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Collectors Gene Rundown - Volume 1
783 Plays1 year ago
Today’s episode is a recap of some of my favorite responses from the Collectors Gene Rundown. As you can imagine, it was more than difficult to choose my picks from each question so I figured I would give you all a heavy poured cocktail of a few gems. You’ll hear from writer and director Paul Feig on what he’s got his eye on next, Auro Montanari aka John Goldberger’s perfect one watch collection, celebrity and award winning interior designer Nate Berkus on starting over and collecting diamonds and vintage cars, Todd Snyder on looking up to Meta’s 8th employee Matt Jacobson in which we manifest on the episode Todd’s next shoot at his old home in Joshua Tree, Mary Randolph Carter on collecting more paintings from her grandson instead of museum works, and many others. As always, the MO here remains the same. Find something you have interest in, fall in love with it, and always stay curious. Thanks so much for listening and be sure to reach out if there’s a guest you want to see join me for an episode. Alright, without further adieu, a few of my favorite moments, from Collectors Gene Radio.
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Transcript
Introduction to Collecting
00:00:02
Speaker
What's going on everybody and welcome to collector's gene radio. This is all about diving into the nuances of collecting and ultimately finding out whether or not our guests have what we like to call the collector's gene. If you have the time, please subscribe and leave a review. It truly helps. Thanks a bunch for listening and please enjoy today's guest on collector's gene radio.
Host's Favorite Collector's Gene Rundown
00:00:27
Speaker
Today's episode is a recap of some of my favorite responses from the collector's gene rundown. As you can imagine, it was more than difficult to choose my picks from each question, so I figured I would just give you all a really heavy-poured cocktail of a few gems.
Guest Introductions and Topics
00:00:41
Speaker
You're going to hear from writer and director Paul Feig on what he's got his eye on next, and Aromantanari on his perfect one-watch collection.
00:00:50
Speaker
We chat with celebrity and award-winning interior designer Nate Berkus on starting over and collecting diamonds in vintage cars. Todd Snyder on looking up to met his eighth employee Matt Jacobson and which we manifest on the episode Todd's Next Shoot at his old home in Joshua Tree. As always, the MO here remains the same. Find something you have interest in, fall in love with it, and always stay curious. Thank you so much for listening and be sure to reach out if there's a guest you wanna see join me for an episode.
00:01:19
Speaker
Without further ado, a few of my favorite moments from collector's gene radio.
Regrets and Missed Opportunities
00:01:24
Speaker
What's the one that got away? Uh, it was that Ram and brass, uh, smoke station. And again, if this guy is listening, I will happily buy it back from him. If he's not listening, just send him the episode so he knows it's top of mind. Exactly. We will do that.
00:01:41
Speaker
My dad offered to buy me a two-door Range Rover, a right-hand drive stick shift from, I think, 72 when I was 16 or 17 years old. And of course, at that time, all I wanted was a sports car. And I think it was $2,500 for the truck. Really regret not having the foresight at that time to realize how cool a vehicle that was. And of course, values today are much higher.
00:02:08
Speaker
Yesterday, I was on set for a shoot and I confessed to everybody that I used to own a lady Dior bag and I got rid of it because I was lasting after a piece of jewelry and I needed to sell the bag in order to be able to afford the jewelry and everybody looked at me like I was a complete lunatic. I regret so badly selling that bag and
00:02:38
Speaker
I think the value of that bag has increased enormously since I first owned it. I don't know if that's the strict definition of one that got away, but yeah, the Lady Dior bag. And there's probably countless other things that I have lusted over. I'm a huge vintage shopper, clothing and accessories, and I'm sure there's a whole host of things that I missed.
00:03:07
Speaker
would have been worth a fortune now. There was, there was a beautiful emerald. And I know exactly where it is, but it's a way, it's actually a sad story, but I know where it is and I can't get to it, but I'm praying I will get to it. Because if I get to it, the person that owns it means they're going to be okay. It's a personal story, but
00:03:31
Speaker
Someone owns it and is in a very unfortunate situation, but has the most magnificent emerald I've ever seen in my life.
Future Collection Aspirations
00:03:40
Speaker
How about the on-deck circle? Is there anything that you have your eye on, anything you're looking to add to a property? I just was on the Upper East Side today and I wandered into some store because it had
00:03:55
Speaker
You know the Scalamandra, the kind of red background with zebras on it that Gina's restaurant used to have here in New York?
00:04:06
Speaker
And they had like a waste bin and a little like Kleenex tissue holder thing. So I walked in there and they had this mix of like old and new and they had these really cool like stacking little benches that were like mid-century Italian leather with like brass kind of almost like bamboo legs. And I was like, oh my God, those are so good.
