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I'd imagine a lot of collector-folk are like me have put a lot an effort in displaying their hard earned treasures. I'm also quite sure that many of them suffer from simply having too much stuff to display. Both of these traits apply to me, and both have created their share of problems for myself as well. As I've gotten older I've realized there's a price in acquiring objects of desire that I never anticipated. It's a ruthless enemy to my hobby and obsession... My allergies. My old man has some pretty intense allergy issues, and while it appears I've avoided the extreme problems he's had, I haven't dodged the bullet entirely. In the most recent years it's become clear that dust has been put forth on this earth to torment me specifically, and it's not at all compatible with my compulsion to gather stuff. And lest I forget, it doesn't fit in too well with my frequent lapses in domestic duties either. In the last few months I've begun to take steps to alleviate these issues because I honestly don't have a choice anymore. In order to clean the dust away more effectively most of the action figures, the oddball statues, the found objects, and the items I can't categorize that used to crowd my bookshelves have come down. I went to Target and bought several clear plastic stackable boxes and stuffed things inside. In my collector's heart I know this goes against my natural instincts to display my trophies of the hunt, after all, what good is amassing stuff if I can't show it off? What am I going to do when people come over? How can I recover the prideful glee I get out of guiding people through my den and telling stories about how I found my Playboy Club ashtray by accident or the tin robot I very nearly paid way too much for? Opening the storage boxes in front of them and saying "Dig in, maybe you'll see something neat" doesn't seem nearly as much fun. Is this worth the ease of efficient cleaning? At some point I'm going to invest in at least one really nice glass case to display my objects in. I once swore I'd never, never be a glass case collector. I've always firmly believed that toys and such were intended to be held in your hands and enjoyed with the eyes of a young boy who's finally saved up enough allowance to get that Space Patrol Action Playset. A glass case is for people who just collect stuff to brag about finding something that they'll sell later. Those are people who lack the geek spirit. The evil toy collector from Toy Story 2 is a glass case person. But then again, maybe he was just a misunderstood guy who was sick of dusting with a paintbrush...
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