What sort of collector are you?

[MacNimon]

What's your Doctor Who collection like? Or any other collection you may have, for that matter...the same questions arise.

Do you collect the DVDs? Books? Audios? Magazines/Comics? Toys? Models? All of above?

When you collect anthing, are you a completist who wants everything regardless of quality or do you just pick and choose what you want, whether it be by a particular favourite writer, actor, season etc?

Does your collection include anything which isn't an official release (such as off-air recordings etc,) and do you consider it worth a place in your collection or is it just there until you can buy an official product to replace it?

Do you count a digital copy of something (such as an Amazon Kindle edition of a book, say) as a genuine part of your collection, or must it be a physical copy?

Do you watch/read/use everything you buy, or is it just the satisfaction of owning said purchases which makes you happy?

If the quality drops in an ongoing series which you collect, do you keep buying it for the sake of having a complete set or do you stop collecting?

Have you ever thrown out/given away part of your collection and if so, have you ever regretted it at a later date?

[Si Hunt]

To me, the Doctor Who Universe is real. Let's get that out the way. Doctor Who is real! All of it!

Therefore I imagine that the Doctor had all these adventures, and a lot of them are available on DVD, audio and printed page form. It's my mission to collect and EXPERIENCE those as much as possible. That's what I like - enjoying the adventures. My collection is therefore geared towards having as many of these adventures on my shelf or hard drive as possible. I'm not interested in collecting things for the sake of it - frankly there are too many trading cards, top trumps and figures to ever own them all anyway, so why bother trying?

That said, I do like a few figures and I have a large collection of Harlequin Miniatures because I think they look pretty. There are a few books I like to have because they similiarly look nice. I adore the set and costume design of Doctor Who and sometimes I just like looking at the various beautiful images and admiring them.

Si.

[MacNimon]

A thoughtful reply there, Si. I agree with what you say about experiencing your collection, although I hadn't actually thought about it in that way.

The stuff I collect tends to be dvds, books, audio and magazines rather than figurines and stuff like that. I'd love to be a completeist and have a full set of everything (dvds, Target/Virgin/BBC Books, DWM) but quite simply space limitations forbid it. Financial reasons partly as well, but I'd say that space is the big problem...the number of books and videos that I've thrown out/sold on ebay over the years just to clear space is unbelievable. Only the stuff which I really enjoyed remains on my shelf, and I've managed to pick up digital copies of many novels which I discarded (just for the sake of completeness - they don't take up any space, particularly since I know that I'll never read them again!) On the magazine front, I've stopped buying DWM...I've ran out of space to store them (I can't bring myself to throw any out though, after my last clearout in the mid-90s) I've certainly still got a good 200 issues or so sitting on my bookshelf! I wonder, is there a digital edition available? That's what I do with Starburst these days...buy a digital copy each month through Magzter, it takes up much less space on my shelf!

[SiHart]

It's a very interesting question and one that has changed over time.

When I started out, it was all about the books. I collected the annuals and the Target books principally, as well as DWM from issue 44 onwards. My Mum actively encouraged me to keep things nice for the future, so I still have most of the stuff I originall bought.

As time went on, i became more aware of older stuff, and of course newer stuff as it came out. I wanted it all from the 60s dalek toys to the 80s stuff. I couldn't get it all, but I always hoped. I'd scour the market and Oxfam and jumble sales for anything I could get my hands on, and my family were very good at picking stuff up for me if they could.

As time went on, I bought the books and videos and always DWM. I didn't get much dapol stuff, but that wasn't too much of a problem. I was quite obssessed for a long time with having complete stes of things, but soon realised that it was very expensive to do that. I'm still sad enough to want a complete set of the old annuals, but there's a Troughton one that still eludes me! Anyway, i got my Targets, NAs, MAs and BBC Books in the end. Still not quite got the DWMs (though I'm close!). Even Big Finish, which I started off, I realised that there's just not time to hear them all, so i relaxed and I'm happy to dip in and out now.

If nothing else, the new series has taught me to relax about it all. I don't want it all any more. In fact, only this week i ditched most of the new series Radio Times and I won't be adding more unless they're extra special. My new series books went to the charity shop last year too.

Now, about the non-fic books... that's my weakness. I have nearly 100 of the buggers. I just love them all!

[Jon Masters]

Like Mr Hunt, I've always been much more about the world of DW , the stories, than the merchandise, so my focus has always been the programme itself and the books. I am a relentless hoarder though, so I prefer to keep physical copies of things rather than rely on electronic copies (so those boxes of DWW and DWM will be staying in the loft until I ever own a house in which to display them).
BF has been much more hit and miss, and I'm more than happy to record both audios off the radio and New Series off the telly and keep copies of those, even if they've been released in pristine form subsequently. Sadly it all boils down to money - my off air recordings of Series 4 to 8 might get replaced one day, but I'm in no rush. Similarly with the SE of classic who stories. And I'm probably never going to read Happy Endings or So Vile a Sin as I'd never shell out the vast amounts needed to own them.

Nonfiction stuff - have become far more selective, having been disappointed in the past by spending quite a lot on what turned out to be inferior products. Other stuff like figures etc - nice if they come my way, but not something I go out of my way to get.

[duncan]

For me, it was the rushing to Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street for the latest VHS release. I had to have it on the day of release if I could get there. I had bookcases and shelving where I stored them in story order. I haven't done the same with the DVD's though. I only ever bought about a dozen or so. I have the new series box sets though.

At one stage, I also collected DWM, again storing them in plastic sleeves in number order. I stopped buying the magazines about 4 years ago though. I tried the Virgin New Adventures when they first launched, but gave up when I really struggled to get through Transit by Ben Aaronovitch. I bought an odd one or two only after that.

Now, I'm into the figurines having subscribed to the 2 weekly part-work. I have loads of action figures as I wanted them all when they first got released. My wife got me loads of Doctor Who toys for my 40th back in 2006. I have the radio control Dalek & K9 and the Cyber helmet too.But, space is my problem now. Therefore, I have had to reluctantly stop buying the action figures. Mind you, I didn't like them once they shrunk in size!

As for Audios, I did try them but as they weren't grabbing my attention, I gave up altogether.

[Wayne]

What sort of collector are you?

An ex one.
Away from the digital world of dvd and MP3, I now own only 2 items which are of personal significance to me.
The Radio Times 10th Anniversary Special, and Dr Who: The '70s.