00:04:32
Speaker
Must must put on the list, you know, so yeah, like I'm always looking like I don't do eBay if I do look for something then I go down this rabbit hole and I do end up doing eBay but I kind of stay away from it because I I do enjoy finding it out in real life on my own and
00:04:56
Speaker
I'm always excited about them. I never know what I'm going to get. It's serendipity.
Spotlight on Vintage Cocktail Glasses
00:05:00
Speaker
I might not get one for six months or I might get a hundred tomorrow. So that's always sort of interesting because you have no control over something that is out there somewhere that may or may not find you. Well, I've been I always have collected this, but I'm kind of stepping it up now with old cocktail equipment. You know, I've always loved old cocktail glasses.
00:05:26
Speaker
And if collected them, you know, one of my favorite things I like to collect are highball glass sets, which they were in the 50s and 60s, they would make these, you know, highball glasses, you know, kind of almost like a like a
00:05:40
Speaker
tumbler, you know, kind of a drinking water glass. It's kind of like like a Tom Collins glass, but just more normal glass. But, you know, they're straight up and down cylindrical, but they would put them on sets of six in a rack, in a metal rack with a handle that you would like fill them up and then you walk around your party if you're having a cocktail party and hand out these highballs. And I just love those. And so I collect those. A lot of them. My favorite ones are made by a company called Culver, which was out of the 60s and it was
00:06:10
Speaker
they're the ones with kind of very kind of sixty-seventies looking different colored glass with with like the the gold you know leaf on it or just gold kind of embellishments and those are just fantastic so I love those but but now I'm trying to collect more kind of vintage martini glasses I'm actually have one right here that my good friend Darren the chef we always call him and he's got a
00:06:35
Speaker
thing on Instagram called Calico Cat, I think it is. And he just sent me these amazing, these two amazing martini glasses that the stem is, is a guy, the head of a guy with a top hat on. And it's the most unbelievably made thing. It's from some old restaurant, he told me. And they're just spectacular. He sent me two of them. And so I want to get more stuff like this because, you know, I'm a cocktail, a cocktail guy in a martini fanatic.
00:07:03
Speaker
a watch that I think most people would be surprised to know that I like, but actually I really tried it on and thought it was amazing. It's a Hichamil, it's an RM67 in titanium, which is like a really slim to the wrist profile watch that just is very light and just feels very, very, very, very cool on the wrist.
00:07:28
Speaker
What's the unobtainable, the one that you can't have maybe because it's too expensive or in a museum, a private collection?
Dream Collectibles Out of Reach
00:07:35
Speaker
I would love to have a Rembrandt. That's my dream.
00:07:40
Speaker
$24.99 in Platinum. There's only two. They were both made in circa 1988 for this Patek Philippe auction. One obviously sold in 2012 for about just under $4 million at Christie's. Worth a ton more now.
00:08:02
Speaker
The other remains in the Patek Philippe collection, but I don't know, that watch could be 15 to 20 million now, and it's just a special, special thing.
00:08:17
Speaker
There is something and everyone kind of takes the piss out of me because I probably could. Well, I can't afford it, but I keep on going. I'm not going to. It's not unattainable, but it is unattainable to me. And that is the V4 Carbon Taikoia Monaco.
00:08:35
Speaker
That and the Dark Lord Monaco, those are the two. Dark Lord Monaco, I've missed out a few times buying it. Now it's totally got out of my price point. Then the V4 as well, it's just a bit above where I want to pay for watches. It's one of those things that I've missed out on both.
00:08:59
Speaker
You're very disciplined. They're the rare raritanium things that you just go and, you know, you can look from the side and just go, I love them, but they're not going to sit with me sadly. Every time I travel, I go to a museum and there are things that in every meeting, we just took our daughter to the Barnes Collection not that long ago.
00:09:24
Speaker
Even there, there were a couple of Rousseau's or a couple of Matisse's that, even though it's not necessarily my favorite period, I would have loved to take a few of those off the wall and take them home. But I mean, I think that just means you appreciate fine things. The page one rewrite, so if you could collect anything besides what you currently collect, money no object, what would it be and why?
00:09:50
Speaker
diamonds. It's like single stones, fascinated by the cut, the clarity, by the scale. So I'd start grabbing big stones and just hanging onto them. And then I've always also loved old cars, but I hate the maintenance of it and randomly
00:10:07
Speaker
We have our place in Montauk and we have a place in Portugal and our apartment in the city and we don't have a garage. So it is the most impractical thing. The idea of having a car collection is ludicrous at the moment. You really just need a moke. That's it. Yeah, exactly.
