The War Inside

Mmm, the title sounds a bit dramatic, doesn’t it? But there is literally a war or two inside the house of one collector, Mr Gus Lopez in Seattle. His passion for collecting things from a galaxy far, far away has consumed him, and pretty much all of his house. Star Wars has led him on something of a crusade, basically to become the World’s Number 1 SW Collector. And by gum, he’s done it.

Gus Lopez is a classic example of someone who sees something, really likes it, likes it a bit more, leans in… and it grabs him. Stars Wars is Gus’ life. Every room in his house is filled with Star Wars things. And we’re not talking just the odd shelf of C3PO toys here, the occasional Ewok mask there. We’re talking walls full of official gold and platinum movie awards, original Star Wars artwork, actual prototypes used to make the films’ props. Yes, there’re all the usual movies and figurines, but Gus’ obsession has gone way beyond that. He has moulds of Stormtrooper guns, an R2D2 water-cooler, a Star Wars pinball machine, and even some of Yoda’s fingernails, for crying out loud. It’s the Mona Lisa of Star Wars collections. It’s breathtaking (the Mona Lisa as well).

Gus’ website is (thankfully) photo-rich and laid out very simply. He’s just ordered it by rooms in his house. You can see Chewbacca’s hair samples in the dining room, Japanese bottle caps featuring Star Wars in the master bedroom, or check out the AT-AT snowglobe in the office. (AT-AT’s, if I remember correctly, are those cool 4-legged monster-machines hunting down the Rebels on the surface of Planet Hoth). Many of the items are so rare – maybe just a few or even one exist – that you don’t see catalogue numbers popping up. That’s not the point. Just seeing room after room of anything remotely related to Star Wars shows you what it’s like when your switch gets flicked, and hard.

It would take a special person, I guess, to marry someone with the singlemindedness Gus shows in his collecting streak. According to the site, Gus’ wife Pam is down with that. Comfortably nestled in among the X-wings and Vaders are a few thousand Stitch and anime toys. Just to keep, you know, a kind of balance.

Perfect.

[ www.kollecta.com/Collector/Barney ]

Living in a box

This morning I came across an article regarding the Pope, who has decided that seven deadly sins aren’t really enough. In moving the Church with modern times and thinking, he’s added a few more to the list. Now missing from that list, from an ardent collector’s perspective, is removing a collectable from its packaging. Opening the box: bad. NRFB – Never Removed From Box: good.

To remove, or not to remove – it’s not so much a question as temptation. For many serious collectors, the value of a collectable plunges the instant you peel back that little holographic sticker on the box’s lid. It’s so tempting, to take that collectable out of its cellophane and twist-tie prison, to let it feel fresh air and be held by a real person. In some ways, it’s like buying a new car.

Your heart’s in your mouth as you pen to paper that shiny new auto. It has just four kilometres on the clock – the obligatory once-or-twice-around-the-block by the quality control person at the factory). There aren’t any dings on the paintwork, the wheel rims are unaltercated by curbs, the tyres are oh-so-black. That heady new car smell emanates from the inside when you open the door. The firm, untorn upholstery grips you as you reciprocate with the steering wheel. Bob the car salesman hands you the key to your $33,000 purchase, shuts the door (it latches with a reassuring, solid thud), and you draw a deep breath. You turn the key and the engine roars into life, snapping at the rev counter to keep up. Oh, yeah. You ease your new baby across the footpath, out onto New Proud Owner Street. CLANG!

That’s the sound of SEOW. In that fraction of a second when the two front tyres touch the road, SEOW occurs. It stands for Spontaneous Evaporation Of Worth. Your $33,000 car just lost $7,000 in value. Just like that. You see, if you put the car into reverse and drive it back onto the lot with a doubt in your heart, everything changes. Bob the car salesman, who minutes earlier complimented your snappy tie or how your dress really brings out the highlights in your hair, is now telling you that the car is no longer new, but used. They’re not worth as much as new cars, he explains with the patience of a saint. The car’s certain je ne sais quoi has disparu. However as a favour to you (his friend), he generously offers to buy the car back for $26,000, despite the ‘lesser condition’ it’s now in.

You didn’t do anything to cause the Evaporation, like bumper-kiss a pole, or spill your morning coffee over the passenger seat. Nope. But you did commit a cardinal sin. In driving that brand new car off the lot, you did the equivalent of removing a collectable from its box. Shame on you. Like the genie from the bottle, you released value from the purchase.

