Mystery Count PVC Figure!!!

I'm hoping that there is a Muppet fan out there who knows something about this Count PVC figure!!! Please help me solve this mystery!

This is a a very odd yet nicely made PVC figure of the Count which looks to be about 3 inches tall. I've never seen the Count wear a blue short sleeve outfit with brown shoes before! LOL He's also missing his teeth and goatee!!! It's unknown if this is a bootleg figure or an officially licensed one, when it was made, or what company made it. It's also possible that this Count figure is from a series of Sesame PVC figures that I don't yet know about. If so it would be awesome to see pictures of the complete set. If you have any info about this figure please get in touch with me!!! mikey@pythorcomics.ca 

Fans of Applause Sesame Street toys and collectables, this post is for you!!!

The Applause toy company started manufacturing Sesame Street toys and collectables in the mid 1980's taking over the production of plush toys from the Knickerbocker toy company. Of all the companies to make Sesame Street toys Applause is by far my favourite. There's just something about the design of their toys, the quality, and the assortment of collectables they made available that I really enjoy. Applause Sesame toys really bring out the fanatical Muppet geek in me, so I thought it would be fun to celebrate the Applause company with this post. Hope you enjoy this info as much as I do! -Mikey

Applause PVC figures

Sesame characters that Applause marketed

In all, 23 Sesame Street characters were merchandised by Applause:

Alice Snuffleupagus

Baby Natasha

Barkley the Dog

Bert

Betty Lou

Big Bird

Cookie Monster

Count

Elmo

Ernie

Grover / Super Grover

Grundgetta

Honkers

Little Bird (came attached to either Big Bird or Snuffy)

Oscar the Grouch

Prairie Dawn

Rosita

Slimey the Worm (came attached to Oscar)

Snuffleupagus / Snuffy

Telly

Twiddlebugs

Two-Headed Monster

Zoe

Applause made PVC figures of all these characters with the exception of Grundgetta and Telly who were only marketed as plush toys.

Big Bird's teddy bear Radar was also marketed as a plush toy by Applause. Ernie's toy Rubber Duckie was featured on several Ernie PVC figures. I'm not counting these two as "characters" as they are not Muppets.

 

Grundgetta and Telly plush toys by Applause

Two characters were only marketed as plush toys

Out of all of the above characters, Grundgetta and Telly are the only ones to have only been marketed as plush toys by Applause. The Grundgetta plush toy is my favourite of all the Applause Sesame plush. As of Dec 2023, this plush toy is still the only toy to have ever been made based on Grundgetta. I've seen a catalogue photo of a mini Grundgetta plush, but in all the years I've been collecting Muppets I have never seen this toy in the wild so I cannot confirm if it was ever produced. 

Applause made plush toys and a hand puppet of Telly, which are the first toys ever made of the character. Unfortunately, Applause did not make any other Sesame collectables based on these two characters. It would have been especially nice to have Applause PVC figures of Grundgetta and Telly as Applause did an exceptional job on their Sesame figures.

Grundgetta Grouch, photo from Muppet Wiki

In the 80's, Tara Toys made the first PVC figure of Telly but to date a PVC figure of Grundgetta has never been made by any company. She's my favourite female Sesame Street character so I find it quite unfortunate that there has been so little merchandise based on her. I also find it quite strange that she is no longer on the program as she was such a funny and interesting character.

Little Bird and Big Bird PVC figure

Three characters were only marketed as PVC figures

The only products based on Little Bird, Slimey the Worm, and Two Headed Monster were PVC figures. Little Bird came attached to three different PVC figures of Big Bird and one PVC figure of Snuffy. Slimey the Worm came attached to one PVC figure of Oscar the Grouch. I have yet to find an Applause plush toy of Oscar with a plush Slimey the Worm attached, which surprises me as it would have been such a simple thing to do.

The Two-Headed Monster was only available as a PVC figure that was attached to a coiled drinking straw. This was the very first toy to be based on the Two-Headed Monster. Had Applause made a plush toy of the Two-Headed Monster it would have been awesome! 

Finger puppets by Applause

Only 11 out of these 23 characters were made as finger puppets.

