What have you stopped collecting?

[Kaputnik]

I'm pausing in my acquisition of more pens, as at this moment, there is nothing else I particularly want. I was going to send one I already have for some nib work, but some unexpected expenses have persuaded me to put that off until later.

But that gets me thinking about other things that I've collected (or accumulated, no need to quibble ), that I still keep around, but no longer add to.

• Safety razors. I have a pretty big assortment of single blade safety razors, double edged, single edged, and injectors (which could be included under single edged). I shave with some of the single edged and injector ones, and will take out a double edged one every now and then, but I no longer add to them. At some point, I really ought to sell some (along with my extra pens).
• Shaving mugs. A much smaller collection, and nothing very valuable, but I do have a good assortment of Old Spice mugs, and some others.
• Hiking sticks and canes. Again, not a huge collection, and nothing antique or particularly valuable, but helpful for a walk on terrain where a little extra support might help, or in areas where a dog might need a little discouragement. But I have all I want.
• Watches. Not exactly a collection, but certainly more than I need. I have some automatic watches, and a couple of manually wound ones, but most of these are quartz. I prefer analog; the two that get the most wrist time are a couple of Casio solar recharging, radio synchronized ones. I'd rather glance at my wrist for the time than pull my phone out of a pocket, but I don't want any more watches than I have.
• Chess sets. I never set out to make this a collection, but I have about ten complete tournament set and board pairs, plus various smaller sets, and a few clocks and carrying bags. I keep meaning to get back to tournaments.
• Books. Now this is not really in the same category, as I'll never stop accumulating books. But my walls are lined with bookcases, and even if I make a strong effort to sell or donate the ones I no longer want, they will still dominate any place where I live. So I'm making an effort with any new books, if they don't have illustrations that are best seen on paper, to get them in Kindle format. Yes, I prefer to hold a "real" book in my hands, but the ability to carry a library of a few hundred books in a backpack or large coat pocket is not to be sneezed at.

So what have other people stopped collecting?

[Jon Szanto]

Dust. Also, moss.

[penwash]

Old cameras. And I'm very happy with the remaining ones that I keep.

Especially this one:



which produce photos like this one:

[Fermata]

Books, collected Just William books and early edition Jane Austens and Brontes
Watches, still have them but dont buy anymore, Lange, Rolex Daytona, Patek Phillippe, Rolex Datejust
Coins, collected pre 1920 silver. All now sold
Banknotes, anything obsolete, All now sold
Stamps, All now sold
Phonecards, the great collecting bug of the 1980s, have thousands and all worthless
Guitars, just sold my last, a Gibson 330
Dinner services, just have a Spode set now, gave the rest away.

It would be interesting to know what is around today that will be collectable in the 2040

[inklord]

Old cameras. And I'm very happy with the remaining ones that I keep.

Especially this one:



which produce photos like this one:

Yes. My R 2.8F is my last film camera. I miss the times when this was 'ordinary'. Now most folks seem to not even see the beauty of a nice BW baryta paper print, or the peaceful harmony of the square format, nor appreciate the soft mechnanical click of a leaf shutter...

[inklord]

almost everything: knives, cameras and lenses, Chinese brushes, pens. But I'm happy with my everyday user items.

[R.A. Stewart]

Nothing specific comes to mind. I've never been that dedicated a collector of anything.

I just hope the day will come when I can say I've stopped collecting regrets.

[carlc]

Money.....

[penwash]

Yes. My R 2.8F is my last film camera. I miss the times when this was 'ordinary'. Now most folks seem to not even see the beauty of a nice BW baryta paper print, or the peaceful harmony of the square format, nor appreciate the soft mechnanical click of a leaf shutter...

Inklord: "peaceful harmony of the square format" <------ that is GOLDEN!!

[caribbean_skye]

Books - halted due to lack of space and need to read what I have first

Stamps - claimed by a hurricane

postcards - also claimed by the same hurricane as stamps

banknotes - still have them but not actively collecting right now

coins - also claimed by that greedy hurricane

throwing stars - still own and occasionally use them but collection hasnt increased any

darts - lost over the years in various moves, alsong with cork dartboard

m c escher prints - lost in various moves

...I think that is it...

[Robert]

Vintage LPs - - I simply have too many of the things (1000's and 1000's). Need to unload some of them soon to reclaim the space they occupy. Coming soon to a flea market (perhaps) near you!

[FredRydr]

Antique autos. The pleasure driving them was phenomenal. The maintenance and storage wore me down.

Fred

[Bold2013]

Food stamps. Grad school with multiple kids was rough.

[ethernautrix]

After throwing away a shoebox full of bus transfers and another showbox full of gum wrappers when I was... I don't know, 13 (?) -- and I don't know why I thought those were worthy collectibles -- I have not really collected anything. I didn't consider the books I bought as a collection nor the pens I accumulated nor the record albums. These were simply things people enjoyed having to read, to write with, to listen to.