00:10:31
Speaker
I would collect old top hats. They are really something. I have one that I bought from this place in London. This guy, it's called Heatherington Top Hats. He lives in a basement apartment in Chelsea.
00:10:53
Speaker
right off of Kings Road. It's just a tiny apartment with a million top hats in there. But the thing about top hats is like walking sticks, the good ones are old. You know, you can go to lock and company and get like new top hats and stuff, but they're just not the same. These old top hats are just, you know, they were made out whatever it's that.
00:11:10
Speaker
beaver fur. I know there's a million different types and you know they're so well made and some are too real tall, some are shorter, some are gray, some are black and I just think they're just absolutely gorgeous. I mean you know that's an affectation I wish I could bring back because putting on a top hat that fits you because he goes in and does it and you know he has people that work for him who then mold it to your head. He's got this old
00:11:36
Speaker
machine that I've been desperately trying to find forever. I always look online to see if one comes up because it's from 100 years ago and it was, it was like a top hat fitting thing. It looks like a top hat. But it's a big piece of machinery. Yeah, and it's got all these sticks, these black kind of sticks that are in the shape of this top hat.
00:11:57
Speaker
and they're kind of spring-loaded so what you do is then you put a piece of paper in the top, on the top of the top hat where there's all these little sticks and stuff that kind of come out and when you put it on your head it molds onto your head and when it does that it pushes all the sticks so that up on top where the piece of paper is it forms this almost potato shaped thing that then they trace that
00:12:20
Speaker
And then they take it cut it out and then they put it into this other form that then they push around that the piece of paper and they put it into the top and then they steam the top hat so that it molds to that exact shape so when you put it on your head it fits like it was made to be on your head like you were born with the top hat on.
00:12:39
Speaker
And it's just incredible. And then he also does a cool thing where he molds the brim on the sides up almost like a cowboy hat where he kind of puts them up higher and it just makes it way cooler. So yeah, so if I could get just a ton of those, because you know, there's the one I have is like tall and there's sometimes I wish I had one that was slightly shorter. But I would love to just have a whole ton of those. Just one watch. Just one watch. Just one watch.
00:13:09
Speaker
a particularly chronograph Perpetrol reference 1518, because it's very simple watch. It was the first Perpetrol chronograph lounge in the 40, and it's iconic watch. You know, the collector starting collecting watch to buy this kind of watch. Was it the only one watch? Perfect. I think I would collect houses. That's a T-Swift move.
Real Estate Collecting
00:13:39
Speaker
Yes, I mean, honestly, I'm so jealous of the baby boomer generation for the relatively affordable prices of real estate. Because I'm just like, God, it's just passive income at this point to people who own all these places or and it's, it's just when I think of getting a house, I'm just like, am I ever going to be able to own a house? Like, it's just insane right now.
00:14:07
Speaker
But yeah, if I could do things, if I had a highway, if I could collect something, it would be real estate. I'm taking a class on Imperial China right now at school. And some of the old, like, scroll paintings that we've- Aren't those incredible?
00:14:27
Speaker
Yeah. But I mean, if money were no issue, that is. I just love old things. And I would love to collect either old scroll paintings, or I don't know what it's called in English, but old perfume bottles.
00:14:51
Speaker
in the Song Dynasty that were made of jade and edged in. I think they're beautiful. I think one sold at auction for an insane amount of money, but just the intricate details that you see in those perfume bottles. I know it's really niche, but something like that.
00:15:13
Speaker
My nephew, John Christian, who lives in Austin, Texas, he did a little painting of my wall over my desk with some of my favorite paintings and collections. I'd rather have that little painting than I love, there's a Georgia O'Keeffe show at the MoMA right now. Would I love to have a Georgia O'Keeffe? Yes, would. You and I both. But I think I'll stick with John Christian's paintings.
00:15:43
Speaker
wooden boats, like cool wooden, criss-craft, Italian, all those different kinds. There's a whole genre of those just like dings, bandi, not really meant for salt water, gorgeous boats, all made by hand. You know, they had to maintain like crazy every year. Also they just rot. If you had unlimited budget, that would be a really, really cool place to collect. And they have a place, you know, have a place where you're on the water where you can actually use them.
00:16:11
Speaker
That would be really, really cool. One of my favorite restaurants is Nobu Malibu. I think that's my favorite restaurant on the west coast and just from the ambiance and the food and just sitting there on a Saturday afternoon, you know, drinking a great bottle of wine or having some of their great cocktails. And I would love to have that, have my name on that restaurant right there. Me too. I love that place. Yeah.
