How rich techies spend their money

In the past successful collectors displayed their treasures behind glass or hung them up on a wall.

Jake Bronstein doesn't do that.

When the blogger-turned-entrepreneur of the magnetic "BuckyBalls" office toy throws a party, he pulls out one of his forty-odd cameras from their flight cases and puts out some props.

Cameras like Bronstein's Pentax 67 have to be used to be appreciated. "It looks like a camera you might have bought in photo class, except it's like four times as large," Bronstein says. "It feels really solid, almost like a weapon, and every time you push the button you hear the mirror go up and down, and it has this amazing clip-clop sound like a horse walking down the street."

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A camera like that has to be handled to be appreciated, which is why he shares them. Bronstein's guests get to enjoy his treasures, and he gets something new to collect: pictures of his friends having fun.

That's typical of a new wave of collectors. Rather than collecting rugs and antique vases, they're buying artifacts that have more meaning to their lives, whether it's now-outdated technology they wanted growing up, the comic books that inspired them or the science fiction movies that are now woven into the popular culture.

Image: Comic Books

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