Frequent moves put the kibosh on buying books (thank you, libraries!), and then Kindle. I don't consider e-books as collectibles. Does anyone? (Don't know. Does it count as a collection if it fits on a disc?)

Sold the albums cos who had a turntable anymore? Who could anticipate the vinyl backlash (or re-revolution)?

I've burned most of my CDs to a hard drive, but I still have the CDs (sans original cases) in a box in a box in a basement. But I don't consider that a collection.

I've stopped buying pens. Oh wait. The Pilots. Right. Okay. I've stopped buying Nakayas. I have the finishes I wanted, and I'm good. I used to consider a custom maki-e Danitrio or Nakaya, but... I guess the non-custom pens I have are sufficiently magical.

I own a small fraction of the number of pens I've ever owned, and even though I just bought a couple of Pilots (and I don't count Platinum Preppies; they're grouped in with gel/liquid ink/ball pens. That's my system.), my over-all ownership of pens is still on the decline.

In preparing for an imminent two-week trip, I finally managed to get my pen count down to four, and I love it! (That'll bounce up to seven very soon, but three will be Daily Carry/At Hand pens and four will be project-exclusive use. Probably.) But, yeah, still have a few pens I've enjoyed very, very much that I'm willing to sell, just because I prefer having fewer pens. I'm not trying to sell them, but I think about it, and the thoughts cause no disturbance in my peace of mind. Maybe sell some inks I'm no longer using. Man, I have a lot to do before my flight! Thinking out loud here. *Dashes off with to-do list*

[Freddie]

New York City subway tokens..VHS tapes..dust mites..and Mamalukes.

Fred

Me and a dog named boo....Lobo

[southpaw52]

I stopped collecting "Hot Wheel Cars".

I still enjoy collecting postcards, probably will never tire of collecting them.

I still collect rocks from various stops along the way.

Books, will always be part of my life.

[oldstoat]

Neuroses
I have the full set

[VertOlive]

Dogs. When I got married 11 years ago, I promised not to get any more until the count fell below 2. Now we're down to 4.

[Scooby921]

Watches
I never had a fancy collection, but I decided to stop collecting watches. I had over a dozen watches. Three get worn. I've sold off half a dozen of them. I'm trying to get down to two or three total. Likely to sell a few more to fund one more nice watch.

Paintball Gear
At one point I really enjoyed playing paintball with friends. I played once, love it, and ran out to buy a bunch of equipment. As I learned more I started to acquire more equipment. I went from the standard Tippmann 98 that every field uses for rentals up to a very high end Bob Long. As years passed I became a fan of the brand and acquired more. At one point I had six different paintball markers, three air tanks, three loaders, two dozen barrels, but had stopped playing. The custom-milled aluminum bodies, solenoid systems, and electronic control boards are like art to a mechanical engineer. A few years later I finally realized how much money was tied up in things I wasn't using. I sold everything.

Rocks / Stones
As a child I collected rocks and stones. On one end I simply found unique looking rocks while on family vacations and took them home to remember the trip. On the other end I was buying rarer materials and geodes from gift shops and such. It didn't last long. I grew out of it in the early teen years, but I believe there is a box of rocks/stones down in the basement with some fool's gold, iron ore, copper ore, granite, quartz, pink quartz, an amethyst geode, turquoise, petosky, slate, and some other stuff I likely never identified. Homorously, I helped my parents move a couple weekends ago and one of the items moved were a couple rugby ball sized rocks I had picked up on family vacations as a child. My mom keeps them and moves them from house to house.

Car Parts
For a few years I was constantly modifying my car in hopes of improving the handling and performance. I spent weekends racing (SCCA Solo / Autocross for those in the States). The car and I were good enough to take home 1st/2nd/3rd place trophies at National events. It came after swapping numerous parts, numerous times. I went through seven different exhaust systems, half a dozen different front and rear anti roll bars. Three different air intakes. Three sets of struts and springs. Another three sets of coilovers. A different driver's seat. Two different racing harnesses. A dozen different sets of wheels and tires (3 sets on hand at any given time). I could barely fit the car in the garage with all the spare parts lying around. I can also confirm that the best way to make a small fortune racing is to start with a larger fortune...except I didn't start with any sort of fortune. I realized what was happening and sold off the car and all the parts. I decided it's easier, and likely cheaper, to purchase a vehicle which is already faster.

[jar]

Fun cars. No more Alfas or MGs or Healeys or Fiats or E-Types or even American Big Iron. And no more Volvos or Saabs or Mercedes or Citroens or Super Snipes or LeCars or DKWs or Minis or BMWs. And no more Suicide Door Lincolns or Imperial 300s or Jag sedans or Infinities or Quattroportes.