With Friday here and a summer weekend soon to follow, some people are getting ready to hold garage sales, but others are asking “Who’s going to buy all this stuff?” Well, I might, and you might, too, if you’re a committed collector like I am.

If you’re getting ready to head out on your local garage sale trail, you might be one of the kinds of collectors I described in my last post: There are professional collectors as well as hobbyists, like I am. Some are specialists, while others are generalists, and some are omnivores, but all are materialists.

And there are even more, as far as I can tell after 25 years of serious collecting, so in this second of three posts, I’ll describe another six of my favorite kinds of collectors.

Collectors include…

7. Fanatics: Some people readily describe themselves as crazy about their fields of collecting. They shop frequently, buy regularly, keep faithfully, and always appreciate their collections, which could include Buffalo Bills’ memorabilia or Syracuse china. They usually want at least one of everything in their field and go to great lengths to acquire new pieces. Quite often, the objects they collect bring them happiness and add a sense of fun into their lives—as a collection of frogs or ladybugs would do.

8. Opportunists: Conversely, some collectors are quite casual about acquiring new pieces and are non-committal about building their collections. They don’t hunt down additional pieces, yet if they come across one at the right time and right price, they’ll pick it up. That’s how I’ve put together my partial set of Anchor Hocking’s clear glass dishes in the pattern called “Sandwich,” and that’s why it’s merely a partial set: I add pieces only if I come across them and if they’re priced reasonably.

9. Bargain Hunters: Related to opportunists, bargain seekers are interested in putting together collections only if they can do so at rock-bottom prices. They are usually well versed in their areas, so they know a deal when they come across it. They also put things in perspective, know that the cost of collecting can get out of hand, and remember that collecting is supposed to be a hobby. After all, the majority of collections are of interesting things, not priceless ones, such as a large assortment of Mid-Century Modern ashtrays acquired for no more than $1 each.

10. Preservers: Some collectors have less emotional attachments to their collections and more objective reasons for collecting. They are natural-born archivists, historians, and record-keepers, and often become professional ones, too. These collectors spend part of their time in the past because they especially appreciate bygone eras and the information and records generated then, so they might pursue logs, diaries, and other historical documents whose value lies in their content.

11. Nostalgists: Another kind of accumulator who focuses on the past, some collectors drawn by a sense of nostalgia to acquire certain things because those objects remind them of earlier times. Sometimes they feel deep, personal attachments to things like items from their own childhood, and sometimes they are simply attracted to the aesthetic styles or cultural events of previous eras. Such collectors often seek out toys, games, fashions, music, and movie posters from decades past.

12. Sentimentalists: Some sentimental collectors, too, focus on the past, and are the ones to preserve family heirlooms and collect things like Valentine’s cards and wedding cake toppers because of their old-fashioned charm and romantic nature. Other sentimental collectors, however, acquire items in the present to serve as reminders later on. Collectors like this buy mementoes of events in their lives and hold on to these souvenirs of their past celebrations, travels, and other experiences as tokens for the future. By joining their emotional connection to their life experiences with their attraction for a particular thing, such collectors might end up with an assemblage of party favors or Christmas ornaments or magnets, paperweights, or snow globes from their annual vacations.

Once again, I see a few of these traits in myself—that must be why I like people who collect so much. Anyone who likes to preserve history, feels nostalgic or sentimental, appreciates a bargain, moves on opportunities, and is a little crazy about collecting is my kind of person.

As I like to say, “the more, the merrier” in a collection and in a circle of friends. How about you? Are you like one of the collectors I’ve described, or do you know of another kind? If so, please comment and let us know.

See you Tuesday with the last of my list of who we collectors are. Until then, happy collecting.
Patti

© 2018 The Collectors of Western New York Museum & Gallery. All rights reserved.