Why has America become such a PACKRAT nation?

[heinlein99]

I'm kind of a packrat, within my budget. If I'm ever able to buy the house I'm living in, I'm turning it into a pop culture shrine. I've already got bookshelves stuffed with books, comics, & DVD's, and I have cabinets full of vintage collectible glasses. I have 3 vintage Japanese movie posters, 1 framed with more on the way, and I want to fill the walls with more posters and memorabilia. For Christmas my brother in law matted & framed for me the wax pack wrappers to all 5 series of the original Star Wars cards.

 

Anyway. I LIKE being a packrat, and as I continue to age I want to fill the house with more vintage junk. But it's junk that amuses me, and I like having it all around me. It's not a sickness, it's an amusement, or (if you prefer) a 'lifestyle choice' (ugh, I hate that kind of p.c. phrasing).

 

I never want my home to look like any of Levine's outbuildings, but hey, if I can fill my bookshelves with more monster magazines, Marvel Essentials, and assorted other *spoon* - hooray! I'll be happy. When I'm dead my family can divvy it up.

[Ringfinger]

I guess as long as you are enjoying it, that is important.

[rodan57]

And this is the distinction between an accumulation, and a notable collection.

 

I disagree. A "collection" in this context is an orderly accumulation of items which have been deliberately and discriminatingly assembled by someone within the framework of a central organizing principle or theme (as with library or museum "collections"). Individual items in a collection should be readily accessible for use/review/cataloging/etc.; and of course it follows that the collector should have a reasonbly good idea of what, exactly, is in the collection (which may or may not involve a formal inventory of some sort), and why the item is there to begin with. An "accumulation", on the other hand, is a just big pile of random *spoon*...some of it organized, some not. A jumble. A hoard. Fibber McGee's closet. Whatever you want to call it. (I call it a big mess -- sort of like the Levine stash .)

 

My comic book collection, for instance, is mostly lower/mid-grade Marvel and DC, 1961 - 1980, with a heavier concentration on '70s comics. But I know what I own, why I own each item (and not something else), and why I enjoy it. My boxes are fairly well organized, and I can usually lay my hands on any given book within a few minutes of searching (at most). The point is that my colllection may be "junk" to some collectors (because it's high on "quantity" and low on "quality"), but it's nevertheless still a coherent collection.

 

I am not quite sure that Zipper68 meant to restrict his definition of quality to books that are expensive.

 

A book can be judged a quality piece given its "contribution" to the "whole."

 

Dennis

[Duffman_Comics]

I'm kind of a packrat, within my budget. If I'm ever able to buy the house I'm living in, I'm turning it into a pop culture shrine. I've already got bookshelves stuffed with books, comics, & DVD's, and I have cabinets full of vintage collectible glasses. I have 3 vintage Japanese movie posters, 1 framed with more on the way, and I want to fill the walls with more posters and memorabilia. For Christmas my brother in law matted & framed for me the wax pack wrappers to all 5 series of the original Star Wars cards.

 

Anyway. I LIKE being a packrat, and as I continue to age I want to fill the house with more vintage junk. But it's junk that amuses me, and I like having it all around me. It's not a sickness, it's an amusement, or (if you prefer) a 'lifestyle choice' (ugh, I hate that kind of p.c. phrasing).

 

I never want my home to look like any of Levine's outbuildings, but hey, if I can fill my bookshelves with more monster magazines, Marvel Essentials, and assorted other *spoon* - hooray! I'll be happy. When I'm dead my family can divvy it up.

 

Thank You. I was getting really depressed reading these posts about Phil's inventory and the need to downsize.

 

I bought a new place 5 years ago with the express purpose of expanding my collection. I have now got rooms, sheds, the works on a few acres and everything is accessible, if not already on display. I am now motivated to remodel my comic room after seeing some of the great areas in the pinned thread. I love it.

 

I can understand the problem of "who'll take care of it when I'm gone" but I solved that by making sure the executor of my will knows that the "stuff" is more than landfill and made notes as to where honest valuations and/or sales might be made.

