What’s your favorite piece or pieces? Is it one you’re proud of finding or does it have some sort of history to it or…? Pictures, please!
I collect kimono. My favorite (right now) is my tsukesage (visiting kimono). It’s orange and has books on it. It’s my most formal kimono. Unfortunately I can’t wear tie a formal obi yet, so I have to rely on the pre-tied obi I bought for it.
I also have two kimono from after WWII (I think) that are really nice. One is striped and one has arrow patterns. And I have a beautiful black haori (jacket) with red boats. tsukesageand detail
Besides that, I also collect Thundercats stuff. I think my favorite toy is the Astral Moat Monster. He’s just so odd looking. He’s also had some cute guest roles in the UK comics. Mine has unfortunately fallen too many times so we had to screw on one of his feet. I also have some of the old books and comics and a couple of scripts. I think my favorite is ‘The Spear of Azzura’ - an old book with pretty art. If they ever make new Thundercats figure, and make a Willa figure, I think they should include her leaf cape from that.
I don’t really have a super favorite from my Silverhawks collection. Although I am quite proud to have all the comics.
I collect comic books. Don’t ask me to pick a favorite, though - I’ve got too many to choose from
I suppose you could say I collect bass guitars, too. My “favorite” tends to be whichever one I purchased most recently, in this case the Fender Jazz (second from the left).
I collect penguins and penguin-related things. My favorite is a penguin snow globe/music box which I would love to take a picture of, but my camera is all busted. Needless to say, my penguins make me extremely attractive to the ladies.
I collect sf books and magazines. With 5,000, I’ve got lots of favorites, but one is a nearly complete set of Unknowns (1939 -1944) which I got fairly cheaply when I was a grad student. I also have the special Bradbury issue of F&SF which I later discovered had been autographed by him.
I collect hockey paraphenalia, specifically game used sticks and jerseys, mice and rats and related things (figurines and such, no real ones), and watches.
I collect what I describe as “itty-bitty kitties,” although some of them aren’t all that itty-bitty – cat figurines. I think I got started by buying them at Woolworths as a kid. You could get bone china figurines from Japan for about 50¢ or so. I tend to look for little cat figurines when I’m buying mementos of travels.
Among my favorites is a totally bizarre black plastic cat that I’ve had since childhood. It has winky eyes and a very humanoid body, with breasts and a butt crack. I think it was a carnival game prize.
I also have a very cool ocarina that is a band of cat musicians. In recent years, I’ve kind of focused on cats playing musical instruments as a way to provide me with a challenge.
I have a small assortment of glass ashtrays with motel and gas station logos from the early 60’s. I think my favorite is one with a blue Howard Johnson’s Lamplighter logo on it. It just reminds me of riding in the car down to Texas on vacation: seven hundred miles in the summertime without air conditioning. Two lane highways, little roadside parks where you’d stop for a picnic lunch, cicadas singing in the distance, and a family sedan with fins as tall as me and a grill that looked like a shark’s mouth. Mom and Dad and my three sisters and me on our way to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. When you started smelling refineries, we were almost there. Fun times.
Like freckafree, I collect cat figures (that ocarina sounds way cool, freckafree!). It started as small figurines or toys and now encompasses all sorts of things, and includes wild cats as well. I think my favorites would be either the vintage Battle Cat (with extra He-Man bonus, but sadly lacking accessories) or a terracotta reproduction of a frieze from the Platform of Eagles and Jaguars at Chichen Itza. It shows a jaguar eating a human heart, a subtle reminder of what could happen if I withhold kitty treats.
C&R military rifles that are in “issue” configuration. Probably my favorite piece is the Mark 4 Lee-Enfield, which I removed from the arsenal wrappings myself. AFAIK, it has never had a round fired through it. Totally cherry.
That sounds so familiar, even though I’ve never had the experience. Phantom nostalgia, maybe. Or maybe you just described it really well.
I don’t collect anything anymore, but I used to collect bird stuff – salt and pepper shakers mostly, but also plates (this collection, and bird bric-a-brac, anything birdy, as long as it looked natural.
I collect nutcrackers. My favorite is the purple and blue one up front in this photo and it’s match that is the same design with inversed colors. They were two of my first nutcrackers and a Christmas present from my grandfather who started my collection and has since passed away.
I collect comic books, particularly miniseries and graphic novels. My favorite piece so far is the first one that got me into it, Watchmen, but I’m also fond of The Man Who Laughs, which used to be a little rare and expensive before the new batman movie was announced.
I’m also starting up my childhood hobby of building model airplanes, I used to have a collection of about two dozen. My favorite one was one of the last ones, a B17G which I painstakingly detailed the interior.
Geez, I forgot my other (larger) collection - Disney pins. I don’t keep them on display (yet) so I suppose out of sight is out of mind. My favorite is one of my newest, a limited edition of the Tiki Room, only available to annual passholders. The Tiki Room is one of my very favorite things at DL, and it’s a very nice pin with a few levels of depth. I really want to complete my collection of classic restaurants, mostly because I’m pining for the Tahitian Terrace pin (designed by Shag).
And I collect pins, patches, and walking stick emblems for all the US National Parks I’ve been to. I hope to complete it before I die. (They’re in the pin box too, d’oh!) I really need to make a banner or something for all the patches. And a walking stick wouldn’t hurt. :smack:
I collect coffee mugs from different places I’ve been. I’ve even asked friends to bring me back a mug if they are going places I would likely never end up. I really need an additional fireplace mantle
I’ve also collected matchbooks that I still have in giant brandy snifters. They are mostly collecting dust. I guess one of the reasons I’ve stopped collecting them is that they really can’t be found anywhere anymore. Oh, well.
ETA that I really need to read the ENTIRE question before posting. In any case, I really don’t have favorites, only some that are not so favorite.
Squished pennies. I have one from the 1933 World’s Fair that my Great Aunt Kate made.
Written history. Letters, old diaries and such. I have a late 1600s letter of indenture, still with the seals attached, hand written on some form of leather or vellum.
