How many decks before you are considered a collector?

[Flaminica]

any that you don't use would be considered a collection to me. So it could be as low as one.

This argument is incumbent on the individual relationship to the decks themselves. Are they objets d'art or are they tools? If one owns more then three drill bits or more then three sizes of saucepans it doesn't make you a collector of drill bits and saucepans. They're tools - you need more then one for different jobs.

Acquire a few decks for different jobs, say a couple of RWSs, a TdM, a Thoth and a couple of well-meant gifts and it makes you a tool user. When you start accumulating multiple copies of the same deck to compare lamination or colour separation, or if you contemplate - even for an instant - dropping five grand on eBay, then you're a collector.

 

[Miss Divine]

Andy Muirhead, compere of "The Collectors", considers a collector to be anybody who has three or more of a given category of object. His rationale is that you can have one, and you can buy a second to go with the first, but there's never any excuse for buying the third one. With the third one, whatever it is, you have tipped over the line into collection territory. And he should kn ow - he has considerable expertise in the area of collections, having several of his own, and collectibles generally.

Stuart Kaplan, Demigod of Tarot, stated a few years ago in writing: "...an avid collector of Tarot might sometimes have as many as twenty decks". So by his rationale, and he should know, you're a collector well before twenty decks, and an avid collector once you have hit twenty whether you like it or not, Miss Divine! Welcome to the glorious world of collecting.

ROFLMAO!!!

 

[Miss Divine]

I don't think it is a question of whether one IS considered a collector, but rather one when considers ONESELF a collector.

In other words, intention.

See, even though I have 20 some decks, I still don't consider myself a collector.
And I am going to sell a few soon, because I don't use them. And I'm not interested in keeping decks I do not use.

 

[Grizabella]

I think it's a psychological thing. If you want the decks because you consider yourself a collector then you are.

If you want them because you want a wide variety of them to use, you're not a collector no matter how many you have.

And then there's the question of whether you're a hoarder of decks or are you a collector of decks? Are you building up a pile of decks because you think you might want them "someday" and they won't be available to you then? Then you're a hoarder. If you're getting decks because you want to build a selection of them for the art work and not to use, then you're a collector.

At least, that's how I see it.

If you want at least one of every Tarot deck ever made in the whole wide world, then you're a gregory. (Love ya, gregory. )

 

[nisaba]

ROFLMAO!!!

<silly grin>

 

[avalonian]

This has got my head spinning. I probably own as many books as I do Tarot decks, but whereas some people I know say that I collect Tarot decks, the same people never say that I collect books. And I can't quite work out what the difference is. I don't read with all my decks but I haven't read all the books from beginning to end, either.

I've never thought of myself as a collector of Tarot, more an accidental accumulator.

 

[KafkasGhost]

This has got my head spinning. I probably own as many books as I do Tarot decks, but whereas some people I know say that I collect Tarot decks, the same people never say that I collect books. And I can't quite work out what the difference is. I don't read with all my decks but I haven't read all the books from beginning to end, either.

I've never thought of myself as a collector of Tarot, more an accidental accumulator.

*BINGO BINGO!*

 

[Nydia]

I think I got to 14 decks or somewhere in the teens, then decided I was a collector. Once I considered myself a collector, it seemed even easier to buy more. I'm happy with it. I'm thankful I didn't miss out on decks I love.

 

[moderndayruth]

"...an avid collector of Tarot might sometimes have as many as twenty decks".

I also think its a state of mind, not number of decks.
I've given away around twenty decks that i didn't really like OR i did like but the other person got crazy about the deck and couldn't afford it. Anyway, i don't want decks i don't adore and those are not that many... lol twenty five so far and i absolutely don't consider myself a collector.
To me - Greg is a collector, Le Fanu is a collector - there are many others but those two wonderful people come to my mind when you say "collector".
Btw, to me, there is something deeply eccentric and very noble about collecting, to me its like a very elitist thing.
(Of course, that's only a personal opinion. )

 

[gregory]

I think that the term 'collector' applies as much as anything to the "Why?" of doing it rather than precisely how many.

Absolutely. I collect - and I also read. The two are separate, except in so far as I use decks from my collection to read with ! I collected for YEARS before reading !

ETA - oh and yes, I am among the ELITE. That is very true