Why We Collect

[stemturtle]

On my tenth anniversary of collecting prehistoric figures, allow me to wax philosophical about the reasons for collecting.

1.) The Figures. There is great excitement when a desirable new replica is released. Some pieces are beautiful works of art.  3-D printing encourages us to try painting. It is relaxing to arrange the collection. Certain models are rare, and bring back memories of the hunt. 

2.) Paleontology.  Collecting is a great motivation for scholarship. When we add a figure, we want to learn all about it.  The Internet keeps us updated, as the science has evolved over the past decade.  Knowledge of prehistoric animals increases our appreciation for their living descendants.

3.) Social Interaction.  We share our information and our art.  We tell each other about the availability of models, their accuracy, and ways to display the collection. Out of 7 billion people, only a few hundred of us are members of the Dinosaur Toy Forum.  It is remarkable that we have found each other.  Thank you, Dr. Admin.

What are your thoughts about collecting?


Read more about collecting:
"Thought - provoking interview about collecting" by Libraraptor
http://dinotoyforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=collections&action=display&thread=370

"Different styles of collecting" by Libraraptor
http://dinotoyforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=collections&action=display&thread=266

[Libraraptor]

HAPPY 10th collecting anniversary!


Hi stemturtle, this thread is wind in my sails, for I always thought about the background of our hobby. You already called the three main reasons, thanks also for sharing my former thoughts on this topic.

As to the social interaction thing I´d like to add the aspect of real life. I go to garage sales and flea markets and everyone I tell I´m a collector of dinosaurs / dinosaur toys is interested and stunned by a 34 year old collector. And it´s the interaction of finding a price that attracts me. Buying Corythosaurus "Cora" was such a joy: I was prepared to pay up to 100,- Euro and the guy said "30..." I said "30, come on, that´s pretty much, isn´t it?" (just like that dude in "Life Of Brian" with his beard and the bottle ;-) ) And he said "Well okay, 25!" Those moments can´t be paid with with money ;-)


We must by no means underestimate the psychological reasons for collecting. It´s probably not so much this Muensterberger "Deprivation and lack during childhood" - thing anyway,  but I would say that dinosaur collecting opened a way to more individual freedom for me personally. During my summer holidays 20 or so years ago I was fed up with family affairs and this well let´s say family constriction and I did one of my first walks alone in Grömitz at the baltic sea. It was just then that I saw this Invicta Diplodocus! A door into a new world opened. It´s not that I had never heard of dinosaurs before, but this was it! I could avoid family constriction by travelling through time with my Invictas as transitional objects. So every new figure is a potential new door to freedom in my head. It´s the moment of finding it as much as the figure itself that attracts me.

W.J.D. Mitchell had interested theories about the dinosaurs in culture in common in his "Last Dinosaur Book", I might add.

[tyrantqueen]

Having Asperger's Syndrome helps....because of it I tend to become very obsessed over certain subjects- this can be a blessing and a curse XD

I collect because of the artistic value of the figures/models I buy. I find each individual artist's personal interpretation of an extinct animal to be very interesting. I love art and I enjoy creating. Dinosaurs are just a way to express that. When I was about 6 years old I made a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex out of cardboard and brought it to school I can also remember painting a big red Tyrannosaurus with paints back in Year 1 XD

I loved dinosaurs as a child, like most kids did. Especially when JP came out. As I got older the interest dwindled because of problems in my personal life etc. Now that I am an adult and I am past most of that bad stuff, I can go back to things I used to enjoy. I am very happy I did so

Paleontology is nice but not the main reason I collect.

I don't collect for monetary gain. If I did I would be losing far more money than I could make back XD

[Metallisuchus]

If I am passionate enough about something, I'll collect it if I can. I'm the same way with music, books, movies, etc. It IS relaxing, as you've said, to sit there and rearrange what you've got.

[Roselaar]

I'm going to get all Philosoraptor here for a while:

