In recent years, DC Comics has published two collections of a little thing called Batman : Black and White. These short Batman stories were originally published in comic book form under its own masthead, and later, within the back pages of Gotham Knights. The Batman : Black and White stories call upon a vast array of writers and artists to uniquely bring life to snippets of Batman’s exceptional existence.

These stories told entirely in black and white (and sometimes, greys) call upon the aesthetic of newspaper comics and small, independent publishers, and a story told entirely in film noir style evokes a certain narrative theme. With the modern Batman being a character that is usually depicted in solid blacks, the illustrations create some very interesting visuals. While the relative quality of the stories and the art are hit or miss, the idea of harnessing these creative talents into such a unique project is a noble one, and worth reading.

DC Comics didn’t stop there with the exploration of the ‘black and white’ theme, though. These stories were popular enough to warrant an ongoing line of Batman : Black and White statues based on the artwork within the books. I’m a tremendous fan of the many interpretations of Batman that artists have created, and have collected nearly every one of them in action figure form, so this line of statues is heaven for me.

This week saw the release of the sixth statue in the series, based on the artwork of Mike Mignola, who is best known for writing and creating Hellboy. Based on the cover artwork to the second volume of the Black and White trade paperbacks, the 7.5” tall statue is excellently sculpted in Mignola’s signature style. Slumped shoulders, angular shadows painted into jagged greys, and a sense of heavy gravity throughout. A bat grappling hook hangs straight down from Batman’s hand, heavy and immobile, further communicating the feeling of gravity that this statue has. Mignola initially drew this image in solid blacks and whites, so there’s been considerable liberty taken in flushing out the previously-shadowed details of the figure, but it still looks like pure Mignola.

Mignola’s heroes aren’t the dynamic, energetic figures that comics are defined by. These characters are tired and cynical and completely aware of the weight of the world, conserving their energies for a burst of energetic and almost unstoppable rage-driven power.

Preceding this Mignola statue are statues based on the artwork of Simon Bisley, Brian Bolland, Joe Kubert, Tim Sale and Eduardo Risso. They range from stoic to grotesquely muscular, classic to bizarre. It’s an amazing cross-section of ideas about Batman, which will soon be followed by two more statues based on the artwork of Kelley Jones (who presents a distinctly vampiric Batman) and Steve Rude (who heavily references Batman’s first appearances).

Most of these statues are fairly easy to find for around 50 dollars or less, but the Eduardo Risso statue, which was the first one produced, seems to be the only exceptionally coveted one. With a production run of 7000, versus a run of around 5000 on the subsequent statues, it’s certainly not rarer than the others, but it IS an especially powerful statue, and those ‘first-in-a-series’ things usually fetch higher prices anyhow. The Mignola statue was only produced in 3800 pieces, a relatively small number. Each piece is also hand-numbered on the bottom of the base, as well as the box that it comes in.

And with things of this nature, if you ever plan on displaying them and transporting them again, it’s a really good idea to keep the box. They’re delicate, cold-cast porcelain, and there’s nothing better to keep them safe than the styrofoam package that was designed specifically to protect them.

If you’re a Batman fan, or a fan of anything that appreciates in value significantly, the Batman : Black and White series is an excellent investment.

Whenever I see a museum exhibit I like to purchase a postcard showing the item that struck me the most in the exhibit. Sometimes I’ll see a card in my collection from an exhibit I’d entirely forgotten about, and all the memories will come flooding back.

Postcard collectors focus their collections in different ways, depending on their interests. Some people choose to collect postcards from their travels, a souvenir of trips to far away places. Others collect postcards from locales around the world, places they’ve never visited and might never see at all. Some build a collection of vintage and antique postcards.

The first postcards appeared in Austria in 1869. In 1873 they were introduced in the United States, but did not catch on largely due to government regulations. However, after the Private Mailing Card Act of 1898 was passed postcards zoomed to popularity. Printers began producing tons of postcards to keep up with the demand. Consumers were attracted to the fact that they required less postage than regular letters and used them as a colorful alternative to regular writing paper. The prevalence of postcards dropped off in around 1918, and today postcards printed between 1898 and 1918 are some of the most sought after by collectors of vintage postcards. Art Deco postcards created in the 1920s and 1930s are also popular.

Postcards tend to fall into a few specific categories, including view, holiday, photographic, and topics. View cards generally show a scene from a specific locale, such as a notable building or a beach, and are often collected by people who live in or have a tie to the area depicted. Holiday cards were sent as greeting cards for Christmas, Valentines Day, etc. and were usually drawn by an artist. Cards depicting specific subjects like movie stars, advertisements or flowers are called topic cards. Black and white photos were printed onto postcard papers to make photographic cards, which are some of the most valuable vintage cards.

