Blog Azeroth: Collections

It's been a while since I've taken part in a shared topic but and only did this question catch my eye but I saw it before the week was over!
Noahdeer of Be MOP has posted a shared topic question on Blog Azeroth about collections:

World of Warcraft has added many different items for players to collect, whether it be collecting pets, mounts, transmog gear or knickknacks about the lore. This week’s topic asks what you do collect in the game and what is your prized item from that collection?

I collect things both in real life and in-game. It's part of being a hoarder. I also like to be thorough and so once I start something I like to finish it. I'm also stubborn which helps. In-game I collect a number of things both physical items and non-physical.

Battle Pets
This one is pretty obvious to anyone who reads my blogs (but if you're new to my blog then maybe not. Also Hey!). Even before the announcement of pet battles I collected companion pets buying them as and when I could. When pet battles was announced I worked really hard to get as many of the then available pets as I could. Since MoP I have continued collecting pets. I manage my collection on warcraftpets.com and you can view my collection here. I currently have 413 unique pets. Obviously, I still have a number of pets to collect and level. I also need to complete Raiding with Leashes.

Mounts
Mounts are something else that I collect that's quite a common in-game thing to do. I only have 99 mounts in total which isn't a lot!! But I'm happy with how many I have to date. I decided to look at the types of mounts I have in my collection in more depth. I found that whilst I have mounts from a number of sources (see pie chart below) my collection is heavily dominated by vendor pets (n=69). I own very few Achievement and Faction mounts (3 and 13 respectively) compared with the total numbers available in-game (23 and 46 respectively - assuming I've calculated correctly).

 

What's even more interesting is looking at the types of mounts I own. I have 72 ground mounts, 26 flying mounts and 1 aquatic mount (the Abyssal Seahorse). So, as you can see my mount collection is heavily skewed towards ground mounts! I suppose this is partially due to me only having one maximum level character to grind with all the different factions etc.

Hunter Pets
My main is a hunter and so I collect hunter pets. When I first started playing I wanted every cool pet that I get me hands on to tame. Until I hit a problem that all hunters face - the limited number of stable slots. More recently I've given taming a back seat and am slightly ashamed to say I am yet to tame a single pet in Pandaria! Not that long ago, around mid-January, I posted 'A Long Overdue Stable Clearance' in which I discuss my collection of hunter pets etc.

World Events
Something about World Events really appeals to me. I think it's that enjoy having the opportunity to explore Azeroth, do different dailies and take part in these annual festivals. Or maybe it's the titles - more on that later. With this current 2013 Love is in the Air I have now experienced every world event once. According to the armoury I have completed 72% of World Event achievements which I'm really happy with. I've completed a number of the meta-achievs (the ones that grant you a title) and for the others I've done atleast 50% of the achievs that make it up.

Titles
Whilst titles aren't exactly physical in-game I think they're important to a lot of people. Many use them as a sort of social standing, a way to show off what you've done. I have no idea how many are available in game but I have ?? so far. Again, I know I only have a small amount of those available but I've worked hard for the ones I have - in particular Salty.

Recipes
I'm not really sure when or why I started collecting recipes. I think it started with my hoarding and me not wanting to ditch recipes that dropped in-game. I keep every recipe - whether I have the profession it relates to or not (note: I only lack Blacksmithing currently) , whether I have five in the bank already or zero. I just don't see the point in vendoring or dare I say it deleting them.
Anyway, my collecting got a little more serious once I set my goal on the Iron Chef achievement. I got a handy add-on called Ackis Recipe List and I still use it when searching for elusive recipes/patterns.

Gear
I think everyone who plays WoW collects gear, but maybe not. I mostly collect Tier sets on my hunter and random other gear on my alts. Normally I keep gear that I like the look of or the colour. For example, I have a very clear vision of my DK wearing some very skimpy red plate gear and so any red plate I keep in her bank waiting for the day I transmog her gear. My hunter has parts of Gronnstalker's Armour, Dragonstalker Armour and Giantstalker Armour but sadly no full sets. I've also, more recently, collected the Stormscale Set that you get from questing in the Dread Wastes. 
Nonetheless, when it comes to gear one thing really appeals to me - guns and bows!

Guns and Bows
I prefer bows to guns. It's not so much the sound that guns make but more of an aesthetic and personal style preference. I guess I feel the game is more in the era of using bows as opposed to guns. Having said that there are some pretty cool guns in the game. My collection to date includes the following:

Black Bow of the Betrayer - still my favourite!
Sunfury Bow of the Phoenix - what I'm currently transmogged to.
Marista Bow - Pandaria bow.
Striker's Mark - bow made of bones.
Stakethrower - gun.
Ironfeather Longbow - I'm still very unsure of this bow and whether I actually like it.
Extreme-Impact Hole Puncher - gun.
Dragonbreath Hand Cannon - my favourite gun!
Bodyguard's Rifle - pretty cool gun.

Edit: I shamefully forgot Golden Bow of Quel'Thalas.

Having written this I now realise that I collect a lot! Oh well, I'm a hoarder after all!