Trading toys, or personal pleasures

By Liliana Salazar
Staff Writer

Baseball cards, G.I. Joes, Barbies: these are perhaps just a few things many of us collected as youths. For some of us, however, our taste in toys has switched to items that hold more sentimental than monetary value.
Judy Delgado, a junior majoring in finance, admits to collecting items of sentimental value. Among the items included in her collection box are greeting cards. "I like collecting cards, like birthday cards and graduation cards, because they serve as ... reminders of a particularly special time in my life."
Delgado's interest in collecting greeting cards was sparked by one particular card. "It was my eighth grade graduation, and I remember my family gave me a really sweet card, so from then on I decided to collect them."
Clothing can also be found in Delgado's personal collection. Just like her cards, the particular items of clothing she has chosen to collect hold sentimental value. "I still have the outfit which I wore for my 15th birthday party, and the one when I met my first love, as well as the dress that I wore for my graduation."
Another student who collects items of sentimental value is Jessica Correa, a sophomore majoring in business. Instead of cards and clothing, however, she collects key chains. Her collection consists of 50 key chains obtained from various parts of the globe. They range from Mexico and Hawaii to various points in Europe such as France and Germany. "I like having stuff that is from another country. They remind me of traveling and of my friends."
Genaro Valenzuela, a junior majoring in economics, also enjoys collecting "stuff" from around the world, yet his collection consists of jazz tapes. He has collected recordings dating from 1959 to the present day and with such diverse sounds as Brazilian jazz, Japanese jazz and Latin jazz, as well as American jazz.
Collections, however, are not only compilations of memories, holding your mind to a particular time and place. Collections also consist of one's hopes and aspirations, as does Enrique Felix's collection of car magazines. For three years, Felix, a junior majoring in finance, has collected magazines that display reconstructed vintage cars in mint condition. "What makes it special to me is that when I see an old car in perfect condition, it's nice to imagine how much work must have gone into that car and what it must feel like to be able to afford one."
Other students, however, view their collections not as having sentimental value, but rather as monetarily valuable. R. Marquez, a freshman majoring in architecture, has compiled a large collection of film trading cards since she was 12 years old. Her decision to collect movie cards rather than athletic trading cards was made simple when she discovered the difference in price range. `"I was looking for an investment that was cheap. I saw an ad for movie trading cards and I decided that this was perhaps a good investment for me."
No matter what reason one has for collecting certain items, ultimately they serve as an extension of oneself. They are extensions of our desire to hold on to certain moments in our lives--preserving the past or investing financially for the future.