Collectibles can be a fun way to take a break away from professional responsibilities. Collecting meaningful things from childhood, or discovering something new; it's a fun and interesting way to connect with others as well. For these Potosi teachers, it's a way for them to relax from a demanding job.
Mr. Lynn is the business education teacher and claims that he has putten a few thousand dollars and multiple hours a week into his Warhammer 40,000 collection. Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop war game, where there are a bunch of factions with rules for each and rules to simulate each battle in a futuristic 41st millennium. The armies are built with different modeling kits where you can build and paint how you would like. Mr. Lynn says he has been involved with the hobby for six years. “It is a collection because, besides the units I use to play with, I have a bunch of models I've built and displayed all over my apartment because I just like them.” Lynn got into this hobby due to a bunch of tie-in books he read that Warhammer had. He said he enjoyed the books and did some research on the game and found it's something he would like. “I have three separate factions worth of an army. Most game sizes are mostly rated on points which are about 2,000 points. Most of the factions I have are about 4,000 points per faction, meaning I can mix and match each faction,” Lynn explains when asked about the size of his collection. According to Google, a faction is a tribe or a group of people fighting together. Through a Reddit thread, points in the game are assigned to each model with a specific point value, by modifying the equipment you can change the points of that model.
Lynn also explains some other collections he has including travel souvenirs and “44 days' worth of music on a hard drive”, including some music that you can't get anymore.
Mr. Fry is the English teacher and has shown off some of his Hot Wheels collection in his classroom. Over the last few years, he has put in probably several hundred dollars after getting interested in them. “I started collecting them again when my kids started getting interested in them,” Fry said, also mentioning that his oldest, who is 6, has also started collecting Hot Wheels including any batman ones they could find. “I had a bunch of Hot Wheels as a kid and beat them up really bad so I don't have many of those ones anymore. When my kids started getting interested, I started to pay attention and realized there were lots of cool ones.” Fry says that he puts in a few hours a week into his collection when he goes out shopping, and even goes to multiple stores to look for Hot Wheels. “I think the fun part is that the community that shares it,” Fry mentions, talking about the Hotwheel community. “There’s a lot of collectors on all forms of social media. You can buy and sell from other collectors. It's fun when you know someone else that is interested.” Fry mentions that one of his students is also into the Hot Wheel community and they chat a bit every day about Hot Wheels. Fry takes most of the cars out of their cases and plays with them with his kids. Some of the cars will stay in their casing, and the really rare ones he keeps in a protective casing. Fry mentions that he also collects soccer jerseys.
Whether it's something fun during free time or using it to connect with someone else, collecting can give meaning to someone with what they collect.