Yeah, I agree with Coma in the sense that it's all down to the individuals themselves.
I expect that most younger CE collectors are into it in a more "faddy" way than elder collectors (now before any young'un jumps on me for that, I'm a young CE collector myself!). I don't mean every case though, as I am young, but I'm pretty serious about my CE collecting
habit addiction.
As I expect with most of us here, we'll all have collected
something at some point in our lives (prior to CE collecting). I know I did.
First it was TY Beanie Babies, My Little Ponies, Bratz dolls, then it was Pokémon cards, then it was Crazy Bones, then Beyblades, then Build-a-Bears, then Me to You bears (if you didn't realise I was a girl yet, you'll probably realise now!) and finally CEs.
I have quite an addictive personality though, so maybe it's all down to that? I don't know.
But for everything else I've collected in the past, it's been a passing phase. I think only 2 other things in that list spanned longer than a year, the first being TY Beanie Babies - I was a kid, and my parents would give me pocket money, and that's what I'd spend it on
The only reason that lasted so long was because I never really did much else when I was little (all my friends moved house, so I was the only kid in the street *sob*) So collecting those gave me something to do. Then Me to You bears, which is a more recent one (just before my son, AJ, was born) started because I thought they were cute and then I started to buy ones for AJ and it kinda took off from there
But both of those "hobbies" if you could even call them that died out eventually, as I grew bored of buying them as let's face it, they were just teddies that are sitting there gathering dust. And it's not like I could really do much with them.
And again, before anyone points out "aren't CEs essentially just sitting there gathering dust?", well - yes and no. Yes, in the sense that the contents of a CE go out on display, and I don't really touch them much once they are on the shelf, but I enjoy looking at them and they are a nice focal point in my house. And no, in the sense that, although the CE contents are on display on a shelf, I actually get use out of a CE by getting to play the game.
I think this is the main reason that this "hobby" isn't just a fad to me. I love my games, and I love to have all the little trinkets that come with a CE. Having them on display, and the hunt to find more things from the games I love are two great things about CE collecting. And of course getting all of the games I'd normally have bought anyway.
I'm really sorry for rambling LOL, but I can't help it. I honestly just enjoy CE collecting so much. I mean, £40 for a game, but an extra £20+ and I get a variety of goodies to go with the game I love/am potentially gonna love? Awesome!
I think I'll stop now! Wrote far too much already
xx