collecting collections

What is it that makes us want to collect things? Once in a while I'll come across a cute pottery vase or a wooden animal figure and would want to expand it to a collection, but then when I gathered enough to warrant a sizable collection the desire to keep it is fleeting and my interest goes onto the next one. My collecting habits has changed overtime being that my job gives me the advantage of finding them on a constant basis. I remember ten years ago when I used to go to estate sales at the break of dawn just to snatch a Hummel figurine with a full bee marking to add to my collection, what was I thinking? Now if there's one thing I regret letting go was my enamel bowl collections they are getting harder to find these days.

The photo above is an instant collection I got from an auction two weeks ago. See my previous perfume bottle collection here and here.