I have been known to collect a few things over the years.

OK, I've been known to collect a LOT of things over the years. I see value where others see future landfill items...

It's a mild compulsion, which I've probably inherited from my mother, who never met a Harlequin romance novel she didn't like. I'm not saying she's been at it a long time, but the characters were all just schoolyard friends when she first started reading them...

At any rate, a bit of casual reflection on collectibles got me to thinking the other day...maybe this habit is a bit borderline absurd??

Take the real enthusisatic collectors, for example. These people will not even open what they've bought, for fear of losing future value, should someone makes a movie about their item. Look at how many people are laughing now, after collecting all those Lord Of The Ring Big Gulp cups!!

We recently bought a couple of new Christmas ornaments, matching Donald & Daisy Duck figurines, and the owner of the store just showed them to me in the box. He said most people don't want them to even get exposed to the air!!

Which got me to thinking...

How do you know as a purchaser of collectibles that you are even getting what you've bought, if you can't even open the damn box for fear of oxygen erosion to the product?? What prevents unscrupulous collectibles dealers from opening these packages, filling them up with pumpkin seeds, and selling them to blissfully unaware nerds and mama's boys (which thankfully I can say I'm totally not)??

What's to prevent a sports card dealer from prying open a package of hockey cards with the help of low-level gamma rays, then slipping out the actual cards, and putting in pictures of his family vacation?? If the purchasers never even open these things, the power of the collectibles dealer for abuse is staggering!!

Of course, I could just be blowing smoke out of my beehive here...

Chow for now!!