Many people don’t get the hype of collecting items. For them, they’re just more things to dust off at home on chore day. But for people who find themselves hooked on the activity, it becomes a game that rarely has an end.

Of course, when it’s a series of cards you’re collecting, for instance, or a certain group of objects, it is possible to complete the collection. But if it’s something like rubber ducks, toys, or seashells that you’re holding on to, be ready to expand your dwelling as there might be no end in sight.

Discussing why we tend to collect items—be it a series or an endless collection—neuroscientist and psychologist Daniel Krawczyk suggested that our brains are wired to collect things. In his TEDx Talk, the expert in neuroscience, an avid collector himself, pointed out that there’s a link between why we collect and value things and how the human brain functions.

Interestingly, humans are not the only species that tend to collect all sorts of items influenced by the bizarre wiring of our brain. According to the neuroscientist, other species, such as the pack rat or the mag pie, do, too!

In his talk, Krawczyk noted that when it comes to us humans, the first collectors were probably our hunter-gatherer ancestors. For them, it would have been critical to their survival, so they would collect and save food for a rainy day, or hold on to useful tools that were likely to come in handy later on.

“Collecting may have really saved our species in the past; it’s more than just a hobby,” the expert said.

Moving on to talk about collecting more as a hobby rather than a means of survival, Krawczyk suggested that there are numerous reasons to engage in this kind of leisurely activity.

Take art collectors, for example; the neuroscientist noted that part of art is communication between the artist and the viewer, so someone keeping a collection and showcasing it allows viewers to re-experience certain emotions when marveling at the collected items.

Collectables can also become a great business venture, especially with kids as the target audience. Whether it’s G.I. Joe figurines, Cabbage Patch dolls, or other items, children are known for wanting to collect them all. “Some of the most successful toy lines have capitalized on this idea – ‘If you have one, [...] there’s all these other ones, and wouldn’t it be great to get these?’” Krawczyk said in his talk.

“Collecting can be purely an investment. We can take value to an extreme, like no other species,” Krawczyk continued, telling the story of how, back in 1991, Wayne Gretzky (former professional ice hockey player) and Bruce McNall (a former sports executive) purchased a Honus Wagner baseball card from 1909 for $451,000 USD.

At the time of Krawczyk’s TEDTalk in 2016, the card was valued at $2.8 million during its last trade. According to Yahoo! Finance, a copy of the card was sold for a record $6.6 million in 2021, only to beat that record and reach $7.25 million just one year later.

If you think that that particular Honus Wagner card was covered in gold dust or was special in some other way, you might be surprised to learn that it was far from the only collectible of its kind to be sold for millions of dollars decades after its production. According to CBC, a different Honus Wagner card was sold for $3.25 million, while a Mickey Mantle card from 1952 was sold for an astonishing $5.8 million, all of which goes to show that some collectibles can indeed become great investments over time.

If you’re thinking that your collection of porcelain dishes or toy figurines won’t bring you a fortune down the line, don’t be so sure; baseball cards, too, were once not much more than a piece of cardboard. But whether or not the monetary value increases over time, the sentimental value ought to, especially as the collection grows.

So, if you’ve already started a collection of some kind, keep up the good work—and if you’re still not sure if you should start collecting something, just look at the cool assortment on this list! Surely there is something that would be fun to have loads of, isn’t there?