Collections and Collectors

Each time I watch one of my favourite shows - 'Collectors' - on the ABC here in Australia, I always learn something new about a certain thing; be it about tractors, engines, Australian history or how things were done. Usually, it's through their Mystery Object where I learn the most interesting things; sometimes I get the name of the object, other times I make a wild guess and am surprised that I get it... or not!
Otherwise the show is about accentric people who collect a mirade of things. The most interest people who are on the show are usually the ones sitting on the couch as they are collectors of the most unusual things; as well as having a living also. It's their guests who I find brilliant too, and how they have found certain objects to collect for the most unusual reasons... or they've just found their obsession something they can't stop themselves from collecting.

As you know, I collect coin purses and vinyls; however there's books, bookmarks, dvds and J.R.R Tolkien books and goblets I have too. However, I don't just collect anything with Tolkien's name on it, a lot of the time, it's usually something that I know is out of print, is a collector's item from one of the movies or I've accidentally stumbled upon in my travels and didn't know it was rare until somebody told me (which happens more than you know!).
However, I come from a long line of collectors. We collect all kinds of things for all kinds of reasons. My late-Grandfather collected pens: all kinds of pens; and he was also a big reader (I think that's where my love of books and knowledge comes from). Then, as I grew older, I found my parents collected sets of glasses, vinyls (lots of those) and other things too; which I've inherited. The one thing I've found with collectors is that they have a very detailed knowledge about their collection. Usually they have books or have joined clubs on what they collect and have sought out like-minded people. And it's often something most of us would throw away during a garage sale and not think twice about somebody buying the whole lot of the items set out to be sold for next to nothing. This is because collectors see something in those bits of nothing you've put onto that table. They know your trash is their treasure and all they need to do is clean it up, fix it and put it back together and it'll work. However, if it's already working, a good clean is what it needs and it's ready for the collection; and they can cross off another one off their growing list of collections.

Collecting something is fun - be it ear-rings, books, keychains, spoons or clocks - it's something to keep us forever out there looking for something better for the collection. It doesn't have to be more expensive, just something different. So, tell me, what do you collect; and if there's a reason, why?