Movies, Music & TV Shows

[John-BBY Social Media Specialist]

Not everyone is a collector, certainly I’m not The Collector, but there are some items that come along that are just too sparkly and have “BUY ME” written all over them. Sometimes it’s a Blu-ray steelbook with thrilling art on the cover, or a DVD with exclusive bonus featurettes. My personal Kryptonite (if you will) is deluxe CD reissues with bonus tracks or disks, expanded archival notes and videos, and memorabilia.

WHO IS A COLLECTOR?

Well, the short and long of it is that we are all collectors in some way or another. I had a penny collection when I was a kid. Did you? For a while I was obsessed with gaming cards. But my constant companion in life has been music and I have an extensive collection that includes nearly 8000 disks acquired over my lifetime. Some of them are classic. Some albums are an embarrassment. Most fall somewhere in the middle, but I have a nearly insatiable (but not pathological, oh man I hope) need for new sounds.

The advantage of a collection like this is a coworker can send me a link to a video for Go West’s “We Close Our Eyes.” That’s not a bad launch pad for a playlist, so up next is Breathe’s “Don’t Tell Me Lies.” Then “You Don’t Know” by Scarlet and Black, and “Dirty Water” by Rock and Hyde, then “Lost in a Melody” by Delays. And on, and on. They’re all in my library.

Of course the main disadvantage is that the collection takes up a whole wall.

LIVING UNCLUTTERED

While I don’t understand the opposite compulsion some people have to un-collect stuff, I admire their ability to achieve an uncluttered life. They only have the CDs and Blu-rays they love. The pictures on the walls have meaning. Who needs more? Well, no one, but it seems somehow contrary to me, like they are denying themselves “hard copies” of memories, reminders of places and people.

But then these are the people who can pack for a permanent household relocation in an afternoon. Who wouldn’t want that? And arguably, they can make the same playlist I did on a streaming music service where they rent the songs they want instead of having to warehouse a disk like I do.

SO…

What do you collect? Is it a lifelong passion you’re pursuing? How do you keep your collections from owning you?

Tell me all about it. The Doctor is in.