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Collecting the Weird and Unusual

By , About.com Guide

How did you start your collection? Sometimes finding your passion is as easy as looking around and saving the item that has always fascinated you. Collecting does not have to be an expensive hobby, it can even be free. Some of the collectors listed below just took the time to save commonplace (but usually not collected) items or spent the cost of postage when trading items with others of the same mind.

Whether you collect by vocation or avocation -- collections bring passion, fun and interest to our lives. A doctor might look for medical antiquities, fishermen search for old lures, there are computer engineers intrigued by the Commodore 64 and avid bakers looking for the old pottery cookie jars. But many collectors have no rhyme or reason as to why they love their collectible -- but a visit to their site, makes it very apparent that they have found their passion!

What makes "us" love the strange item and want more of them? Who knows, but collecting is certainly ingrained in our personality. Woe to the family that has a mixture of avid collectors and, just as avid, non-collectors -- it can make life very interesting.

Often it is a vacation that will kick-start a collection. Sticking that matchbook into your pocket, picking up a few postcards or even saving the unusual airsickness bag on your vacation are all signs of a collectors soul. Other times it's as simple as seeing something that you grew up with, the dishes from the family kitchen, the cookie jar on the counter or the toys you played with. Soon after, that one doll or dish has grown to a closet full of goodies.

Everyone feels their collection is unusual in some aspect or another, but the links listed on this page are the truly unusual. All the collectors listed obviously have a passion for their collection, be it Banana Labels, Toilet Paper or Calculators. Sit back and enjoy a trip to these virtual museums and personal collector sites.

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