I used to be a charcoal sketch artist, & as such, I traveled the dog show circuit. I used to think dog folks, as in real dog showing persons, were nuts.

It’s not just that they can say 'the bitch' in public without either blushing or being angry, but they can say 'my bitch' and not get slugged. It’s not just that the toy breed people sneer at the large breed folk, and that the working dogs sneer on the toy breeds etc etc.

It’s far worse than that.

Within each group it happens. Tell an Irish Wolfhound owner you have a Great Dane, and sorry, your dog isn’t tall enough. (Meanwhile, the Dane owners say the Irish pad their height measurements.)

Tell a Pug owner you have a Bichon, and they’ll say ‘oh’ in such a fashion as to convey they are sorry for you. (And the Bichon folks will come back with a comment about Pugs being darling, but they just couldn’t bear to loose one to a breathing problem... those sweet - tho they mean ugly - faces, you know...)

I mock the doggie people, but you know what? Collectors are no different.

And I don't just mean collectors of doggie items.

You’d think the doll collectors would all get along. But you’d be wrong. Baby doll collectors mock the fashion doll collectors, those who collect ‘real antique boudoir dolls’ can’t figure out the likes of those who’d dare to call Marie Osmond dolls ‘collectible.’ And don’t get a celluloid doll person & a composition doll person started on who’s collection is more fragile - and therefore worth more due to the rarity of pieces available.

Most however, will agree that Barbie collectors are in a (nutty) category unto themselves. (I think this is based on the sheer popularity of Barbie & the plethora of books she has - even if she is the most easily identified & most readily marked. All the others suffer, often never knowing who made her, or even her name... They are so jealous.

I mock the dollie people, but you know what? All collectors do it.

In glassware: the Fenton folks think very little of the Fire King people, ’that’s not real glassware!’ Stained glass & paperweight folks ought not even to be considered in the glassware categories, they are art lovers & tchotchke lovers (It’s all sand people!)

In books: those that buy illustrated books are not considered book collectors, they are ‘art lovers who destroy books.’ (Even if they aren’t!) And pulp novel lovers are just ‘perverts who never read them anyway!’ (I beg your pardon?!)

In ephemera: folks with a passion for diaries claim those who collect postcards are ‘just picture lovers.’ While those who collect catalogs or anything with a logo are really just 'adverting collectors.' (It’s all a fire hazard!)

And no one takes an adult Beanie Baby collector seriously.

The one thing we can learn from all this is that we humans have to believe our stuff is the best. Everyone else’s stuff is junk.