 

I'm not bailing out just yet.

 

[BLAM_BLAM_BLAM-migration]

Duffman

WTG.

Someday, you too will have threads devoted to your collection and everyone will be gossiping about you. Just ask BangZoom.

 

I see hundreds of thousands of dollars, (OK. Australian dollars, but, still . . ) in your future.

Or if'n you're dead . . some sort of life-changing legacy for . . . whomever.

 

It's not accumulations . . it's economies of scale, baby, yeah.

[comicdonna]

over the past 6 years, I have collected a vast variety of stuff from errector sets to early milton bradley blocks, bottles, early toys, sheet music, and many other items. They were purchased at garage sales, estate sales, and auctions. I sold a lot on ebay, so I could use the proceeds to purchase comics. I got sick of ebay fees and packaging. This weekend, I am having an antique and collectible sale. (my first) I hope to end up with enough cash for a really nice comic.

[BLAM_BLAM_BLAM-migration]

On the other hand, divesting has a cleansing effect that relieves stress. It's true. I know.

Minimalism rocks. But only if you can afford it, if you know what I mean.

[testinadical-migration]

"Why has America become such a PACKRAT nation?"

 

I dunno, but my grandfather lived through The Depression, and that turned him into a huge packrat, never threw a damn thing away. Maybe that trickled down through generations?

[BLAM_BLAM_BLAM-migration]

Hmmm . . . 2 out of . . .Statistically it's generational? Sociology beats genetics, (OCD)?

 

Perhaps a poll is in order.

[Mr. Zipper]

I am not quite sure that Zipper68 meant to restrict his definition of quality to books that are expensive.

 

A book can be judged a quality piece given its "contribution" to the "whole."

 

Dennis

 

Your are correct sir! I really didn't have the time or inclination to engage in a debate yesterday, but you clarified my point quite well.

 

People who buy every comic they can afford and keep score by "how many" comics tend to have accumulations.

 

People who buy with focus and strategy have collections.

 

In very rare cases, as in the Church collection, an accumulation may turn into a collection due to overriding circumstances such as scarcity, condition, etc. However, in 1946, very few would have marveled at Edgar Church's collection; they probably would have rolled their eyes at his OCD pack-rat like accumulation.

[Sid]

Well I don't consider myself a packrat. I don't hoard everything but I have a lot of free time. We visit flea markets, pawn shops, thrift stores, garage sales etc. often just to browse to see if anything catches the eye. Is there a need for a framed Shrek 2 poster? of course not, but it was 2 bucks so I bought it. We give away a lot of stuff too, toys, books etc. Sometimes it just feels good.

[Mr. Zipper]

Well I don't consider myself a packrat...

 

Go on....

 

We visit flea markets, pawn shops, thrift stores, garage sales etc. often just to browse to see if anything catches the eye. Is there a need for a framed Shrek 2 poster? of course not, but it was 2 bucks so I bought it...

 

GUILTY.

 

 

[Sid]

But SHREK 2!!!! C'mon.

 

and what's with the Pear in middle of all the stuff on the rat's back.

[jools&jim]

I am not quite sure that Zipper68 meant to restrict his definition of quality to books that are expensive.

 

A book can be judged a quality piece given its "contribution" to the "whole."

 

Dennis

 

Your are correct sir! I really didn't have the time or inclination to engage in a debate yesterday, but you clarified my point quite well.

 

But that's not what you wrote in your blog:

 

"You have to pay for quality. Very rarely will you get a 'steal' on a true quality item."

 

I think what we're all really saying here is that the distinction between "collection" and "accumulation" has more to do with coherence than it does with a quantitative vs. qualitative analysis.

[Mr. Zipper]

But that's not what you wrote in your blog:

 

"You have to pay for quality. Very rarely will you get a 'steal' on a true quality item."

 

Hey, read what I meant, not what I wrote!!

