Are vintage collector's secretly depressed ?

[Mikey]

Why do some people collect old "things" they had when they were younger -- and others couldn't care less about the past ?

Do collector's wish it was still the past - and owning a peice of the past brings them a little closer to it ?

Do they not like what the world is today ?

Do they not like what they've become today ?

What makes a person collect vintage items and another person not ?

Discuss

[English Paul]

Regardless of what you actually collect, a non collector will NEVER understand the mentallity of a collector. They just don't 'get' it.

[wayne foundation 07]

It brings both enjoyment and closure.The fact that a part of our past can still be with us today brings joy.Pets sadly pass away ,kids move away,cars get old and replaced and even wifes and husbands get swaped out sometimes.But our toys,guns,coins,and what not get to stay and become a fixture in our adult life.That brings the closure to our childhood,and a chance I guess to appriciate them now as collectables instead of just toys.Do I like the way the world is today,sometimes not so much.Yes, I like what I've become,I've raised a great daughter,been a good husband and done well by my friends and my work.But we are hunters and gatherers,we have been from day one and we shall continue to be.Now I have to go buy a mego figure.Its what I do ,its what I am.

[SUP-Ronin]

I suppose it reminds me of a more care free time in my life, but not necessarily a better time. I am no packrat of vintage items and I don't long for the 70's, or 80's. I probably would collect something else If I had never had megos, but I do also think they are still better than most of the figures coming out today. Maybe not in accuracy, but certainly in terms of playability.

[Mikey]

i think newer toys are pretty much crap overall..Since about 1984 I would guess.

True, but it's diverting from the subject of this thread.

What makes a grown man or lady want to own old toys ? -- or anything vintage ?

[Sideshow Spock]

YouTube - Star Trek - Data asks his creator a question

[WheresRICHARD]

For me it's the same reason I like visiting places I haven't been for many years.....even better, decades. It's not that I long to go back to those times, but it's almost like a trip through time. It brings the past and present together.

It's like the other day I drove through the old neighborhood where I lived as a teen-ager.......30 years ago! And I went past this one store, when I was young, it was this old-fashioned locally-owned convenience store where all the kids hung out. I drove past it the other day and it's a beauty salon. Now have I ever been sad because I didn't have that store any more? No, to be honest, I hadn't thought about the store until I drove past it. But it was just neat taking a trip back in time and remembering.....

Same thing with old toys. When I was collecting GI Joe, any time I got a "new" old one, it was so fascinating thinking and wondering where his journeys had taken him over the years.

..........richard

[English Paul]

What makes a grown man or lady want to own old toys ? -- or anything vintage ?

I like the Superhero genre. I like Star Wars. I like TV and film from the era of my childhood.
Now there are plenty of things that I could collect relating to what I like, books, posters, cards but they are just not as much fun as toys. Toys are easily accessible. They remind you of fond times. And I do think if I am going to lay out cash on something it might as well be on something interesting.

[wayne foundation 07]

Same thing with old toys. When I was collecting GI Joe, any time I got a "new" old one, it was so fascinating thinking and wondering where his journeys had taken him over the years.

..........richard

I've often thought the same thing,who else has played with it ,and wonder where he'ld been.

[toys2cool]

Seeing something that I had as a child just takes me back to that time,in a way you wish you were back at that time when you had no worries and life was so easy

w/e I find something I had it takes back to exactly the time I had it as a kid.Great memories

[MegoMark71]

Same for me. getting that old toy is like a trigger to the past. Like ever smell something and remember the last time you smelled that smell. Your brain takes you right back. It is like a few have said, it takes you back to playing dodge ball and complaining about homework, just a simpler time in your life.

[toys2cool]

Like ever smell something and remember the last time you smelled that smell. Your brain takes you right back.

Slime does that to me

[MegoMark71]

My fiancee gave me a little plastic barrel of green slime as a gag gift this last christmas. So i just had to open it up and it just might have been the most disturbing thing i have ever had in my hand.

[Mikey]

Same for me. getting that old toy is like a trigger to the past. Like ever smell something and remember the last time you smelled that smell. Your brain takes you right back. It is like a few have said, it takes you back to playing dodge ball and complaining about homework, just a simpler time in your life.

I had a really big one a few years ago.

I parked my car in Woodshole, Mass getting ready to take the ferry to Martha's Vineyard ...
You had to take a trolly to get to the ferry.

The trolly was an old redone school bus.
Man, that fuel oil bus smell took me back so much, I was in a trance the whole ride.

For that 10 minute ride, I was reliving my whole childhood.

[WheresRICHARD]

My fiancee gave me a little plastic barrel of green slime as a gag gift this last christmas. So i just had to open it up and it just might have been the most disturbing thing i have ever had in my hand.

OH LORD that DOES bring back memories. When I was a kid I got "Slime With WORMS" lol......And yeah, I still remember the smell.