My Year in Collecting: 2013!

Though it arrives a few weeks later than I’d planned this year, I still wanted to squeeze in my annual “Year in Collecting” post.  This year-in-review is something I started doing back in 2009 over on Flickr while continuing the tradition here last year.  My “Year in Collecting” is a chance to have a little fun by creating a visual representation of some of the neatest pieces I discovered or added to my collection in the previous twelve months.  Some of these were collector Holy Grails I’d sought for years, while others were brand new discoveries for me.

So make the jump to take a look at my 5th Annual Year in Collecting!

Bringing these annual collages together can be challenging as every piece I add to my collection during the year is exciting to some degree, but there are certain pieces that go above-and-beyond – items that just have a little more magical glow to them.  Those are the items I endeavor to bring to “My Year in Collecting” posts and upon review I think I did a pretty good job sorting them out for the 2013 edition.

This year I added a few groovy non-candy items to my collection that I’d been looking for, including two styles of vintage Nabisco Doo Dads boxes as well as the only Cinnamon Nut Cheerios cereal box ever found or known to currently exist (yes, I’m that big a nerd.)

Specific candy highlights that stand out to me would be several of the $100,000 bar wrappers which I covered here last week, as well as a Super Hot Tamales box that I’d been actively hunting for, for several years – and of course there are the gorgeous 1970’s Bubble Yum packs.   I enjoy it all and today is nothing but highlights, so rather than go through them individually, here is my Year in Collecting – 2013:

CollectingCandy.com’s – My Year in Collecting: 2013

Looking back over this diverse collection of images reminds me of fun stories, exciting finds and bits of history finally uncovered.  I’m happy to say most of these were shared right here on CollectingCandy.com.

As is also my tradition – I’d like to share my previous year-in-review images, starting with the most recent first:

My Year in Collecting 2012

My Year in Collecting 2011

My Year in Collecting 2010

My Year in Collecting 2009

That’s all of ’em!

While it’s fun for me to look back on all of these things, I always try to remind myself that in the end, it’s “just stuff”.   That is to say, for me, the best part of my passion for this material is getting to share it, assembling these lost pieces of history and providing nostalgic touchstones for people to easily visit.   By choosing to share these things, I’ve met people and made friendships I might never have made otherwise – I’ve also learned a lot.  It’s something I hope to be able to continue doing for a long time.  With that said, I look forward to whatever fun finds and magical discoveries 2014 has to offer!

See you next time!