Addicted to Collecting?

I'm putting off the 'big reveal' of the newly improved Geek Cave for a week due to another excellent article that appeared in IO9 last week, "Help, My Partner is Addicted to Collecting Toys and it's Freaking Me Out."

I do agree wholeheartedly with Rob Bricken's take on toy collecting, although I would also have liked to see more of a differentiation between collecting and hoarding (if, as I do, you consider there to be a wide difference between collecting and addiction).  But the general idea behind the article is more than sound.

I would also point out that the letter writer (naturally) gives us only one side of the story.  Much is implied: that the toy collection in question is cause for financial difficulties (is it really, or is it that the girlfriend doesn't like spending money on toys?), that there isn't space for the collection (how much space is it taking up and what percentage of the living space?), and that the collector can't stop buying (has he been asked to curtail his purchasing, and has he realized that this is an issue in the relationship?)

I won't go on again about my thoughts on collecting vs hoarding, living with a non-collector, and so forth (you're more than welcome to visit some older posts on the blog if you're interested) but I do encourage other collectors to check out Rob's post, and to share your own thoughts and ideas on the matter.

Elf