The Changing World of Collecting
Collecting vintage toys is a popular hobby. My own collecting has changed over the last 20 years to cater for the changes in my own tastes, the scarcity of particular wants and most recently the emptiness of my pockets!
In the past I would add to my various collections - space toys, action figures, film memorabilia and board games - from stuff found at car boot sales and charity shops. I have found less and less over the last few years to the point where I seldom go to them anymore, which is a shame, as they were great fun.
Once a year I still go to a big toy fair with a good mate and stock up on a few choice items after saving up my pennies all year. I love the hubbub of these events, the roving bands of Stormtroopers and gangs of Klingons and above all the chance to fill in gaps in, for instance, my TV21 comic collection. Some dealers can be relied upon to have a fabulous selection each time I visit. Occasionally we see the odd Celebrity too like Ray Park, who played Darth Maul in Star Wars The Phantom Menace. He was having lunch on the next table. I could have sworn he had a mini double-headed light sabre to eat with!
Most of my 'new' toys are now found on Ebay or via swaps these days but finds are few and far between, as I am limited on budget and some of my collections, like Project SWORD toys, are nearly complete. I can't go any further with them so I have veered off into more fertile and far less expensive areas such as Gerry Anderson related miniatures, rubbers and comics. My magpie instinct is still very strong and must be satisfied somehow!
What are your collecting habits and have they changed over time?
Having always been a collector of sumthin'-or-uther from childhood on I can say that the only thing constant about my collecting is that I still collect. As a kid it was foreighn coins and currency that got me going. Later, as an HO scale model railroader it was HO scale stuff that had my blood in a boil. Since about 1992, HO scale railroading gave way to 3-rail O-gauge trains - specifically Marx - and the last few years has been about toys. I find myself now being drawn to older toys - those from the 1920s/30s. Ain't life grand? :-)
ReplyDeleteMy collecting habits are somewhat cyclical, in a larger sense alternating between childhood toys, tinplate trains and military matters, sometimes with sub-cycles for each (an occasionally emergent interest in early 60s Lego amongst the toys f ex, or a temporary craving for Bing Table Top amongst the (otherwise) 0-gauge tinplate trains ).
ReplyDeleteAs to finding the stuff, I've seen every collecting interest migrate from fleamarket to swapmeet to more specialised auctions to online. The few specialist shops that used to exist have justabout all gone as well. Doesn't mean the odd surprise doesn't happen at a swapmeet f ex, but its pretty rare.
The only constant is having friends that know what you like and keep an eye out, and knowing fellow-nutcases is one of the best things about collecting there is!
Best -- Paul
There's an annual toy & collectible expo that I go to every January.It's about a 40 minute drive from my house but it's always worth the effort.the ballroom at a local Holiday Inn is just packed with table after table of vintage stuff,usually at good prices.There's nothing better on a cold, gray Sunday afternoon than to sift through piles of oldies but goodies.It's like a zen experience.I often see things mentioned on this site, like Thuderbirds, Star Mites, and Corgi Jr. toys.
ReplyDelete