What exactly are collectibles? Who collects them? What defines something to be a collectible? When does collecting stop or reach an end?
Those are questions we all think about that make us wonder what makes people so interested in keeping a hundred pieces of the same thing packed up in their drawer or closet. Collectibles could be anything from leaves to coins to toys to miniature cars to insects. A person could actually pick anything and make a collectible out of it. All kinds of people collect something. Kids collect sea shells or coins or "kinder surprise" toys etc. Adults collect insects or signed plates or action figures or even weirder things than we can imagine like naval puff, cut off hairs etc. Collecting something can stop because of personal issues, financial issues, or availability issues. Personal issues for example, are like when this person decides that he wants to start collecting something different. Financial issues, are like when this person is collecting something that he is buying and not finding, and he runs tight on cash and can’t afford buying it anymore. And finally availability issues are like when an item being collected is no longer being manufactured.
I once knew a person (he wishes his name to remain anonymous but goes by the nickname JJ) who had the weirdest habit of collecting pictures of footprints and shoe prints. He would go to the beach for example and look for prints and take a picture of them and write instantly on the picture the date, time and location where that picture was taken. But it didn’t stop there. Back home, he would go and try to actually study and analyze the print trying to guess details about it. For example, shoe type, size, and even guess things about the person it belonged to. It became something very important in his life that took most of his time. His house was covered with pictures of prints everywhere. Some people would go to his place and actually play along the shoe guessing game. Others have gone tired of this obsession and wished to help him find a new, more “normal” hobby. But does this guy really need help? Why is it that when someone is doing something that he loves and makes him happy, we start to think he is troubled and needs help? We should actually be envious. This person has something holding his life together and he has a purpose to wake up every morning no matter how weird it could be for us. This person is happy doing what he does and maybe he really is good at it, we should all respect that.
I interviewed JJ and here are some of the questions I asked:
Q: When did this habit start?
A: 5 years ago
Q: How did it start?
A: I was camping with my girlfriend who is now my wife and our friends when I went for a walk with my camera. I was taking pictures of various things like nature and animals when I saw this almost perfect footprint. I took a picture of it and then looked around and found nothing that showed that a human passed through here. And I thought this was beautiful, the exactness, the pattern, the purity. It's the only trace man leaves behind.
Q: How did it become such an obsession to you?
A: After that day, footprints seemed to catch my eye all the time. So every time I found one, I took a picture of it. And every picture raised questions for me. Who could this person be? what could he do? what shoe was he wearing? what size feet he has? was he male or female? what was he doing or thinking or feeling? Soon after that I found myself going out and just looking for footprints.That's when it was clear to me that this has become my obsession.
Q: How do the people around you deal with your obsession?
A: The people who were there when this began, like my wife, take it very normally and realize that this is my hobby and it makes me happy. But some of the people I meet or are not very old friends of mine, find my hobby to be useless and a waste of time and energy. Others actually understand the thrill it gives me and sometimes even ask to play along.
Q: About the analysis part; Is there specific methods to analyze a footprint?
A: Not really, I do not know the science of it, but I enjoy the guessing game and the wondering. And I don't plan on studying this science, it will just ruin the thrill.You cannot imagine how many scenarios and stories you can come up with for a single footprint.
Q: Do you plan on doing this for a long time?
A: So far, I have no plan of ever stopping.
JJ also agreed to send me some of his collectibles.You can all play JJ's game and try and make up stories for these prints:
