The Psychology Of Collecting

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.

I mentioned up thread that we are cleaning the home of a recently passed relative.  We’ve dealt with a couple of Estate Sales people who say that stamp collecting has completely tanked as a hobby.