Knick-Knack Aficionados Share Their Collections
Everyone is a collector whether they realize it or not. In some way shape or form, there are little trinkets that someone is intrigued by or a certain gift that they are given. Sometimes it seems like after every Christmas and birthday they have another little trinket to add to their bookshelves. Whether it is out of obligation or pure interest, someone is a collector of something. Young students on campus these days are privy to sharing their lives on social media and their interests, specifically what they collect. On social media, some students commented that they collect things like books, Legos, and even things as unique as skateboard wheels. So, why do they collect and what are the communities behind them? Are the things they collect gifted or is it a personal interest?
Lauren Duffy collects sunglasses, specifically sunglasses with the cat eye style. Cat eye sunglasses became popular in the 1950s and 1960s with the influence of Audrey Hepburn as her character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s donned them with ease. The second year, Citrus College student welcomed us into her all-pink room to learn more about her collection. She started collecting sunglasses in middle school and can’t really pinpoint why she found herself attracted to the cute style. Lauren even jokes that she has to restrain herself from buying more when she’s at the mall! Her restraint makes sense because she says the sunglasses she collects really adds a flare to her style and that’s something she really likes about her collection. As the camera began snapping pictures of her with her collection and her style was very casually spring, the black cat eye sunglasses complimented her outfit making the vibe feel like it was time for summer all over again! Meanwhile, she is asked if her collection and major in communications has any influence on each other, she isn’t really sure, but it was definitely something she would have to think about. The photoshoot wraps up and one more question needed to be asked to make this all tie together. Sent through an instagram direct message was the question, “Is there a community of people who collect the same things as you do and what is that community like?” Lauren replied that she hasn’t met anyone else who also collects glasses yet, but if she did “[I] feel like it would just happen, we would just suddenly click.” A day later, Lauren found her favorite pair of sunglasses from her collection which were bigger in size, but still held that cat eye style. It’s her favorite pair because it makes her feel confident and loves the way it looks on her. Lauren will continue collecting sunglasses wherever she can find them!
A lot of people like to collect a souvenir from a theme park they go to and sometimes it’s an enamel pin, Sabrina Soriano is no exception to the enamel pin collecting. Sabrina started collecting enamel pins from different national parks she visits and from Disneyland. 6 years ago she began collecting pins from national parks that she would travel to because to her, they are a nice souvenir to collect from a memorable trip. 3 years ago she started to collect from Disneyland and as she exclaims in an Instagram direct message, she is a “Disney nerd.” These two themes go hand in hand as Sabrina mentions there being a Disney National Geographic pin series that started last year. She proudly owns almost all of them in the series. Her favorite pins from her collection are her Remy pins from the movie Ratatouille because she likes the different designs and cuts each one has. This adds up because she has three pins from Disneyland Paris. As a psychology major, Sabrina feels she can connect her collection to her major because as she looks at it with a “psychological lens” she can understand the sentimental value is what drives her to collect. Likewise, the community she’s involved with “like Disneyland passholders or any Disney fan, can trade pins, look for good deals on pins, or anticipate new pin drops.” Sabrina can’t recall there being other people who love collecting pins from national parks, but she is sure they’re out there. That isn’t going to stop her from continuing her collecting as she says it’s “very fun” to be a collector.
Sabrina looks at a couple of her pins, matching Mickey and Minnie pumpkin pins. She’d always wanted to gain the matching pins through trading, instead of buying them online. In 2022, she attended the annual Oogie Boogie Bash where she met a pin trader who had the exact Mickey pumpkin pin she was searching for. Without a doubt, Sabrina traded that pin with the trader and she thought that was the end of her night. She was pretty satisfied with just getting the Mickey pin and didn’t have any expectations to find its matching Minnie pin. But, when they went to the Pixar Pier, located in Disney’s California Adventure, she went into one of the stores and say more trading pins on display. She thought nothing of it, but upon a second look, saw they had the matching Minnie pumpkin pin. What makes this a story of pure luck is that the pin was just left there. Sabrina is proud to own this rare set.
Happiness can be found in little cherubs that dress up in different themed hats and clothing and Emma Cenac is no exception to finding that happiness. The Azusa Pacific University student finds joy in collecting these cherubs named Sonny Angels and cutesy little animals called Calico Critters. When asked when the collecting started, she giggles and pulls up her phone exclaiming that she has a specific date. After a pause, she says she started collecting November 12th of last year as she saw them in stores and gaining popularity…and that they were cute.. As she recollects the beginning of her collection, she remembers seeing the blind boxes in stores and wanting to buy a couple. One series among many is an animal series where she reminisced about wanting specifically the snake Sonny Angel from that series, but in her many months of collecting, she has not been able to score the snake. Besides specifically looking for her one desired Sonny Angel, her personal favorite is the chocolate Jeju pig from the Jeju series with the all pink monkey from the Cactus series as a close second.
Behind her collecting, there is a very huge community where people with like interests can either sell or trade their own Sonny Angels and Cenac is deep within this community and even still on the prowl for the snake. Within the community she’s met a lot of “really cool people” who also share an interest in the little cherub figures and miniature figurines. Cenac really likes the community for this because of how it seems to connect with the inner child. People connect with each other in a Discord server for Sonny Angels with over three-thousand users actively trading, selling, or just sharing their collections. Cenac also says there is a Sonny Angel community on Instagram which she is also active in where they share pictures of their Sonny Angels out in the world doing different activities or arts and crafts in making little clothes for their figures. Through these social media outlets, Cenac has been able to make connections and friends who she texts within group chats and creates in person meet-up events. Cenac hasn’t attended any meet-ups yet, but when she eventually does go, she hopes to make more friends. At these events attendees can sell or trade in person, make each other gifts, and sell their arts and crafts.
She really loves retrospectively looking at the community and how it’s grown in such a good way as it invites people to meet others with similar interests. In school, Cenac is an animation major whose style is very cutesy and she is inclined to creating cute characters, so much so that she says her style has taken on that of Sonny Angels. A lot of her art has a very fairytale feel to them almost like children’s books which makes her Sonny Angel collecting an inspiration for her art.
