8 minute read
To have and to hold: The psychology of collecting
By Lillian Margaret Viñas & Pamela Mae Laguerta Photos by Nicole Mendoza & Lawrenz Tugade
People live their lives grounded by the gravity of the people, the plactes, or objects they choose to revolve around. It could center around the family, work, a sport or hobby. There are also those like collectors, who choose to live their lives with the items they feel emotionally bound to.
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There are instances when the pull that a collection has on the collector is so strong that they are able to play God and create a world of their own—one that makes their passion seem as tangible as the items themselves. Some collectors focus on the
color, with certain emotions aroused by a singular tone of their objects. While there are also some that collect based on sentiments and memories from an era like coins, toys and even retro gadgets.
But as to why they exhibit such a strong desire and motivation to collect has long been a subject of query and not even psychologists have come to an agreement. Numerous theories and assumptions have emerged to try to understand why collectors are emotionally attached to their collection, and why they would gladly invest money and time on them.
The Dark Knights
It was way back in the ‘60s when Roland Relova, also known as Kid, was introduced to the Batman television series by his father and became a fan. Soon after, in 1966, “Batman: The Movie” came out along with the first of the DC hero’s action figures. What began as a few small purchases soon grew and became the collection that he now keeps of his all-time favorite hero. For most people, the Batman action figures look indistinguishable from one another but through the quizzical eyes of Kid, details like height differences and features like detachable masks do not go unnoticed. Even subtle things like where the Batman logo is positioned do not escape his scrutiny. He dutifully familiarizes himself with these details so that new purchases wouldn’t be identical to those he already owns. “Walang duplication. Mayroong medyo kahawig lang pero there is [always] a slight difference,” he said.
For Kid, as the feeling of security and happiness from surrounding himself with possessions valuable to him grew, his collection eventually expanded.
The collection now encompasses, not just action figures from the Batman universe, but practically anything with a touch of Batman as well such as Batmobiles, happy meal toys and even Batman rulers. He even has a snow globe which he enthusiastically took out of his cabinet to shake and to watch as its miniature bats flew around and then slowly sank. “Ito ‘yung Gotham City. What is so unique [about] this one is when you shake it, ang daming paniki.”
At present, Kid has allotted a cabinet on the second floor of his home exclusively for his collection of Batman action figures. A small space that what Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist would say, is the fruit of a collector’s natural drive to create “a smaller world that is friendly and controllable” in pursuit of a sense of mastery and satisfaction. Kid acknowledges these sentiments from working on his collection, proclaiming, “Self-fulfillment ‘yan. Happiness ‘yan. If you have some problems, if you go here [sa collections] nawawala.”
Family Heritage
Aaron Briones is a man who inherited from his grandmother a passion —along with family treasures and antiques —for possessions handed down to them from generations and generations of relatives. These were proudly accumulated in their house throughout the years until he decided that he wanted them to be displayed. This is why as early as when he was still in preschool, he suggested to his grandparents to have shelves built. “It [the antiques] was part of history, part of our ancestors so the least I can do is to preserve these,” he added.
The collection spans generations and historical time periods. Lining their patio and living room are furnitures like a “pipisan, which is a 5-feet tall wooden coffee grinder from the Spanish period, and a handcrafted centre table that is made out of a glass-covered pot and filled with old coins. Housed within their shelves were engraved silverware given by the Marcoses like serving plates and bowls, as well as other household items ranging from a handful of WWII military lunch boxes and water bottles to a mysterious wine bottle that not even they remember who it belonged to. Their collection may only be mere odd and ends to others but to the Briones family, they are so much more than that; they are reminders of their family legacy. In fact, when asked how he would feel if their collection is put at risk, Aaron said that feeling upset would be an understatement and, “Magwawala ako kasi, we put a lot of time and effort to preserve these. Tapos these things are more than [a] hundred fifty years old. Tapos mawawala lang?”
For Aaron, collecting is not just for the sake of collecting; it’s a mission to make his ancestors’ legacy last, one that has given his life a sense of continuity and purpose because “in collecting
antiques, one is reminded that all things are fleeting but with care, they endure.” He added, “Things such as these help us reconnect to our culture and identity and leads us to a deeper understanding of who we are.”
From a psychological perspective, such statements reveal the innate desire of people to cheat death. Even though death is something everyone will have to face sooner or later, the idea of actually dying is often laced with fear. Hence, to serve as a “protection” against death, as argued by Philipp Blom, a German historian and journalist, collections are kept intact so that the items continue to exist even after the collectors have passed. For Aaron, this may very much be the case as he believes that “Collecting is an investment on the future kasi it’s like taking pictures. You collect to collect memories.”
Melodious Recollections
From classic musicians like The Beatles, to modern artists like John Mayer and Ed Sheeran, Hans Macatangay —a collector of vinyl records —has bought complete sets of their records. Like Aaron though, Hans credits his collection to someone else. According to him, this collection is actually a hand-medown hobby from his grandfather who started the collection, down to his father who added records of his own and built a music room with shelves to house their collection, a record player and amplifiers in their basement
Though the records are dutifully arranged by genre, the sheer number of three generations worth of vinyl collection has filled every available space in the shelves of the music room, with more boxes of newly purchased records still on the floor. Though already massive, this does not stop Hans from making the collection even larger, contributing records of his own because he feels that “If you add another one, parang each song or album, you connect that to a story.”
When buying a record, Hans doesn’t mind whether it’s brand new or secondhand so long as it’s in good condition and plays smoothly. He revealed that what drives him to be more engaged with the vinyl records is the process and experience of listening to them. “You have to carefully remove the record from the sleeve, place it on the turntable and position the tone arm. “Nothing sounds as good and nothing compares to the experience,” he heartily described.
“It is a dying hobby,” said Hans when almost everyone started to forget about purchasing vinyls. He also justified that it was what made him and his father continue to
purchase their collection. “No one realizes that this sounds better [than] any audio format, this sounds more natural,” he said.
Whereas most people would go by “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are,” for Sam Gosling, an American social psychologist, it’s “tell me what your possessions are and I’ll tell you who you are” due to his belief that the stuff people own speak for their personality and interests. This much was exhibited by Hans, whose passion has led him to pursue the ‘true music’ for his soul and to explore with different musical instruments.
When the three collectors were asked if it came to their mind to stop collecting, all of them, without hesitation, answered “no”. Kid said “Lifelong ‘to. Habang meron, if I really see some na wala ako, bibilhin ko pa rin.” On the other hand, Aaron expressed “if I can go back in time and personally ask my ancestors to give these things to me, I will ask for more because I really want to preserve [them].” As for Hans, it is because “We’re kind of, in a way, attached sa things that we like kasi they have more sentimental value, face value.”
Truly, collectors’ reasons for collecting vary greatly; the only common denominator among them being their passion and drive to continue collecting. Regardless to say, though the psychological community has a lot to say about collectors’ motivations—whether it be in pursuit of self-fulfillment and happiness like Kid, value for family legacy like Aaron or love for music like Hans —one thing is for sure, and it’s that the many and varied psychological motivation for collecting are as unique and meaningful as the collections and the collectors are.
