Robert O. Sachs wrote in a message to Frank Starns:
 >  RS>     My more normal collections are Hot Wheels, Trolls (Wish Nik
 >  RS> variety), computers, and Godzilla toys (can't WAIT for the new movie
 >  RS> this year!!!).
 > A friend of mine also collects hot wheels.  We saw about six or seven at
 > a local auction last week.  The minimum bid was set so high that they
 > didn't receive a single bid from the audience.  He says he may attend
 > this week and inspect the cars before the auction. He has the "bug" bad!
 > (The antique/collectring bug...)
My sweetie collects the little die-cast NASCAR cars, be they Hot Wheels or 
whichever.  The most solid cars appear to be the Hot Wheels, though.  I'm 
impressed with their quality.  He has a few of the 1:64 size and a couple of 
the 1:24 size in the Racing Champions series.
 ROS>     I've never gotten 'into' antiques - I get too worried about
 ROS> doing something wrong and losing value ("You waxed what!!!")
I understand your anxiety there.  I've been watching PBS' "Antiques Roadshow" 
quite a lot.  All I can say is, if you buy something you already know or 
suspect is valuable, talk to a restorer before plunging ahead.  While there 
are horror stories of people having original finishes stripped off, there was 
also one instance of a woman being *given* an oil painting which was 3/4 
destroyed.  She had it restored, and the painting was done so well it was 
worth several thousand in spite of having been restored.
I have an old school desk that I know the date of because I used it in 
seventh grade and I'm 52 now...it was there a long time before I arrived on 
the scene.  The top is scarred but still usable.  I have toyed with the idea 
of refinishing the top to make it more useful to me, but I haven't wanted to 
do that so far because I don't want to change its character.  There was a 
chair too, but unfortunately that has been lost through time.  The most 
important thing to me is that I "collected"--cherished--the desk over time 
because it is a pleasant contact with my past and utilitarian in the bargain. 
 If it has increased in value and my heirs have some worth out of it, that's 
great, but it isn't my real concern.
 > We are going "antiquing" again in a few days, after we inventory our
 > latest purchases.  Have been threatening to get the inventory done for a
 > month!  Retirement allows lots of procrastination.  Life is good!
 ROS>     Inventory:  something people with too much anxiety put on
 ROS> paper, and the rest of us just keep in our heads.
Yes, but insurance companied DO so love the written records.  Let's be 
realistic:  a written inventory is a requirement to good bookkeeping methods.
Of course, I don't have one.  :-)  I don't have a collection, I just have a 
"bunch of really neat stuff I like".  :-)
Joan
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