00:16:38
Speaker
Perhaps I would start, I'm still thinking of starting to collect handwritten books and manuscripts. To me, it's fascinating, you know, it's just history, just a lot into it. Yeah, nothing's handwritten anymore. So that stuff definitely gets more and more rare as the years go on.
Legos and Learning
00:17:01
Speaker
Right.
00:17:03
Speaker
I think being a dad and having two kids, I wish that I was collecting Legos over the years. Yeah. Save you from buying them now.
00:17:14
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Legos are collectible. I mean, there's people that run into a Lego store, buy everything and stash it and then sell it on eBay for more. But there's just a lot of... I mean, I was into Legos as a kid. My mom saved them for me. And so I was able to kind of bring them out when our son... I think I brought them out when he was like two. He was very young still, but I ended up kind of rebuilding a lot of sets that I had when I was
00:17:40
Speaker
a kid in the late 80s and early 90s. And my whole life as a dad, Legos have been part of our life, building sets with him. And they're just such a good toy, for lack of a better word, to learn so many important skills. He learns to count, follow directions, be patient. It's just you'd be creative. And yeah, you can't just buy sets all the time because they're expensive, and especially older ones. There's so many great sets out there. And I wish that I just had
00:18:10
Speaker
a bunch of them over the years you know even if i just bought like five a year and they were at night and you
Inspiring Collectors
00:18:16
Speaker
know we would just go through the map and it would be so fun to just have like hundred sets sealed and just start opening a mall is building mall with what i don't know. Who do you look up to in the collective world. This is a little bit cheesy but i think my grandmother.
00:18:35
Speaker
She's the ultimate collector to me, and I've learned so much from her. She's this really eccentric little old French woman who's lived in London for like 70 years. She's a true collector. Her apartment is just this Aladdin's cave. You go inside and there is just
00:18:57
Speaker
I can't even explain it. It's just like fashion books everywhere and art everywhere and little 1920s sort of enamel figurine ashtrays and all these really initial things, art deco furniture.
00:19:16
Speaker
you know like Murano glass bowls she's the ultimate collector and I think I get my bad habit from her she I remember when I was a kid just going through all her costume jewelry and you know she also wears
00:19:32
Speaker
layers and layers of jewelry still does. I don't know how she, you know, can still lift her arms because she's all these huge bracelets and bangles. She's still just sort of like clinking away through the corridors. And she had, I remember this chest of drawers that was just full of silk scarves. And you know, you open it and it's like,
00:19:56
Speaker
Emma's Chanel just all these like crazy vintage scars I think I've probably taken all the best ones by now But it was it going to her house and it still is to this day. It was just a bit like shopping. I love that. Yeah
00:20:12
Speaker
I think my favorite person, and he is my hero, is Matt Jacobson. I don't know if you know Matt Jacobson, but he's talked about someone who has great taste. A, he's an amazing dresser. Talk about someone who has just great style, but then on top of it,
00:20:35
Speaker
You know, everything from his watch to his homes, to his cars, to- Yeah, that house in Joshua Tree is pretty insane. Oh my God. Apparently he sold it, by the way. He sold it. Oh. Well, it wasn't me who bought it. Yeah, right. But that's a beautiful- We were trying to shoot- We were trying to shoot there. We were trying to shoot our catalog there and I was on text with him and he ended up selling it. He said it was a
00:21:01
Speaker
somebody drink covid who's gonna be only live once can i give him the right price for selling it so which is i was kinda heartbroken cuz he that thing is ridiculous. I would say john darian.
00:21:16
Speaker
He's, I just think he's incredible. Like, I love, I love the way he puts his house together in Provincetown. I just love everything about like, I think he just has such an eye and it's like, nothing is like,
00:21:34
Speaker
fancy, it's just soulful. And I don't know, he's he's like somebody who can like go find a branch and like put it in a vase that's from, you know, some garage sale, and he just makes it look perfect.
00:21:51
Speaker
Well, there's a few, right? John Rosselli, who has forever collected the blue and white Chinoiserie export stuff, he's been collecting it way before it was in vogue, so I always appreciate his collection. David Sloan, who owns Roseville Farm, he's got a place in Wellington and a place here in Millburg, New York.
00:22:11
Speaker
He's got an unbelievable collection of equestrian stuff, whether it's teardrop tailors that he's repurposed for tailgating, whether it's old tack signs or old tack. He's done a beautiful job, but more importantly with David, it's not just finding the pieces. He passionately does the work himself or finds makers that can help him.