OK, but who actually buys a new car and doesn’t drive it? And every year at Christmas time, children around the world get millions of presents, things that may in time become collectables. On this day, they tear into these presents with the fervour of media smelling a scandal. Off comes the wrapping paper. Who cares that it’s expensive, shiny, and your favourite colour? That Mum put a co-ordinated rosette on top? No one. Onto the next layer. The box! Hurrah! Rip goes the top. Toss the instruction sheet next to the crumpled up wrapping paper where it won’t get lost. Remove the cellophane! The twist-ties! Curse the polystrene chips flying around like snowflakes, and anything else that gets in the way. Finally – the present! Ah….. satisfaction.

In a few hours when Mum and Dad clear up, the packaging disappears and in a way, so has some of the history associated with it. Some of the language and phrases of the time printed on the box, how the item was packaged, it’s all part of the item’s history. This adds immensely to an item’s worth in later years. Some toys and other collectibles from as far back as the fifties or sixties have retained their virgin status, but are extremely rare. Like the new car – imagine suggesting to a child on Christmas Day that they shouldn’t remove the toy from its packaging, because it’ll be worth a lot more in thirty years’ time. How well would that be received? And more worrying – what kind of a parent would give such a gift and then instruct them NOT to open it ever – they could look but not touch?

Yet some collectors swear by NFRB as the pristine pinnacle of collecting. It just doesn’t get any better.

Keeping a toy in NRFB status rather than SFBLO (Set Free By Loving Owner) can actually be detrimental though. Dolls are probably the best documented case of when packaging and archiving turn bad. The materials used to box them aren’t acid free and aren’t usually designed to last for decades. They can damage dolls and their costumes, as can other factors like mould, rubber bands, or other devices used to entomb the figurine. One final note from an NFRB collector of Fate / Saber – tinged with a little sadness – is that her prized collection of figurines simply looks like shelves of boxes in a toy store – “they never get to come out and play”.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. NFRB or SEOW… which are you?

[ www.kollecta.com/Collector/Barney ]

A paradoxical box of Pandoras

People and their collecting habits are a fascinating window to the human psyche, a real paradoxical box of Pandoras. On the one hand, there are people who collect to highlight their individuality. On the other, serious collectors can exhibit almost fanatical camaraderie with those who also appreciate what they treasure. A collector can be a fastidious record keeper, who thrives on the finer art of cataloguing and maintaining collections, or simply a gatherer, tumbleweeding things that appeal to them.

Then there are those with quiet obsessions, the ones you discover when you visit their house to find a common theme throughout – say, a frog doormat, frog chinaware, frog ornaments, and so on. And, no matter how obscure the collectable item, anyone with the passion, time, and the Internet can become a master of their arena, a sage, a king even.

The act of collecting has to be the greatest human pastime there is. It doesn’t discriminate by age, gender, ethnicity or religion. Language barriers can often be overcome, and money isn’t always an obstacle – think sea shell or bottle cap collections. Thanks to the Internet and global shipping, even geography is less of an obstacle to collecting than in years gone by. In fact, the biggest challenge to the most popular and lasting of human pastimes, serious or casual, is where to draw the line at what they do and don’t want to collect.

Why is collecting so popular? Simple. It’s fun, it’s rewarding, it’s real. Online activities like Second Life and MySpace that compete for potential collectors’ time are quirky and novel, but the element of reality to them is questionable at best.

Collectables, however, are indisputably real. Think of an MP3 file. It’s a frigid block of cold, hard bits of data. It usually comes with no artwork. Easily copied or reproduced. Now think of a vinyl record, with warmth and history, complete with dog-eared sleeve, pops, hiss, and the previous owner’s name scrawled across the label. You can listen to ‘Standing at the crossroads’ by Elmore James on an iPod, true, but it doesn’t really have a sense of nostalgia or a story attached to it. Actually holding the ‘Blues after hours’ LP in your hands, being able to see the cover, and smell it… that’s real.

Collecting used to be about stamps, coins, and music, give or take a teapot or two. No longer. When mass-production and consumerism soared post-fifties and especially through the eighties, the collecting landscape changed too. Many items produced as promotional gimmicks were not expected nor designed to be kept for any serious length of time. However, the opposite has happened. Some have survived to tell the tale, and now the attics are being cleared and the dust blown off the boxes. They’re getting, tongue in cheek, a ‘Second Life’.

