Off-Topic Forum

Oh Boy,

1. If I can't list it on TCDB, I probably collect it 1 way or another. Mostly Sport's related. [in Card rooms]

2. Hess Trucks, small collection

3. Trains, Lionel 027 and HO. [for train room]

4. Eagles and A's Memorabilia. [for Eagles room]

5. Used to collect shot glasses, beer cans and bottle caps, I'm sure they are buried some where.

6. Sport's clothing from any event or competition my boys and grandchildren compete in.

7. Hats

8. Used to collect insects, still have display cases with the insects.

9. Bottle openers for my outdoor's bar

10. All Greatest Hits CDs.

Top 10.

Small comic book collection. Most of the late '60's Classic Illustrated. (Remember them?) I also have about 2/3 of the Uncle Scrooge comic books. 

Sportscards probably got me into the collecting world at a rather young age of 8 or thereabouts. Soon after I was into the comic book scene starting in the 1960's as well. After having "left the nest" a few years later I was informed by my mother that she had "given away" the comics. In hindsight it's likely a good thing the sportscards accompanied on that first move. Souvenir spoons were something else I would be sure to pick up on my travels. Various chess sets and cribbage boards can still be found at various locations around the house today. Growing up in the '60's also meant like likely one would wind up with a sizeable collection of LP's and 45's. Try and explain those to your children (and now grandchildren) . You might just as well be talking about dinosaurs. Oh and before I forget it was kinda like a collection but I would literally write down and keep track of ALL the different license plates and couldn't wait for the summer fair to arrive because that meant the distinct possibilty of some of those US plates comiong northward.

Other than sports cards I try to minimize the "stuff" I collect.  Instead I collect places...keep track of countries,states, counties and cities I've visited, trails and mountains I've hiked, etc.  I do manage to bring home a souvenir coffee mug from every family vacation.  I got my kids into coin collecting.  The tooth fairy usually leaves them late 1800s to early 1900s pennies and dimes.

I have a Yuengling Beer collection. Cans, Trays Coasters, bottles and signs

I forgot to mention I also have a rather extensive collection of music. Mostly on CD but some cassette as well. Our records were lost in a flood. 

I have a few other collections as cards are not my main focus but an extended part of Sports Memorabilia which included items of favorite teams. 

1. Guitars mostly Gibsons Flying V's

2. Cavalry Military items

3. Military Weapons

4. Harley Davidson Items, Dealer Pins/Chips from around the world

5. GM and Mopar Muscle Cars as well as Automobilia of Musclecars 

6. Tarantulas, currently at over 100 different species

7.Hard Rock Pins

8. Music CD's and LP's

9. Tattoos

10.Ex-wives

Like Billy, I'm a collector by nature. I started with Stamps (someone gave me an album to use, and then the little packets of stamps). What was great about doing that when I was 5 or 6 first, before getting into cards was the knowledge about keeping things in good shape. Although, a few of my early cards were victims of "checklisting" - beyond even the checklists. I am unsure of where the stamp collection wound up. I may have given it to a kid who was just starting inthat hobby a long time ago.

I have aways been a big music fan. I was getting singles (45s) even before the stamps. That wasn't really a "collection" per se, as it was just ensuring I had the songs I wanted to hear available to me. Over the years, I continued to buy music, 8-tracks, cassettes, LPs, and, of course, CDs. I have bought a couple items (and really, only a couple) as "collectibles", whereas anything else I bought was strictly to get at leat 1 song I didn't already have. That's been more about the music than collectibility, although if you saw the library of music stuff I have, you'd probably call it a "very nice collection."

Because of the sheer number of available cards (even pre-late 80s glut), I have always tried to "limit" mysel to cards. I have been known to stray from that for various items, but most of those were gifts. (Although, I couldn't pass up buying a mug with the 1983 Topps Wade Boggs rookie card on it - licensed by Topps.) Also, in the early 80s, I shed all my non-baseball cards (sports sold to a classmate and non-sports given to a family friend). So I really have tried to focus. Just that "cards" is a BIG area.

I have a small collection of sports publications (game programs, magazines). I also have a collection of bird feathers that I occasionally find while out walking.

I was an active birder for years and kept a variety of lists that were a form of collecting. I was not nearly as meticulous about it as some but my favorites were birds identified in my dreams and birds seen/heard while peeing.

I still have a collection of several hundred bird books - mostly field guides but also "state ornithologies" that describe every species seen in a particular state or county. My oldest state bird book is from the late 1800's "Birds of PA"

On a related but different note, my wife recently found a collection of dolls from her mother and grandmother. I am not sure how old they are but suspect some may be quite old. I would love to get them evaluated but know nothing about collecting antigue dolls.