The first time I drove up to my grandparents’ house, every house looked the same. Two-car garages lined the street, but when we got to my grandparents’ house, they had more garages than anyone else.
I went into the garage and saw vintage cars kept in pristine condition. More surprises were found in their basement with bins of Hot Wheels from the year 1990 to 2000s.
Even though I was young, I realized my grandparents were collectors.
My grandparents have been collecting vintage cars for 40 years. The first car they added to the collection was a 1970 Javelin. My grandfather first saw the car in a magazine and thought it looked nice. When he got home, my grandmother asked why he had not bought it, so they bought the car.
They have kept my mom’s first car, an Accura Inteterga, and my aunt’s Volkswagen Van. My grandparents also have a Mustang, a Volkswagen Bug, and many more Javelins.
My grandparents show their automobiles. They won a gold award from the American Motors Corporation (AMC) for the 1972 Javelin, which is the highest award someone can receive from the AMC.
My grandparents have a Hot Wheel collection as well. Talso have a Hot Wheels collection, but a couple of years later they started collecting for real them.
Each Hot Wheel in the collection is still in the original package from when they were purchased. They have been collecting for 45 years and now have over 8,000 Hot Wheels. All of them are now displayed on the basement walls.
To make sure they have no doubles, my grandparents made a Google sheet which lists the year and the number of the Hot Wheel. Hot Wheel produces approximately 500 cars each year.
My grandparents will spend anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour in a Hot Wheel section looking for cars to add to the collection. Having learned about my grandparent’s vintage cars and Hot Wheel’s collection, I now know about collectors. The first thing I have learned is that the majority of all collectors are serious and they like going around and spending time adding to their collections.
Another thing I found about collectors is that they are people who love to talk about their collections. My grandparents have talked to other people about their car collections during car shows they attend.
Due to my grandparent’s car collection, it has influenced to start my collection of cars from the Pixar movie Cars. Collecting must be in my DNA; I already have over 200 in my collection.
My advice to collectors is not to worry about people’s opinions of your collection. If it is what makes you happy, then do it. Most likely you will soon find other people who enjoy your hobby.