collectibles

[vanilla]

Does anyone have a collection of things that are rare or not made anymore? I used to have some 45 records I wish I still had. I've seen folks who have a whole house full of Beatles memorabilia or smilie faces(horror!).

[Mr. Blue Sky]

I'm a big ELO fan and have been trying to collect all of their releases in every avaiable format. Lately, I have acquired 8-Tracks and reel-to-reels as well as LP's and 45's.

[Snark]

I collect toenail clippings. I have one in the shape of Bill Clinton's nose. And another in the shape of Hillary's huge....er...um....any help here, John John?

[cmkeller]

Well, I'm a collector of cheesy old sci-fi comic books. I've got a complete collection of Space Cabby, containing less scientific understanding than a Kansas Public School science book. Ditto the Star Rovers and Star Hawkins.

I also have a picture or baseball card of every professional baseball player whose last name began with the letter 'X'.

[Lego]

I have a collection of invertebrate fossils from the Ordovician period. They're most likely extinct species, so guess that is what I collect that isn't made anymore.

[Zenster]

I was thinking about just this sort of catagory today.

A collection of glass bottled sodas (all still full):

• Coca Cola (American)
• Coca Cola (short Korean)
• Coca Cola (tall Korean)
• Coca Cola (Mexican)
• 7^Up (green glass)
• Wink (Canada Dry)
• Orange Crush (art deco bottle)
• Squirt (green spiral glass)
• Sprite (green nubbed glass)
• Peñafiel Mineral Water (enameled label)
• Limonatta (Italian)
• Arinchatta (Itallian)
• Sport (Italian)

And the grand winner is:

• G&L Green Ramune
  
  This is a spectacular Korean specimen (perhaps Astroboy will drop by and tell us about it). I have an extra sample that is empty in order to demonstrate the remarkable marble seal. A spheroid of glass (the marble) is used as a sort of cork that must be dislodged in order to open the bottle. A sharp blow to the cap will knock it into the bottle. The flask must be oriented specifically so that the marble will roll into special pocks that hold it while you are drinking. Otherwise it will roll up and block the bottle when you tilt it. It is one of the oddest mechanical closures that I have ever seen on a food product.

I also collect really odd electronic and solid state component specimens but I'll save that for later.

[Eliahna]

SO collects old computers and game consoles. He's intent on saving them from extinction. You can check out some of his collection at http://www.unnamedpcmuseum.com if you're interested.

[racerx]

I kept all my Strawberry Shortcake dolls from when I was little and in the past few years I've been trying to add to the collection. Unfortunately it seems like all the other gen-X-ers are doing the same thing - drives prices up.

[Jonathan Chance]

Originally posted by cmkeller
I also have a picture or baseball card of every professional baseball player whose last name began with the letter 'X'.

You know CM, you're not foolin' me. There never has been a major league ball player who's last name began with 'X'. The closest it's come is when the Astros had a guy named 'Joe Xavier' reach the AA level of the minors. Becketts Baseball Card Monthly had a monthly Joe Xavier watch for a while in the late 80s and early 90s. Last I heard he'd gone to play in Italy for more money.

As for me? I collect old squished pennies with Burma Shave slogans on them from the 30s. Well, actually, I collect any squished pennies but the Burma Shave ones have been great for me lately.

"A peach looks good
With lots of fuzz
But man's no peach
and never wuzz.

BURMA SHAVE"

OH, that is SO cool.

[Jonathan Chance]

Originally posted by cazzle
SO collects old computers and game consoles. He's intent on saving them from extinction. You can check out some of his collection at http://www.unnamedpcmuseum.com if you're interested.

Cazzle-

I hope your SO knows about Videotopia. It's a traveling museum exhibit covering the history of the video game. They have everything you can imagine going back to the 60s and includes all the old console games as well.

Here's the kicker...all the games work! For your admission you get a bunch of tokens and you can play the games!

I run a video game newsletter (you can find the address in my profile, I won't advertise here) and one of my editors and I got invited to Videotopia when it visited DC here. We got to go in and go WILD for two hours with some other local press weenies. It was great. I went back once a week for the entire three months it was in town.

So have your SO check out http://www.videotopia.com. It's worth the trip.

[bernse]

I collect old consoles and PCs as well. My little caveat though (with the consoles at least) is I prefer to get them new in box, prefferebly never opened. I like to get the computers the same way, but that proves almost impossible, so I have to settle with like or as new complete in the box.

I have massed a "relatively" large collection that my wife would like to, ahem, "dispose" of. If I ever leave town for more than a couple days I have to go to the basement and make sure my treasures are intact.

