The "New" Collector Celebs - The other side

Reality TV's foray into the "Junk Lifestyle" has created a number of newly minted "Celebs".

We already all know that many celebs are known to be collectors, including:

Louie Anderson - high quality Mission/Arts & Crafts Furniture - Especially Stickley

Whoopi Goldberg  - Bakelite, rare books, Maxfield Parrish prints (and other Parrish items)

Oprah Winfrey - Black Americana

Bill Cosby - African-American Art

Demi Moore - Dolls (and no, I am not counting Ashton Kutcher, for those of you who are so inclined. As for me, the only thing I like Ashton Kutcher for is the fact he made 1970s & 1980s trucker/farmer caps a cool fashion thing...helped me sell 500 or so of the 2000 I had...)

Barbara Taylor Bradford - Victorian Silver Spoons

Donald Trump - (yes, he collects more than cash, real estate, and supermodels!) - Art by Mark Gonzales, marble figural statues

Jay Leno - Antique & Classic autos and other vehicles

and I can go on, and on, and on, and on....


But, the new crop borne from Reality TV's "Junk Lifestyle" programming have one major difference...they were heavy collectors before they were celebs.....and quite likely were collecting before it was "trendy" and "fashionable."

And many (if not most) were collecting well before they had access to ready cash to heavily finance their collecting habits, and have that extra spending cash to shell out for those "Holy Grail" items when they do pop up. Their celebrity certainly makes those items more available...with millions of fans, you have several million eyes looking for those items for you, not to mention TV's long reach to those who may be knowingly (or unknowingly) harboring those items.


Before that, many of the same collectors would have to make some major sacrifices to be able to afford some items they wanted, pass those items up entirely, or buy them and own them for a very brief time before having to sell them to pay bills, or risk financial ruin, minor and major.

Reyne Haines, a a junk TV celeb in her own right, and blogger for The Huffington Post (as well as being 1/3rd of the group of cupcake queens extraordinaire) did an interview with "American Pickers" Mike Wolfe, which can be found on The Huffington Post HERE.


 The collectors I truly admire are really not those who have bank accounts to back them up, and buy anything that they desire, or think will impress those around them. 


Now, I myself am a collector. However, my collecting habits now tend to lean towards items that have some historical, and mainly local, or at least historical Canadian significance, and are not as readily salable as items. 

This vein of collecting, for me, does allow for those items to remain in my hands for longer periods than, say, collecting high quality Coca-Cola items, Petroliana items, etc.

"Why?" to the second power

Ah, now you are confused....!


Ok: Why do I have more respect for those who are not well off/wealthy who have created wonderful collections?

and 

 Why do my collections now lean towards the areas mentioned?

Yep, it is another cliff hanger...you will have to read my next blog posting!