Applause made a total of 22 Sesame Street finger puppets which were based on only 11 characters. I've always really liked the Applause finger puppets collection. It's surprising to me that Applause didn't expand their finger puppet series with more Sesame characters, especially considering main characters like Zoe, Telly, and Snuffy were not included in the series, while duplicate versions of other characters were. Additionally, although a Grover finger puppet was made it's odd that a Super Grover finger puppet wasn't made as well considering how popular he was. Here are the 11 characters that were made as figure puppets:

Ernie, 3 variations: regular version, firefighter, and baseball outfit

Bert, 2 variations: regular version, and baseball outfit

Big Bird, 4 variations: regular version, postal carrier, western outfit, and baseball outfit

Cookie Monster, 2 variations: regular version, and western outfit

Oscar, 2 variations: regular version, and western outfit

Elmo, 3 variations: regular version, painter outfit, and baseball outfit

Betty Lou, 2 versions: regular version, and doctor outfit

Grover

Count

Alice Snuffleupagus

Prairie Dawn, in western outfit

Applause Sesame mugs

Only 7 out of these 23 characters were included in the popular series of Sesame mugs

Despite how popular they were, and still are to collectors, Applause only made 7 different Sesame character mugs, excluding characters such as Bert, the Count, and Snuffy from the series! I find it odd that Applause didn't make a second series of these mugs as they were so well received by Sesame street fans. Here are the only 7 characters that were included in the set:

Big Bird

Cookie Monster

Elmo

Ernie

Grover

Oscar

Zoe

Characters from the Applause era that were not marketed

Although applause was clearly interested in marketing a wider assortment of Sesame Street characters than the usual main six or so, there were many popular Sesame characters from the 80's and 90's that unfortunately were not marketed at all. Here are 14 of them:

Guy Smiley

Forgetful Jones and Clementine

Frazzle

Herry Monster

Hoots the Owl

Biff and Sully (the construction workers)

Magic Mumford

Sherlock Hemlock

Rodeo Rosie

Baby Bear

Bruno the Trashman (who carried Oscar around)

Yip Yip Martians

Out of these 14 characters only six have since been marketed as toys by other companies:

Guy Smiley

Herry Monster

Magic Mumford

Sherlock Hemlock

Baby Bear

Yip Yip Martians

Forgetful Jones

In regards to Forgetful Jones, it's quite bizarre that no toys were made based on the character. Although Applause made three different series of Sesame toys based on a Western theme, including a set of PVC figures, 5 inch bendy figures and finger puppets (shown below), unfortunately none of these sets included Sesame Street's resident cowboy Forgetful Jones. To date no Forgetful Jones toys of any kind have ever been made. I guess the folks at the toy companies just forgot! I always liked Forgetful Jones so it would have been cool to at least have a PVC figure based on him. 

Western themed finger puppet set by Applause

Guy Smiley, photo from Muppet Wiki

Out of the characters that Applause didn't merchandise, various other toy companies have made figures based on some of theme such as Guy Smiley, Herry Monster, Sherlock Hemlock, Magic Mumford and the Yip Yip Aliens, but the remaining five characters noted above, along with Forgetful Jones, have never been marketed as toys of any kind. 

A few items based on Guy Smiley have been made by other companies, including an electronic game, a video game, a Christmas ornament and several plush toys, however the fact that no company has ever made a PVC figure based on "everyone's favourite game show host" is in my view the biggest omission of them all! 

I find it interesting that there are still so many popular Sesame Street characters that have yet to be marketed, or that have only been marketed once or twice. There's still so much untapped potential when it comes to merchandising Sesame Street toys!!!

My Muppet collection! Ta-da!

Here's a tour of my Muppet collection... 

The first shelf has some games and puzzles, my collection of Kermits, Dark Crystal dolls, Tyco Sesame Beans collection, Dinosaurs figures, and Funko Pops of Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. On the left hangs a Muppet Show era kids apron with Kermit and Miss Piggy dancing.

On the next shelf is my collection of Animals and the Electric Mayhem Band items, some Sesame vintage plush toys including three Honkers (the orange one is hiding behind the side of the shelf), then there's the Fisher Price playset and figures, an Ernie cookie jar, and the complete Sesame Street Funko Pops collection. The three large Sesame figures are garden statues.

On the top shelf is the original Fisher Price Muppet Show collection as well as some PVC figures and a few other items, then there's the Muppet Babies and Fraggle Rock collections. I'm still missing the Mokey plush toy by Tomy. I keep missing out whenever I see it! I'll get one eventually! LOL The next shelf has my Sesame puppet collection including the Count and several of the Child Guidance puppets in boxes, as well as the finger puppets and a few other figures. The bottom section is Knickerbocker plush toys, Hasbro plush, and a few others. At the bottom are three bins of Muppet toys that I wasn't able to fit out on the shelves! LOL

In the other corner I have more Muppet Show character plush toys and figures, the rest of my Fraggle rock collection and a few Bear in the Big Blue House plush toys, even more Sesame plush toys which are mostly by Applause, and underneath Grundgetta and the Count toys are all of my Muppets records!