[Bumbazine]

Don't know if you could call it a collection really, but I've got several 45 rpm records and a number of 78s.
Unfortunately,the only 78 record player I have has a steel needle. Someday I need to hunt up an old 78rpm turntable and figure out a way to connect it to a computer so I can transfer my Boogie-woogie records to CDs.
Actually, when I look around my house, I have a lot of old stuff that they don't make anymore. But I'm old, and they don't make me anymore either! ('Cept for Mrs. B.)

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Originally posted by Bumbazine
Don't know if you could call it a collection really, but I've got several 45 rpm records and a number of 78s.
Unfortunately,the only 78 record player I have has a steel needle. Someday I need to hunt up an old 78rpm turntable and figure out a way to connect it to a computer so I can transfer my Boogie-woogie records to CDs.
Actually, when I look around my house, I have a lot of old stuff that they don't make anymore. But I'm old, and they don't make me anymore either! ('Cept for Mrs. B.)

Pick up a copy of Goldmine magazine. I've seen ads for "new" 78 players that can be attached to a modern stereo systems, thus can be be connected to your computer.

[Bumbazine]

Thank you Mr. Blue Sky, I'll do just that!

[Fenris]

Originally posted by Bumbazine
Thank you Mr. Blue Sky, I'll do just that!

Bumbazine:

If you have lots of albums, trust me: it's much easier, and you get better results with a Stereo CD Burner (it hooks into your stereo, not your computer. ( Here's the kind I got.) You have to buy a special type of CD for this unit They'll play anywhere, like a normal CD, but has a special code on it that "unlocks" the recording function).

I've tried the "hook your turntable up to your computer" method and even with a decent sound card got iffy results. I love this burner and highly recommend it, if you've got enough albums to make it worth getting.

Let me know if you want more info!

Fenris

[Elkman]

I've got around 40 longneck beer bottles, around 1/3 full with the cap. Also have around 50 stubbies, most full with cap. I also have around 100 45s, and several hundred comics, most from the 50s through 70s; virtually no superheroes either, 90%+ are war comics. Finally, I've started collecting prewar hockey cards. My wife refers to it all collectively as junk, and like bernse, if I went away for any length of time, I suspect much of my collection would disappear.

[Bumbazine]

Fenris, you are a gentleman and a scholar. Sadly, I don't have enough 78s left to justify such an expenditure.
But I really appreciate your advice. Thsnks.

[Bumbazine]

Originally posted by Bumbazine
Sadly, I don't have enough 78s left to justify such an expenditure.

::slaps forehead::

But that'd work for all my old records wouldn't it? - DUH

(middle age + long week + Geist Bock = diminished capacity)

I'll have to take that up with the Finance Committee.

[Fenris]

Originally posted by Bumbazine
I'll have to take that up with the Finance Committee.

You can present the following scenerio to the Finance Committee

You: FC, we have two options. Either we can get this, and turn down the lights and snuggle on the sofa as we listen to all our old records (creating tracks on the CD by pressing a button on the remote), preserving forever on CD our precious memories, and (you say, slyly) making some new ones!
or
You (or I) can lug the pre-amp, amp, speakers and turntable to the room where the computer is. Oh! We'll need to buy a new sound card. A good one. That'll be about half to two-thirds the cost of the unit Fenris suggested (if we get it on sale). Then we'll have to hook everything up. Then, I'll have to sit in front of the computer, either stopping the record after every! single! song! or I'll have to buy a .WAV editor program (a good one'll set us back about $100) and cut-and-paste each track out of the monster track that'll result from each side of the album. Of course, that'll ruin my eyes and make me all grouchy and stressed and take all the joy out of a project that we could enjoy together. Oh yeah! We might need a new hard drive ($150.00-ish) to hold all that data. Your choice.

FC: Hmmm...

I know if I were the F.C. which option I'd choose!

Erm...If the F.C. really is a F.C. like a bank or something, I strongly recommend against this approach unless you want your banker on your sofa!

Fenris

[Bumbazine]

Thanks Fenris, your advice is much appreciated, and the Finance Committee is the snuggleable kind. But after all these years, she isn't as easily swayed as she used to be.
We'll just have to see.

[Mercutio]

Being the little punk rocker that I tend to be, I collect a staple of what is commonly associated with the dress. I acquire small pins from friends and shows and other people. I have a glassful of bands I enjoy and various political messages. My favorite is a pin for the band, Bad Religion that a former member of the band gave me. I think I have something around 30-40. ::scratches his head:: Maybe I should count them.....

[Kepi]

My partner and I collect vintage postcards from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. We especially like the ones that are printed on linen card stock like this one. Our goal is to eventually display all of our hometown (Fort Worth) cards on our website, but it's taking a lot longer to pull together than we hoped.