Like a few others in this section, I dont consider myself a collector, but I like to tinker.
I suppose in any form of collecting, there are people with money who will just outbid everyone. There are people on here who will pay quite a lot of money when something really collectable comes up as money doesnt seem to be a problem. If you have the money it doesnt really matter. If they put the minimum price of a unit of booze up or the price of petrol, it doesnt really matter to people who are wadded. I heard of one bloke on here years ago who was wadded and I think the thrill he got was getting the most money he could for anything he sold, whether it was a complete gun or spares. Also there was someone who seemed to get the thrill of buying stuff at car boot sales and then telling people the bits were not obtainable and how much the gun would be worth broken on the bay of evil.

If I had plenty of dosh, there are a few guns i would try to buy because I'd like to see if i liked then or not. There are a few others that I'd probably buy (maybe like the Acvoke ,Thunderbolt or Hubertus) that I am pretty sure i wouldnt like, but if you sold them on and lost a few quid it wouldnt matter.

I've never been able to justify getting an LP53, but Id love to pick up a cheapo Predom Lucznik.
A few of those Webley copies would be looked for or try to prise (or price?) them out of CCDJG's hands

Rifle wise, I'd like to get a few pre war rifles and a couple of the bolt action ones to try.

I think where it might make a difference to me is when you buy something that is rough and you know it can cost a lot of money to get it sorted and it is just not worth it. Well it is nice to get them going and it would be nice to be able to pass on the odd thing to other people who are interested and not be too bothered about being out of pocket.

Someone on here the other year (Shootfish?) had a Pre war Webley Junior with a screw at the side of the frame. Something like that is what interests me from the hobby and tinkering point of view rather than out and out collecting. I'd rather leave the mint condition stuff to the serious collectors with the white cotton gloves