When purchasing vintage postcards, keep in mind that the value is lowered by defects such as tears, creases, dirt and worn edges. Bits of glue left on the card from being pasted into a scrapbook can also bring down value.

I have a friend, Karen, who collects angels — though, if you ask her, she’s not a collector, she’s just a woman who likes angels.

Another, Helen, has a huge collection of feminist items. She has more books on the subject than I can count, numerous suffrage and Equal Rights Amendment paraphernalia, along with assorted photos and magazines with articles on leaders, authors, candidates, etc. But Helen does not call herself a collector either.

Gina has one small box of Christmas ornaments that once hung on her grandmother’s tree. Gina doesn’t call them a collection — they are “only kept for sentimental reasons, and not worth anything.”

Karen, Helen and Gina are liars. OK, maybe ‘liars’ is a bit strong, but these women do not recognize collections even when they own them.

So often I hear people dismiss their collections because they do not think they have ‘value’, they are not a predetermined category on eBay, it’s a small number of items, or they are not difficult to find items. But a collection’s value lies in the collector’s passion for the items. A collection’s definition is not only in the eye of the collector, but a work in progress. It may change over time. It may begin small and remain small. Or it become unwieldly both in terms of description and space for storage and/or display. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a collection.

In my family, we have a saying: If you have three or more of something, you have a collection.

Obviously, we are talking ‘things’ here. We have three children, but we are not ‘collecting’ anymore (so please, do not send us any!). And three pairs of pants? Well, those are things we use. Place settings for three — again, practical items we use. But three Around the World in 80 Days plates? That’s a collection of Jules Verne plates. Even if each was broken in half and glued back together sloppily. (We all have to start somewhere!)

Maybe you have souvenir spoons purchased on your travels in the past five years. You think they have no value, as they are new and easy to find. To you they are just easy to display reminders of your travels. Like Karen’s angels, the spoons are a collection. (And won’t you add a forth and fifth as time goes on? Karen still is buying angels when she finds them!)

If you have three of your grandmother’s Christmas ornaments, you either A) collect vintage Christmas ornaments, or B) ‘only’ collect Grandma’s ornaments, but you have a collection. How you define your collection is personal, and it may limit the size of your collection. For example, in scenario B) your collection will be limited because Grandma’s ownership of ornaments was not infinite, and survival of her items even more diminishes those numbers. (But you have the power to change your collection definition at any time!)

Poor Helen has an enviable collection of items which document feminism and women’s issues, but she devalues her items simply by saying “I just have this junk because it’s interesting to me — I don’t know what you’d call it…” It doesn’t matter if your definition is popular, easily put into words or even easily understood by others. It doesn’t matter if, like Helen, it began with what you like to read and now has grown into other areas. Your collection matters.

So stop diminishing your collection as ‘not good enough’ or ‘not worth anything’ and repeat after me:

Anytime you have three of something, you have a collection.

It wasn’t too long ago that I made the acquaintance of a girl named Psyche. Yes, ACTUALLY named Psyche, because her parents gave birth to her during a brief period while they were visiting here from Venus. Scientists later found her birth-pod, nurtured her in an enormous and haunted Victorian mansion, and eventually set her loose upon the world, deeming that she couldn’t possibly do us TOO much harm. What does this ethereal creature do with her time among us Earthlings? She collects rings with bugs in them, for one thing.

Collectors of bugs can easily purchase lucite-encased specimens from any reputable retailer of insect ephermera, and usually at cheaper prices than it would cost to properly pin-mount the insect. Lucite is an inexpensive material, and it will preserve the insect in an airless, perfectly visible space with far more protection. It’s the leap of wearing these on rings that loses most people.
I digitally cornered Psyche, one rainy night, and gave her an inquisition regarding her curious habits. My interest in various bugs has been noted here before, and I’ve rarely met a girl who isn’t immediately repelled by anything with more than 4 legs. I’m sure they exist, they usually just evade my notice. Surrounding herself with the unusual, the thrillingly awkward and the grandma-thrift-store chic, we spoke.

Collin : Okay, miss, can you describe the origins of your particular collection of bugs in lucite… on rings?

Psyche : I guess it started because of my obsession with miniatures - I’ve always loved lockets & secret compartments. I began to research lucite jewelry because of all the suspended flower jewelry floating around. My searches soon led to much more interesting pieces - ants, beetles, spiders, crabs… and I became sort of obsessed.

C : Is there some kind of emotional reason to collect these, or is it just the fact that they’re really neat?

