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Under a Collector’s Curse

By: NAREN LEE SANKAR

My childhood hero, “Buzz Lightyear” had a short lived TV series “Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command” and when the series ended, all the merchandise for that series stopped being made. Today, they are rare collectables and after searching for it for four years on ebay, I found them:

 

 

We all buy things which we actually can do without. That is the issue I want to explore today: “When Does Buying And Collecting Things Become Dangerous?”

A recent Straits Times Article caught my attention and I thought of something: “When we collect and buy things, do we think about why we are buying the products enough before forking out lots of money?” Here is what people from my school, Republic Polytechnic had to say.

Now that you know some of the reasons why we collect things, it is time to explore when Buying And Collecting Things Become Dangerous. I collected so much “Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command” merchandise over the last three years that I am $600 poorer and my drawers for keeping stuff at home have become full and yet, the collection still is incomplete. Imagine that.

I stopped collecting the merchandise when my drawers became full because I had read articles about the extent people go to complete their collections, one example being this one: “John Jay Pittman, though not a wealthy man to begin with, built a vast and famous coin collection. He accomplished that feat by studying relentlessly, then shrewdly investing a large percentage of his limited income as a middle manager for Eastman Kodak and his wife's income as a schoolteacher. In 1954, he mortgaged his house to travel to Egypt and bid on coins at the King Farouk Collection auction.” – Excerpt and photo below from here.

“Pittman Paid $400 for a six piece coin set. Ironic since this coin is a one cent coin, don’t you think?”

 

So, what are the signs that you are over collecting (the name for that is “Hoarding”)? :

1. An inability to discard objects coupled with anxiety if a hoarder does try to throw things away.

2. Impaired ability to function due to hoarding.

3. A cluttered living space that has become so filled with objects that it can't be used effectively.

Source: “TLC"

Now that you know the signs of hoarding, what can you do to control yourself? Here are my suggestions:

1. When you see something you want to buy, ask yourself “do I really want this?” “Do I have space at home to keep this?”, “when did I last buy something?” I know it is hard to do because many shops use colors, scent or other things to make you want to buy something.

 

2. Think of those less fortunate than you, the children at Club Rainbow, who are suffering from life-threatening illnesses for example and then consider buying something for them instead. Giving will make you feel good too.  

3. Take up a Challenge; use the item you want as a drive for you to excel, only get it after you have achieved a goal in life for example. I am a huge fan of “Scrappy Doo” and I promised myself that if there is an improvement of at least 0.4 in my GPA every semester, I will buy one “Scrappy Doo” product.

In summary, buying things is something all of us do but as with everything in life, there must be a balance. Know how shopping malls cleverly make you feel like buying something and if you do choose to buy something, think about why you are doing it.   This way, you will defeat the “Collector’s Curse” that is inside of you forever. Who says you need superpowers to be super?  


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