Collecting

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It seems likely that autistics may jump on this bandwagon. Anyone have an interest in collecting? I am usually very utilitarian and only keep a very small number of possessions for strictly practical uses, with one exception - I collect bird feathers. Just feathers I find around the place, usually on the ground, of all different birds depending on the area I'm in. Today I found an ibis feather, big and grey/white.
Anyone collect, and if so, why?

not so hardcore in my adult years. But when i was a kid, i used to collect bottle caps. Why? I doubt i'll ever know, but i liked the smell, different patterns, colours lol I like to make giant pictures with them on the living room floor lol drove my mum insane!

These days, i really struggle with the enthusiasm and dedication to collect things as hardcore. Though i do try! I have a collection of final fantasy merchandise, lego appears to have reached a collection level. I used to collect games consoles until i sold most of them. Slowly building that back up again. There's probably loads of things i've also been subconciously collecting lol

Absolutely! I collect metal bits when i'm going to and from work. Nuts, screws, rings that sort of thing. Not the oxidized ones though, they don't look good alongside the clean ones. I also collected the taps off of cans when i was about 8 years old. I think i still got the pouch with them around somewhere in my bedroom.

I don't really know why i collect them. Maybe seeing them on my desk is giving me some sense of accomplishment, But maybe it is also the joy of finding something new to expand your collection with.

Yes I'm a collector. Mostly music and videos these days. But I've developed an aversion to it as well because I don't think it does me much good, it just generates loads of DVD-Rs and fills hard drives, cluttering up my already cluttered, small house. Most of the stuff I collect, I don't use. And I'm often scared of getting rid of my stuff. The collecting habit seems to be mainly a strong urge to make things complete, it really annoys me to know that there are gaps in my collections, like a jigsaw with a piece missing. I guess it's to do with perfectionism.

I have a ridiculous number of films and TV series on dvd, probably 1000+.

Also have 7 hard-drive/dvd recorders, 8 VHS players, 2 VHS-DVD combi-units. 5 PS2s, 2 Xboxes, plus 4 other games machines.

Coins also, several hundred Crowns, Halfcrowns, Shillings etc mostly from the 18th to early 20th century.


I think that makes me a bit of a collector....

My house is also a bit of a mess, for obvious reasons.

As a kid I collected jars of sand from beaches, bullet shells (my dad let me grab them at one of these beaches on base at Camp Lejeune), leaves, and sea shells

Over the years, my book collection got unwieldy. Books in areas of history, theology. I've managed to trim it down

Now, my collection has been the anti-collection. The task of trying not to find myself with lots of things

I've got about 8 of those too. In my case, it's the result of logical thinking. I have over 800 videotapes. There are some irreplaceable recordings among them, some of which I might want to see again and/or digitise, so I needed a cheap way of ensuring I can do that for a good few years yet (don't want to do it all now, it would take ages and it's not a good time for me to get sucked into it). Pretty soon it's going to be hard to get VCRs (and to get them repaired), so I bought a number of them while they were cheap secondhand. It looks eccentric, but I'm just reluctant to lose the cream of my video collection. And the longer I wait, the less work I'll eventually have to do, because so many of the movies and TV shows are becoming available at little or no cost.

I'm not into having many possessions but I do have a collection of knives & similar things.

For better or worse, I have always collected things. Toys have been the most constant. At the moment I collect POP! Vinyl figures, select Figma, a few S.H. Figuarts here and there, stuffed animals, and video games. Over the years I have collected a variety of action figures such as Toy Biz Marevl lines (5 in from 90's), Star Wars (vintage and modern), Ninja Turtles (vintage), GI JOE (80's through early 90's), Justice League Unlimited, and DC Universe Classics. You can say I also collect DVD/Blu-Ray and books.

I just hoard things at random. The main things are games and books, but really damn near anything could end up permanently in my room for no apparent reason.

When I was a kid I collected bottle caps, coins and cards (mostly Star Wars).

My biggest collection now would be my music. I have 1,700+ cd's on my pc... and counting.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... story.html

I collect sea glass - bits of colored glass worn smooth by the sea, on the beach in front of the house where I live, in south Italy. I find mostly green (from transformed beer bottles), less brown (ditto) and rarely blue, yellow and white. No red yet. When I see a piece of colored glass sparkling among the pebbles, I get a little shot of pleasure in my brain (dopamine?). I also collect books, mostly non-fiction - on nature, science, gardening, wild plants, homeopathy. I had over a thousand books when I lived in NJ. I had to give most of them up (to friends, libraries and book sales) when I moved to Italy. I am a 72 year old self-diagnosed Aspergirl.

There you start getting into the related behaviours which I find interesting - many people who collect things are hoarders and have lots of possessions, many of which are useless. They're messy, have trouble cleaning up or letting go of physical objects. The collecting behaviour is often related to obsessive/compulsiveness and often they don't like the behaviour and are stressed by it even though they keep doing it, like an addiction. I don't fit that pattern - as I said I'm utilitarian and dislike having lots of possessions. I'm neat, dislike mess, and don't have a huge attachment to things. The feathers are small objects which are just kept neatly in a box. I'm not obsessive about collecting them - I don't buy them or go to great lengths to obtain them. Just pick them up when I see them and put them in the box. Maybe that's the difference between collecting and hoarding?

I like to collect stuff. Mostly model railroad equipmnet, postage stamps, and antique glass insulators.