Is it collecting or hording?

[Garvin]

Some collectors seem to have a particularly favourite airgun model and go to great lengths (and expense) to acquire as many examples of what is essentially the same gun. I was wondering if this is true collecting, or is just another form of hording? While not wanting to be critical of this type of collecting in any way, one wonders what the motivation behind it might be. What do others think?

I think it's just another, more obsessively focused, form of collecting, closely related to the general or maker-non-specfic collector.

I rather admire their persistence, as it may mean waiting years until that elusive variant turns up.

[Geezer]

I think it's just another, more obsessively focused, form of collecting, closely related to the general or maker-non-specfic collector.

I rather admire their persistence, as it may mean waiting years until that elusive variant turns up.

I always thought that collecting variants and sub-variants of something was the epitome of collecting.

As opposed to just having a slightly random bunch of stuff lying around. Which is more my situation.

[Garvin]

I always thought that collecting variants and sub-variants of something was the epitome of collecting.

As opposed to just having a slightly random bunch of stuff lying around. Which is more my situation.

Let's face it, our other halves think we're all hoarders.

[Hsing-ee]

I always thought that collecting variants and sub-variants of something was the epitome of collecting.

As opposed to just having a slightly random bunch of stuff lying around. Which is more my situation.

Me too. I just like good designs. So I have a Feinwerkbau 300 Junior and a Drulov Eagle and a late model BSA Mercury with the breech bolt etc, an old school HW85 and those sorts of thing...

[Garvin]

Me too. I just like good designs. So I have a Feinwerkbau 300 Junior and a Drulov Eagle and a late model BSA Mercury with the breech bolt etc, an old school HW85 and those sorts of thing...

With respect, Alistair, you are the opposite of a hoarder, because your loyalty is more to the ingenuity of the designer than accumulation for the sake of it. Which is why you can move so easily between models and simply offload them when another, more interesting one, comes along.

Whereas for many of us getting rid of some of our precious guns would be like having parts of our bodies cut off and we could never contemplate selling them.

[Hsing-ee]

With respect, Alistair, you are the opposite of a hoarder, because your loyalty is more to the ingenuity of the designer than accumulation for the sake of it. Which is why you can move so easily between models and simply offload them when another, more interesting one, comes along.

Whereas for many of us getting rid of some of our precious guns would be like having parts of our bodies cut off and we could never contemplate selling them.

This is true, but on the other hand I do regret terribly selling some rifles that I let go for 'rational' reasons.... But there is only so much space in my three cabinets. The multiple copies of the same thing is weird, but I started getting like that about Honda Civic Mk VIIs for a bit! I changed out the suspension on mine, then I kept looking through gumtree for old knackers of a similar model... really weird - my rational brain said NO THEY ARE THE SAME AS THE ONE YOU HAVE YOU CANNOT DRIVE TWO AT THE SAME TIME AND OWNING TWO IS UTTERLY POINTLESS but I still did the browsing.

The urge to complete a collection of the same but slightly different variations must be torture. Thing is, they aren't natural objects like different species of frog, they are knocked up in factories. BSA, a true collectors brand, actually makes a mockery of this for while it has some models which steadily evolve rationally and consciously, they also throw in 'bitza' in-between models simply to use up parts in the parts bin! I have a collection of rather rough Weihrauchs, old 30, old 25, old 50 old 35 old 85 old 77 ... but more because I like to try out the whole stable and compare them as shooters..

I think humans try to chase perfection in so many different ways and collecting is one of them. Maybe also it is the thrill of the chase, I was so pleased when I found the Drulov Eagle and particularly the Hammerli 420 military stock, I never thought I would find one of those.

I wonder though, how much fun it would be to 'perfect' collecting? That would mean buying the entire output of a factory, all in its boxes, not letting a single one escape. Maybe its possible to do this if you are a billionaire and you buy a production run of a small luxurious firearm. But it would not be fun at all.

I bet Bezos or one of his ilk could buy up all of these top end revolvers and have the entire production run ..

http://andersonwheeler.co.uk/the-gun-room/revolver/

[ccdjg]

Me too. I just like good designs. So I have a Feinwerkbau 300 Junior and a Drulov Eagle and a late model BSA Mercury with the breech bolt etc, an old school HW85 and those sorts of thing...

You should have at least one pop-out in your collection then, as IMO they are one of the cleverest airgun designs ever. Many couldn't sit down and draw a diagram showing the exact layout of the pop-out system, and yet it is so simple to manufacture. Some still think the system works largely by the catapult effect.

An ingenious design is not always defined by the quality of the product, but it can also be defined by its cost effectiveness (the crimped hairgrip and the safety pin come to mind).