Collecting is a natural human drive, a psychological leftover from the good old days when we had to hunt and gather to survive. Survival in the First World is generally no longer a problem for everyday people, but the drive remains. There's no physical need for collecting, but we still want to do so, or are mentally compelled to do so (i.e., we think we want to). Of course it depends on personal interests what one collects. Simply put, I collect dinosaurs because I've done so since I was four years old and I happen to like dinosaurs.
That said, the whole interest in dinosaurs we see in kids is said to be a way for kids to conquer the unknown, the unfamiliar world that could be scary, the realm of things we'll never know for sure. Being able to pronounce a difficult dinosaur name like Micropachycephalosaurus brings about a sense of accomplishment in a child, especially when its parents cannot do so. I imagine collecting a dinosaur leads to similar effects, even for adult collectors. We will not see living dinosaurs ever, but collecting them gives us a way psychologically to "own" them, to conquer them and the defeat the unknown ruling them to make us feel we accomplished something. We're like modern day dragon slayers: every dinosaur figure we add to our collection, especially after a long search or a suspenseful rite of acquisition (as in Libraraptor's example), makes us feel like we cornered and killed the unknown the figure represents and added it to our trophy room, even though we full well realize at its core it's just a worthless piece of plastic (or whatever material is composed of). Die-hard dinosaur collectors (like me) are the contemporary equivalent of ancient Greek heroes: there's no monsters left to be fought, giants to be slain or similar heroisms to be performed, so we collect dinosaurs to fulfill this dormant subconscious drive to subdue these in essence monstrous creatures (certainly they would have been for our ancestors who genetically passed down these urges).
Plus, dinosaurs are just generally kewl... 

And I'm still upset no company has released a Micropachycephalosaurus sculpt yet.

[Gwangi]

Great thoughts shared by everyone but Roselaar...that was beautiful! For me collecting dinosaurs achieves three things...

1) It brings me close to animals I'll never get close to. The toys are substitutes for the real thing. Even museums are scarce around here so to be able to come home and look at and touch these tangible representations of extinct animals is really something special for me. Prior to collecting I could only watch dinosaurs on T.V., see their bones in a museum on a rare occasion, read about them or look at pictures. The toys allow me to have something real that I can touch and hold, rotate them around in my hands, feel their texture and for a moment be transported to a world that I just couldn't get to by other means.

2) Nostalgia. I was absolutely obsessed with dinosaurs as a child, Jurassic Park only made this worse but even before than I loved them. I had a vast dinosaur collection and once I hit my teenage years my mother convinced me that I shouldn't hang on to these toys anymore. I got rid of them all. Not just them but most of my dinosaur books, posters, magazines etc. Though I never stopped loving dinosaurs. Now that I'm an adult I can do what I want without dealing with the judgement of others (well the judgement may be there but I don't care).

3) These toys are a distraction from day-to-day life. I know there are dangerous implications for dealing with your life problems through the acquisition of "stuff" and I'm constantly telling myself this so as not to spiral into things like debt or hoarding. I know I'm an obsessive person and I know that given the push I could probably lose control on this hobby. I like to think I'm pretty responsible with my collecting, I generally only go for bargains and I seldom pay full price for these things. You see, I don't make a lot of money. At the moment I work in fast food and am making next to minimum wage. I'm doing this because I have to, I'm supporting my wife through college.
On top of that where I live I cannot do the things that I really want to do. Someday I intend on owning a farm, I can't do that here. In my last home I was heavy into fish keeping (used to breed and sell them) but now I live in a mobile home and again, can't really do that here. It is frustrating that I know what I want to do in life and cannot do it.
I hate that I'm 28 and this is where I'm at in life even though it is only temporary (we're moving out of here in a year or less). I knew this would be a difficult time in my life when my wife told me she wanted to go back to school three years ago and I had to leave my home and my job (a farm job that I loved). The toys help a lot. Researching them, coming here, learning about dinosaurs in general. These things take me back to a simpler time when the whole world was ahead of me (nostalgia again). I know the dangers of living in the past and I'm not trying to do that either (and really I'm not because I never actually stopped loving dinosaurs and paleontology). I'm just trying to add some joy to my life while I make it through what will hopefully one of the few low points in my life. I have big plans for my future but for awhile longer, I have to wait and the toys help me with that.

[Roselaar]

Great thoughts shared by everyone but Roselaar...that was beautiful!

I can understand how important it is to cling on to something you love while passing through a rough couple of years. I have never experienced dinosaur toys likewise (yet), but it's true they remind me of simpler times when I was young and didn't have a care in the world. Maybe that's why I collect so many of them nowadays, in a way attempting to expand and enlarge this nostalgic feeling of comfort, even though it doesn't really work that way (which is why I can't quit collecting).

[Paleona]

I can relate to a lot of what's already been said.

Like most of you, I've had an interest and loved dinosaurs since I was very young.  My reason for that is different than Roselaar's theory on why children love dinosaurs so much... for me, it's always been the knowledge that creatures so mythical in appearance actually existed on our planet, and I find that incredibly awesome.  I guess I'm one of those people that like them mostly for their physical appearance.. as a casual artist, I just love the structure of them.  Also, thinking of a time that no longer exists is as good as any fantasy world in a book.

