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What is the difference between collecting and simply buying? You might think collecting implies buying toward an end goal (i.e. there is a closed list of items

What is the difference between collecting and simply buying? You might think collecting implies buying toward an end goal (i.e. there is a closed list of items and I will eventually have them all), but the article discusses, like, antique knives and other such things. Is the distinction merely quantity? I have more art than I can hang in my walls but wouldn't consider myself an art collector, and some of the examples in the article don't seem to be quantity driven. Is there a difference between a (hobby) musician who has several guitars because they have different timbres and a collector who collects guitars? Is it the mere act of having something rare or unusual? Then many collectors who buy mass-produced junk (e.g. Funko Pops) are not collectors, and I am a book collector because I got a few 19th century pieces when my grandfather died. Anyone have insight for what exactly collecting is?

xtiansimon 8y ago
> What is the difference between collecting and simply buying? I worked in a comic book shop during my youth. We knew who were the comic book readers and who were the collectors by their buying habits. Comic Books are rife with examples distinguishing collectors from readers. Comic books are a business of entertainment. Historially aimed at children (price point, themes, etc.). To overcome the impulse to spend their dimes on other products, they're numbered. In this sense numbering is a mechanism used by the publishers to prompt serial purchasing--"don't miss an issue". Even if a great story ends, you're compelled to keep buying. You have another 'continuity' with our human tendency to relate and invest in some characters. You want the story to never end--Peter Parker should be over 71 years old! As a comic book seller you know someone is a collector when they spend a premium price for the best quality of an out-of-print comic ('back issue'). Whereas a comic book reader, compelled to buy a back issue (continuity), will buy any quality and at the lowest possible price (mildew and all). And maybe what makes a collector (person) is when they have ammased a collection (group of similarly themed objects). When they make an effort to preserve these objects in the same state as when they first purchased the item. Comic book readers don't care about preservation, and are known to give their comic books away to their grandchildren (Mr A). In our consumer society we expect products to age and deteriorate on their own (acids in cheap newsprint discolor comics over time). Products also become damaged from use, and you replace them with another similar product. That's not the same for a collector--Nostalgia. I still remember my first comic book (GI Joe #26, origin of Snake Eyes). And the kid in art class who showed me his copy (Arthur), and said, as he pulled it from the "bag and board" to be careful--it's Mint! ahaha (no it wasn't). So now, when I pull that same copy (the copy I purchased from the Comic Zone of Fremont, CA) from the back of my closet, pull it out of the bag and board (careful with the tape!), my first thought is 7-th grade art class and Arthur. GI Joe #26 is an object in the 'collection' of $h@T from my life. I was a comic book seller. And I'm a collector.
- notafraudster 8y ago
  I'm not sure this resolves all the questions I had in my parent post (or that any reply would have), but I read it with interest anyway. :)
  - xtiansimon 8y ago
    Fair nuf. Though, that was my reply to just your first sentence. eheh

xtiansimon 8y ago

> What is the difference between collecting and simply buying? I worked in a comic book shop during my youth. We knew who were the comic book readers and who were the collectors by their buying habits. Comic Books are rife with examples distinguishing collectors from readers. Comic books are a business of entertainment. Historially aimed at children (price point, themes, etc.). To overcome the impulse to spend their dimes on other products, they're numbered. In this sense numbering is a mechanism used by the publishers to prompt serial purchasing--"don't miss an issue". Even if a great story ends, you're compelled to keep buying. You have another 'continuity' with our human tendency to relate and invest in some characters. You want the story to never end--Peter Parker should be over 71 years old! As a comic book seller you know someone is a collector when they spend a premium price for the best quality of an out-of-print comic ('back issue'). Whereas a comic book reader, compelled to buy a back issue (continuity), will buy any quality and at the lowest possible price (mildew and all). And maybe what makes a collector (person) is when they have ammased a collection (group of similarly themed objects). When they make an effort to preserve these objects in the same state as when they first purchased the item. Comic book readers don't care about preservation, and are known to give their comic books away to their grandchildren (Mr A). In our consumer society we expect products to age and deteriorate on their own (acids in cheap newsprint discolor comics over time). Products also become damaged from use, and you replace them with another similar product. That's not the same for a collector--Nostalgia. I still remember my first comic book (GI Joe #26, origin of Snake Eyes). And the kid in art class who showed me his copy (Arthur), and said, as he pulled it from the "bag and board" to be careful--it's Mint! ahaha (no it wasn't). So now, when I pull that same copy (the copy I purchased from the Comic Zone of Fremont, CA) from the back of my closet, pull it out of the bag and board (careful with the tape!), my first thought is 7-th grade art class and Arthur. GI Joe #26 is an object in the 'collection' of $h@T from my life. I was a comic book seller. And I'm a collector.

notafraudster 8y ago
I'm not sure this resolves all the questions I had in my parent post (or that any reply would have), but I read it with interest anyway. :)
- xtiansimon 8y ago
  Fair nuf. Though, that was my reply to just your first sentence. eheh