Is it THAT unusual to not collect anything?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I am StarvingButStrong. I confess I don’t have any collections. I’ve never had any. (Pause to allow you all to gasp in astonishment.)

The subject of collections came up at a pot luck dinner yesterday and everyone was sharing what they collected/boasting of how many of whatever they had/talking about the ‘prizes’ of their collections and how they’d acquired them/etc.

I just sat there listening, until someone directly asked me about my collections, and I told them I didn’t have any. At first I don’t think they believed me, until hubby vouched for me, whereupon they acted like I’d just revealed the head of my secret conjoined twin.

Is it really that strange to not collect stuff?

Maybe I should define what I mean by collect. I’m talking about recreationally amassing numbers of some physical item purely because they fit in some category and you want to own those items to own those items, not because you need or use them in your regular life. A dedicated DIYer with lots of tools is probably not a collector, though s/he could be. Someone trying to amass a copy of every edition of a particular book definitely is, unless they maybe are the world’s authority on that book and publish writings about it – but even then, they probably are.

Just having multiples of some item doesn’t make you a collector. I have a cup with (counts) five pens in it on my computer desk. A similar one on the table beside where I sit on the couch and work crossword puzzles. A third clutch of miscellaneous writing tools in the kitchen junk drawer. These aren’t collections, they’re nothing special to me, I grab them when I need to write something, I toss them out when they run out of ink. Mostly they just arrive in my life in random ways – way more than half have advertising logos from companies I use – though I have quite a few from when I bought a pack of pens at Back to School sales when I realized my supply was getting thin.

It’s sort of the same with T shirts. I might have a couple dozen, but they’re just clothing I find useful. Mostly they’re solid colors, some have images or patterns printed on them, but none are mementos of a concert or location I went to. There are three categories: ones good enough to wear in public, ones I’d only wear around the house, and a few beat up ones waiting until I need to do some really messy chore which I plan to heave once I use them that way. They’re utility items, not a collection.

So how about you? Are you all collectors of something(s)? Or, like me, you just don’t see the appeal of it?

2

Not really - the closest I get to collecting is the Christmas ornaments I buy as vacation souvenirs. But I use them, the same as I would use a box of 40 ornaments I bought at Michael’s.

3

I’ve got to say that I’m impressed by the fact that this came up as a question at a pot luck dinner. I never would have thought of asking such a question, but it does seem like a neat ice-breaker when you meet people. Much better than, “So, what bands are you into?”

It follows the old rule of asking people to talk about the thing they’re most interested in, which is usually themselves.

4

And in both bands and “stuff”, my answer would basically be none.

The closest thing I have to a collection is my tabletop gaming models, but they are functional gaming pieces, not something gathered just for the sake of gathering them.

5

I have several guitars in my home studio. But these are working tools, not a collection as such.

I did have a small stamp collection and go fossil hunting when I was very much younger. But things like that are something one has heard of and tries out to see if you are really interested in it, I think. Ultimately if it doesn’t grab you, you don’t bother continuing?

6

I collect all sorts of stuff. I think collecting is just the moderately healthy manifestation of the same impulse that leads to compulsive hoarding. You are probably better off for not collecting anything.

And i doubt it’s that rare.

7

That sounds miserable.
My mom and grandma were both collectors of certain types of tchotchkes. I tried to be one too, because I thought it was what people did. My grandfather gave me a little cabinet, with tiny cubbyholes, and I collected miniature objects to fill it. Another time, I realized I had several clown figurines, so I put them all on the same shelf as a display. It took me a little while to realize that I didn’t enjoy collecting things, and literally hated clowns.
When I was a teenager, I noticed that the books I liked most were all written by the same guy, so I started picking them up wherever I could. These days, I buy whatever Stephen King puts out, months in advance. When the book arrives, I read it and put it on a dedicated bookcase with all the others. I’m not sure it qualifies as a collection though, because I use them and will again in future. Also, he’s put out a couple things that don’t interest me and I don’t feel the urge to own them.

8

I’m a minimalist and I hate clutter. Hell no, I don’t collect things.

