I was born with the collecting bug, and have actively collected a variety of things over the years.
My first real interest was in both Lionel and American Flyer trains, specifically postwar stuff. I'm no longer actively collecting, but still have pretty much everything. That has waxed and waned over the years, although every time my nephews come to visit and get me to fire up the train layout, I can't help but get interested again. One of the worst blows to that collection, though, was when a local shop that I'd visited pretty much weekly for about 15 years closed several years back. It was run by a husband and wife, and I still go to visit them frequently, but it's still not the same as the old days.
Right now, my two main active collections are American pocket watches and Macintoshes(hence my involvement here). Unfortunately, I've reached the stage of collecting watches where a lot of the major stuff I want is just out of reach at this point in my life(esp. the early high grade Walthams that I love). With that said, though, one of the benefits of being active in the collecting community and actually going out to network with folks(in real life) is that people know my interests and I have a lot of stuff come to me, whether it's an email, a link to an Ebay auction, or someone pulling something out of their pocket when I walk up to their table at a show.
My Macintosh collection now comprises some 100 pieces covering primarily the "G" era(G3, G4, G5), although I've been chasing compact Macs lately and am still on the hunt for certain high end 68K computers. I'd really love a IIfx and a Quadra 840AV. As a more attainable goal, I've been fleshing out my collection of iMac G3 colors and variants more recently, and once that's finished am going to concentrate more on clamshell iBooks. A TAM is probably among the top items I really want. I also WANT an Xserve G4 along with an Xserve Raid, and feel obligated to get an iMac G5 to complete my "G" series Mac collection even though they don't excite me that much. Along with all of that, there are also peripherals. For a while, I was looking for Studio displays, although I've managed to get all but a couple of the very early LCDs as well as a blueberry 21" CRT.
If I had the time, space, and money I'd collect British sports cars. Unfortunately, I'm lacking in all three, so I keep myself content with one MGB-and it does keep me plenty busy. I've been wavering back and forth the past week on buying an all out project car-a late(and cheap) MGB, but I come back to the time and space problem with it(primarily space).
I have dabbled on and off the last few years in collecting Smith and Wesson revolvers, although again the ones I really would like are high four figure prices at a minimum and more realistically a five figure price. It's getting difficult to even find common ones(like Model 27s) for under $1K and the ubiquitous prewar M&P in 38 special, which used to be a $200-300 gun for most varieties in "shooter" condition is now running in the $400-500 range. I'd love to collect Colt double actions, but many of them have gone through the roof-especially the "snake" guns. Around here, "shooter" grade Pythons start in the $2500 neighborhood. I have a few lesser known Colts that I really enjoy, but even those are creeping up in value. I'd like to find both a nice Officer's Model Match in 38 Special and a Colt "357"(model name) before market inertia brings them out of reach. I have a very similar gun to the 357, a Trooper 357, but would like the much better finished 357 for my collection.
My first real interest was in both Lionel and American Flyer trains, specifically postwar stuff. I'm no longer actively collecting, but still have pretty much everything. That has waxed and waned over the years, although every time my nephews come to visit and get me to fire up the train layout, I can't help but get interested again. One of the worst blows to that collection, though, was when a local shop that I'd visited pretty much weekly for about 15 years closed several years back. It was run by a husband and wife, and I still go to visit them frequently, but it's still not the same as the old days.
Right now, my two main active collections are American pocket watches and Macintoshes(hence my involvement here). Unfortunately, I've reached the stage of collecting watches where a lot of the major stuff I want is just out of reach at this point in my life(esp. the early high grade Walthams that I love). With that said, though, one of the benefits of being active in the collecting community and actually going out to network with folks(in real life) is that people know my interests and I have a lot of stuff come to me, whether it's an email, a link to an Ebay auction, or someone pulling something out of their pocket when I walk up to their table at a show.
My Macintosh collection now comprises some 100 pieces covering primarily the "G" era(G3, G4, G5), although I've been chasing compact Macs lately and am still on the hunt for certain high end 68K computers. I'd really love a IIfx and a Quadra 840AV. As a more attainable goal, I've been fleshing out my collection of iMac G3 colors and variants more recently, and once that's finished am going to concentrate more on clamshell iBooks. A TAM is probably among the top items I really want. I also WANT an Xserve G4 along with an Xserve Raid, and feel obligated to get an iMac G5 to complete my "G" series Mac collection even though they don't excite me that much. Along with all of that, there are also peripherals. For a while, I was looking for Studio displays, although I've managed to get all but a couple of the very early LCDs as well as a blueberry 21" CRT.
If I had the time, space, and money I'd collect British sports cars. Unfortunately, I'm lacking in all three, so I keep myself content with one MGB-and it does keep me plenty busy. I've been wavering back and forth the past week on buying an all out project car-a late(and cheap) MGB, but I come back to the time and space problem with it(primarily space).
I have dabbled on and off the last few years in collecting Smith and Wesson revolvers, although again the ones I really would like are high four figure prices at a minimum and more realistically a five figure price. It's getting difficult to even find common ones(like Model 27s) for under $1K and the ubiquitous prewar M&P in 38 special, which used to be a $200-300 gun for most varieties in "shooter" condition is now running in the $400-500 range. I'd love to collect Colt double actions, but many of them have gone through the roof-especially the "snake" guns. Around here, "shooter" grade Pythons start in the $2500 neighborhood. I have a few lesser known Colts that I really enjoy, but even those are creeping up in value. I'd like to find both a nice Officer's Model Match in 38 Special and a Colt "357"(model name) before market inertia brings them out of reach. I have a very similar gun to the 357, a Trooper 357, but would like the much better finished 357 for my collection.
