Is it a collection if you use the items?

[McNutt]

I have things I can't get enough of and am always happy to receive/buy. I probably have 15 pocket knives and I will carry each of them on rotation.
I will also have a bunch of whiskies on hand and will drink from whichever I please.

Are these things considered a collection? I think of collectors as people who buy things and display or store them without actually using them.

What say you?

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[Smoove_B]

Yes - because there are different types of collectors. What they have in common is the acquisition element - finding something rare or cheap or unique, regardless of whether or not you intend to use it or consume it.

[Jaymann]

I'm an inadvertent collector. Like I bought some headphones when I couldn't find my existing ones. I have also done this with books I forgot that I already read.

[disarm]

In my opinion, you can definitely be a 'collector' of regularly usable things...knives, watches, music (vinyl, CDs), video games. There are a lot of things that one can collect with the intent of also using on a regular basis. Personally, I would rather accumulate things that I find both interesting and useful rather than just items that take up space.

[Holman]

People with huge collections of books or movies usually read or watch some or most of them. If you collect and paint miniatures, it doesn't become less of a collection when you use them on the table.

But do you have a "wine collection" (or is it something else?) if you drink one of the old bottles for every new bottle you acquire?

I'm actually inclined to say Yes to the wine question. So why don't I call the contents of the refrigerator my "food collection?" Is it just because one is uncommon and the other is common?

I own five or six pairs of shoes that I use routinely; I don't have a "shoe collection." But if I start buying sneakers because I want to have lots of sneakers (and especially if I want rare or special or fancy ones), suddenly I do have a sneaker collection.

It seems like a fuzzy line defined mainly by whether something is considered "collectable" by other aficionados.

We have many more everyday forks and spoons in the house than we have pieces of "wedding silver," but only the latter would possibly be considered a collection.

[Punisher]

I have a large collection of debt.
Does that count?

[Jaymann]

I have a large collection of debt.
Does that count?

As long as you aren't breaking any kneecaps.

[hepcat]

If you’re taking them from victims, they’re technically trophies.

[dbt1949]

I used to have 100 guns. I shot them all the time. I still considered them a collection. Or the Arkansas National Guard.

[Kraken]

My dad collected guns. He didn't have 100 but I always admired his display case. I kept a few of them after he died but he sold my favorite, the 10-gauge goose gun. That was a freaking cannon that would knock you on your butt if you were 12 years old.

[Madmarcus]

I'm actually inclined to say Yes to the wine question. So why don't I call the contents of the refrigerator my "food collection?" Is it just because one is uncommon and the other is common?

Although I have refereed to my collection of random condiments.

Edit to add that I probably have refereed my condiments by sending them to the penalty box for getting in the way of other food that needs to fit in to the fridge but I really meant referred to!

[YellowKing]

I feel like there are two different definitions of collection. There is a collection in terms of a group of similar objects that occurred by happenstance or necessity, and then there is a collection in which items were curated and purchased on purpose.

I have a collection of barbecue sauce packets in my pantry, but I would not say I collect barbecue sauce packets.

On the other hand, I would definitely say I'm a record collector since I purposefully seek out and purchase records to add to said collection.

[MCQueen2]

I feel that it comes down to intent. A collection doesn’t have to be about storing and display — its often about getting things, with purpose or passion. That they are part of a collection does not prohibit you from using items, such as pocket knives, whiskies, or guns. It isn’t about just accumulating things casually — it’s about whether you're actively seeking them out, curating them, and valuing them as a personal collection. Using them doesn’t then turn it into a less collection, in fact it simply makes the function to it.

[Madmarcus]

It isn’t about just accumulating things casually — it’s about whether you're actively seeking them out, curating them, and valuing them

I was going to say that I had just been joking around with a collection of condiments but McQueen2 has given me an out because I am certainly seeking them out, curating them, and valuing them while cooking with them.

[Blackhawk]

That seems like the deciding factor to me. If your intent is to stock them, or just to have a variety, it's not a collection. If your intent is to collect them, it is.

[Kraken]

It isn’t about just accumulating things casually — it’s about whether you're actively seeking them out, curating them, and valuing them

I was going to say that I had just been joking around with a collection of condiments but McQueen2 has given me an out because I am certainly seeking them out, curating them, and valuing them while cooking with them.

I have a sprawling inventory of spices and dried herbs, most of them common but with a few outliers. This thread convinced me that I collect spices. I mean, one's life is incomplete without fines herbes and herbs de provence, no? "Learn how to make your own herbs de Provence seasoning mix with dried rosemary, fennel, savory, thyme, basil, marjoram, lavender, parsley, oregano, tarragon, and bay." LOL no, I would have to level up.

[LawBeefaroni]

Consumables/perishables are a stash. Non consumables are a collection.

[TheMix]

Consumables/perishables are a stash. Non consumables are a collection.

This makes sense to me. Though I could still see someone "collecting" things for a stash. I just probably wouldn't consider them to be "collectors". Maybe "gathering"/"gatherers"?

[Jeff V]

Consumables/perishables are a stash. Non consumables are a collection.

Yes, but it gets fuzzy if you maintain a wine cellar and collect wines you might not drink for years, if ever.

Sounds like his whiskey assortment is more like a stash in that he intends to consume it on a regular basis Especially so if all of the bottles are opened. I should think an item being collected ought to be able to be sold if desired, and nobody is going to want to buy an open bottle of booze.

[McNutt]

If my wife has five shampoos in the shower that she rotates, that does not seem like it would be a collection, yet many here seem to think that fits the criteria.

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