I have realised I am a strange sort of collector, because I am rapidly building up a collection of the start of collections.

That probably sounds like a tautology caught up in mixed metaphors and gobbledygook, so let me explain.

In recent months the market and local newsagents seem to have been flooded by all sorts of collectibles becoming available on a weekly or fortnightly basis, offering everything from pocket watches and war watches to super action chess pieces and Star Wars flying craft.

Much of it seems designed to unleash the inner geek, taking advantage of the rise in geekdom caused by the popularity of television shows like The Big Bang Theory.

And each one starts off with a low-priced introductory piece, deigned to hook buyers and potential collectors with the thought, “What could it hurt, it’s only a few dollars and less than a cup of coffee.”

The people who create these strange, junky pieces that hope that people like me who have no lives will be so enamoured with the things we have bought that we will lose all sense of fiscal reality and go on collecting, regardless of exorbitant ongoing costs.

Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for me, I have been immune to the temptations to keep on buying expensive bits of plastic, and as a result I have a growing collection of the start of collections.

It is not always easy.

I love old sailing ships and would love to put together a model of one, but when you realise the pieces coming though each week or fortnight are going to set you back nearly $1800, and ensure the time you are able to devote to putting it together is spread out as far as possible meaning your dining table will be covered for months on end with paints, glues and bits and pieces waiting to be put together, I just reckon there must be a better way of doing things.

Of course, I have tried to do this type of collection before.

Back in the days before all the world’s information and misinformation was available at the touch of a button, I was collecting encyclopaedia through a newsagent, thinking they would be great to help educate and inform the children I did not have at that stage.

And then the newsagent stop stocking them, as the distributor went straight to sending them directly to only those people who had subscribed.

So if anyone wants to buy about half an encyclopaedia collection …

My only other experience of collecting things, apart from an interest in stamps as a young boy which lasted only a few minutes, came when I was a teenager and built up quite a healthy and interesting collection of protest badges, touting such slogans as “Give peace a chance”, “Ban uranium mining”, and my favourite, “Mutate now, avoid the rush”.

The collection was great, until someone decided it was rubbish and threw it all out – which I suppose is a constant danger with my new collection of the start of collections.