P : I kind of see them as tiny wearable art - little scenes that I can carry around with me all day. There’s a bit of magic involved, similar to the way I used to feel as a kid when I’d shake a snowglobe - AND because they’re really neat & make me seem like a total creep goth child. My favorite one and the only one I’ve paid serious money for is a yellow dome ring with a clear top - there’s a tiny crab, a shell, and sea grass. It makes me so nostalgic. I could stare at it all day.

C : Do you think that the frozen-in-time, can-never-be-touched thing is part of that magic?

P : Certainly! Especially when we’re dealing with dead bugs. I don’t think i’d be nearly so enthusiastic if there was a possibility that I’d have to TOUCH one of them!

C : Are you generally repulsed by bugs and arthropods?

P : I’m not repulsed - I find their forms completely fascinating, but I much prefer to observe from afar. I don’t want them crawling on me.

C : Now, to collect these things, have you made any strange emotional or financial sacrifices? Any unreal encounters? I can’t imagine that these would be normal people you’d be dealing with.

P : Sacrifices, no. Thankfully, hard as they can be to find, they’re also not widely sought after, so they’re generally pretty cheap, small & in all ways harmless.
I wish I had a scary-bug-lady story to share. Most of my weird encounters usually occur when I’m wearing these rings. They’re certainly conversation starters.

C : I’ve been known to wear some huge, clunky Marvel Comics lenticular rings that people notice. You can watch Bruce Banner turn into the Hulk.

P : Then you know! I enjoy the comments, but not so much when my cashier starts to scream about the repulsive creature on my index finger. It’s like “Lady, it can’t hurt you! It’s dead and has spent the last 30 years encased in lucite. What more do you want?”

C : So they’re completely impractical, like most things that people collect. Do you ever find anyone criticizing the fact that you collect things?

P : Not really, thankfully. Some of my collections do get a bit out of hand and I’m able to limit myself if it comes to that, but most of the time I just sort of see my collections as little assortments of treasures. I imagine someone else getting a kick out of them 20 years from now. Now someone owning ONE bug ring would be a little weird. A hundred makes sense! I don’t collect just for the purpose of hoarding things. I love the idea of always having something special and unique and intimate to give to the people in my life, tomorrow or next year, or in fifty years.

C : Is there some kind of ‘holy grail’ item that you’re always looking for?

P : It’s all about variety. Flowers, shells, and ants are the most common embedded objects. I’d love to find some really unusual things/creatures, or at least a few more rings that do to me what my favorite does - that become their own little worlds and take me with them!

C : That’s very generous. I don’t think that materialism and ‘having more’ plays into the minds of people who really love what they collect.

P : No, I don’t either, but I LOVE to give, to share my self with the people I care for, and I’ve always collected in part to assuage my fear that I’ll run out of something, and that i won’t be able to demonstrate that part of myself any longer.

Psyche graciously provided all of the photographs seen here, and her and I went on talking for some time about the nature of collecting, how to capture and freeze parcels of time, and the quantum mechanics of the human soul. Please stay tuned for the continuation of our conversation!

I’m always attracted to delicate teacups – I think it comes from my grandmother. Over the years she has amassed a collection of well-loved teacups that she uses regularly. When I was a child Grandma would serve me “coffee” – a cup of warm, sweet milk with a few drops of coffee in it – in one of those special teacups. It was a sweet ritual that made me feel so grown up. My two favorites were a white cup with pink roses printed on it and a cup showing a little girl with blonde braids on a swing. The rose cups are long gone, but last year my Grandma gave me the last surviving teacup with the girl on the swing to add to my collection.

Since I purchase my teacups to be used, I’m more interested in looks than value. When they’re not in use I display my teacups in the dining room’s china closet. I’ve discovered that there are a variety of ways to show off a beautiful teacup, however. Last summer I was at an art and crafts fair and saw a display of pretty garden ornaments made from teacups. What a fun idea! When I returned home I decided to research crafts involving teacups and found a host of project instructions on the internet. Here are links to some of my favorites:

Teacup Birdfeeder – Just a few materials are required to make a great looking birdfeeder for your yard.

Teacup Candle – This site provides instructions for turning your teacup into a unique candle. You could also use the cup as a candleholder for a votive candle.

Teacup Pincushion – Turn a teacup into a spot to park your pins when they’re not in use.

Teacup Topiary – These moss topiaries make great centerpieces for parties. If you prefer, here are instructions for silk flower topiaries.

Teacup Photo Holder – Here’s an original way to display your favorite photos.

If you want to try some of these projects but don’t have any extra teacups, many antique malls sell them at reasonable prices and you can often find pretty teacups for pennies at thrift stores.