That aside, I've always liked collecting things, I'm a bit of a pack rat in general, but not a "hoarder".  My place is rather clean and my collecting doesn't interfere with my life.  However, currently, I collect because it brings me a bit of happiness during a miserable time in my personal life.  Maybe it just reminds me of my childhood, and how happy it always made me to get new dinosaurs back then.  I collect only T rexes at the moment, so that keeps it in check.   

[Dyscrasia]

To be honest, it's obviously passion and love about dinosaurs and prehistoric life in general, but also because I'm an idiot.

I spend more $$$ on collecting stuff rather than maintaining my life 

[Gwangi]

I collect only T rexes at the moment, so that keeps it in check.

That is why I'm only collecting extinct animals (with a focus on dinosaurs). I notice a lot of people collect extant animals and other figures too, I could never do that. Sticking to dinosaurs is my way of keeping in check as well. I might even have to narrow my focus more as time passes.

[Horridus]

I know there are dangerous implications for dealing with your life problems through the acquisition of "stuff"

Isn't that what capitalism's all about?

I'll just echo most of the sentiments already expressed. I like to group figures of the same animal together, simply because it's very interesting to see how different people interpret the same extinct creature (hence my Shelf O' T. rex among other things). I'm fascinated by dinosaurs and value my figures in the same way that I value the art in the books that I own.

[Gwangi]

Isn't that what capitalism's all about?

Indeed, but I don't want to go down that road. Sometimes I worry that I am or might but I'm a pretty paranoid and cynical person and pretty hard on myself and I don't think it is as much a problem as I make it out to be in my mind. I think as long as I know who I don't want to be and keep myself in check I can safely stay in this hobby. I don't want simple collecting to become *gasp* an addiction. I typically only buy dinosaurs when I see a deal in the purchase that i don't think I would see again. I don't intend on collecting rare figures, completing collections or spending entire paychecks on new releases. I try to keep it simple. I won't, I can't, let it go beyond that.

I like your reason for collecting. I feel much the same way which is why I too try to group animals based on relatedness.

[Takama]

Having Asperger's Syndrome helps....because of it I tend to become very obsessed over certain subjects- this can be a blessing and a curse XD

Those words can apply to me as well.
I been obbsesed with dinosaurs ever since I was a little kid, but the very first collectable figures i obtained were the Carnegie models from safari.
Since then I have been looking online for availability of the long retired models, and that's when I discovered the Dino Toy Blog, and all off the other dino brands on the market.
thanks to the blog, i am now collecting 4 diffrent lines.



however, it is a curse for me, because my mother always wonders why i must buy a new figure, even if its the same damn creature from a line i had .  She does not understand why I collect all these lines. I see each line as cool and unique in there specific little ways. and that's something that i have trouble explaining to her.


don't worry guys, we do get along. and she doesn't really mind me buying them.  Its just she has a hard time understanding my method of collecting

[stemturtle]

Thanks to the members who shared their thoughts about collecting.  Fascinating.  Perhaps Roselaar's comments will inspire Himmapaan to illustrate a "Philosoraptor" someday.  How would it differ from a Velociraptor?   

[DinoToyForum]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucoU0c5kvZw

[Roselaar]

I admit I didn't come up with the term, I just used it since I deemed it appropriate here.

'Philosoraptor' I mean, not 'collecting'.

[DC]

I collect for all of the reasons Stem Turtle does.
There is also nostalgia for my collecting as a kid. 
I enjoyed sharing collecting with my kids and gaming with them.

[Pawnosuchus]

When I was about seven years old I got a Marx set with the one piece landscape with the pond in the middle.  I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.  I loved all the Marx figures and thought they were the ultimate in dinosaurs until Invicta came out. Then came Battat, then Carnegie and I had to keep up with the latest additions. Now years later, there are countless companies and my little Marx set has grown to take over half my garage. Why do I collect? Because I love dinosaurs and somewhere inside me that seven year old still lives!

[ZoPteryx]

I collect for all of the reasons Stem Turtle does.

Ditto that.   I can't remember exactly when I started collecting, all I know is, I'm a collector now!

[postsaurischian]

Sigmund Freud once said that the only truly happy people were the ones who fulfil their childhood dreams.
The quality of today's Dinosaur figures and my meanwhile acquired ability to afford these are part of my childhood dreams.
Ergo: In this respect I'm happy

But why do I collect? I guess I have to, not knowing exactly why . Same with other things, like playing guitar.

Of course diving into a long forgotten fantasy world helps escaping the cruel degenerated present age. Some take drugs .

Oh, and I love being surrounded by beautiful things! ....... Dinosaurs (& other animals too) are among the most wonderful creations this planet has ever seen .