Collecting is a progressive addiction. It might start innocently with a friend introducing us to collecting and even giving us a few freebies. We dabble into buying more, especially items that tie us to our youth. We progress in collecting more from those childhood years putting together sets that we could not afford them. That feels pretty good, and soon we are tempted into expanding our collection into earlier and later years.
We get hooked on the high that comes from completing sets we only learned existed when we discover there are more cool items we never heard about before. We buy at flea markets, estate sales, from online classified advertisements, auctions, and dealers in cramped stores. Eventually, we are completely addicted and start bidding furiously on everything related to our collection including items in better condition than what we already have.
The collectors’ eyes start to glaze over as they move into progressive rounds of the addiction. Related collectibles appear on den and basement shelves. Second and third sets accumulate. Family members enable the addicts by covering up for them when they miss family events to visit yard sales or dealers instead. Soon the addicts are looking for obscure pieces and those one-of-a-kind items desired only by the select few who are as addicted.