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Why would anyone collect this junk?

"If you're looking to keep your collection as is, a good rule of thumb is every time you buy a new collectable you will purge one as well."

Does that work if you have a collection of objects of actual value, either monetary or historical or artistic? Certainly you want to weed out the chipped, the cracked, the less worthy, but what about amassing?

How about using it for what it's intended for?

If you have a Hello Kitty fetish and simply must have the Hello Kitty toaster, then get rid of the Dualit that's sitting on your kitchen counter - but if you can't bear to part with the Dualit or already have a Hello Kitty Toaster, then don't buy it.

Hello Kitty is so totally annoying. Someone should do "dead Hello Kitty" like the dead rubber duckies. It would be an instant hit.

I don't think bashing Hello Kitty really pertains to the topic of this post friend.

I have over 100 Mini Cooper toys. I've spent the last two years trying to figure out a good place for them since I sold the shelf that used to hold them :P

And there's no way you can convince me to part with a single one. Many of them were gifts from people who traveled all over and while out thought of me and brought it home as a gift. One of them a guy actually made for me out of metal in his shop. I'm never that sentimental about any present, but I am about those stupid toys!

bepsf, that is a good suggestion. i don't, personally, have any collections but i do own this toaster and since someone recently got me a gorgeous, new toaster oven, Hello Kitty is going bye-bye.
however, palmetto, your judgement on what is a good or worthy collection isn't necessary. i think the point of this post is that no one wants to end up where their collection has taken over their entire house/life, no matter what it is.

Griffin,
I have seen the "dead Hello Kitty", called "Dead Kitty" in Chinatowns....

I think the key is to understand the difference between a collection and good ol'fashioned accumulation. A collection is edited, has selected pieces, is cohesive. I have an antique fans collection that I don't add to anymore because I found the perfect 10 fans - and a good way to display them. Why buy more?

I guess what I mean (using Hello Kitty as an exemple) is that if you buy interesting HK pieces and can display them all in a nice way, you are a collector. If you buy every crappy item that has a HK logo on it and have it crammed in every corner, you're an accumulator.

A toystore (that was mostly frequented by adults) made a gag sign with 'Goodbye Kitty' on a tombstone. Anyway:

Palmetto: sometimes collectors sell off a piece they can profit on to reduce their collections.

I don't actively collect, but I think I need rule 4 re: dragons. People keep giving them to me. I love them but I'm afraid the SPCD is going to get on my case if I accumulate too many.

In my opinion, there are people who have some deliberate filters, an eye for some degree of quality, even if intangible, and there are people for whom the word "squee" or some reaction akin to the word is more accurate. Eve in Hochalaga describes this pretty well, but there is the power of collection to contend with.

For example, you like miniature chairs. You can have an amazing collection of miniature chairs with "squee," i.e. just by liking any little chairs you see, even if it's at a turnpike rest stop gift shop. These are the kind of massive and impressive "wow you have a lot of little chairs, are the Smurfs coming over?" way. Most squeers just can't turn down a little chair, but don't know where to put them all and just stand by their quirk. Take in turn, that perhaps you like Franklin Mint commemorative plates. Since miniature chairs are impractical as commemorative plates, they can both be seen as a forced collectible. (That's the way it's spelled, with an i, just so you know). Little chairs are made for people who will probably get quite a few of them, just like spoons and thimbles and baseball caps. They're not made to, say, accommodate your associated doll collection. That's taking it to another level.

Just the same, you may like particular chairs and try to get a set of several just because that's the number of little chairs you want. You're discerning, you're not on a tear about teeny-weeny little chairs. You might squee a little inside about a substantial score of a particular squirrel-themed item you've hunted, but you don't faint over every squirrel-themed item.

Telling someone you collect an item on motif alone is asking for tasteless, or uninformed, I should say, additions to your collection. Maybe that's what you want, because large bodies of collectibles can be something to see if you have the room. I don't think you collect something to keep the size of your collection in control. You can be ridiculous about it, or even unhealthy, or go into debt, but then I don't think the tips listed will help you.

When people ask me what I collect, I just tell them that I collect hundred dollar bills.