My Year in Collecting: 2012!

CC_Year in Collecting 2012 Title Plate WIP

Since 2009, I’ve had an annual tradition of taking a look back at my hobby by assembling a collage of some of my favorite pieces from the previous twelve months.  I’ve been sharing those collages on Flickr and today I’d like to share the tradition here as well.  Make the jump to check out how my year in collecting went.

Before showing you my look back at 2012, I should preface by saying that the biggest part of my hobby this past year was launching CollectingCandy.com.   The site launched on February 6th 2012 and next month I’ll be celebrating the site’s first full year online with a CollectingCandy “Year in Review”.  For now though, let me get to my annual collage.

I’ve long held that, as much as I love the “hunting for and acquiring stuff” part of collecting, what’s far more important to me is the fun you share through a hobby and the friendships you make along the way.  In the end, candy wrappers or any collectibles are just things – and life is about so much more than “things”.

My “Year in Collecting” posts are meant as a way for me to look back and recall how things came to me and from whom, while sharing the fun visual results of the collage.  Beyond that, it’s also a way for me to bring a bunch of items together that might otherwise be tucked away in boxes.   So here it is; My “Year in Collecting – 2012”:

My Year in Collecting: 2012

My Year in Collecting: 2012

As you can see, it’s not entirely made up of candy-related goodies, but this 2012 edition is easily the most candy-centric one I’ve ever done.  I’ve been incredibly fortunate in the many great pieces I’ve been able to add to my collection this past year and I’m forever grateful for the folks who helped me out along the way.

Selecting which pieces are included on each collage is not always easy, and I don’t have any strict rules about it.  My first priority is to include the pieces that, at the beginning of the year I was hunting for or had on a want list.  But there are many great items I’ll come across each year that I never even knew about beforehand and the best of those get included as well.

One more thing I should note is that there are pieces I acquired in 2012 that I’ve yet to reveal, and that won’t be on this collage but might be on next year’s, once they’ve been shown.  These are items I’ve simply not gotten to yet, or are saving for a later post.   So there’s a bit of wiggle-room on dates due to editorial desires, but I think it’s a forgivable one.

Since this is the first year I’ll be posting these to CollectingCandy.com, here’s a look back at past years’ installments that I shared via my Flickr pages:

My Year in Collecting 2011

My Year in Collecting 2011

My Year in Collecting 2010

My Year in Collecting 2010

And finally, my very first “Year in Collecting” which I posted a bit before the end of the year, on November 17th 2009:

My Year in Collecting 2009

My Year in Collecting 2009

As a collector, images like these are a fun way to reflect and look back the things you were able to find, and they’re also a great reminder to revise want lists and imagine goals for the upcoming year.  If you are a collector yourself, I encourage you to take a crack at creating your own.

And that’s everything on my Year in Collecting 2012.  See you next time!

About Jason Liebig

A New York City based writer, editor and sometimes actor. After spending much of the 1990′s in the comic book business helping tell the stories of Marvel Comics’ X-Men as series editor, he has since split his time between developing his own entertainment properties while still consulting and working on others. Having been described as “the Indiana Jones of lost and forgotten candy”, Jason is one of the country’s premier candy collectors and historians with his discoveries appearing in countless blogs, magazines, newspaper articles, and books. Always happy to share his knowledge and unique perspectives on this colorful part of our popular culture, Jason has consulted with New York’s Museum of Food and Drink and has also been a featured guest on Food Network’s Heavyweights, France’s M6 Capital, and New York’s TheActionRoom.com. My Google Profile+
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One Response to My Year in Collecting: 2012!

  1. Brandon says:

    Super stuff!

    I followed your lead and made a collage for 2011, and I’m working on mine for 2012 now. It is indeed a fun way to reflect back on the year. I wish I had started doing that early on!

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