More than 40% of U.S. households have collectors in them — but what happens when you live in an apartment? Does that make for a household with more than the house can hold?

Well, maybe not literally, but living in an apartment can make for more challenging collecting.

Apartment dwelling collectors likely need to be more creative with storing and displaying their goodies, fitting their growing collections in a smaller space. They must have a sense of humor about articles which tell them to keep those horizontal surfaces clean to create the illusion of larger space too.

And the folks at Apartments.com are counting on it.

With their first-ever Possession Obsession Contest, Apartments.com is not only asking folks who live in a rental apartment to show off what they’ve got (allowing the rest of us to rubber-neck and enjoy the videos), but they’re going to give away large sums of money to the folks who show off their smaller abodes loaded with collectibles.

Just how much money? Well, one lucky Grand Prize winner will receive $20,000 in cash and the two runner-up finalists will each receive a cash prize of $500.

To enter, each contestant should send in a one-to two-minute video that shows their “Possession Obsession.” Each entry should include how their collection began, reveal ways the collection has come to life in their apartment, and illustrate the funniest situations brought about by the collection.

Your video:

* May not include footage of any person other than you;

* Must include footage of you;

* Must include a statement within the first 20 seconds stating that the video is being submitted for the Apartments.com Possession Obsession Contest;

* May not include unsuitable or offensive content;

* May not contain content that is in violation of or infringes third party intellectual property rights including, but not limited to copyrights, including music copyrights, trademarks, and rights of publicity; and

* May not contain content to which you do not own all right, title and interest.

Collectors can submit videos online through September 10 on the contest Web site.

Then a team of judges selected by and including experts from Apartments.com will select three potential finalists based on the originality of expression based on the following criteria:

(10%) how your obsession began
(30%) how your possessions/collection are taking over your apartment
(30%) how extreme your obsession is
and (30%) the funniest experiences you’ve had because of your possession obsession.

Between September 17 and October 19, the finalists will be posted to the contest Web site where the general public can view the submissions and vote for who they think should win the Grand Prize.

The finalists will also have the opportunity to be featured here at CQ — so it’s really fame & fortune that awaits you. But you’ve got to enter to win. So, if you live in a rental apartment, what are you waiting for? Cash, our admiration, and a few shared giggles await!

To enter the contest or for more information and statistics about America’s possession obsessions, as well as the official contest rules and guidelines, visit www.apartments.com/possessionobsession.

Gotta Collect? Then You Gotta Connect - Join our Collectors’ Community!

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!