[Boba Fettuccini]

I collect because as a kid in the 90s, Star Wars POTF figures were some of my favorite toys. There's something ver speical about being able to take all your larger-than-life favorite characters and hold them in the palm of your hand. Now that I'm older, the Avengers movies have taken the place that Star Wars held as a child.

A lot of the colelcting instinct comes from my parents. My dad grew up never getting anything he really wanted for birthdays and christmas etc, and when he did he'd get knock-off brands. if he got something new, it was usually a guilt-trip purchase that his mom got him without really thinking about. So as an adult, my dad got into the habit of going out and getting exactly what he wanted, no matter how silly. So he did the MOC hot wheels in rubbermaids thing. My mom was raised by working class depression-era parents - my grandma was a homemaker and grandpa was a car guy. They never threw away anything useful, and taught my mom to value and respect things. I know that has a profound influence on me.

There's so much more to it than that, though. I really believe that childhood is a very special time of life, and even when we grow up there is no reason we shouldn't allow ourselves to have keepsakes of that time. I'm a very sentimental guy, so certain colelctibles and toys bring back lots of happy memories, and I enjoy looking at a certain trading card or figure on my shelf and retracing my steps.

As I said, I started collecting with Star Wars in the 90s. Don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars. But recently I've found it to lack depth. So I have my favorite characters, my early childhood heroes and whatnot, but they began to mean less as people. I, as a person, crave the ability to change the word and have a positive influence on things. As a little kid, I was never given the opportunity to care about comics and that went on until a few years ago when I was exposed to Iron Man and Batman. Something clicked there. Characters like that meant so much more, because they lived in a world like mine and they made a difference. they stood for ideals I could believe in, and gave me some role models (yes, even as an 18 year old) that I could respect. Specifically, I came to greatly respect Tony Stark, because he had so much to lose but still gave more than he ever owed. He was flawed and broken, just like most of us, but still used his gifts to make himself more than what was expected of him. Because of this, I have nearly every Iron Man figure I can think of, and I wouldn't give them up for anything. The Iron Man armor has rather solidified itself in my mind as a reminder of what I hope to do when I eventually get my non-profit and my ministry in my church running.

I collect Deadpool for similar reasons. I immediately came to love the Deadpool character because he was funny, but when I read through his story issue by issue more carefully, I came to realize that he and I are painfully alike. He's misguided and confused, and his loud mouth irritates people. He wants to be a hero so bad he can taste it, but he only knows how to hurt people, and it seems no matter what he does, he can't win. the people who love him love him for the character he plays, but as soon as people get to see the scarred, lonely man under the mask, they leave him. Not to sound emo and cheesy, but that's pretty much the story of my life. So... I also have a lot of Deadpool.

All the other characters on my shelf don't mean near as much. Dr. Doom, Wolverine and Spider-Man all look great on my shelf, but they never taught me anything or gave me anything to aspire to. I could pretty much all of them go, but parting with my Iron Man and Deadpool would really sadden me.

In conclusion, I've gotta say that Marvel is part of my soul now. The stories in it have so much more to take away than just cool costumes and great fights - Armor Wars taught me something that saved my relationship a few times. The finale of Civil War led me to understand something that radically changed my entire family life. Both those stories helped me teach sunday school lessons in a way that my 2nd graders could understand. things that so profoundly affect me deserve a bit of respect and shelfspace, much like I would store my Bible.

End wall of cheese.