Collecting
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The hobby of collecting consists of acquiring specific items based on a particular interest of the collector. These collections of things are often highly organized, carefully cataloged, and attractively displayed.
Since collecting depends on the interests of the individual collector, it may deal with almost any subject. The depth and breadth of the collection may also vary. Some collectors choose to focus on a specific subtopic within their area of general interest: for example, 19th Century postage stamps, milk bottle labels from Sussex, or Mongolian harnesses and tack. Others prefer to keep a more general collection, accumulating Star Trek merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world.
Some collections are capable of being completed, at least to the extent of owning one sample of each possible item in the collection (e.g. a copy of every book by Agatha Christie). Collectors who specifically try to assemble complete collections in this way are sometimes called "completists." Upon completing a particular collection, they may stop collecting, expand the collection to include related items, or begin an entirely new collection.
The most popular fields in collecting have specialized commercial dealers that trade in the items being collected, as well as related accessories. Many of these dealers started as collectors themselves, then turned their hobby into a profession.
There are some limitations on collecting, however. Someone who has the financial means to collect stamps might not be able to collect sports-cars, for example. One alternative to collecting physical objects is collecting experiences of a particular kind. Examples include collecting through observation or photography (especially popular for transportation, e.g. train spotting, aircraft spotting, metrophiles, bus spotting; see also I-Spy), bird-watching, and systematically visiting states, countries, continents, national parks, etc.
Items and subjects that are popular in collecting include the following:
[edit] Animals and nature
- Butterfly collecting
- Cats
- Conchology - collecting seashells
- Dogs
- Fossil collecting
- Gemstones
- Model Horses (Breyer, Peter Stone, North Light, Hagen-Renaker, Royal Worcester, etc)
- Insects
- Plants
- Rocks
- Skulls and Skeletons (see Maceration)
- Oology - collecting eggs
[edit] Architectural
[edit] Art & Entertainment
- Artifacts
- Native American Art
- Folk Art
- Prints
- Photographs
- Postcards
- Tribal art
- Magnets
- Vinyl
- Songs
[edit] Antiques
- Clocks
- Crystals
- Jewelry and Gemstones
- Pottery
- Watches
- Mason Jars
- Porcelein Dolls
- Depressionwear
- Salt and Pepper Shakers
- Utensils and Silverware
[edit] Books and periodicals
- Bibliophilia - Book collecting, often by genre
- Reference books
- Directories & Guides (phone books, etc.)
- Magazines
- Newsletters
- Comic book collecting
- Children's Book Collections
[edit] Currency and stamps
- Notaphily - Paper currency collecting
- Numismatics - coin collecting
- Philatelic - Postage stamps
- Token coins
[edit] Household
- Appliances
- Candles
- Coasters
- China, Porcelain & Pottery
- Christmas (Holiday collectibles)
- Figurines
- Glass & Crystal
- Keyrings
- Holiday collectibles
- Music boxes
- Kitchen collectibles
- Cookie Jars
- Coverings (sleaves/bags etc.)
- Housewares
- Teapots
- Perfume bottles
- Plants
- Refrigerator magnets
- Sterling silver
- Corks
[edit] Paper collectibles
- Airsickness bags
- Advertising art
- Bibliophilia - collecting autographs
- Bookmarks
- Maps and Globes
- Matchcovers
- Lotology - collecting Lottery tickets
- Paperweights
- Phone-card collecting
- Playing cards
- Postcards
- Scripophily - collecting stock certificates
- Sticker (paper)
- Sucrology - collecting Sugar Sachets
- Trading cards
- Sports cards
- Baseball cards
- Basketball cards
- Football cards
- Hockey cards
- Non-sports cards
- Sports cards
- Newspapers
[edit] Products
- Avon collectibles
- Automotive
- Classic cars
- Automobile license plates (only legal in places where the plates are not government property)
- Bicycle collecting
- Brand article collecting
- Breweriana
- Coca-Cola
- Entertainment Memorabilia
- Lunch boxes
- Milk bottles
- Road Signs
- Soda pop bottles
- Tobacciana
- Tobacco tins
- Smoking collectibles
- Tea bags
- Zippo Lighters
[edit] Technology
- Appliances (Household)
- Calculators
- Computers (especially Vintage computers)
- DVDs
- Fans (Vintage/Collectible)
- Farm Collectibles
- Firearms (Militaria)
- Fireworks
- Fountain pens
- Movie cameras and movie projectors
- Phonographs
- Vintage Records
- Records
- Radios
- Scientific Instruments
- Telephones
- Televisions
- Tools
- Photographica
- Watches & Clocks
- Vending machines (Coin-op machines)
[edit] Textiles
- Buttons (vintage clothing)
- Needlecraft
- Quilts
- Sewing
- Textiles
- Thimbles
- Vintage Clothing & Accessories
- Scutelliphily - Patch collecting & badges
[edit] Theme
- Cowboy (Western Americana)
- Erasers (a.k.a. Keshi)
- Fire department collectibles
- Gambling/gaming collectibles
- Hawaiiana
- Militaria
- American Civil War
- Military art
- Military models
- Military uniforms
- Model figures
- Firearms
- Nautical Antiques, & Collectibles
- Orientalia
- Political Collectibles
- Railroad Collectibles
- Science Fiction
- Boy Scout and Girl Guide memorabilia
- Sports Collectibles - see also: trading cards and autographes
- baseballs and baseball bats
- Clothing (hats, jersies)
- Travel Collectibles
- Trunks
- Western Americana
- World's Fair Collectibles
[edit] Toys
- Action figures
- Disneyana
- Board games
- Dolls
- Scale models
- Model airplanes
- Model cars & trucks
- Model trains
- Ship models
[edit] See also
- Collectible
- Souvenir or Memorabilia
- Category:Collectors
- List of collectors
- Hoarding and Compulsive hoarding
- Museum
- Special Edition
- Storage
[edit] Further reading
- Charles M. Schulz, Charlie Brown's Super Book of Things to Do and Collect: Based on the Charles M. Schulz Characters, Random House, 1984, paperback, ISBN 0-394-83165-9, (hardcover in library binding ISBN 0-394-93165-3)