Early toys from MacDonalds restaurants, for example, have become highly collectable. Iconic toys from the 70s and 80s are making a comeback as entertainment themes are re-visited and livened up by Hollywood and its entourage. Think Transformers, still riding their wave of popularity after last year’s movie. Think Smurfs, due for a trilogy of movies to celebrate their 50th anniversary this year. Batman, Superman, Spiderman, The Fantastic Four have all had make-overs and the original material – toys, posters, comics – are now more sought after than ever. Old is back, it’s collectable, and it’s big.

The baby-boomers are now seeking out these items, with the Internet in one pocket and disposable income in the other. Some become addicted and strive to get ‘everything in the set’, others seek out one or two particular items, often things from earlier memories. Maybe it’s the first record you ever owned, or the dashboard ornament in your first car, and so on. Toys in particular will always be hugely popular among collectors, for these are the very first possessions we come across as human beings, and the memories attached to them stay with us for the rest of our lives.

There is serious money in some of the newer forms of collecting. A Strawberry Shortcake ‘Peach Blush’ set recently sold for $2000, and rare Transformer toys and PEZ containers regularly exceed $1000 at auction. Not bad for plastic robots and candy dispensers. Some of the more traditional and rarer collectables like comics still command astronomical prices – the debut issue of Batman will set you back a quarter of a million dollars. The unconventional collectables often have hefty price tags too. Recently a lock of John Lennon’s hair sold for $47,000, and a pink cocktail dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ fetched $200,000.

Despite these prices, collecting remains fundamental to the human psyche and within reach of everyone. It always will, because there will always be something to collect. My four year old loves to collect leaves. A while ago when I asked him how many leaves he had yet to collect to complete his collection, he thought about it for a few moments before replying:

“When I’ve got one from every tree.”

[ www.kollecta.com/Collector/Barney ]

Close to me BK

Yesterday around noon I was in a rush. I didn’t have time to make a decent lunch, so I went to Burger King instead. While I was waiting to order my #3 meal from the staff member whose life ambition was to take the ‘fast’ out of ‘fast food’, I noticed a large LCD screen playing music videos.

The video playing featured an unhappy man wearing a large amount of oversized, shiny jewellery (‘gangsta bling’, I’m now reliably informed) and pink Star Trek sunglasses, despite the video being filmed in a bright studio. I assumed he was unhappy from his lyrics, which went something like ‘yo, mutha, dawg, diss me and my hood’. I couldn’t understand most of what he singing about, but it seemed like he was pretty upset at someone for casting aspersions on a member of his family, and basically his answer was to ‘pop a cap in their ass’. Hmm. He helped convey his message through several young women in ridiculously high boots and uncomfortably tight shorts, if the scraps of material covering their nethers could be so named, who all moaned in unison whenever Mr. Star Trek muttered ‘yo’. The choreography of the video and these dancers was in all honesty very good, especially the scene where the women suggestively gestured the stripper poles, and the singer nodded smugly to the camera: ‘uh-huh’.

The next song was pretty much the same. OK, the sunglasses were different, the lyrics featured ‘crips’ and ‘bloods’, and the dancers were wearing heels and bikinis / pieces of red twine. But, the ‘yo’, ‘diss’, and ‘cap-popping’ was still there, along the general concept of wrong-doing, hand-waving, and revenge.

After that came a Cure video, from around 1986 I think, ‘Close to me’. It’s a catchy and chirpy song, despite the lyrics being typically Cure-esque, and it’s very recognisable on the radio. Seeing it in on the BK LCD TV made me remember why I used to love music videos. They used to supplement a song, rather than being the only way to sell it. My friend Stuart used to say, and rightly so, that any song should be able to stand on its own two feet, with a good video being a bonus rather than a necessity. Technically, I used to remind Stuart, songs don’t have feet, but his point is nonetheless valid.

In the ‘Close to me’ video, there are no women wiggling and jiggling booty, unzipping their tops slowly while mouthing ‘sug-ahh’ to the mind-numbed viewers. None of the Cure are women (although Robert Smith has been known to wear a bit of makeup from time to time – see image to your right), so the video didn’t really sell records on sex appeal. There were no dancers, nor dancing, nor wild ‘homy’ gestures. There just wasn’t room. You see, the Cure had quite a clever idea for their video. They filmed it in a box. A small one.