9

I admit that both my wife and I had/have collections. My mother never did, nor did my stepfather. My brother collected guns. I got rid of my coin collection years ago, and we ditched all our record albums when we left Portland. The wife likes art, and we still have a lot of that, but have stopped buying more. She also never met a book she didn’t like, so we continue to accumulate those, despite me getting her a Kindle (which she never uses).

I also hate clutter, but you wouldn’t know it to see our apartment. We have too much art to hang, so it sits behind the couch. The kitchen is a freaking disaster; It’s tiny and I have to fight to keep a small amount of counter space open. The wife’s computer station (a second bedroom for most people) looks like a bomb went off.

10

I’ve been collecting things my entire life and have amassed more things than I even remember having. I am just now downsizing everything and only keeping a small core of things that actually mean something to me personally.

For instance, I had a huge Native American artifact collection from Ohio and Michigan. I’d go to auctions, estate sales and swap meets to find interesting artifacts. They took up a lot of room and now I am downsizing them to the point of only keeping things that I actually found, or that are truely great specimens. They fit in two shoe boxes.

I think this may be the crux of people that don’t collect things, they prefer to collect memories and experiences not physical objects. I am that with photos, I rarely take them, I prefer the memory more than any photo.

11

Some might draw a distinction between “functional” collectibles – gaming figures, Magic: the Gathering cards, guns, guitars, etc. – and “non-functional” (a.k.a. “dust-collector”) collectibles (Hummel figurines, postage stamps, etc.)

In my mind, at least, both are still collections if you have more than a couple.

12

I collect concert t-shirts from shows I’ve attended. I have about 200 now. But I do wear them regularly.

13

IMHO. collecting things is a symptom of a disturbed mind. Filling one’s space with dolls, comic books, ceramic clowns, toys (Lego, Star Wars, Barbie, etc), rare wines or whatever other things people collect beyond any reasonable utility or aesthetic purpose strike me as trying to fill some emotional void or emotional imbalance.

What were you THINKING?
What were you THINKING?
14

I used to collect porcelain figures of North American mammals posed in natural settings. Primarily mammals in the weasel family and cat family. I am often accused of collecting tools, but I only buy what I use, so I don’t see it that way. I also have one drawer dedicated to items of clothing left behind by houseguests.

15

That’s a little dark and rude for the thread, but you do you.

16

Moderating:

This is clearly not your thread, and this is close to a threadshit. No need to respond to every thread on the forum if it’s not your bag.

18

Hey. Same. A woman in my building had 100 stuffed animals, then complains she cant afford food. Housing made her get rid of some.

19

I don’t collect things because I have an overactive sentimentality quality. I find it difficult to divest my household of things given by cherished friends or family members, so I try to head off this impulse by not gathering items on my own.

Unfortunately, people I care for sort of impose their own ideas of what I should collect on me, and that can be hard to deal with. I have a dachshund and I had another before him, so a couple of people have decided I will love All Things Dachshund. As a consequence, I have dachshund figurines, salt and pepper shakers, potholders and the like.

I mean, it’s cute, and I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. But enough with the dachshund kitsch!

20

I’m a non-collector. I’ve certainly had more than I really need of some things. e.g.

    At one point long ago I had ~six pistols each in a different caliber. More bought as curiosity about they and their respective caliber’s features and plus/minuses than any thought towards “collect the whole set”. I sold off all but one starting a couple years after I apexed, then eventually got rid of that one too.

Of late I’ve been bitten a bit by the “Amazon as recreation” bug. e.g.

    Oooh, look, there’s another variation on a polo shirt I don’t have. Cheap too. [click click] and soon 3 more are coming in various colors / patterns.

But I get more fun from the buying and initial trying on than from subsequent use. So those also get culled pretty quickly.

So yeah, I did/do some mostly-useless multiplicities that aren’t collections. I didn’t / don’t / won’t do collecting.

21

I don’t collect anything either.

On vacation in Colombia in 2024, I bought a yo-yo with the word “Colombia” and a color scheme based on the Colombian flag. Then on vacation in Japan last year, I expressed my interest in finding a Japan-themed yo-yo. One person on my tour asked me if I was trying to add to my yo-yo collection, so I said, “yes, my collection of one.” (I didn’t find any Japan-themed yo-yos during my trip, so my collection remains at one.)