I also have two different sets of Ernie and Bert dolls and a vintage framed picture of them. The smaller series of figures in original boxes is by Knickerbocker from 1981, which includes the Big Bird and Cookie Monster figures. Both sets of these Ernie and Bert dolls are very hard to find!!! 

Last is my collection of Sesame Street action figures in original packages, along with my Sesame pvc figures (the top three rows are Applause figures, and the next two rows are mostly Tara Toys). At the bottom of the picture are two rows of finger puppets. Ta-da! 

Cute Sesame Plush by Tyco and other updates added!

 

These 7 inch Sesame Street plush were made by Tyco in 1996. Elmo was also made for this series.

I've added several updates on various Sesame Street pages, including the above plush series, Applause PVC figures, other PVC figures, and Hasbro die-cast cars. I've also added a new page in order to begin documenting all of the Sesame Street Books in my collection in one place. Hope you enjoy browsing this blog! - Mikey :)

Sesame Street puppets spotted on Friends!

Let's call this..."The One with the Sesame Street Finger Puppets"!

Season 1 of the TV series Friends premiered in September 1994. There are a few episodes in which two Sesame Street finger puppets are seen on the shelf in Monica's kitchen, as shown above from episode 12, "The One with the Dozen Lasagnas". I didn't make note of all the episodes the puppets are seen in, but there are a few. One of the puppets is Big Bird dressed as a postman, made by Applause. The other puppet is Ernie which is not marked, it was likely made by Applause. Below is a closer view.

Ernie and Big Bird finger puppets as seen in Season 1, episode 12 of Friends.

The Ernie and Big Bird puppets (copies of them) that were seen on the Friends TV show.

To see more of these awesome toys take a look at the Sesame Street Finger Puppets page!

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Muppets Lego: Where's Waldorf!?!

Hi there Muppet fans! By now you are likely aware of the awesome new series of Muppets Lego Mini Figures that are currently available in stores. These figures are proving to be super popular and are selling out everywhere that they're being sold! So far I've managed to get 11 of the 12 figures, with Waldorf being the last one I need to find. Looking online though, I see that I'm not the only collector to wonder "Where's Waldorf?" Apparently he's the "hard to find" figure from the collection. 

My collection so far, missing Waldorf!

With the positive response that these Muppet Lego figures received from both Muppet and Lego collectors alike, I would be very surprised if we don't see a second series of Muppet Mini Figures released in time for next Christmas, not to mention a Muppet Theatre playset, or several other Muppet Show themed playsets. Personally, I'd love to collect Lego mini figures of all the odd background Muppet characters!

Okay, you already know that I'm a tad obsessed with Muppets, so here is my crazy, extremely long and detailed list of ideas for Muppet Lego figures and sets which I spent way too much time on! ...but I would love to have every one of these! Hopefully someone at Lego reads this and gets inspired! :)

