An Assassin's Creed Collector's Life
MATH, May 11, 2015

Hello ATA followers and welcome to this new section about the vast world of collecting. As a collector of Assassin’s Creed goodies I was asked to join the ATA team to write articles and reviews on my modest perspective about this particular subject. We will continue to be on the lookout for any new item, game and event that would help you, as a collector, or if you are just curious, to know about how huge this franchise has become.



As a first article, we thought you might have liked to know a bit about my humble collection’s history as a normal fan and learn how the love and passion for the Assassin’s Creed franchise has started.

Being a Nintendo “Fanboy” at the time I didn’t really pay much attention to the news about this original game from Ubisoft. In the beginning of 2010 (Assassin’s Creed and Assassin’s Creed II
were already out) a friend of mine was talking about this game that was mixing historical facts and a story concerning a battle between Assassins and Templars. I didn’t had a console to play this on and wasn’t too fond of “killing” people in games. After watching a few videos of the games, the seed was planted in my mind.
I felt it was the time to get into the world of “greater graphics” and asked for a Playstation 3 for my birthday. To my great pleasure my boyfriend bought it for me. Then I asked myself: “What games should I first play on this new shiny black box?” The answer was easy. I thought of the seed that was planted a few months before that was pushing to burst out of the ground and asked my friend if he could lend me the two Assassin’s Creed games.

The magic started to occur as soon as the game started. Assassin’s Creed was my first Playstation 3 game. I was stoic. The graphics and how the game story was developing got my attention right away and lasted until I finished Assassin’s Creed II. I wanted more, now! Luckily for me, Ubisoft was already working on a sequel with their first attempt at multiplayer which we all know now has become to be Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. My first Assassin’s creed collector’s edition was preordered! I was skeptical about multiplayer as I had always been a shy single player type of guy but I still gave it a shot. I liked it but I still preferred the story part.
Then came Assassin’s Creed Revelations (which didn’t get a collector’s edition here in America) and didn’t bother ordering one from oversea as I thought this would be too complicated and too pricey for the small budget I had at the time.

New Year, new game. We are now in 2012. The year where the story about Desmond and his ancestors would end and where we would get a nice collector’s edition. At that time, I only had about 2 shelves in a bookshelf to show my yet so small collection and kept it that way. 2013 was a big year for me as I was moving out of Montreal and going to live in a peaceful village. We had the big project of having our dream house built and managed to do that in a few months. Going from a small condominium to a big house provided me the liberty to have a room of my own and gave me the space I needed to really get into the Assassin’s Creed collecting. Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag came out and I had bought yet again the collector’s edition and a few figurines. My small bookshelf was getting cramped. I had to do something. That is when I purchased the huge white bookshelves that I have now to help showcase my beloved collection. I finally had the space I wanted and could move on to get my collection a bit more diversified. 2014 was THE year where I really put my heart to it and started to buy goodies and different collector’s edition from previous game from all around the world. My collection grew really fast and my wallet emptied itself in no time. But I was happy. That’s what’s important, right? I had also went pretty much all in with Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed Rogue by purchasing many different collector’s editions and goodies that appealed to me. The seed became a huge tree and I could then consider myself a real Assassin’s Creed collector.


Having a lot of collectibles from this franchise brought me a few questions. What is a collector? Why do we collect things? Are there different types of collectors and if so, which type am I? Am I normal?
[Muensterberger, in his perspective paper "Unruly Passion" believes collecting to be a "need-driven compensatory behavior where every new object effectively gives the notion of fantasized omnipotence." Jung had his own theories about why people become collectors. He touted the influence of archetypes on behavior. These universal symbols are embedded in what he termed our “collective unconscious”. Using this logic, collecting and completing sets have as their archetypal antecedents the collecting of "nuts and berries" once needed for survival by our early ancestors.] (Wikipedia)
The past 10 years or so have been a real roller coaster so collecting Assassin’s Creed perks is now for me a way to treat myself and celebrate what I have achieved.


[Krzysztof Pomian, one of the pioneers of research on the history of collections, defines the collection as "any set of natural or artificial objects, temporarily or permanently kept out of the economic activities circuit, subject to special protection in a closed arranged for this purpose and exposed in the light.”] (Wikipedia)

At this time to put a name on which type of collector we are when collecting Assassin’s Creed things is really hard as there are
many different types of objects to collect and I am no psychologist. The closest one I could find would be “ludophiles” which are persons that collects games and toys. What do you think?

In conclusion, we all have our collection settings, small or big, but what is most important in all of this is our passion for the series. Let us know in the comments how collecting Assassin’s Creed artifacts changed your life. What type of collector are you? Do you collect specific items like figurines or you just go with what pleases your eyes? Don’t hesitate to let us know if there are specific artifacts you would like us to write about or if you have any questions regarding certain objects. I hope you have enjoyed this small preview of what is to come and will join me and the ATA team in this new adventure.

Rest in peace fellow “Ludos” and may the Father of Understanding guide you.

MATH






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