somewhere...

I started a sea shell collection as a kid. When I go on business trips to
California and Florida, I’ve been able to pick up more shells for the collection. And I have shells from a few other places. I have them in two glass jars.

I did collect hockey cards back in the 90s. Anyone interested in them?

I started collecting Hard Rock Cafe pins back in '88. I’m always looking to add to the collection....

My biggest collection is my Def Leppard collection. I started it a long time ago and have all sorts of stuff from all over the world.

Aside from the above, I have some smaller collections. Various things that I collect on my travels. I need to stop collecting stuff!

Kpl164 (CKKL) - When I was younger I collected baseball and football cards, but since those went sky crazy in price I now am a huge Pez collector. I do have a few bobble heads.

Slamb (CKKL) - As a kid: polished rocks, stuffed kitty cats, New Kids on the Block anything

As an adult: pressed pennies, giraffes.

Actually, I was looking at a lot of my giraffes today and they still make me smile. It didn't feel like home in H_____’s basement until I got out the giraffes and just looking at them makes me smile. They're tall and so goofy looking. I love watching them walk.

Char-choo-choo (CKKL) - As a child I collected stickers...all kinds of different stickers...from unicorns to dinosaurs...every once in awhile I will come across my sticker book and I’ll go thru all my stickers and I will smile over the memories of the great childhood I had...

Now I collect old bibles and old keys...and journals...I have many journals that need to be written in...

And unicorn stuff...I love unicorn stuff...

Bk5000 (CKKL) - As a kid I collected coins and baseball cards. My grandpa got me really into old coins when I was young, I kind of stopped that hobby after he passed away, though I still have the collection and it's quite nice. And I still have all the baseball cards, but that ended a while ago. My only collection that is still active are bootlegs and such...

Martinbanks (CKKL) - … I was a strange child. And when I say strange I mean extremely strange!! I'm normal now, honest.

I used to collect ring pulls off cans. I had this box which was a 10 inch cube and it was about 2/3rds full of them!

I also collected chewing gum wrappers. I used to take the sticks of gum out taking great care of the wrapper and then re-assemble the packet so it resembled a full pack but it was actually empty and I kept them in a tin that had once held toffees, in like this kind of presentation style.

http://www.gumwrapper.com/

I also collected the bit of plastic that holds together cans. I dunno what you call ‘me. When I was a few years older, I decided to start stretching them to try and get them as big as I could without tearing them. I once got one so big that each of the four holes fit over my head. I was so proud of myself! See, I warned you I was a strange child!

And... y'know when you hole punch a piece of paper? Well, I also used to collect the little circles that get cut out. I had this old beer tankard full of them. Took me ages to fill it cuz they are tiny.

Err... what else was there? Oh yeah. At my high school, for some reason I started taking a screwdriver to school and removing screws from the underside of the tables, that held the legs to the table top. This then grew into a mission and I set myself the challenge of getting 1,000 screws from my school. As time went on the school slowly started to fall to pieces! There were tables totally detached from the legs. I also took them from anything else that had screws in it! I even had people wanting to join me in my mission and started bringing their own screwdrivers and bringing me screws along with their tales of getting them for me!! It really was quite crazy, I had never reflected on it till now!! I just can't believe I actually took a thousand screws from there and never got caught!

Ha ha, I did warn you I was a strange youngster. I'm ok now I promise you. The only thing I collect now is vinyl. Oh and I have an elastic band ball but that’s quiet normal too (I hope!).

Mart (who everyone will now avoid, fearing he has deep psychological problems!!)

Aerofreak1 (CKKL) - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures ruled my and my brother's lives...

Happykappy03 (CKKL) - When I was younger I collected a lot of cards. Mostly baseball, but also NKOTB and TGIF. That’s right, be jealous of my Perfect Strangers cards. And a bunch of others, too. And I collected coins. Cuz I was a cool kid.