• the rest of the Electric Mayhem Band with their stage set, including Dr. Teeth, Floyd (in purple suit from season 1), Zoot (purple suit), and the often forgotten trumpeter Lips (in hippy clothes)
• the Muppet Bus with Scooter, Floyd (in red jacket), Zoot (yellow hippy shirt), and Lew Zealand
• the Muppet Theatre Stage Proscenium with Statler and Waldorf's booth, and figures of  Sam the Eagle, Sweetums, Robin the Frog (a one piece figure, as was done for Camilla the Chicken), Thog, Trumpet Lady (from closing theme), Crazy Harry, and Droop
• the Muppet Theatre Backstage set with Gaffer the Cat, Pops, large and small Javas (one piece figures), Mildred Huxtetter, Timmy Monster, George the Janitor and Kermit in his purple suit from season 1
• Pig in Space bridge set with figures of Piggy, Link, Dr. Strangepork, two crew pigs, and Gonzo as Dearth Nadir
• Veterinarian's Hospital with Rowlf as Dr. Bob, Nurse Piggy, Nurse Janice and Blue Frackle as their patient
• Sweetish Chef's Kitchen with a variety of Muppet food, the Muppet Turkey, Muppet Lobster Banditos and Sweetish Chef (with food splatter mess all over his clothes)
• Planet Koozebane with the Koozebanian male and female aliens, Koozebanian Phoob, and Kermit in his reporter outfit with microphone
• Piggy and the Biker Pigs
• Piggy and the Viking Pigs
• Rowlf in a tuxedo with a grand piano
• Sam the Eagle wearing Uncle Sam style outfit with podium and American flag themed backdrop
• The Great Gonzo on his motorcycle
• Muppet Labs with post explosion Bunsen and Beeker
• Muppet News set with the Muppet Newsman
• The Flying Zucchini Brothers with their canon
• Marvin Suggs and his Muppaphone
• Bobby Benson and his Baby Band
• Memorable Muppet Skits set including an upright piano with several chickens, Zelda Rose with her Owl on it's perch, Screaming Thing, Behemoth with Shakey Sanchez, and some Clodhoppers
• Bear on Patrol set with Fozzie and Link in police outfits
• Various Muppet Monsters such as Doglion, Luncheon Counter Monster, Sunny Day Monster, Green Frackle, Jade Green Frackle
• Various Muppet Animals such as Sopwith Camel, Muppet Alligator, Guongo Ape, Muppet Tiger, etc.
• Various Muppet Birds such as Muppet Penguins, Fletcher, Betsy Bird, Rooster, etc.
• Various Spooky Muppets such as Uncle Deadly, Mulch, Ghosts, and the Vile Bunch
• Muppet Arches (from opening theme) with various additional Muppets such as Mutations monsters, Mean Mama, Wayne and Wanda, Beauregard, Lips in purple suit, etc.
• Muppet's Tonight TV studio with Clifford (wearing sunglasses), Pepe, Johnny Fiama and Sal
• Muppets Most Wanted Helicopter and Muppet ladder (various Muppets) with Walter wearing a Kermit shirt
• Assorted Muppets with Walter in his blue suit, Pepe in ballerina outfit, Kermit in disco outfit, Piggy in a summer dress with wide brimmed hat and Foo Foo, JP Grosse, Emily Bear (Fozzie's Mom), etc.

There's so many Muppets and playsets that could be done, the possibilities are endless! I definitely have my fingers crossed that we'll see more Muppets from Lego!!!

Coincidentally, Lego has already marketed a beautifully detailed Sesame Street Lego set complete with six Muppets (Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Oscar, Cookie Monster, and Elmo). Unfortunately Lego sets are known for being expensive and this one is no different. As such, the whopping price tag will likely prohibit many Muppet fans from ever owning it. (The set retails for $150 in Canada.) 

Thankfully Lego has started selling the Sesame Mini Figures separately as keychains allowing more of us to at least enjoy owning those. The keychain set includes Big Bird, Ernie, Cookie Monster and Elmo leaving Bert and Oscar as exclusive to the boxed set. The heads and legs are permanently attached for the keychain figures, so technically they are variations from the original figures. The Ernie Keychain's legs don't even move at all, only his arms move, but it's still a cool figure!

I would love it if Lego did an extended series of Sesame Mini Figures as there's so many cool characters that could be done! Snuffy, Super Grover, the Count, Herry, Frazzle, Roosevelt Franklin, Guy Smiley, Betty Lou, Prairie Dawn, Telly, Grundgetta, Biff, Sully, Yip Yip Aliens, Twiddlebugs, Honkers, and so many others! There's well over 100 Sesame characters that they could do! That would be awesome!!! 

Though, I suspect the only way that would ever happen is if the Sesame Street Lego boxed set sells out first, and quickly. Frankly, I suspect they'll all be gone before the summer is over! It's just too cool to pass on! 

But first I need to find a Waldorf!!! LOL :)

UPDATE June 1st, 2022: Got him!

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Collecting vs Hoarding

 

An example of how a toy collection should look... neatly displayed rather than a cluttered mess. 

It's also more rational to keep such a collection out on display, rather than keeping it stored away and inaccessible. Why keep it, or collect it, if you're not going to enjoy it?

As a fan of the Muppets, it's fun to learn about all of the different Muppet merchandise that has been made over the years, and to work on building up a personal collection. It becomes a source of pride to show off a collection to others, and to socialize with other like minded collectors. I've come to learn the hard way, however, that there is a huge difference between collecting and hoarding which can be confused as being one and the same. 

