I am 61 and when I was a kid we all collected something or other. Everything we collected was something that had no further use, at least here in the UK. Foreign coins, used stamps, bird's egg shells - the ones found on the ground found in the bushes of the local park, sea shells, when on holiday (we lived in London - and still do). As we get older most of these 'collections' are left behind, Others stay with us, all be it in a refined form.
However the magpie in most of us is exploited by manufactures of all sorts of specialist items. Lures and floats in our hobby are deliberately sold in 'sets' to encourage multiple purchase. I know I always get the feeling i should buy a good selection of a particular lure/float, just because it is there. I do resist the urge most of the time but it is there.
Today there are two forms of collecting I hate. One is the 'manufactured collectable' Sets of plates, coins, medals, die-cast cars and so on that are sold through TV and magazine advertising campaigns. The other is the collecting of still useful items that gives them a supposed value far beyond their worth, meaning that using said item becomes impossible. Fishing tackle is only one place where this is common. It is the so-called old tool market that really grates with me. Certain makes/types of plane are considered collectable and slowly over the years, any planes of this or that particular type become regarded as 'valuable' precluding there use from what they were intended for.
These items then escalate in value for no reason other than the perception of value, and all the time that is there, prices will increase. You get to the stage where just because it has a high price, the perception is it has value.
We buy sell sell Meccano. Some of which is now over 100 years old. Most of the old Meccano is worthless, except for a few choice items, but a shoe box full of tired, well used parts is actually worth less that it would cost to post. Just because it is old and has MECCANO stamped on it, does not mean to to say it has any real value... I suspect the same applies to this item.
Ralph