subject: The Fun Is In The Collecting [print this page] What is it that makes collecting so satisfying? In days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there were collectors. It stems from a time when bushes and logs were picked over for every last berry, mushroom and tasty grub. The clicking of the mouse to get what you need has replaced the idea of fighting off dinosaurs for our food. It felt good for the people of prehistoric times to collect enough food to last them for a while, just like it feels good when we unearth the perfect collectible at the bottom of a sale bin.
The cavemen had no real limits on how much they gathered. The only thing that held them back was the environment that they lived in. Without anyone to put a stop to our ability to add stuff to our collection, what are we supposed to do when we think wee have too much?
Collections are usually cyclical.For most people collecting follows a pattern. As we grow older the significance of what we are saving changes and varies in how important it is to us based on other factors that surround us. For example, many boys begin collecting baseball cards at about age 10. They may not ever be worth a great deal of money, but they will always have a special place in a person's heart and often their home forever.
In addition to time spent and the energy invested in a collection, cost can also factor into whether a collection, or parts of it, can be let go. A collectible frogs set could be an example of this and a person will find them selves finding a place to display their latest additions even though there is no room left in their house because they spent $500 on something and feel they have to put it out because of that.
A great way to determine if a collection, or part of it, has outlived its purpose is to ask yourself questions like: "Do I still feel a positive charge when I look at the collection?" and "Is it displayed or is it packed away?", or "Could I get more of enjoyment out of my collection by selling it on a website like myfrogcollection.com . Even a collection that is displayed may not be active, though. After it has occupied a space in your home for long enough it has often become just another piece of furniture that you have not taken the time to put away in storage.
I was inspired to start my collection by an article titled Collecting Frogs - a Fun Hobby for All Ages but as time went by that enthusiasm faded and I knew that not properly caring for a collection is a sign that I had moved on and it might be time to let it go and in fact it would have been better to have parted with them 20 years earlier since at this point they went into the trash bin. If you're unsure about whether to keep a collection, one option is to store it for a while and rotate a different collection into view. When you are sick of looking at the same set of dishes, go ahead and put up a different one for a holiday season. Doing this will make it easier to enjoy your collectibles for a longer period of time. As time goes by, you might find that you no longer enjoy one particular thing and that is a sign that you should get rid of it. If you add to the collection, keep it manageable with a mini purge of older items.
You can think about saving a collection to hand down to children or grandchildren. If you decide to do this you need to realize that you had more fun searching for the collectible then you did storing it. A child could learn a lot more if you taught them what you know about collectibles rather them give them collectibles without the effort.
