Gotta get 'em all

It's an obsession. A compulsion. A religion. Local collectors share their love for accumulating weird stuff

1950 was a monumental year for Baltimore financier Louis Elasberg. The man who loved money--coins to be exact--had completed the quest that had consumed him since 1925: assembling a complete collection of U.S. regular issue coins. With the addition of an 1841 $2 1/2 gold coin and an 1873 silver dime, his library of American coins was finally complete--embracing all known dates, all mint marks, all variations. Elasberg was celebrated in Life magazine, toasted by his collecting peers for realizing what they called "The Impossible Dream," and lauded for his devotion to this facet of American history. He remains the only person to ever build a complete set of U.S. coins. But Elasberg was not satisfied. Until his death, he focused on keeping his collection current, whether that meant buying out other collections or seeking out single coins with an obsessive zeal.

Elasberg died in 1976. Six years later, his "Impossible Dream" would be torn apart by auctions and sales, scattering the majestic collection that had taken more than half a century to build.

Such is the obsession--and heartbreak--of the collector. What possesses him with an almost religious intensity often goes unappreciated by laymen.

There are plenty of Louis Elasbergs in Las Vegas--collectors who devote a significant portion of their lives to methodically acquiring things of a certain class, whether it's Star Wars figures, VW bugs, doo-wop records, Renaissance weaponry or stamps. (Yeah, remember stamps?)

What drives these people? We tracked down a handful of collectors in the valley and got inside their heads. We discovered a group of pleasant, well-adjusted individuals (mostly, anyway) who happen to have a curious passion for collecting. Here, then, is another collection--of collectors.