It’s easy to collect photos of your favorite athletes or celebrities. And you don’t even need a camera to do it. Some come right to you in the mail each month.
Collect magazine covers. The photos are great, the magazines are fun to read and finding them can sometimes be like a treasure hunt.
Before you start to build your collection, decide what to collect. There are hundreds of magazines published every year, and many thousands more exist from years gone by. But that’s one of the best things about this collection: You choose what to collect, and you’ve got lots to choose from. We’ll use sports stars as an example, but you could choose anything. Canoeing1, hiking, national parks, cars—anything goes.
What’s Your Fancy2?
For most, it’s the cover of the magazine that makes it collectible. Most people collect their favorite player. But there are many other themes for collections, such as:
☆Team: Collect magazines with players from your favorite team on the cover.
☆Sport: If your favorite sport is one of the “Three Big”—ping-pong, football or basketball—this might become just too big. But if you really like skateboarding or surfing or golf or the Olympics, some terrific magazines are just waiting to become part of your collection.
☆Title: Some magazines continue for decades. Others are around for only a few issues. It can be a real challenge to put together complete runs3 of a particular magazine.
☆First issue: The premiere4 issue of any magazine is usually more difficult to find and therefore more desirable for collectors. However, it can also be much more expensive.
☆Birthday: Here’s a really personalized theme for a collection. Collect magazines that were “born” the same day, month or year as you.
The Thrill5 of The Hunt
Bookstores will carry current magazines, but you’ll have to pay full cover price. In a year or so, you might find those same magazines much cheaper at a used-book store. You can also subscribe6 to many magazines for less than half the cover price.
Older, out-of-print7 magazines are harder to find. (But maybe not too hard: Ask your parents if there are any old magazines squirreled8 away in the attic9.) Flea markets are excellent sources. And don’t forget to check out Internet auction sites like eBay, or do a search on the term “collectible magazines.”
Mail-order dealers are another place to find copies. You’ll probably have to pay more, especially for older, hard-to-find magazines. But it’s definitely more fun to search through a dusty box under a table at a flea market or in an attic and find that copy of a magazine you’ve been wanting for a while.
想收集到你最喜欢的体育明星或名人的照片很简单，你甚至都用不着相机，一些照片每月就直接送到你的邮箱里了。
从收集杂志封面开始。有些照片很棒，杂志内容也很有趣。而且，搜寻的过程就像探宝一样。
在开始收藏之前，先想好你要收集什么。每年发行的杂志有数百种，几年下来就好几千了。这也是收藏杂志的好处之一：你可以选择收藏的主题，而且挑选的余地很大。我们现在只拿体育明星举例，实际上你可以选择任何收藏主题——划独木舟、徒步旅行、国家公园、汽车，什么都可以。
你的爱好
对于大多数人来讲，是否收藏一本杂志最主要取决于它的封面。许多人收集他们最喜爱的球员，不过还有很多其它主题可供收藏，比如：
* 球队：收集封面上有你最喜欢的球队队员的杂志。
* 运动：如果你最喜欢的运动是乒乓球、足球、篮球这三大项目中的一个，这个面可就太大了。不过如果你特别喜欢滑板、冲浪、高尔夫或奥林匹克运动会，那就有一些特棒的杂志等着加入你的收藏。
* 刊名：有的杂志已发行数十年，有的出了几期就不见了踪影。要收集全某种杂志可是个真正的挑战。
* 创刊号：通常任何杂志的创刊号都比较难找到，当然更值得收藏者关注。不过，这种收藏也会更花钱。
* 生日刊：这可是个真正的个人化收藏主题，收藏和你同月同日或同年“出生”的杂志。
搜寻的乐趣
书店里可以买到当月杂志，但你得付全价。过了一年半载，你可能会在旧书店发现那些杂志，卖得便宜许多。你也能以比定价至少少一半的价格订阅到很多杂志。
旧的而且绝版的杂志更难找到。（不过也许也不是太难：问问你父母，家里阁楼上是不是堆着什么旧杂志。）跳蚤市场是搜寻的最好去处。还有，别忘了查一查像eBay这样的网站上的拍卖物品，或者用搜索引擎搜索一下“可收藏的杂志”。
邮购经销店是另一个搜寻期刊的地方。可能你得多花钱，特别是老的很难找到的杂志。但在跳蚤市场或是阁楼上桌下积满灰尘的箱子里翻腾半天，找到一本期望已久的杂志，绝对是一种莫大的快乐。
1. canoe v. 划独木舟
2. fancy n. 爱好
3. run n. 不断的一系列
4. premiere adj. 初次的
5. thrill n. 兴奋；激动
6. subscribe v. 订阅
7. out-of-print (书等)绝版的
8. squirrel v. 储藏
9. attic n. 阁楼