Now I still collect coins. My oldest coins are a
Buffalo Head nickel from 1905 and a penny from 1903. I’ve recently started a state shot glass collection. When I was little, I decided I wanted to visit all the states. Of course, I don’t think I recognized the northwest, the southeast, or the entire middle of America. But now, I’ve got 30 down. States, that is. Only about 15 shot glasses. But that is my goal, and hopefully it will be complete before I die. Oh, and I also collect clothes from people I’ve had sleepovers with.

Skatebetty (CKKL) - right now, I collect bootlegs and P___ and I collect books. When we moved in November, the movers told us we had 1400 pounds of books.

Penty (BacKWash) - hmmmmm...

I collected comics and I still do now.

Can't stand to get rid of a book, then or now.

Wanted to collect Legos…can afford to now though I'm picky.

I used to collect ANYTHING Star Wars. Today I only purchase the things I REALLY like and pass up stuff I don't have a connection to.

I used to collect coins now I don't.

Sad thing is last night, and before I read this, I found out there are currently 789 tradable items on KOL and have decided to try to collect them all. Why? I have no idea. Penty and I are addicted to an online game, found at http://www.KingdomofLoathing.com. Check out the BackWash clan.)

Cahira (BackWash) - Hmm...as a kid (around 4 or 5) I began collecting armadillos and now decorate my living room with them.

Around 10 or so, I began collecting frogs...that only lasted around 3 or 4 years.

In high school, I added Speedy Gonzales and chili pepper stuff (usually kitchen stuff) and still decorate my kitchen in Speedy and chili peppers.

In college, I added penguins and now decorate my bedroom in penguins. I also added masks and fans and decorate my office in them.

Oh, and I also collect musical instruments (guitars, mandolins, etc.) and costumes (medieval, Victorian, national, etc.)

Bewing (BackWash) - I collected high quality crystal as a kid, and still do.

Casetta (BackWash) - I began my record collecting obsession early on with the gift of a Fisher Price record player. I would get to pick up two 45's a week. They would range from the Mother Goose All Stars to The Rolling Stones. I can't quite recall what my thinking process in choosing was back then. I'd play anything that had sonic grooves in it (things haven't changed that much). I eventually "upgraded" my audio playing devices (I still have a Fisher Price turntable though) and moved to LPs.

I also collected postcards and recall having a number of those Viewmasters things. I also collected imaginary friends, but I don't think that amounts to a real collection.

SupremeNothing (BackWash) - In my years I have collected the following with various degrees of dedication....

Star Wars stuff (sci-fi in general, but mostly SW)

Robots (toys, magazines, books, anything)

Comics (silver age and the seventies being my favorites)

Action figures of assorted types

Girlie Magazines (Playboys, etc.)

Hot Rod mags

Big-eyed girl paintings

Pulp trash novels with sleazy covers

Old educational stuff (textbooks n' stuff)

Found objects (weird stuff laying on the sidewalk, etc.)

Quirky toys

Tiki stuff

Cocktail culture stuff

Trading cards (non-sports)

Model kits

Hot Wheels

Photographs of people I don't know

Postcards

Oddball tourist items (key chains with states, stuff like that)

I've also got a nice lil' stack of 1950s tourist guides and 70s TV shows on Viewmaster reels...

And a dozen other things....

But lately I've done very little collecting, partly to save money, and partly for reasons of simply having tooooooo much stuff. I'm writing a piece about the "stuff overload" and the problems it presents for Glamkitty's site right now....

Pattingtonbear (BackWash) – Hats. Like baseball hats and such, jester hats, rasta hats, hats of all the bands I like, stocking caps, a bowler which I’m very proud of. And I’m only eighteen. I also collect odd literature; anything that catches my eye.
Catch-22 is still my favorite novel ever.

LastCrazyHorn (BackWash) - I used to collect rocks and pennies and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures.

Now I collect hats and random musical instruments (ie- the harmonica and the tin whistle).

I really don't collect much anymore. At least not with the energy I used to.

So there you have it folks. GlamKitty can stop yelling at me…for now. And all of you can rest in normalcy…cuz some folks collect weirder stuff then you do!

Article by ADeadHeart


Subscribe!
Email address:


Unsubscribe from the newsletter