Id say 1 of ourr newest members "redbeard" sohould tell us about his. THis will be good.
Believe it or not, I haven't been collecting very long, I guess since 2001. Everything I'd bought prior was for the sole purpose of calling birds and I guess these "collectibles" have been too but it's painfully obvious they aren't needed to be successful.
It all started due to me gettin' a PC at home and finding ebay. I curse the day ever since. All along and still to this day, I primarily hunt with calls anyone could find. Lynch Jet Slate, Primos Super Slate, Roger Lathem round slate and diaphrams. Yes, custom "collectible" calls do ride in the vest now and have accounted for birds. I only have two calls I don't hunt with and those are boxes painted by Marilyn Gilbert and they are on the edge of being listed on ebay.
The closest thing to a collectible I hunted with back then(and still do) was a Neil Cost box call and it has accounted for two gobblers. Sure, my vest calls have become collectible but they won't be shelved because of it.
I've got some 60 boxes, 50 slates, 6 scratch boxes, 6 wingbones, 14 tubes and 61 trumpets/yelpers.
My first wingbone was from Lamar Williams and I've used it every season. My first trumpet was from Frank Cox and no I still haven't mastered it according to his instructions, but I am better than I was when I got it. Now, I own trumpets from many trumpet makers, including our own NewMooncaller, which by the way can flat out play a trumpet as well as make one.
Basically, I love calls that sound good and are pleasing to the eyes. I will and have taken most all my calls to the woods and for those who care, I've listed how I've taken the birds I have in 19 years of hunting.
Like most I expect, I use confidence calls, ones that have worked for me in the past. I've only taken one bird with a trumpet, thus it's not a confidence call but one I go to when I don't know where a bird is and I have started some gobblin' with 'em but finished them off with my regulars. I hope to remedy that soon, as I've been practicin'. It's just hard to switch from those calls that have worked in the past when ya got a hot bird within huntin' range.
I don't collect for investment, I collect because of a sick compulsion of wanting things I can't afford. I'm serious, I'm one of the compulsive manic depressive sob's that can't control himself when it comes to stuff I want. And that ain't limited to turkey calls. Knives, guns, Indian stuff, mountain man stuff, Harley stuff, god I'm a sick sick indebted puppy.
Being a computer programmer, I created Redbeard's Turkey Trackin' System many many years ago for fun and I track my hours, turkey's seen, kill history, hunt history. It's pretty neat to look back on. It may appear by this, I'm a "number's hunter", but I'm not. I sincerely enjoy being in the turkey woods and if I get one to talk to me, play the game, I'm happy. A kill is icing on the cake and pretty much anticlimatic.
I award the call type based upon what the turkey answered and/or came in to.
Call Type Turkeys Taken
Slate 10
Diaphram 13
Box 4
Push Button Box 0
Slate/Diaphram 11
Push Button/Diaphram 3
Gobble Tube 0
Gobble Tube/Diaphram 2
Owl Hoot 1
Box/Slate Diaphram 2
Wingbone/Trumpet 1
Wing Fly Down Leaf
Scratchin'/Slate/Diaphram 3
Wing Fly Down 1
Gobble Tube/Slate 1
And for the grand finale, which isn't attributed to ambushin', although I have shot a couple "walk by" turkeys before and would again, but attributed based upon woodsmanship. Many times, in the terrain I hunt, it's just as easy to get to the bird without him knowing anything. For me, I try to get as close to the bird as possible before letting him know anything is near him, hen or human. I take great pride in my woodsmanship skills, perhaps more than my calling ability. I liken it to the Indian's and their skill in hunting. Luckily, I judged a good many of them and took them with no call at all.
Nothing 28
Success Attributes
Woodsmanship....................33.59%
Calling..................................41.85%
Set Up..................................16.65%
Pure Luck...............................7.91%
And yes, I have hunted long enough to miss birds, 20 of them as a matter of fact. A fellow once asked my boy if he was a turkey hunter, Will said yes. The man asked if he'd missed any. Will said yes. The man said, "Well then, you've been huntin' quite a while then.
In closing and with reflection, I suppose the greatest thing I have gotten since I began "collecting" is friends.
To me, turkey hunting was always a "One Man Game", as Ken Morgan put it in his fabulous book by the same name. Turkey call collecting has introduced me to some fine folks I now call friends and for that I am very grateful.
R&S 
OWNER/PRESIDENT
