All set. Ready, steady go. You are running, finding your way through the crowd. Here it is! You finally see it. The hood you are wearing makes you look like a bank robber. And then you enter the store. Sneaking behind the shelves , all masked out.

“How may I help you Sir”? a shopkeeper asks.

Your face is burning. You feel like the teenager buying condoms at the pharmacy.

“Erm, please, can you give me five sticker packets?”



“Which stickers, Sir?”

“Ohh, I have no idea, these are for my nephew. I think they are called stickers, but I am not sure.”

“Do you mean latest Angry Birds“? the shopkeeper asks, showing the colorful pack of the latest cartoon trading card collection.

You know these are not the ones you need, still you are trying to look clueless and uninterested.

“Oh, I am not sure, since these are not really for me. You know these are for my cousin”.

“Well, I thought you said these are for your nephew?”

“Yes, that’s what I said, for my nephew. He likes football. Are there any football stickers? I have no idea which one by the way, as I do not collect them. I mean who on earth collects stickers?”

There you said it. Who on earth collects stickers… You do! God dammit. Are you happy now? You just pissed on your hobby. Why are you afraid of admitting?

And there you are. Nervous like you´re doing something wrong. You feel like shoplifter. You are afraid that you colleges from work might see you. Imagine what would they tell you. You, an office boy collecting stickers. If only the shopkeeper would hurry up, got dammit!

You accelerate through the crowd again. You hold them in a pocket tight. Like 20 years ago when you were a kid and your mom bought you a few packs. It feels the same, does it? You are over the moon. And you cant wait to get home to rip those packs and see what you pulled.

But wait, next train leaves in 15 minutes. Are you patient enough? What if the three missing stickers are in those 20 packs? Is today a day when you’ll finally complete your sticker album?

Screw it. You cant wait. You are excited. Train station is filled with people. What if someone sees you opening a packs? Imagine the embarrassment. You, a middle-aged guy, married, with kids, opening a packs on a train station. What would people say?

You can always try to pull the “itsnotmineIfoundthemontheground” trick, right?

There is a nice spot on a train station that has no people. But wait, isn’t that a place where junkies usually hang out? Bloody hell! You do not care, don’t you? As long as nobody sees you.

You quickly go to the deserted part of the train station. Nobody around! Great. You feel like one of those junkies waiting to get fixed. Slowly you pull out the packs out of your pocket. It would feel great if you could yell like a Gollum from Lord of the Rings – my precious! The smell of the packs excites you, but you must be quick. Someone might come.

Quickly you unwrap the sticker packets. First, second, third, forth. Still nothing. In fifth pack you get the Filip Helander sticker from Malmö FF. Two more stickers until you complete your collection. Fifteen more packs to go. In of the remaining packs you get the Arsenals shiny badge! One sticker left. Holly molly, this is fun! You quietly start to pray. “Please God, let it be the one I need” ,you whisper. In your last pack you finally pull the #345, you are ecstatic! “Its finally complete!” Unfortunately you realize that its not #345 you need its #354!

Crap. You just missed the train.

It looks like that tomorrow, its going to be another day, another secret shopping.

So why are we afraid of buying stickers?

The above story is completely fictional. No animals were hurt, no trains were missed and most importantly, no albums were left incomplete. Though I suck at storytelling, I believe most of us experienced a situation like the one above. We are being taught that the toys are for children, and then we grow up ,we have to behave like adults.

Well let me tell you this, I do not want to behave like everyone. I am a creative. I like doing silly things. My hobby makes me feel relaxed. It inspires me. It makes me a better person, it really does!

I enjoy opening packs, it makes me feel great. Whenever I open a pack, I became a 9-year old version of myself. And I love it. I bloody do! And so are you! We enjoy being kids. Don’t we? For us stickers are way of preserving the inner child, the way of never growing up, the way of being different, being ourselves.

If you collect stickers, cards, figures, or anything else you should be proud of it. You are not a geek. You are passionate about something. Trust me people who judge others based on their hobby have a shady hobby of their own. Perhaps they drink, do drugs, God knows what.

And I have a task for you

If you like being a collector, just let me know in the comments bellow this post. Write a comment to support others who are still embarrassed of their hobby. Show those guys behind the keyboard how great the collecting is.

Here is to all of us, to the collectors who never want to grow up. This one is for you. Share the passion, enjoy the hobby, be yourself.

And when a next time someone asks you, you will say : I am a collector. I love it, and I do not care if you think I am a child, because this hobby makes me feel beautiful. And that’s all that matters.