Generally, one starts out collecting something, such as Muppets, which at first is a fun hobby. But when it progresses to the point that the collection is taking over valuable living space, or the majority of your collection is in storage, or you have so much stuff that your shelves are crammed, messy and chaotic, then you have transitioned from collecting to hoarding which can become a big problem.

This transition to hoarding can happen without even realizing it, and may turn into a habitual lifestyle that can be very hard to change. Once a hoarding mindset is established, it becomes very challenging to part with things, and the value of an object or a collection can become confused with the value of oneself as a person. It can become an unhealthy way of feeling in control of ones life by thinking "I own a large collection of (fill in the blank, such as Muppets) therefore I am in control" when in fact it's the collection that now owns you. If the collection has taken over your living space making it very difficult to live in, and yet you cannot part with "the stuff" as you feel it is inherently a part of who you are, you have become a hoarder.

Rather than actually being in control of ones life, hoarding provides a false sense of feeing in control as the more stuff a hoarder surrounds themselves with, the safer they feel. Yet, this is a false sense of safety as hoarding creates safety hazards, such as making a living area more difficult or unsafe to maneuver in, creating a fire hazard (more stuff means more fuel for a fire) , and is also a health hazard as it makes a living space more difficult to keep clean.

The Junk Lady from Labyrinth

As someone who has collected and then hoarded Muppet items his entire life, I find it quite fitting that Jim Henson gave us an honest and ominous portrayal of hoarding in the film Labyrinth. There is a scene in a junkyard where "the Junk Lady" busies herself with rummaging through a variety of objects while carrying a huge pile of stuff on her back. She tries to get the main character, Sarah, to start her own collection but Sarah realizes "it's all junk" and throws it away. It's an over the top dramatization of hoarding vs collecting, (I would never call my collection "junk") but it gets the point across.

Here are some of my observations about the differences between hoarding and collecting:

Collecting

-a collection is generally about a very specific type of item, such as "PVC Muppet figures made in the 70's, 80's and 90's", rather than being limitless, such as "anything under the sun that has to do with Muppets".

-items in a collection are displayed neatly in an organized way, rather than messy or cluttered

-you feel satisfied when the collection is complete and stop acquiring more, or you have set a limit to what you are collecting (when the collection will be complete) that is reasonable and achievable in a suitable amount of time (granted, some collectable items are hard to find and it may take many years before an item becomes available, but generally a significant collection can be completed within two or three years)

-the collection doesn't take up more space in a room than the space you have to live in

-you can find specific items in your collection very easily without needing to move a pile of things out of the way

-you can pass up acquiring new things that you don't need, or that don't really go with your collection

-you only acquire more items if you have a specific space in mind for displaying it

-you can ultimately part with your collection if you absolutely had to, though you might feel sad to see it go

-you can enjoy the collection, but it does not determine your self worth

Hoarding

-your collection takes over your living space so that you have limited mobility in a room (or rooms) of your house, resulting in losing access to a portion of a room or house

-acquiring more items is impulsive and it is difficult to stop or change the behaviour

-you never feel satisfied that the collection is complete and there is no end in sight, the sky is the limit

-your collection is mainly stored in boxes or is displayed in a messy, crammed in space

-most of your collection has been in storage for several months or years

-portions of your collection are inaccessible due to the amount of stuff you have (such as piles of boxes or things on top of each other, or piled in front of more boxes of things) 

-you prioritize acquiring more stuff over being practical about how you are spending your money and using your living space

-you keep telling yourself "someday I'll get more organized" or something similar

-you acquire things so that you can keep it in storage rather than displaying it or using it

-you have multiples of the same item(s)

-you "need" to have the pile of things rather than just wanting to have things for interest sake

-you are holding onto things in storage because you think they have monetary value, rather than enjoying them yourself by displaying or using them

-parting with your collection is a traumatic thing to consider, as it is one of the pillars that is holding up your self worth

Making the change from Hoarder back to Collector

I was aware that I was hording for many years before I was willing to do anything about it. I didn't just hoard Muppets, I was into all kinds of vintage toys especially superhero toys, as well as anything to do with puppetry such as...more toys! The basement became my "storage space" which I filled with boxes and plastic bins of collectables that I thought were valuable. Some of it actually was valuable, but being honest with myself I had to admit that most of it wasn't valuable at all, it was just average stuff that I was holding on to. It was the type of stuff that I could donate to a thrift store, which is likely where I found it in the first place. 