 

However, isn't that statement true? In the ebay age, how often does one find quality collectibles for pennies on the dollar at a garage sale? Or get a real gem on ebay on the cheap?

 

If you're getting it on the cheap, it's probably because there was very little demand for the item.

 

As for quality vs quantity... sure I'd rather have a nice copy of Superman 11 than 10 longboxes of Superman issues from the past 10 years. I guess there is some value judgement in that statement, but as my collecting tastes have matured, I'd rather have one $1,000 comic than 1,000 $1 comics. It hasn't always been that way for me.

 

What were we debating again?

[Sid]

But that's not what you wrote in your blog:

 

"You have to pay for quality. Very rarely will you get a 'steal' on a true quality item."

 

Hey, read what I meant, not what I wrote!!

 

However, isn't that statement true? In the ebay age, how often does one find quality collectibles for pennies on the dollar at a garage sale? Or get a real gem on ebay on the cheap?

 

If you're getting it on the cheap, it's probably because there was very little demand for the item.

 

As for quality vs quantity... sure I'd rather have a nice copy of Superman 11 than 10 longboxes of Superman issues from the past 10 years. I guess there is some value judgement in that statement, but as my collecting tastes have matured, I'd rather have one $1,000 comic than 1,000 $1 comics. It hasn't always been that way for me.

 

What were we debating again?

 

The image of quality vs quantity only truly changes once you've taken the plunge. I had a choice a few months ago on a nice FN/VF copy of a GGA book I wanted vs trying my luck with 6 long boxes of mysterious books that were 'unsearched.' My curious side got the better of me, suffice to say I've given away almost all the books I got using them as cushion when mailing out books. Live and learn. Now I go for the books I want individually vs buying bulk.

[jools&jim]

... but as my collecting tastes have matured, I'd rather have one $1,000 comic than 1,000 $1 comics.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. These are very much personal choices. The point, though, is that a collector's pared-down stash of twenty $1000 comics is just as much a "collection" as 25 long white boxes of lovingly assembled mid-grade '80s superhero comics. The key isn't what you paid, but why you paid what you did for the books you own. That's the difference between borderline mentally ill behavior like "eBay mom", and someone who has assembled a logical, orderly, and/or aesthetically consistent group of items.

 

My tastes matured in precisely the opposite direction a few years ago, when I discovered that I wasn't really enjoying the $100 - $500 Golden Age books I'd been buying/trading since the early '90s. This was partially due to the fact that completing even the smallest GA runs was simply not possible on my budget, and partially because I'd been buying many of these books for the wrong reasons (bragging rights, etc.). A local show changed all that for me when I walked out the door with a large stack of comics from MY Golden Age (the '70s) for under $100. So as my GA went out the door through eBay to pay for my kid's Catholic school tuition, I slowly began to concentrate on the Marvel and DC runs I started as a kid in 1971 or so, but neglected over the years as somehow beneath my notice as a "serious" collector. Lower and mid-grades are fine for me, as watching the runs come together and reading the books when I have time is really more than half of the fun. And so "quantity" almost always trumps "quality" in my world. But I still consider myself a collector, and not a random accumulator. Does that make sense?

 

Best,

 

Mikey

 

PS: Yeah, I'm cranking away for that 1000th post...but I work on a college campus, and it's been VERY hard to concentrate here over the past few days, now that it's getting close to Mini-Skirt Season again!!!

[dekeuk]

GUILTY.

 

 

 

 

Awesome picture of a packrat. Now if this packrat image was available as a poser for $2 at a garage sale, that would be something worth buying.....

[HouseofComics.Com]

Awesome picture of a packrat. Now if this packrat image was available as a poser for $2 at a garage sale, that would be something worth buying.....

 

So true!

[Mr. Zipper]

Lower and mid-grades are fine for me, as watching the runs come together and reading the books when I have time is really more than half of the fun. And so "quantity" almost always trumps "quality" in my world. But I still consider myself a collector, and not a random accumulator. Does that make sense?