EASTER EGG HUNTS
January 17, 2001

Easter Egg Hunts.  Remember them from your childhood?  When you were five or six, or seven and woke up early Easter morning and rushed outdoors to see what the Easter Bunny had left in your yard?  The older we got the harder it was for us to find those eggs.  But the joy of finding the first egg, and then seeing who found the most eggs was unforgettable.  Of course my sister Charlotte and I were at a disadvantage when Debbie was a baby because Mom and Dad helped her, and since they hid the eggs we had to be really fast to beat Debbie in finding the most.  But we always had fun and always knew we'd find at least one egg, although one year one was found two months later (the year Mom found the one she hid in the clothespin bag in June).

Reminds me of hunting Hot Wheels.  When I first got started I always found something I didn't have.  I talked to everyone about Hot Wheels and the joy of collecting, where I found the new releases, who had the best prices.  We were all so eager and excited about the hobby.

Then it got harder and harder to find Hot Wheels I didn't already have.  I went to my first flea market and saw new releases at high prices.  I still liked to talk with other collectors but more and more it was scalpers I ran into, not other collectors.  It was very discouraging.

Then it became almost impossible to find anything I didn't already have.  All the new stuff was at the flea markets.  It was totally depressing and discouraging.  The hobby I'd been in only three years went further downhill with the event of Mattel's new First Editions, Series and Treasure Hunt cars in 1995.  Now when I ran into other collectors all we did was moan and groan about the lack of new releases thanks to the local scalper.  When I did have fun it was only to be happy about having beat the scalper to something new.

Towards the end of 1997 I took stock of my hobby and my attitude toward the hobby.  What was important to me about collecting and why did I continue to collect?  I thought about the day I sat on the floor and opened all of my ReVealers cars (1995) and how much fun it was.  They were not pristine and mint in package any longer but I had fun and they looked much better out of the bags.  I remembered the first car I bought - the Purple Passion with flames.  Nothing was cooler.  There may never be anything cooler.  Then I started opening packages on a regular basis.  It was fun!

I realized the scalpers could only ruin the hobby for me if I let them.  So I adopted a different attitude.  I was happy when I found a car, no matter how long it had been released (remember that egg in the clothespin bag).  Sure I was disappointed when I found nothing and still complained about scalpers, but it was no longer the focus of my collecting life.  The focus was the fun of the hunt.  The idea was that even though I found a car two months later I didn't react to that fact but to the fact that the car was cool.  I began anew collecting with the attitude with which I started collecting - the smile the car brought to my heart.  If those smiles came to my heart every time I walked into a store would I appreciate them as much.  I think not.  So collect for the "heart smile" and you'll be a much happier collector.

Trish
 
PS  I remember the hunt being almost as much fun as the finds.