00:22:30
Speaker
to bring them back to kinda where they should be or what he wants on his farms. So he does a beautiful job and I totally appreciate that he gets into it. He's not too precious himself, it's not just a I collect and therefore I have people fix. He does it himself and I think that's what's cool about it. And the other one which is kind of a great character that everyone loves is Tom Sammet, right? Tom Sammet's always been a great,
00:22:55
Speaker
designer based out in the Hamptons. And he has amazing collections from, you know, Hermes to Gucci to whatever. But the thing that I've always appreciated about Tom and kind of my journey of getting to know him is that do collects friends like nobody's business. And I think that is a as much as he loves his material things, he loves the people and the people connection to so he's always done a great job of collecting people. The one that I looked up to always was my dad. He passed away.
00:23:25
Speaker
last year. He was really into handwritten books and scripts and several years before he passed away, he donated them to old libraries.
00:23:41
Speaker
This guy, Doug, that has done all the picking and collecting for Ralph Lauren over the years, I mean, he is the OG. I mean, he is someone with such impeccable taste and understanding well ahead of the curve of what people are collecting from
00:24:01
Speaker
you know, western objects to, you know, English gentry. And not only with small objects and decorative arts and watches and jewelry, he was also really kind of the man in the vintage world for clothing and stuff like that as well. And obviously he was hired by the right person, Ralph Lauren. Yeah, definitely. Hopefully Ralph leaves him that Bugatti or something. I think Doug's done pretty good for himself. I don't know of a Bugatti level, but I'm sure he's done pretty good.
00:24:32
Speaker
How about the goat? So who do you look up to in the collecting world? I have one great friend who is a true collector. I won't say his name, but he is an amazing collector. As far as, if you went in his garden, you'd know every single rose he's got, he's growing now. Every piece of furniture, every book, every piece of jewelry, every piece of picture on the wall, every piece of bonnet, there's a book on every piece. Well read.
00:25:01
Speaker
He loves what he does. It's in his DNA. Loves it. Loves it. Honestly, truly loves it. And here's someone that is truly inspiring to collect. Another one is a guy who lives in Ibiza, who collects people. Great people. And what they do is they all collect different things. And he's part of all their lives. Amazing. It really is amazing, because it's done with the right spirit.
00:25:30
Speaker
where it's a lovely thing to watch. So they inspire me, that inspires me, if I can follow them.
00:25:36
Speaker
I'm sure you know Matthew Horanek and Yolanda Edwards. He has one project and Yolanda has a magazine called YOLO Journal and they were a long, amazing photographer, creative directors that kind of asked publications. And Maddie, I knew for a very long time, we were both assistants in the fashion world. He was a photo assistant for a photographer and I
00:26:02
Speaker
assisted at GQ magazine and we traveled on shoots together all over the world and became really good friends and he and he and Yolanda have developed these amazing magazines that they do, William Brown Project and the other journalists we mentioned and I think they have such a really a smart appreciation for
00:26:23
Speaker
clothing, experiences, travel, places, food that I find incredibly appealing and I think the information they share is really valuable.
00:26:33
Speaker
And they travel to a lot of vintage markets, tag sales. They have a house in the south of France where they have, they're always sharing incredible finds from villages nearby. And Yolanda has great collections that she'll photograph from time to time, you know, like hotel room keys and vintage matchbooks. And I mean, all different kinds of things that ephemera from the world of travel that I always find fun to look at.
The Joy of the Hunt vs. Ownership
00:27:05
Speaker
The hunt or the ownership? Which one do you enjoy more? Oh, the hunt. I still do it. I'm 80 years old and I am at the swap meets at five o'clock in the morning. Good for you. That's great. Keeps me young. The hunt. It is the best part. Yeah, absolutely. Wearing a watch is fun, but making that transaction and finding the thing that you're looking for to me is... And if that watch has a story,
00:27:34
Speaker
It means one. I'd link every watch to a story. If it doesn't have one, I don't feel emotionally so deeply connected to it. The hunt is always fun. The ownership, I think, should always be better, but sometimes I've been a bit disappointed, particularly when you're buying sight unseen in the last five years. You haven't always been able to travel to places and so maybe you bought something online and you get it and you're just a bit like, oh, okay. Quite what I thought.
