For some, collecting is just a hobby, but for many of us it’s a passionate love affair, bordering on obsession … collecting is a way of life!  Once you’ve caught the bug there is no escaping it, life will never be the same again!

By Rachael Fretter, Self-Confessed Collectorhollic 

1.     You’re never off the net!

Internet searches become a daily routine, constantly searching for that one rare, elusive item that makes the collection complete.

2.     Friends and family think you’re bonkers

In an effort to embrace your eccentricities they try to help, stumbling into an antique shop and discovering what looks like the items you collect, they call you doing their best to describe the item only to find out that you already have it along with every variation that exists.   They sigh.

3.     You can spot collectables at 100 paces

Whether it’s in the high street, auction house, car boot or antiques shop, your antennae is on high alert and tuned to perfection.  You can even spot items in charity shop windows as you wiz past as a passenger in a car, you yell out in excitement forcing the driver to do an emergency stop, do a U turn so you can check out the shop window!

4.     You’re restless on holiday

It’s the day before you fly off on your dream holiday … but spot a rare item on eBay and the auction ends when you’re away.  You deliberate for hours … should I put in a proxy bid and run the risk of pushing the price up too early or do I sit it out in the hope that I can get WiFi or 3G in the middle of nowhere?  It’s a tough call!

5.     Bulging at the seams

The collection has grown so much that your house can no longer take the strain, the floors are creaking and the walls are expanding … it’s time to move.  You look for a new abode however you pay no attention to the location, what the house looks like or even the price, all you care about is the floor plan and if there’s enough room to house your collection.

6.     Getting desperate

You only need a few, rare, pieces to complete your collection.  You buy up large auction lots to get just one piece, and then spend months selling on the remaining items! Well, you have got gaps in the collection after all that need filling.  The duplicates you have amassed over the years have become a collection in themselves.

7.     The hoarder next door

Your house starts to look a little like the ‘hoarder next door’ as you can’t bear to part with anything associated with the collection whether its boxes, literature or catalogues etc. you need these items.  After all they add to the value and provenance.

8.     Anti-social networking

Your best friends become people you have never met but you can spend hours over the internet and specialised collectors forums discussing your prized possessions and trying to outdo each other with the knowledge you have amassed.

9.     You’re an insufferable bore at parties

You’re at a party and a stranger makes the mistake of asking about your hobbies.  For the next 3 hours you have the poor soul cornered, whilst you regale them with your encyclopaedic knowledge of your collection, where you purchased items from, how much they costs, who bought what and when and listing from memory every variation in existence.  And yet when asked what you did yesterday, or for your loved one’s birthdate you have to look it up!

10.     It’s a love – hate relationship

Your other half either loves or hates your collection.  Well the term love might be an over exaggeration but they let you collect no matter what and that’s all that matters. They don’t bat an eyelid on how much you spend as it makes you happy and as long as it’s your money they don’t care. For the ones who hate it, it’s another story! You have to schedule when deliveries of your online purchases arrive, timed to perfection when the other half is out so you can sneak them into the house and onto the shelves without them knowing!

11.     A never ending story

After months of searching you’ve found the last piece to complete your collection and, proudly, you place it on display with the others.  Loudly announcing your success on the forum, you are brought down to earth with a bump when a piece comes up that you never knew existed.  Argh!  Oh well, it’s a good excuse to just keep on collectin’.

Collecting is part of who you are, it’s engrained and it’s what you enjoy – Happy Collecting!