It’s not often that the news has me cleaning out my son’s room – let’s face it, at times one feels you’re risking life and limb just to get him out of bed in the morning – but when I heard a single trading card was about to earn someone around $3 million, all of a sudden I was on my hands and knees mentally spending the windfall.

Alas, after fishing out the one, bent, long-forgotten Pokemon from under the bed, worth even less than the card it was printed on, I was left to rue the luck of someone else. Once again.

Or is it more than luck?

I don’t know as I’ve never really collected anything.

Sure there was about a month and a half where I coveted and amassed marbles in primary school, but that wasn’t with dreams of monetary worth.

It was only so I could play with Robert Brown as I had the hots for him, and as such, ended up giving him my favourite boulder in exchange for his peewee in what could only be described as a right royal rip-off.

And yes, Sigmund Freud would have had a field day with that exchange.

My husband talks about footy cards and for the last year or so my son has been into these Pokemon ones, but other than that, it’s not really something I’ve ever seriously entertained.

In fact, after buying Junior a set of cards worth more than a night out for dinner as a combined Christmas and birthday present, only to watch him flick through them in the space of three minutes and finding just six or seven ‘good’ ones, the whole thing made me want to throw up.

When I later found out the Pokemon media franchise is worth over $ 135 billion there was nothing left but to bow in deference to this money-making behemoth that really seemed to be nothing much more than collated gambling, with some sort of secondary game attached.

After spending the next three months picking up cards from around the house and asking, ‘Is this one you need?’, only to be told, ‘Nah, chuck it out’ I put a hold on the entire thing and gave him a strong, hard lecture on the upcoming rise in our electricity bill.

The person who enjoyed this latest windfall hasn’t been identified. All that is known of them is that they have found a one-off Magic: The Gathering trading card showing the ‘One Ring’ from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series and the offers have started rolling in.

My precious indeed.

If (when) this coveted item trades hands it will be one of the most expensive trading cards ever sold and when you consider the Wall Street Journal’s odds of someone finding this particular card being below 0.00003% perhaps it becomes a little more understandable.

Personally, though, I see more worth in my $3 million for paying off bills, finalising the mortgage and helping out others, as opposed to sitting framed on a wall or locked away in a bank’s vault in the shape of 6.4 x 8.9cm card.

I think I relate most to the sentimentality of it all, which is why I have kept some of my grandmother’s tea-sets.

But each to their own and clearly there is cash to be made and fun to be had.

Otherwise, why would Antiques Roadshow have been running since 1979?

So, when does collecting become hoarding?

And when does it tip over from a hobby to a business?

Philosophers, neurobiologists and psychologists have all had a crack at understanding this with various hypotheses.

Everything from consumerism, nostalgia, cataloguing and mental health has been an answer.

Add in addiction, passion, status and currency and you can start to appreciate how nuanced something around 30% of us actively invest in, is.

I think I relate most to the sentimentality of it all, which is why I have kept some of my grandmother’s tea-sets.

The fact I haven’t bought or sought out others, makes me think I haven’t tipped over into collector mode just yet, but perhaps I’m just kidding myself.

In all honesty, it’s fear of the ‘trading floor’ that’s stalling any further collation.

From being in direct competition with others to cooperating to get what you want, there’s no doubt it pushes one’s negotiating skills and exposes people to the power of the market.

I was never that person who could drive a hard bargain or good deal, so am very well aware that I would be more likely to hand over the Crown Jewels than some cheap imitation.

That’s why most collections get shut down in schools as young kids are also given some sharp lessons in the art of the scam.

So, while I don’t get it, hats off to those of you who turn up early at garage sales, covet first editions or have boxes of well-catalogued Weetbix cards.

Ultimately, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Which is no doubt why I’ll be unlikely to find riches in my pre-teen son’s room any time soon.

Ali Clarke presents the breakfast show on Mix 102.3. She is a regular columnist for InDaily.