00:28:05
Speaker
I enjoy the educational component. That's the part. The transactional component, like honestly, as I said again in the ho-dinky thing, a trained monkey could do transactions. There's nothing to do in its own option. There's nothing. It's the educational modality that leads to the confidence in order to make the transaction confidently and with real assurance that the collector, whoever you're advising is
00:28:32
Speaker
You know, they really are getting the thing that they want at the correct price, maybe not always at a bargain price, but at the correct price. That's the goal. And they really know what they're buying is truthfully the best example by the best artist, you know, of its type that they can access given the financial constraints that they're dealing with them. That's really what it's about. I enjoy both. I really do enjoy tracking something down. I enjoy making the deal.
00:29:02
Speaker
But ideally, you've got to enjoy the object more than the hunt, because if not, then you're just chasing a high. And I think that can get you into trouble. So the chase or the sale, was it like more fun negotiating the deal to sell FRC or seeing it come to fruition? I mean, it was always fun getting the check. I will say that. Yeah.
00:29:26
Speaker
You know, it was, you know, I'm fascinated by business and, you know, I'm intrigued and I try and learn on everything that I do. So it was an amazing learning experience going through the process, dealing with a team over there at Cheesecake who were wonderful. You know, we have attorneys and bankers. And so that process got my creative juices flowing in a business way. And so that was fun and exciting to be able to
00:29:55
Speaker
Come up with the idea of where we're at and then get it to the finish line and like i said the reward for all that fun work is getting a great big check it was really exciting and so the whole process was amazing. I think the career of a collector and an item or hunt acquisition ownership and session and then eventually when they depart again.
00:30:21
Speaker
I think the most satisfying to me are those on the early stage. Whether it's in my function as a hunter for Philips, I also contribute consignments to the Philips auction. Collectors who want to talk to me and I bring their watches to the auction. The most satisfying is the discovery, the initial contact, the research, the negotiation, the hunt, the moment we secure it, then the
00:30:51
Speaker
Temporary ownership that we as specialists at Philips have, that means the two, three, four months that we live with an item, between the moment the contract, the consignment agreement is signed and the auction. Yes, of course, the auction is very satisfying because it does justice to the watch and our work, but it's actually so much more fun, the early phase. And I feel the same as a watch nerd.
00:31:21
Speaker
The dreaming, the waiting, the suffering, the hunting, the discovering, this first sort of, should I, shouldn't I, sort of the flirt with the object, all the way to, yes, I go for it. To the moment you put it on your wrist, yes, she's mine on my wrist. That ownership is extremely satisfying. The sale.
00:31:50
Speaker
Even if somebody like with that omega that I mentioned earlier on as a teenage boy is eventually resulting in a commercial gain, it's actually kind of not even that exciting. Most importantly, do you feel that you were born with the collector's gene?
00:32:10
Speaker
Yeah, I do, much to my wife's chagrin. Once I lock in on something, I think I've got a little OCD. I just become obsessed with it.
00:32:25
Speaker
It's fun in the beginning for somebody like my wife going, oh, it's so cool. We know what to get them. But then it's like, there's always a point of like, okay, you've got enough of whatever it is you're, you're now into stop getting these things. Um, but it's just, I don't quite know where that comes from. You know, it's, I mean, it was an only child, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it or if it's just, you know, we just appreciate nice stuff. And I've always been kind of,
00:32:51
Speaker
hate the idea of things getting thrown away you know anything that still has a purpose you know i was feeling about people on up you know like anything that is just sort of cast aside whether it's a person or a or an item that just has a lot of use of life left in it that makes me really sad you know when i see,
00:33:09
Speaker
beautiful old buildings getting torn down or you find out that something got thrown away that you see a picture of that was so gorgeous and somebody didn't know what it was and threw it away. I think as collectors sometimes we almost kind of see ourselves as keepers of history and beauty and the accomplishments of past generations, all that workmanship that went into stuff. Some people gravitate toward being collectors and I would say that's been the case for me.
Born with the Collector's Gene?
00:33:40
Speaker
I will fill any space you give me. So if you tell me my new home with the Grand Canyon, come back in about two years and you will find it completely filled and overflowing. I spend 24 hours a day either buying stuff, looking for stuff, desiring stuff, trying to do anything I can to find the next item, whatever it might be. So I definitely have the collector's gene.
00:34:09
Speaker
Early on, I collected comic books and my son was trading Pokemon at an early age. I think strangely, maybe because you're born into a family that collects, that it becomes- Inherent to you? Yeah, not abnormal. Do you feel that you were born with a collector's gene?
00:34:36
Speaker
I didn't think I was, but I definitely, yes, I would now admit I have. And I don't know if a collector's gene is a healthy thing or it's definitely, I think I have a problem to be in. Now that you're kind of asking me all these questions, I'm like reflecting. I'm like, God, I might have a problem.
