Are you a Xena collector? And if so, what kind of Xena collector are you? And actually, let me back up a little and ask the questions more generically, "Are you a collector? What kind of collector are you?"
There are collectors who I call aggregators: they try to collect anything and everything related to the subject matter. This type of collector will collect expensive items as well as cheap items, with the only criteria being that the item be related. This type of collector is also one that can be frustrated, because it's nearly impossible to "complete" the collection, especially if the collection also holds merchandised items, which seem to breed on their own.
A famous aggregator is Steve Sansweet, the Director of Content Management at Lucasfilm Ltd and is also in charge of fan relations in the Marketing dept. Sansweet has the largest Star Wars collection outside of the Lucas Archives, and he's had to add on to his house three times to contain it all (he even added a floor!). And Sansweet has an "in" working for the creator of the films where his collection originates. The Archives always has the right of first refusal, and so that is where the best items have gone -- I think that a lot of people might agree that that is proper. Steve Sansweet has written extensively about Star Wars collecting for the SW Insider, written several sets of trading cards, and has published several books focusing on different aspects of collecting Star Wars.
An almost-aggregator, though most people don't realize it, is Peter Jackson. Have you wondered why all of those LOTR costumes and props have never hit the open market? To make the trilogy, many thousands of costumes and tens of thousands of props and weapons were fabricated. [I happen to know that while the X:WP auction was going on, It's A Wrap! was preparing a bid to sell the LOTR items]. However, Jackson owns them all as part of his fee for working on the extended version of The Return of the King DVD release. Nice fee there, PJ! Jackson intends to build a museum, presumably in New Zealand, in order to display this wealth of film-making art. Peter Jackson's collection comes pre-assembled -- he won't have to go out and find desirable items for his collection -- he has it all. No thrill of the hunt in this case, is there?
You might have noticed that I haven't asked what might seem to be the primary question, "Why do you collect Xena?" When you are talking to other Xena fans, the answer isn't necessary because you won't be asked the question -- the answer is understood by everyone. Non-Xenites don't get it, but then again, they missed out on a transgressive, cutting edge, entertaining and break-through television program, the echos of still reverberate throughout post-Xena programming. Just as there is an After Ellen website dedicated to TV after Ellen Degeneres came out of the closet, there should be an After Xena website dedicated to TV after X:WP. Kym Taborn's WHOOSH site has grown to something close, but it's not exactly designed to be a post-Xena website. I realize I just rambled off the "collector type" discussion, but I promise to return to it in the next post.
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