The whole band were crammed into this not very large crate – they were literally packed in against each other, shoulder to knee, to arm, to foot, to head – ‘Close to me’ … get it? They even played their instruments throughout the song. Not full size instruments, but miniature versions of the instruments they normally play. For example, the bass player is making do with what looks like a coat hanger and a large rubber band. Again, there wasn’t the room. God knows how they managed to get a camera inside to film it all. There’s even a twist towards the end of the song when the crate gets pushed off a cliff and into the sea. I won’t spoil it, watch the YouTube instead.

That’s what seems to be missing from many music videos today. There’s sex, and sex sells, and a bit of violence, and some identify with that, but sadly there’s little humour. No fun. No cleverness. And when the video ends, the disposable song is disposed of. Kind of like my soggy burger wrapper as it slid into the waste bin. There’s nothing of any substance to put a smile on your face for even a short while.

There’s nothing.

Save for a reminder that for their videos, bands of today need to think outside of the box.

[ www.kollecta.com/Collector/Barney ]

News 8 – Oxygen release

After more feedback from our members, it was time for another release of functionality! There’re some big things happening in this release… so pay attention please 😉

• Group Talk – when you visit a group you’ve joined in Kollecta, you’ll now notice a new tab – ‘Group Talk’. On this page, any Group member can start a thread of conversation, and anyone in the Group can pile in with their 10 cents’ worth! Click on the green ‘new’ icon to start a Group Talk, or a blue ‘quotes’ icon to read and add to an existing one. Simple, really!
• Item Sellers page – got a spare or something to sell? Curious to see if another Kollecta member has something you might want? Check out the Item Sellers link at the top of every page. Selling and buying on Kollecta is of course free.
• Who says gathering and collecting can’t be fun? Check out the Item Tag game (you must be logged in to play so we know where to put you on the Leaderboard). The instructions are simple, the game is a little more challenging! You can find 1-2-3 instructions here.
• We now show a sample of the biggest collections, busiest members, most wanted items – all the good oil – on the home page.
• There’re a few other changes too, but they’re behind-the-scenes things and nowhere near as interesting as the above.

News 7 – Nitrogen release

You asked for it, so we did it, mostly. Lots of users have given feedback on what they would like to see on the site, and where, and so on. We’ve been able to incorporate most of the ideas… so here’s what is in the latest Kollecta release. As well as listing all the cool new features, I ‘ve noted all the previous releases and what went into those. To make it all a bit more fun, I wanted to give each release a name, rather than 1.01, 1.02, etc.

Suggestions I had from various sources:

• Letters A, B, C… (c’mon guys, this is serious…),
• Names of the various actors who have played Doctor Who,
• Order and names of the States in which Obama has beaten Hilary,
• Bob Dylan records, as they were released,
• Prime numbers,
• Adjective-animal à la Ubuntu (Feisty Fawn and so on).

Well, I decided to go with naming them after the elements in the Periodic Table (see my earlier blog about Collecting Chemicals). To save you having to Google a Periodic Table, I’ll also number and date them. I’m still open to better suggestions. Honest.

19.2.2008 – Nitrogen release
No jokes here about releasing gas.

Featured in this release:

• Added option to allow members to select 10, 20, 40 item-display on their profile. So, whenever you log in and view a list of items, groups, members, search results… whatever – Kollecta remembers your choice.
• Added a Bookmarks button in the blue bar at the top of every page.If you Digg, Del.ic.ious, Facebook, MySpace, whatever it – please do. Hover over the button to see about a dozen of the common ones, or click the >>more link to see more again.
• Important! Moved members’ profile actions to the left green side tab. Now, when you’re signed in you can add a collection, edit your profile, see your items, exchanges, My Talks… they’re just one click away!
• Added more ‘top members’, ‘largest collections’, ‘most wanted items’ etc to the homepage.
• Simplified the searching on all pages. Just type some words, click Search. Couldn’t be simpler. Really.
• Added Group browsing. Click on the red Groups tab at the top right. You can now see the busiest groups, the latest groups, or browse the whole lot if you want.
• Added Member browsing. Click on the green Members tab at the top right. You can now see the members with the most points, largest collections, or just check out the latest folks to join up.
• Added Item browsing. Click on the blue Members tab at the top right. Each time you visit this page, Kollecta ‘gives you five’. That is, it pulls five random items out of our community’s database for you to check out. Give it a go!
• Also under Item browsing – Most wanted items, Latest items added, and Items for Sale (improved page being worked on as we speak!)
• Adding a new item to the community – the previous page wasn’t as clear as it could have been, so we’ve cleaned it up. Coming soon: the ability to add the new item straight into one of your collections.
• Username – previously limited to 8 characters. Now 16. Who knows – maybe in 6 weeks’ time it’ll be 32, 64, 128, 256, …
• Password – eight is too long! For some, at least. The minimum password length is 6 characters. Remember though, you still need to keep it safe.
• Welcome page when you log in. We made it more welcoming. Aww.
• Group Profile – just like we did with the Member Profile, we added important actions to the left side bar.

