"The man in black who never smiles": how to build a great collection and not enjoy it

[Undertow]

What I took away from it was basically as follows:
"quirky loner"
"his body was not found for a month"

I had a good chuckle at this, although I must agree with Tomasso and Feraud here. Personally, I think all sorts come to the table regarding collecting.

I used to collect Punisher comic books over a decade ago. I started collecting because I truly enjoyed the character, the art, the style, the theme - the whole smear. As I got older, it became more of a "complete collection" and I branched out into cameos, figurines, etc. Now, nearly 2 decades after I started, the collection sits hidden in storage and no one, except maybe family, knows about it. I haven't lost any passion for the character so much as I seem to have grown out of the "collecting" part. The collection itself is ridiculously complete and is probably worth a few grand or more (if I split it up, it could be worth plenty). I'll never sell it though, and I suppose some day, a group of reporters will sit at my doorstep and say, "He was a quirky loner...they didn't find his body for months."

 

[Fletch]

I tend to prefer someone that uses the things they collect or at least displays the things that they collect. For me when someone is a collector where the items are hidden away and not enjoyed by use or as at least display is creepy.

There is a guy down the block that tells me every few months that he has about 6 fedoras that were his dad's in the attic.

For the first 2 or 4 times he made a point telling me this I would say: "Are you going to wear Them?"
His answer: "No!"
Me: "Well you should consider selling them like on Ebay."
His answer: "No!"
Me: "What is the use of having them? You won't wear them, won't display them and won't sell them. All they do is take up space."

I finally realized he was the oddball type of guy that would buy something simply to keep another from getting it. He was happy with the idea of having and not using an object that others might like to have and use. Just so that others can't have it or use it.

People like this haunt me. They are like a passive evil spirit abroad in the world.

I think of them as somehow in cahoots with history, helping keep the forgotten forgotten, and helping keep new generations from discovering. Like the archetypical parent, they remind society, "Eat what's put before you."

Don't wonder. Don't dream. That's only for a few high priests. Not for the likes of you, who live in the world. This is not for the world. This is not to transcend the world. Not to transform the world. This is to be kept pure from the world.

 

[randooch]

People like this haunt me. They are like a passive evil spirit abroad in the world.

I think of them as somehow in cahoots with history, helping keep the forgotten forgotten, and helping keep new generations from discovering. Like the archetypical parent, they remind society, "Eat what's put before you."

Don't wonder. Don't dream. That's only for a few high priests. Not for the likes of you, who live in the world. This is not for the world. This is not to transcend the world. Not to transform the world. This is to be kept pure from the world.

Or maybe the hats have an intensely personal "spirit" about them, a part of his dad that he's not willing to toss out into the mix?

 

[Fletch]

I wasn't thinking of ghosts. That's a whole different deal. If 6 of your dad's hats keep him alive for you, that's not collecting, that's a kind of shrine.

I'm thinking of someone who looks to build a real, deep sliver of history, out of things that were in the world, then take them out of the world to keep from everyone else.