Personally, I am not much of a collector. I collect photos of special times in my life, and I have a big collection of soft toys-rabbits, bears, elephants, dogs and snakes. I love them!
Most people collect things at some time in their life. Who hasn't got a collection of photos, or books? Many people collect the letters or emails from friends. And most children have a good toy collection. Most people don't think of themselves as "collectors" because they think that having a lot of photos or toys is part of life. However, some people love collecting things as a hobby, and you can collect anything, from stamps to toys to football match programmes to old photos. In fact, some people have unusual collections.
For example, Robert Opie collects things we usually throw away, things like old newspapers, sweet papers and boxes. He has more than a quarter of a million things in his collection.
When Stuart Graham from Sydney, Australia died aged 87, he left behind some unusual collections. His son Andy only discovered Stuart was a keen collector when he found a collection of over 5,000 old bus tickets, 3,000 old matchboxes and 1,000 toy soldiers. Andy did not want to keep these collections and decided to look on the Internet to see if anyone else would like the collections. He was surprised to find out that his father's collections were very valuable. After he sold them, he bought a new car with the money.
Collectors collect things in different ways. You can go to specialist shops or markets to buy things for your collection, or you can buy collectors' magazines. You can even look on the Internet at sites like Ebay. Or you can trade things you have for something else that you would like. For example, if you have two stamps that are exactly the same, you might be able to trade one of them for a different one that you prefer.
