The Collectors Guide

The Collectors Guide

Starting a collection can be loads of fun and is a great hobby! Collections, big and small, are very personal. People collect things because they are interested in them or have connections to them. If you don’t already have a collection, I suggest you start one now. Here are some helpful tips on starting a collection and where to find the things you will collect.

What to Collect

People will collect just about anything. Seriously. I’ve seen collections ranging from glass bunnies to pigs wearing clothes, bright colored shoes to wine bottles, and guitars to unicorns. What you want to collect is all up to you, so I won’t stop you from collecting unicorns. Popular collection items are stamps, key chains, post cards, hats, Christmas ornaments, etc – pretty much anything you can find at a gift shop while on vacation. Tons of people travel the United States, or the entire world collecting things. Many people travel to places and purchase things that were handmade there, like small sculptures and paintings and pottery. I collect license plates (I eventually want one from all 50 states), guitars, hats, and a few other small novelty items. It is so much fun finding things all over the place to add to my collections. Remember: Your collection does not have to cost a ton of money! You can collect cheap things! In fact, some collectable items don't even have to be purchased! Tons of people collect things they find, like bottle caps and cool looking rocks. Try metal detectors too!

Telling Others About Your Collections

If you decide to collect unicorns, it might be a good idea not to tell everybody in your family. If you do tell everybody and their dog that you collect unicorns, then that means there is an extremely good chance that you will only get unicorn statues, books, and shirts for your birthday and Christmas until you die. I don’t know about you, but I would get pretty tired of unicorns. I learned this the hard way, of course, it wasn’t unicorns. ;)

Quality NOT Quantity

Don’t buy every single little porcelain unicorn you come across. Make your collection special. Buy the things that have some kind of meaning, and you will be a lot happier with your collection. If your collection is small, but really good, you can display it proudly on your mantle for a great conversation starter! People often put up more lighting to shine on their collection.

Where to Buy Parts of Your Collection

Places to add to your collection are everywhere you look. Online places like eBay, Amazon, etc are great places to find exactly what you are looking for. When you go on vacation, stop and look at truck stops for something you might be interested in. Garage sales are also a good source for collectable items.

Showtime

Find a really cool way to set up your collection in any room of your house. Find a great, lighted display case and keep your collection behind glass. (Unicorns look really cool all lit up!) Cases are made to stand still or spin around slowly, showing all angles of your collection. If its stamps or post cards you want to collect, buy a really cool book to put them in and keep it on a shelf where everybody can pick it up and look at it.

Think carefully about your collection. If you want to, collect more than one thing! The main thing is to have fun and enjoy having your collection grow.

Thanks,

Parker