When does collecting start to get out of hand?

[Osito]

I suppose when your house is a maze of collectibles, then it's probably out of hand. I haven't gotten that far with pine cones, feathers and seashells yet (don't ask me how).

[monkeywrenching]

Originally Posted by John23

I was born in '78, I collect different things I had as a kid......gi joe, transformers, garbage pail kids, sports cards.

On different message boards I go to, I wonder when collecting starts to get out of hand, and starts to get really irrational and crazy.

Do you know anyone with 5,000 action figures, but no car, or doesn't spend much money on him/herself? Or spends more time collecting than with family or friends? Or their collection takes up their entire house, you can't find a place to sit down, etc?

The 80's toy world seems fairly tame.

They aren't that much money. Most people I've met are friendly, real people.

The sports card world gets a little crazier. The amout of things people can collect is much bigger, there's more depth. Grown adults stay up to 1, 2, 3, in the morning during some of the big auctions that run late.

There's also alot of fraud and hassle in it. I wonder sometimes if it's worth it.

Two movies I can think of that showed a collectors crazy side were Trekkies, and Trekkies II. About Star Trek fans.

One woman wore her Star Trek uniform to jury duty. And people that spoke Klingon, some of them took it very far.

I have a neighbor 3 houses down from me that has 3000+ firearms, does that count as out of hand?

it sure as heck doesn't to me.

[Nighteyes]

Originally Posted by John23

"...they lose their value if you handle them too much." And yet he's a mess with women.

Just like alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc., collecting becomes a problem when it begins to interfere with one or more aspects of one's "normal" life (work, marriage, family, sleep, financial, etc.).

-- Nighteyes (collects and deals in US military edged tools/weapons from about 1940 through about 1980)

[Nighteyes]

Originally Posted by Rickers

The hobby of collecting is out of control only when it gets to this point :

You're sleeping in the garage as your house is too full of collectibles !
Or you're not sleeping due to scary collecting dreams !
You're daydreaming of collecting and running stoplights while driving !
You're being divorced by your spouse of 40 years cuz they can't take it anymore !
You're not eating or paying bills due to all your money is gone to collecting stuff !
You end up in prison because the wild and dangerous animals in your collection got loose and ate up all of your neighbors !!!!!!!

This is very similar to the definitions of alcoholism and gambling addiction. Simply put, collecting is out of control when it begins interfering with one or more aspects of your normal daily life -- work, family, financial, etc.

[MountainBiking]

When does collecting start to get out of hand?

When you are considered a hoarder.-Cheers.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Nighteyes

This is very similar to the definitions of alcoholism and gambling addiction. Simply put, collecting is out of control when it begins interfering with one or more aspects of your normal daily life -- work, family, financial, etc.

Could that "interfering with one or more aspects of your normal daily life" thing apply to wives and girlfrieds as well?

[DOUBLE H]

When does collecting get out of hand?

When you have to have scaffolding equipment to hold the floor up in the house!

[sweetdreamerx0]

collecting gets out of hand when you start hoarding

[Strelnikov]

Originally Posted by Nighteyes

This is very similar to the definitions of alcoholism and gambling addiction. Simply put, collecting is out of control when it begins interfering with one or more aspects of your normal daily life -- work, family, financial, etc.

I have recently begun to feel that my collecting is out of control, not because it interferes with work or family, but because of space. I used to have a two bedroom apartment, and then I moved into a one bedroom a few years ago, and it seems like I am constantly having to reorganize my storage spaces. It is also an ordeal to find things. So, I have decided to try put as much stuff as I can on ebay, and that way I can recoup a bit. So far so good, but it's slow. No matter what I sell, it seems like I didn't make any room at all!