What do you collect, and how big is your collection?

[Valiss]

Just curious if anyone out there has a cool collection going on.  I know my grandma collected some kind of dolls that she'd put in these glass cases. I think they were porcelin or something. Looking back it was kinda creepy, but she was proud of them.

[captmarga]

Tarantulas.  Currently I have about 750 of them (down from 1000).

No, really.

Marga

[Merlin the Elder]

...and you thought dolls were creepy, Valiss...      ...and Capt Marga isn't kidding.

[Valiss]

...and you thought dolls were creepy, Valiss...      ...and Capt Marga isn't kidding.

Probably due to the Chucky movies. Those lifeless eyes, just following you as you walk by them.  *shudder*

Spiders dont bother me much.

[DonaCatalina]

I feel sort of blase.
I collect railroad stuff and exotic gemstones. I'm not sure how many I have exactly. But I'm looking for a red sapphire that doesn't cost and arm and a leg.

[bookwench]

I collect vintage hats.  Most are from the 1930's - 1960's, but I have a few from the late 1880's and a bonnet from the 1860's.  I haven't gotten anything older yet, but I'm still hoping. 

[Sitara]

Just curious if anyone out there has a cool collection going on.

Pretty sure I know what you collect. Things from reddit that you can repost here.

[Alissende]

Miniatures, nail polish (yes, I use it), and gemstones.

[scarletnyx]

I collect books! Note that this is different than "buying" books - I hunt for authors, always try to get hardback editions, and purposely get books on topics that may be out of favor within reason. I've developed an uncanny ability to decipher what are loony books and what are good books by skimming random chapters and other subtle things. In the " New Age" line, you would be surprised how many well written, thought out, and researched books which still tip on the side of New Age are slammed, while books that sound as if the Brothers Grimm wrote them are extolled and reviewed like crazy, so it gets confusing.

My collection is a pretty ok size... When I was packing up my stuff in boxes to move down here to Texas from NC, my books took up more room than my clothes/any other knickknacks that I had. Sadly I couldn't bring them with me, but I've started a small collection down here that is at about5 or so actual novels, 20 graphic novels, and a few informational locally published books/pamphlets.

Currently I'm on the hunt for a book called " The Alienist " by Caleb Carr. I try desperately not to buy books online, but all the Half Price Books I've tried have been out... I'll try again in a few more days when I'm back in a town with bookstores. But I want it now! /book nerd tantrum

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

I also collect books! I collect vintage science fiction (read, anything written prior to 1980ish, lol- I've probably got 500 books with a hundred or so that are more than 50 years old now) and I collect what I call "controversial literature". That particular collection is up to about a hundred books and includes a lot of fetish-friendly novels, non-fiction of controversial nature (ex: "Confessions of a Part-Time Callgirl" and "The Coffee, Tea, or Me" stewardess chronicles) and supposedly non-fiction but terribly biased and strange old books like the camp-counselors guide to answering sex questions (omg, it's sooooooo backwards) and "Pigtails to Wedding Bells", which is a guideling to maturing into a woman the "right, proper, and sin-free way".

[BubbleWright]

My problem is that I collect collections, such as vintage transistor radios, kites, bubble machines, and bicycles. To see some of these, check out my FLICKR page. I also collect die cast cars and airplanes, toy robots and miscellaneous sci-fi stuff, vintage cameras, Felix the Cat stuff, and last but not least, movies on DVDs (approximately 500 last count).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28247229@N02/

[Merlin the Elder]

Thinking about collections, I didn't even consider DVDs.  After trying the rental route for a while and having to take DVDs back because they were scratched and wouldn't play, I finally decided just to buy a copy of movies I wanted. I'd watch for sales and buy them pretty cheap, often cheaper than renting. I quit buying after I started streaming NetFlix 2-3 years ago.  I wrote a database application to keep track of them.  I know of quite a few that didn't get added to the database, but it shows 818 titles. A "title" would also be an entire season of a TV series, which could contain 3-7 discs. DS9, for example, would be 7 titles, but in excess of 45 discs... Now that I think about it in those terms, I am bloody crackers!

[DonaCatalina]

What do I not collect would be easier.
I collect HO scale model trains from 1939-1948. But Space considerations have made me slow down.
I also collect exotic gemstones; but I am down to the point where the ones I don't have a re EXTREMELY hard to come by unless money is no object.
Those are my two biggest passions.

[RenStarr]

I've got a collection of German Bier Steins.  Not a huge amount , around 15 or so.  I look for one's I like (I'm picky), they have to stamped to prove their made in Germany (West Germany even better), pewter lids that are in very good shape, very little to no chips, and of course.......a price that I'm comfortable with.  I've got all of them in a 6' tall curio cabinet.  Unique handles are one thing that catches my eye.

[BLAKDUKE]

AHHHHHHHHHHHH  Beer Stiens.  I to collect them.  I have about 100.  The prize of my collection are 2:  My Shultz and Dooley stiens and my Court Jester set.  I also collect NY Yankee baseball memoribillia.  I also collect Black powder pistols and have a large book library as well as a vast collection of VHS and DVD swashbucklers.  Lastly I collect and restore antique Cars.  I used to collect Blondes but my wife put a stop to that.

[Jack Daw at Work]

Watches, both pocket and wrist.  My latest prize find that I don't mind wearing is a 1935 Hamilton, porcelain-face railroad watch.  Because of their expense and difficulty in finding, my collection is not extensive.

[Gwyndolyn]

Lava lamps, I have somewhere between 125 and 150 of them from a nightlight sized up to my Colossus El Macho (pictures on request)