WHY COLLECT MINIATURES?
Why collect anything, for that matter? There are probably as many reasons as there are people collecting. Far too many reasons to go into here. Our theme is why collect miniatures, as opposed to full size objects.
Full size things take up a lot of space, especially things like cars and trains and airplanes. They're also very expensive. Few of us have either the space or the money to collect full size cars or trains or airplanes. So, people collect miniature models of these things.
Smaller things that we normally have around the house, like dolls or plates or even beer cans, take up a lot less space, so it's possible to collect them in life size versions. Unless they're too expensive - then we collect (relatively) inexpensive replicas. Even so, you can fill up a house pretty quick with dolls or plates or beer cans.
Take hand turned bowls and vases as an example. Full size, they can fill up a room - even a house - pretty quickly. They can also be quite expensive, full size turnings from well known turners going for hundreds - even thousands - of dollars.
Then there are miniatures. At 1/12 scale - the most common - you can put more than three dozen of them in less than one square foot.
(Actually, in the instance shown, you could easily put four dozen turnings in this space by simply using the bottom shelf. I put the ruler there just to give a feeling of scale.)
And, at about 1/10th the cost of comparable full scale turnings, you can create a pretty impressive collection for a lot less money.