A Collector’s Armory Ep. 1: All About Collecting By Ayaan Pirani, 11

A Collector's Army is Stone Soup's newest podcast about collecting everything from stuffed animals to baseball cards, hosted by Ayaan Pirani.

Welcome to A Collector's Armory! This is a podcast about collecting different things throughout the stages of life.

You might think of an armory as a place where weapons are kept, but I'm using the word broadly to name a place where any collectible could be stored. We'll cover questions such as why would I collect these items, how do I display my collectibles, and where do I find collectibles? I'll be your host, Ayaan Pirani, and I've been collecting things for a long time. My obsession started from a very young age with Hot Wheels and stuffed animals and has now progressed to Funko Pops and sports cards.

The name of this episode is "All About Collecting." We're going to start off with what are collectibles? Well, collectibles can be a variety of things, from action figures to shoes. In short, collectibles are items that one keeps for personal satisfaction.

On to question 2: how much money do collectibles cost? Well, for starters, the cost of a collectible can range from super cheap to really expensive. I have around 160 collectibles in my room at this moment. An example of a moderately priced one could be this Elf Bonnie plushie from Five Nights at Freddy's that sells for about $6 but has a value of $40. An example of a more pricey collectible could be my Wander Franco pink fireworks rookie baseball card from Donruss. This card is worth about $45.

An example of a super expensive collectible that I sadly don't own is a Willy Wonka Oompa Loompa 2-pack golden ticket Funko Pop that recently sold for $100,000. Now that you know a bit about collectibles, you may ask, once I have a collectible, what do I do with them?

Well once you have a collectible, you can find out a personal way you want to store or display them, so it can look good. For example, personally, with my Funko Pops to display them I purchased a baseball bat case and placed LED lights in the case. This allows my case to have good lighting. After that, I placed my out-of-box Funko Pops in the case. However, depending on what you collect, you might invent a different way to display your collectible.

Lastly, you may ask, do celebrities collect things? The answer to that question is of course! Many famous people collect things for personal enjoyment. For instance, actor Leonardo DiCaprio collects action figures and has an absurd collection of them. Another example of a famous collector is Elton John, a musician who collects shoes. A final example of a famous collector is Jake Plummer, a quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He collects Hot Wheels.

This wraps up your introduction to A Collector's Armory. This is your host, Ayaan Pirani, signing off for today! Next month, we'll be talking about collectibles from a young age. Leave a comment down below, stating what you would like to collect. Until next time, see ya!