28 Dec
2004
28 Dec
'04
11:35 a.m.
Crazy!
Sometimes it seems like there is a hidden, darker side of our hobby -- the
people who collect almost in secret and don't share it with anyone. I'm
not
condemning these people; I'm sure they appreciate
their collections as
much as
anyone else.
Any established collector community is like an iceberg. Most of it is out of
sight below the surface. My father has been active in the antique car
community for years, and he made his most interesting contacts through his
job at a car dealership. There, he met a number of apparently wealthy people
with amazing collections who rarely or never participated in the community.
These people were definitely secretive and tended to be a bit introverted
and perhaps paranoid about too many people finding out about what they had.
Most collectors hear about them after they die and their collections become
available.