About – Collecthing

A little bit about me...
and collecting in general

to collect or not to collect

I'm really not sure why some people collect and others don't.
Does it go all the way back to our cave man origins where some were hunters and others were gatherers?
Or can it be rooted in our childhood formative years?

What I have come to experience is that neither group have much understanding for each others points of view.
Collectors often want to share the enthusiasm of a new find or sometimes are questioned about a particular item.
And the question most often is "is it worth anything?"
If the answer is yes, the follow up is usually "why don't you sell it?"
Well, I didn't buy it to make money, I bought it because I liked it, and because I collect things like that.
The question then becomes "for what purpose?".
So it looks like non-collecting people are collectors as well, the difference being they collect money.

My first model kit

I -ME -MINE

I'm a -65 model male, so you do the math... If I was a car I would be a classic!
I'm introvert by nature (which no extrovert person understand the meaning of)so I'm comfortable in my rural surrounding.
I've been married... a couple of times, and have an adult son, which some day will have to decide which of all my collecthings are worth to hang on to.
My education is an apprenticeship in electronics and my profession is Broadband Engineer.
People call me creative, as such I enjoy DIY and love tools. There's few things I can say I master, but nothing I'm not willing to try or learn.

Maybe the collective gene is embedded into us in childhood.
I grew up with conservative parents that themselves experienced the short comings of many things during WWII.
Their attitude towards conserving and holding on to things may have influenced me, and may be a contributing factor to not only me but also my three siblings all being collectors of something.

A natural place to start for any child used to be "the King of Hobbies and the Hobby of Kings"; stamp collecting.
Most people think it's a dying passtime, but it's actually as widespread as it has ever been, just changing and adapting to more modern times.
Having collected for more than 50 years I do have a few albums.

Another hobby and collecting passion of mine is probably more likely to decline; model kit building.
This as well started early by getting my first kit as a bithday gift when I was seven.
Like all of my hobbies there are periods of high activity and times of dormancy.
I didn't do much model building through my teens, but when settling down and getting a dedicated work area I picked it up again.
Building and collecting kits became the passtime focus for a long periode. And I'm proud to say that between 2000-06 I got 6 Gold and 4 Silver medals at the IPMS Scale Model World Competition in UK as well as several "Best in Show" from competitions in both Norway and Sweden
.

At the moment the focus is on whisky jugs that grew out of my general interest for whisky, which you can read more about in that section. Click the winky at the top menu to visit me on WhiskyBase.

what to collect and why

The great thing about collecting is that it's your thing, and you can make it what you want.
If you are not collecting out of a point of investment there is very little to consider.

The topic can be anything. Whatever catches your interest.
Common topics gives you the potential of more items to find and more like minded people to share with, but that again may lead to higher expenses. More obscure topics may leave you without collector friends, but you are more likely to pick up something cheap.

Budget is something that in most cases will adjust and limit itself. Bank notes are likely to be more expensive than napkins. Don't let it break your economy.

Space will always be an issue. A collection of 100 marbles naturally makes a smaller footprint than the same number of bowling balls.
The most important thing, whether the collection is on display or in storage is environment. Keep it safe. Few things with the exception of cigars benefit from humidity above average. The same with temperature. And some objects, even if they look great in the window sill may not keep too well in direct sunlight.

And finally why collect?
If you have to ask you probably don't and most likely should not.
There is no reason to look for things to collect. It comes naturally when you find thing that appeal to you.
That appeal may not spring out of the objects themselves, but sometimes from the desire of knowledge.
In my case stamps have thought me a lot about geography as well as history. Model kits have given me knowledge about cars and their history, as well as racing, from classic Le Mans to NASCAR. And now making this site and deciding to add a little brand history to my whisky jugs I discover a lot of new information.
In short, unless you just pile things together at random, collecting is in most cases educational.

And remember; every museum once started as a humble collection.

time for liquidation?

No matter what time and money you have put into a collection the interest for the topic and keeping on to the objects may dwindle.
Well, it's no shame to quit.

But what should you do and what can you expect?

First of all it depends on the potential market for what you collect. This may have changed since you started.
The quality and rarity of your items is of course an important issue.
But just as important is the size of your collection and how quickly you want to part with it.

Selling any extensive collection as just that, the whole collection in one go, will never get your "investment" or purchase cost back.
Most potential buyers likely have a collection of the topic already, and they will not be willing to pay top price for items they already have. You can't expect more than 25-30% of the total individual value. This is what I would call an emergency sale, if you need hard cash quick.

Depending on what you collect it may be an option to sell through an auction house. They often have an idea of the market as well as value, but be aware of the commission fees.
On-line sale sites is another option, the commission is usually less because you do most of the work yourself.
Split it in suitable sized lots and sell the most valuable items by themselves. It may take a while to shift it all, but the more time spent the more you can expect to get in return.