I realized the hard way that the value of "the stuff" wasn't more valuable than the quality of my life. Having all of that "stuff "piled in the basement was like a weight on my back, not unlike the junk lady from Labyrinth. It was always on my mind, and I felt the burden of having to maintain all of that stuff all of the time, 24-7. Being honest with myself, I also had to admit that I would be much happier if I just got rid of it! At least a good portion, like about three quarters of the stuff needed to go. The rest I would keep as my true collection, the jewels among the junk.

So how did I do that? What set me off on my quest to reclaim my living space and my life was a conversation that I had with my therapist. She said that most people who are hoarders are unable to deal with the issue on their own and require a specialist to intervene. I took that as a challenge to deal with the issue on my own and be the exception to the rule. Of course, there's nothing wrong with seeking help if that's what you need to do to solve your own hoarding issue, but for myself, I really felt that it was critical to do it on my own.

It took me a year and a half to deal with the piles of boxes, and a lot of very difficult decisions had to be made. I parted with things that I still think are awesome, yet I just wasn't using them and I didn't see myself doing so any time in the near future. In other words it was just clutter taking up space, so that type of stuff had to go. I also made a deal with myself to convert the "storage space" into my "display area". No more boxes or bins were allowed! I bought and set up several bookshelves which I would fill only with things that I was keeping in my collection. Whatever was left over had to go! 

This meant that I had to be practical and work with the space that I have. Therefore, I divided the space up for the different collections that I had by leaving a certain number of shelves for each topic. Most of the bigger items that I really liked had to go to make space for the other stuff, I just couldn't keep everything, but I allowed myself to keep a few of the big items. I had to choose what I liked more, what was core to the collection, and let the other stuff go to be enjoyed by someone else. It's better having someone else enjoy it than to keep it buried in my basement. The rest of the room had to be floor space for living in, not for storage boxes! 

When it came to the smaller stuff, how I decided what to keep came down to the simple question "Is this something that I want to display and look at all of the time?" It surprised me just how much of the stuff fell into the "No" column. That's the stuff I donated. I also collected some of it and sold it by the box at a nostalgia shop for a price that they couldn't say no to, such as $20 a box. It was a win for both of us. The dealer at the shop got a lot of collectable toys for a cheep price, and I got rid of a bunch of stuff that was cluttering up my life.

One of my hang ups about letting go of some of the nicer collectables was that I didn't want them to get damaged or broken as I had worked for so many years to keep everything in good condition. Therefore, by selling it at a nostalgia shop, I feel that the likelihood of the items being saved and enjoyed in someone's collection is fairly good. I realize that some of it will end up being played with and damaged, but my own quality of life is more important so it's worth letting go of it.

Today, whenever I want to, I can go downstairs to the basement and see all of my collectables on display without having to rummage through or move any boxes. It's all set up and ready for me to enjoy, and I no longer feel the burden of having to do something with "the stuff" as it's all been taken care of. The basement is now a room that I can live in, and if I want to find something in my collection, I can do so very easily as I know exactly where it will be.

Conclusion

Learning the difference between collecting and hoarding can be a hard lesson, which I know very well from my own experience, but it is possible to correct your behaviour or habits and reclaim your living space if you are willing to change your mindset about what you are collecting and why. Today the majority of my collection is no longer in storage bins, it's out on shelves neatly displayed. I've reduced the amount of "stuff" I have, and prioritized what I want to collect. 

It makes me so happy to see my collection presented this way, as a collection, after so many years of just hoarding it. I still have a few boxes left to deal with, but I'm heading in the right direction and have changed my way of thinking. I don't bring things home just to put them into a storage box as a way of "collecting", or just to have more stuff, because that's not collecting, it's hoarding.

Ultimately, the trick is to keep in mind that collecting is supposed to be a fun hobby that makes life more enjoyable and brings happiness to your day, rather than causing problems and being a burden. If you make the choice to set limits for your collection and respect yourself for who you are, not what you have, you can avoid the problems that go along with hoarding. 

After all, you are special just because you were born, not because of what you own, how much talent you have, how many online followers you have, etc. All of those things are unimportant in the grand scheme of things! You are special just because you are you, and because you are alive. You don't have to do or accomplish anything to be special. Getting rid of extra stuff in your collection doesn't make you become less special! There are about 8 billion people living on this earth, but there is only one YOU! That's how special you are, and that will never change!

So while a collection is cool to own, it's just stuff! You on the other hand are irreplaceable!

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