"Useless" collectables you just had to have ...
 

I recently purchased an "Aliens" pewter chess set... and I don't play much chess. But it was really cool and I had to have it.

I still feel guilty about the purchase and I want to know I'm not the only one who buys (expensive) stuff they don't need.

http://pictures.kyozou.com/pictures/_3/2540/2539313.jpg

Isn't that the coolest thing?

I'm not going to lie to myself and say it's an investment because I can't imagine selling it ... even if it's for a profit.

I also have a limited edition Anduril sword (from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King) - It is numbered, gold plated fittings and a certificate signed by the designer. That item was released prior to the last film. I purchased it before the demand shot up for less than $200 ... Now, on eBay, if you can find it, you'd expect to pay at least $800+
But I'd never sell it.

I want to know what useless "collectibles" you might have, too.

You'll have to wait for pictures, but on my desk I have a 1/6 scale suit of armor, an antique-style 1-hour hourglass, a bottle of Leninade, a foot-tall Boba Fett figurine, and an Eiffel Tower phone.

I need none of these, but I like them. the Led Zeppelin shot glasses are a novelty, but they are far from useless in college.

Gundam models. 'Nuff said. Although to be fair, they aren't really collectables.

My uncle has a large collection of arms and armor in his basement.

I have a bunch of old musical instruments that I got off of eBay, none were all that much, but add them up and it comes out to a couple hundred bucks. They make for a cool "artsy" display, however. The collection consists of 3 trombones, sousaphone, flute, clarinet, snare drum, cymbal, trumpet (tenor bugle, actually) and a piston-valve french horn.

What the hell are you supposed to do with an autographed baseball?

(Mine isn't even one of anybody famous.)

Nah, I try not to buy junk that I will never use. It just adds clutter to my life.

I don't like collecting things, as I don't see the value in it aside from possibly reselling the stuff, but I do have a bunch of turtle stuff. That stemmed from me having a turtle figurine given to me randomly and it "needed company". Then people bought me turtles when they didn't know what to get me or if they saw a cute one and pretty soon I had like 20, lol. I'm not going to throw them away... they were gifts. :)

I've had a rock collection since I was 8. Although I'm not as much into it anymore, over the years it evolved into a collection of very expensive and rare stones. Its completely useless, but nice to look at.

Smoking Monkeys
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...mokemonkey.jpg
and babies
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...mokingbaby.jpg
I don't know why.

Slightly off topic... but I have a Dominican friend who said that as a kid, he used to light cigarettes and stick them in the mouths of bats. The bat would be hangin' there and puffin' away. I wonder what that would look like.




Anyways.

My grandmother had a big collection of dollhouses. I don't know what happened to them when my grandparents had to move when they got too old to live without assistance, but I would imagine that collection was worth somewhere in the 6 figure area.

Most everything I have is useless:D
Truly useless though: over 40 PT Cruisers of varying sizes, some are RC's, most have never seen the light of day. (Someone though, thought my mini-me PT on my dash was useful-it was stolen in Rochester last summer :mad: )
Two basement shelves full of Hess trucks and Texaco planes. Last I checked, those were worth over $1100; seeing as how some are 15-20 years old or more, that's not much...

I have about 15,000 comic books and another 300+ trades, graphic novels, and hardbacks. They're not exactly useless, given that they do have a use--they can be read for pleasure--but I have some that I've either never read or read once and have no intention of ever reading again. I'm a completist, meaning that I want to have every issue of a run, even those that I don't want to read. For example, I have a full run of Fantastic Four from #105 to the current issue. Fantastic Four is currently heavily tied into a big crossover that I'm not reading, so there will be six issues in a row that I'm going to ignore, but I'm still getting them so that I don't end up with a hole in my run. I also never read the early issues--they stay stored safely, and I read the reprints instead, but by golly, I have a full run of Fantastic Four.

Gilda! You're opening up the memory floodgates for me!
I used to be a Marvel Comics collector from the 70s to 80s. I stopped somewhere around '86-ish. At the time I also became focused on even older issues. Somewhere in storage (my brother swears they're still in good shape) I still have Daredevil #1, Avengers #3, Spider-Man # 18 etc. - all in mint to near-mint condition. (don't ask me how I got them ... each one is a long story) I have Spider-Man issues where Gwen Stacey dies the Green Goblin dies. I have the X-Men issues illustrated by Neal Adams where Havok is introduced and captured by the sentinels ... great story and art! I have the early Frank Miller Daredevils. I have a bunch of Gene Colon illustrated Iron Man issues. I have Byrne's X-Men issues including the whole Dark Phoenix storyline. I have the Kree-Skrull War issues of Captain Marvel and Warlok illustrated by Jim Starlin and much, much more. Your collection is much larger than mine .... I'm really impressed.

I agree they are terrific reading. I believe that Marvel Comics drew my interest in science (I later studied physics at Berkeley and worked for the U.S. Government at Lawrence Berkeley Labs ... ironically also the site where The Hulk was filmed recently). I also grew up believing in making the world a better place ... now I'm an Internal Medicine Physician.... comics ... especially Marvel Comics are terrific!

I have tons of useless objects from since I was a little kid: action figures, Marvel comics both in French and in English, coins from various countries...
Recently, money has been a bit tighter and I've been slightly more reasonable about useless expenses, but a little while ago I bought a Turntable, and I've starting collecting records (and even though my friends are P2P purists, I don't believe that my records are useless).

I know what you mean about the vinyl records.
My dad is into "high-end" audio. He has a collection of equipment he swaps around and tests constantly. By "high-end" I'm talking loudspeaker cable that's $800 per meter/pair, a pre-amp that's worth $30K(!), tube amps worth a fortune and a large collection of vinyl records.

When I was young my dad warned me not to get into the same "hobby" because it's an expensive addiction. Many a time he asked me, please don't tell your mom how much this cost, OK?