Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Collect Them All!


Have you heard the words "Collect them all!" in a television commercial or seen them on packaging? I'm pretty sure my boys think this is one of the Ten Commandments. If it says "Collect them all!" they think it's required by law. We always joke and call them the Children of Excess. It's not their fault, of course, because we keep buying more to add to their collections.

One thing Nathan and Neil collect are the Star Wars Galactic Heroes. Because they're chubby figurines, the boys call them fat guys. This picture is of their collection. As you can see, they're working hard to "Collect them all!" I have to admit, there are a few GI Joe and Indiana Jones ones here too, so they're not all Star Wars. It's a close-up so you can't see them all, but it's a good example of how big their collection is. Another thing they collect are those stuffed Audubon singing birds. The boys have almost all of those too. It's a conspiracy by the toy companies to take parents for as much money as possible. A good example of that is the Fisher-Price Geo Trax train set. You get the main set and then they come out with 500 little sets to add onto it. I love collecting things, so my kids get that from me. I collect wind chimes, magnets from national parks, Nightmare Before Christmas stuff, etc. When I was a kid, I collected sets of certain toys. I remember there were some really cute Wizard of Oz dolls and I wanted to "Collect them all!" I think there were a total of FIVE in the set. It wasn't anything like what we have today. My biggest worry was being able to eat all the cereal so I could buy another box to get whatever free toy came in the set. "Collect them all!" had a totally different meaning back then. Oh sure, I had a lot of toys and I was just as spoiled as my kids are today. My biggest collection was Barbies, but when it came to other toys, they just didn't make as many back then. When my girls were little, they collected Beanie Babies. That of course, brought out the mini ones from McDonald's and we had to try to "Collect them all!" Nichelle collects model Breyer Horses, but they're so expensive that it's harder to "Collect them all!"

"Collect them all!" -- is there something you had to have the whole set?

9 comments:

  1. That is a big set! I don't remember collecting anything when I was little except maybe John Denver records. LOL My kids liked the Beanie Babies at one time, but quickly grew out of it.

    I think it's neat that people collect things!

    Nancy

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  2. Since I'm purging all the collections are in danger. Except for the Breyer horses my daughter has. Like you say, you spend that much on a horse and you keep it. She has them neatly on shelves in her room, so they are safe.

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  3. My husband would love that collection! WOW!

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  4. My god! You have an army of toys in your house!!!!

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  5. Wow, now THAT is a collection! <8^O

    I collected stuffed animals and Legos as a kid. I kept a few of the stuffed animals and now the girls play with them. I do get that "Collect Them All!" itch when I buy the girls toys. I think it's a small OCD thing for me - gotta get the whole set, otherwise it somehow looks wrong.

    Right now, I collect books and dvds. I try not to go beyond that, though. With online shopping, it's way too easy to get out of hand!

    Gale

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  6. They are cute little things! I've seen them in the store.
    Hmmm...I've stopped collecting lots, but my son certainly has the bug. They do a great job on advertising to turn people into packrats.
    I'm not sure what I have all of, but I'd love it to be Star Trek related. I'll think :)

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  7. Wow! Quite a collection! I had a lot of stuffed animals...of no particular brand and of many different kinds including a 3 foot Snoopy. I still have 4 of my original animals.

    Something I also collected (and still do) are rocks and fossils. I pick up rocks that are interesting or pretty. They're cheap, lying there on the ground. People who know me have brought me rocks from Scotland, Assisi, and Paris.

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  8. My youngest son loves those Galactic Heroes. But he doesn't have a third of that collection! WOW! May the force be with your boys!

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  9. Looks like your under siege! I guess for me there's really nothing. My daughter collects everything under the sun that sort of makes up for it.

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