RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1204 Copyright © Rinker Enterprises, Inc. 2010

Why People Stop Collecting – Part IV

This is the fourth in a series of columns focusing on why collectors stop collecting.  It completes my initial thoughts.  However, it is not the last column I will write on the subject.  Thus far, I have received more than 75 e-mails and letters from “Rinker on Collectibles” readers who responded to my request to share their thoughts.  Once I have read and digested the many thoughtful comments, I plan to write a final column identifying and discussing the reasons not on my initial list.

I identified five primary reasons—personal, financial, availability, contemporary material, and issues arising from the collecting process—why collectors stop collecting.  Previous series columns discussed the subcategories within the personal, financial, and availability categories.  Copies of these columns are available in back issues of the daily and trade newspapers and periodicals that carry “Rinker on Collectibles” and on my Web site harryrinker.com.

Contemporary material divides into three subcategories: (1) reproductions (exact copies), copycats (stylistic copies), fantasy items (forms, shapes, and colors mimicking an historical time period but never existing in that time period), and fakes (objects deliberately meant to deceive); (2) licensed product; and (3) stepped up manufacture of collectible material.  Reproductions, copycats, fantasy items, and fakes have plagued collectors since ancient Rome.  In 2010, the production, distribution, and deceptive selling of reproductions, copycats, fantasy items, and fakes is a multi-million dollar business.

Historically, advanced collectors and specialized dealers assumed they could distinguish between period pieces and reproductions, copycats, fantasy items, and fakes.  As the manufacturing of these items became more sophisticated, this ability lessened.  When the quality of Nippon reproductions and copycats equaled that of period pieces in the 1990s, many of the advanced collectors sold their collections and withdrew from the marketplace.  Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.  Twice shamed, many collectors stop collecting.

More and more companies are licensing their historic image.  Coca-Cola is the leader, but owners of historical character and personality rights are not far behind.  In many cases, the licensing rights include duplicate period forms.  Because of the lack of an adequate hobby protection bill, many of these items are not marked as modern.  Further, many manufacturers issue collector editions (a designation that literally means the manufacturer will produce as many examples as customers are willing to buy) or limited editions that number in the tens of thousands.  Any edition containing above 10 copies is not limited.

If the collector does not buy this contemporary licensed material when it is new, he fears the prospect of paying more for it in the future.  Hence, he buys now. If he would wait, he most likely would be able to buy it for a dime on the dollar.  Waiting is not part of the collecting mindset.  When a collector wants something, he wants it immediately.  When a collector spends more on contemporary rather than historic examples, something is amiss.

The same buy-it-now-or-wait dilemma occurs when the collected category is still being manufactured.  Barbie is an example.  In the 1990s Mattel increased its annual production of Barbie varieties and added special holiday and designer issues.  Many were targeted toward adult collectors and not little girls.  Exclusives, Barbie variations sold only by one merchant, usually a Big Box store, added to the problem.  As the 1990s ended, a serious Barbie collector had to spend in excess of $25,000.00 to buy every example made in a single year, providing he/she could locate them.  Barbie turned out to be a very expensive young lady to date.  Since I do not want to be accused of picking on Barbie, let me make it clear she does not stand alone.  Matchbox, GI Joe and his many reincarnations, and Beanie Babies are other examples.

Collections grow.  Spouses believe antiques and collectibles breed and give birth at night.  What else would explain their waking up in the morning and discovering a piece they never saw before?  While in theory a true collector can always find room for one more, the sad truth is collectors can and do eventually run out of space.  Lack of space is one of the subcategories of issues arising from collecting.  Insurance, security, the lack of ability to find enjoyment, and the call of another Siren are others.

Collectors like to view their collections.  Storing objects creates hidden guilt, a feeling the collector is not doing justice to the objects he acquired.  I visited with an individual who collects children’s book illustration art.  Every wall of every room in his house is covered with framed examples.  His only display choices left are the ceilings or building an addition onto his home.  He has the contacts and funds to buy more.  But, where would he display his new acquisitions?  He has no interest in archiving it in storage cabinets.  We parted with no solution in sight other than to stop collecting.

I am surprised by the large number of collectors who do not insure their collections.  Forget cost for the moment.  The real reasons are: (1) collectors often do not want anyone else to know what they own; (2) making and maintaining a collection inventory is a gigantic pain in the butt; (3) collectors do not want to know what their things are worth, especially if they have declined in value; and, (4) collectors do not want to pay the costs involved with a professional appraisal.  They would rather acquire a new object than spend the money on insurance or an appraisal.

In the 1990s insurance companies became aware of the potential loss involved in antiques and collectibles.  As a result, many homeowner policies now limited the amount of loss that can be sustained for antiques and collectibles, just as they do for precious metals, firearms, and jewelry.  Because antiques and collectibles loss is not well documented, quotes per thousand for Fine Arts (Marine Inland) insurance are high.  Most collectors refuse to pay and accept the risk of loss as one of the risks associated with collection.

Collectors are more willing to trust a security system, a cost that continues to increase.  The annual maintenance cost often exceeds $500.00.

A security system is only the first line of defense.  Security also involves screening visitors and deciding how much of the collection the collector will share.  Visitors can range from friends, neighbors, colleagues, and fellow collectors to a spouse’s and/or child’s friends.  The collector has to be conscious of how he and others talk about his collection in public.  Although little has been written about this, collectors live with a sense of fear that someone is going to steal the prize pieces.

This fear coupled with some or all of the other issues raised throughout this series begin wearing on the collector.  As the pressures mount, the collector reaches a point where collecting is no longer fun.  Collecting and maintaining the collection becomes work.  When collecting is no longer fun, it is time to stop.  This is my philosophy.  I identify with it.  Although I have come close to stopping collecting several times in the past decade, I have always encountered something that renewed my faith and rejuvenated my enthusiasm.  I know many collectors who were not as lucky.

A surprising number of letters and e-mails I received from readers offering their thoughts on why a collector stops collecting stressed that collecting is an addiction.  Once a person starts to collect, he cannot stop.  All he can do is stop collecting one category and begin collecting another.  However, in fairness, I have met a few individuals who have quit and walked away.  They did not hear another Siren’s call.

I will always collect.  I am typical and not atypical.  Collecting is as integral to my life as is breathing.  I no longer add to some of my collections for many of the reasons noted in this series.  Fortunately, there is always a new Siren’s call to answer.  Good times occur when the Siren is accompanied by several of her sisters.  A true collector falls in love with all of them.

Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet.  Check out www.harryrinker.com.

You can listen and participate in WHATCHA GOT?, Harry’s antiques and collectibles radio call-in show, on Sunday mornings between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM Eastern Time.  If you cannot find it on a station in your area, WHATCHA GOT? streams live on the Internet at www.gcnlive.com.

SELL, KEEP OR TOSS?  HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY (House of Collectibles, an imprint of the Random House Information Group, $16.95), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via www.harryrinker.com.