![It's incredible what can spark a collector's imagination. Pictures by Shutterstock It's incredible what can spark a collector's imagination. Pictures by Shutterstock](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/SZjBdCvXzdW4Ygt94axh3r/6f4528ae-8c7e-43f5-9661-d055ee6d27ad.jpg/r0_0_1928_1452_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
ADMIT it. There's a bit of a collector in all of us.
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Why else do we do it?
People who doggedly hunt down and collect unusual objects occasionally do it for money, but mainly it's for the thrill of the chase and nostalgia, I suspect.
Who over the years, for example, hasn't started to collect things known in the second-hand trade as objects d'art.
Trash or treasure? You decide.
Baby Boomers might recall their parents collecting souvenir spoons from country travels, usually in places from Port Macquarie to Kiama.
Sometimes they would collect rare beer cans, old vintage radios, sporting memorabilia, clocks, coins, comic books, banknotes, ancient tools, fishing lures, stamps and even old pianola rolls.
A younger generation today though might search for (potentially valuable) collectables such as Star Wars, Star Trek and Marvel and Disney world merchandise.
The collecting bug probably once started for many with swap cards, bubble gum, or sport trading cards especially for rugby league. It may then have morphed into collecting unusual Coca-Cola bottles and cans and onto motorbikes.
The list is endless.
Many people think it's strange how others build up sizeable collections of 'oddities' and scoff until they realise they have been doing it themselves in some way. Think model trains, tin soldiers, Matchbox cars or snow domes.
People who doggedly hunt down and collect unusual objects occasionally do it for money, but mainly it's for the thrill of the chase and nostalgia.
It might be unconsciously amassing unusual 20 cent pieces dropped in a jar somewhere, or collecting autographs, or old toys, Barbie dolls (notice how their eyes follow you around the room) or any old unloved dolls, really, buying Elvis memorabilia, egg cups, ceramic owls, lapel pins, odd-shaped paper knives to slit letters open (remember them?), electric irons, old LP records, bread tags and novelty money boxes.
Then there are those whose particular passion is rescuing teddy bears, or maybe Smurfs, or saving belt buckles, gramophone needles, playing cards, napkin rings, old telephones, beer coasters, glassware, bottle caps, plastic jewellery, pencil sharpeners, movie posters and lava lamps.
We all know someone in this category. Maybe it's you?
We all seem to be bower birds.
The most hardcore collectors are in another sphere entirely. Think of collecting vintage cars, having a surfeit of surfboards, or sewing machines, petrol pumps, pinball machines, bulky movie projectors and jukeboxes.
And let's not forget those who save barbed wire.
Former Herald colleague Terry Smyth once spoke about knowing an avid collector . . . of water. That's right, he would bottle it and label it, like "Lake Macquarie" or "the Yarra".
The only trouble was, according to Terry, that that his wife for a bit of mischief (and to compensate for evaporation) would top up the bottles from the backyard tap. We wonder if the poor sod ever knew.
It's all good, cheap fun. The most determined collectors, however, seem to have deep pockets and that's what prompted me to pen today's article.
Forget gold or diamonds, extremely rare number plates have skyrocketed in value recently fuelled by investment firms and individuals as a hedge against inflation.
In January, a record was set at auction for an Australian number plate. It was "NSW 1" and the top bidder paid a whopping $11.5 million.
Another record was set the same day when the Queensland car plate "Q1" went for $5.6 million. Then last month a Victorian number plate sold for a record $2.5 million. This was followed last week when a huge collection of heritage and collectable number plates went to auction.
All of which reminded me of a Newcastle number plate hunter who is now part of a vanishing Australia. This Georgetown auto mechanic had an impressive collection of foreign number plates on open display on his garage walls for at least 30 years.
The plates were probably of little monetary value, being from overseas with none apparently being really sought after, but they were a colourful addition to his workshop and a talking point.
His name, aptly enough, was Hunter Thomas and he began collecting in 1966. More than 3500 number plates adorned the walls when I visited his workshop in the 1980s, but more than twice that number of plates may have once passed through his hands.
Just reading the walls was a mini-world tour. Amid the vivid colours, designs and a bewildering array of numbers, plates from the Philippines, American Samoa, the Bahamas and the US forces in Germany stood out. It was a marvellous time capsule. I wish now I'd taken some photographs.
This private collection is, sadly, probably long dispersed. I visited the site twice recently but was disappointed to find only closed doors.
Locals said the garage had been closed for about a year to their knowledge.
Fossicking around, I later found an interview with son Bruce Thomas from decades ago to get a greater insight into his late father's collecting mania.
"It's a family tradition, I suppose," Bruce Thomas told The Herald in 1996 when the number plates were still proudly displayed on the walls.
"Dad was a serious collector for many years. He was totally committed to it. Every week he'd get parcels from overseas, swapping and bartering with other collectors."
Bruce said his inherited collection once included rarities such as American World War II number plates made of cardboard and early Australian plates made of porcelain (baked presumably onto iron).
As well, there were a few thousand spark plugs on show.
"It began when some overseas collectors asked Dad if he'd swap number plates for spark plugs," Bruce said.
"We've got some very rare ones, mostly from America, and any Australian spark plugs like, say, Champion, we'd throw into the collection because one day they'll become old."
"What made some items rare was that a lot of companies in the early days might have only been in business for a year or so making their products limited editions," the Herald reported.
Earlier, in 1985, Hunter Thomas himself spoke to a Sydney newspaper when his collection of spark plugs was regarded as unique. He also said it was his main collecting priority.
"Most people think there are only four or five types (of plugs), but that's not true," he said.
"At the moment (in 1985) I have nearly 3000 spark plugs with 292 different makes."
Pride of place in his collection went to a glow plug from a Mirage jet fighter. There were also waterproof Humber car plugs, Harley Davidson bike plugs and "even a few spark plugs whose use still baffles the avid collector".
As a shameless but minor collector myself (of unusual bottle openers), I can fully understand being fascinated with the search for something different and elusive and the satisfaction of a successful search.
Some more unusual collectors though have me baffled. I saw a bloke on TV once who was a frequent flyer with various world airlines. He boasted of having an expanding collection of (wait-for-it) travel sickness bags (all unused, of course).