00:34:58
Speaker
I collect everything. I really now I think about it. It's like, geez, everything from furniture to watches. So, you know, art, it's a little OCD.
00:35:08
Speaker
I think I had certainly a predisposition towards collecting, but I wasn't an obsessive collector. I just think that now everything has come together and that marriage of beautiful new things and beautiful old things and
00:35:29
Speaker
the depth information and the resources available and the time that I can spend and the exposure that I get to these different things through different medium and through different people mean that it's become increasingly a part of my life. And so I wouldn't flatter myself to say that I had the collector's gene, but I certainly had the collector's inclination, I would say.
00:35:52
Speaker
I don't think I have the collector's gene. I'm never just going for one category of things that I'm just amassing a collection of them. I'm kind of picking things just as they come and if I feel like an emotional attachment. So yeah, I don't think I have it. Do you feel that you were born with the collector's gene?
00:36:18
Speaker
Well, I'm a hoarder, so yes. I don't know whether I was born with it. I think I've developed it, certainly. I think, as I said, seeing my dad pick up various bits and bobs influenced me, but over the years, I've definitely become, in my own small way, something of a collector, so yeah.
00:36:47
Speaker
I think collector's gene, maybe hoarder's gene.
00:36:57
Speaker
I always wanted to curate. I just have this interest to curate something, even with photography. Even old childhood toys, I don't want to throw them out. So there is something to be said, I guess, with that.
00:37:22
Speaker
with, I guess, holding on to small pieces of the past that tells a story? Do I think that I have collector conditioning? I absolutely do. I think I inherited that from my grandparents mostly. My parents, I wouldn't say, are terribly enthusiastic about materialist things. However, however,
00:37:48
Speaker
they did teach me the value of having a nice thing and buying something that lasts. So even when, you know, I was growing up in sort of a small house in a small town, living fairly conservatively, they always had a nice, a nice car, you know, and they always had really nice, you know, cookware and they had really nice luggage and they still have it, you know,
00:38:17
Speaker
So whether it was my grandparents who had more accumulation but came with the stories and then you balance that with my folks teaching me the value of buying something of high quality once and keeping it for as long as possible, the conditioning is there.
00:38:36
Speaker
I think I came out of my mother's womb grasping for some funny little bottle or tray or probably a painting that I saw when I opened my eyes for the first time. Definitely. But has it been enhanced and has it evolved over time? For sure. Amazing. But it was maybe a little dormant, but kicking around for sure.
00:39:04
Speaker
My mother, even when they weren't doing great, my mother always would go to flea markets, go to swap meets, look for different things. She really instilled that in me and then taken it to the next level with
00:39:24
Speaker
George and some of the collectors who bought some of the animation art and comic art from me when I was in high school and college. So, you know, once you kind of get in and around it, it becomes a bug. It's, I won't go as far to say it's an illness. I guess it is for some. But the simple answer is yes. I was, I don't know if I was born with it, but it certainly, I had it by a very young age.
00:39:52
Speaker
Recently, my mom has been going through all of these notebooks and boxes of things that were her moms and her grandmothers. And my mom found these notebooks that were basically like scrapbooks that my grandma made, and they are just like mine. And
00:40:13
Speaker
there's like all of these other things that she's found that my grandma collected that are just like what I collect, you know, stationary postcards. And so I was like, okay, I think, I mean, it skipped over my mom, but it definitely, I think I got it. Do you feel that you were born with the collector's gene?
00:40:35
Speaker
I don't know, but it sure as hell feels good. Something I enjoy. I don't know if it's a nature and nurture thing. There was a kid's book back in the day, and I'm sure it's a name that everyone knows about some child, maybe was an orphan or maybe was in a foster care sort of situation.
00:40:53
Speaker
But the guy collected things that meant something to him, even as a small child and displayed them preciously and they were his treasures. And I remember that book to this day of like starting that, you know, it's not that you have to have everything, but you have to appreciate what you have. I don't think so. Actually, I, I, because, because I don't collect that many things.
00:41:18
Speaker
But I do know what I like. And oftentimes, I like multiple versions of that thing because I like, for example, thinking about matchables. They're all handmade. There's so many different artists that make them. I feel like it's impossible to be satisfied by having three. There's always another one that's interesting. Ooh, that's a cool one. I never saw it seen that before. And I love that glaze, or I love that shape. So to me, it's
00:41:43
Speaker
I have an appetite for more of that kind of thing, but I don't collect a lot of stuff. Like right now it's primarily watches and like matchables, you know, and that's kind of it. So there's other things that I have that I could imagine myself collecting, but I don't. So I don't naturally go towards collecting things that I like.