I think that’s about it. But wait, there’s more! Watch this space over the next week.

We’re going to inject a bit more fun into the site……

[ www.kollecta.com/Collector/Barney ]

News 6 – Carbon release

12.2.2008 #6 – Carbon release

We started a message board at kollecta.yuku.com, should members want to use it. If it becomes incredibly popular and the nice people at yuku.com ask us to leave because we’re nailing their bandwidth, we’ll look at bringing it in-house.

News 5 – Boron release

7.2.2008 #5 – Boron release

This release was far from boron (ha ha). It featured the migration of thousands of new items into Kollecta, an ever-increasing wonderful database of collectable items. It doesn’t stop there, of course. Kollecta members can add items not already in the database, edit existing ones, and upload images. In doing so, they benefit the Kollecta community and get awarded points for these actions (more on these later).

Kollecta now embraces close to 1.4 million items, including but not limited to:

• Models and toys from a range of eras (matchbox, manga figures, transformers, smurfs, strawberry shortcake, star trek, star wars… …)
• A fair pile of music (CDs, tapes, records… …)
• A few books (Hardback, paperback, any kind of back…)
• Some coins… stamps…
• Quite a few DVDs… a few VHS… maybe even the occasional laserdisc (!)
• Lots of comics and graphic novels
• Advertising memorabilia
• Miscellaneous treasures that members have contributed like keychains, hats, paintings, marbles, kitchen mixers…
• And, one Big Ears egg cup.

It’s all out there in your community, for you to discover. And add to.

Go have fun!

News 4 – Beryllium release

27.1.2008 #4 – Beryllium release

This release added functionality for members interested in exchanging spares of items they have, or item they want. Included in the release:

• As well as ticking ‘I have’ for an item in Kollecta, members can also tick ‘Sell’ and ‘Want’. You can enter a price you’d sell or buy the item for, or leave it blank if you prefer – instead of Buy or Sell buttons being presented to the ‘other’ member, they’ll see an offer button.
• Clicking on the Sellers page shows all members who have that item for sale.
• Clicking on the Buyers page shows all members who want to buy that item (have it in their want list).
• Important! The introduction of ‘My Talk’ functionality. On a Sellers or Buyers page you’ll see a green speech bubble: .
• If you want to talk to the other member about their item, just click on the green bubble and enter a message. Easy!
• Both you andthe other member are involved in the conversation. So, the ‘My Talk’ appears on both member’s ‘My Talk’ pages (kind of obvious, really). This page shows all conversations you’ve had or are having with other users. There are two icons in use here. Where you see:, this means there’s a reply you haven’t yet read (exciting!). Where you see: this means you’ve already read the reply.
• So, you can communicate back and forwards, either confirming details about things like shipping etc, or just chat about the item itself if you like.
• You get awarded Kollecta points for doing exchanges. Both members get to rate each other too.
• When someone sends you a new ‘My Talk’, you’ll receive an email notification. You can switch this off in your Profile Preferences… but you might not find out about the new message until much later…
• Every member has a ‘My Exchanges’ page too. There you can see exchanges you’ve done in the past, and do actions on ones in progress (such as notifying the buyer you’ve shipped the item, and so on).

‘My Talk’ will be spreading to other parts of the site fairly soon, so keep an eye open for it! If you have questions about it, contact support via the email link on the site.

News 3 – Lithium release

26.1.2008 #3 – Lithium release

I got this blog sorted out to a point where I could put a link to it on the Kollecta home page.

I hope you’re enjoying it so far.