The Psychology Of Collecting

Funny- reposting a comment I just made a few minutes ago....

I despise collectors - they purposely drive prices up. When the record manufacturers like Acoustic Sounds, Music Direct, Blue Note, Speakers Corner, etc. come out with reissues I am happy, When they overproduce them and I can get an overstock or great price especially from  a speculator who never opened it hoping for big investment gain, I am really happy (brand new Kind of Blue UHQR 45 for $120 for example a while back on eBay).

Collectors should stick to stamps, coins, art, and beanie babies. Car collectors are OK if they drive them at least a thousand or two miles per year or they are truly art (the multimillion dollar ones that belong in a museum) investments. Cars are meant to be driven and enjoyed.

Hoarders on the other hand, need help. It is a medical issue.

jimbohlman, I am with you!!!!

I really miss reading and looking at liner notes and album art.  I wish streaming services had that on all their titles.

To the subject at hand: I think nice collections can easily turn into hoarding when the amount of the collected item impedes our living space.  If you have vinyl records taking up every inch of wall space in every room of your house, I think that would be hoarding behavior even if the records were all collectible releases.

Except that such a wall of LP's can have room acoustic advantages.

A guy I heard talking once told the assembled that when his mother died and the kids were cleaning out her possessions they found a large box full of nothing but broken sewing machine needles. She had been through the Great Depression in a very, very taxing situation and had developed appropriate survival strategies that sometimes encompassed folly. No one begrudged her this.