00:42:04
Speaker
tend to collect things that I really, really like. And there's only a few of those things that I'm really, really into. And also just the practical nature of some things because I like cars a lot, but I would never want to collect cars. My mom
00:42:20
Speaker
You know, right down to like dumpster diving and garbage picking, you know, like that is still part of my everyday life. Like the amount of like crap that I pull off the street here in Brooklyn and come home with it, you know, like.
00:42:36
Speaker
At one point, the backyard was just filled with webers that people were throwing out, and I was like, look at all these webers. I mean, that comes from someplace, and I think, yeah, I would say it's in one of those chromosomes. For sure, I inherited genes that accelerated that process because my dad, everyone in my family is, I don't know if it's a massing hoarding.
00:43:06
Speaker
chasing, accumulating. They all love to hunt. The flea markets, the antique shows, the auctions. I think it's a family thing, yes. I bought literally a silver dish yesterday. I have no idea why I bought a silver dish yesterday. I walked, I'm in LA, I saw it in a secondhand shop. It's a beautiful piece of old silver. It wasn't crazy money, but it was just sitting there. I asked the man the price in the shop. He gave me the price and I couldn't like to buy it. I didn't ask for a discount. I just bought it.
00:43:35
Speaker
Full retail, just thought it was beautiful. And I don't know what to do with it. I'll just go in and I might create something with it or hang it. So I don't know. It's just something really pretty. So I must be. I just like to buy things. I like to get excited. I'd love to know, you know, something's coming and you're going to see it and you're going to put it somewhere. And with the greatest thing is to buy something and go, huh, I found just the spot. Do you feel that you were born with the collectors gene?
00:44:02
Speaker
Oh, for sure. Looking at my dad, he was always buying something. Do you feel that you were born with the collector's gene? I would say that you have convinced me that I have been. That's my job. I understand what I want and why I want it. I think that's really important. I think you have to know why you're buying stuff and why you're collecting stuff.
00:44:31
Speaker
For me, sometimes it goes back to the watch that I bought 25 years ago. You're making money, you want to spend money on something. Yeah, you have to take care of responsibilities first. And a lot of things I don't own today that I want to own, that I want to be irrational and buy, but I have responsibilities. I have kids, I have a business. But yeah, I hope to acquire more watches. I hope to have some more cool pieces of furniture.
00:44:58
Speaker
I hope to buy some vintage LEGO sets that are crazy priced. Maybe I'll have a cool car one day. I don't know. But I definitely want to have more stuff. And I think what makes it really feel good is that I'm not doing it by myself. I'm doing it with people.
00:45:15
Speaker
people who are helping me along the way with advice. And also, people are enjoying it with me. My kids will enjoy everything I buy. My wife will enjoy everything I buy. And I think that's important. I'm not buying anything to put on a shelf. It's for people who come to our house,
00:45:35
Speaker
If I buy an old travel poster and it costs $1,000, I want people who come over our house to have dinner to see it and to think it's cool and to look at it and then for me to talk to them about it and to maybe get them interested in it and maybe they don't buy an original, maybe they buy a replica. But it's fun to share this stuff. It's not something I want to just have all to myself. Do you feel that you were born with the collectors, Jane?
00:46:00
Speaker
I don't know. Honestly, I really don't. I mean, certainly, I think growing up with my mother specifically, who was a collector, from the time I was very young and seeing artwork in the house and asking questions about it and having her answer, you know, oh, why did that man draw a picture of a soup can? Why is a soup can art? Those sorts of things are formative on somebody who's very young.
00:46:25
Speaker
But whether I have that gene or I don't have that, I don't know if there is such a thing. I think all of these things can be like a fire, you know, can kind of slowly with a small amount of, you know, application be started and then fanned into
00:46:44
Speaker
you know, a tremendous roaring flame or not, depending on a number of extenuating circumstances. But certainly I think that if it's not the nature component, which is being born with it, certainly the nurture component, and particularly growing up with my mother, I have to think played a really large part.
00:47:08
Speaker
I was 100% born with a collector's gene. It's real. It exists. You can't escape it. There's no rehab, right? You can't get it. You can't go 28 days without collecting and it goes away. You're stuck with it. Yes, I was born with it. It's in my DNA. I can't shoot hoops. That's also a gene, but I definitely can collect. I was born with it. All right, that does it for this episode. Thank you all for listening to Collector's Gene Radio.