I thought the Mantel community would enjoy this since this site is for all sorts of collectors.

I recently attended the big Alameda County Fair here in Northern California, and they had an amateur hobby collection contest on display. It was so fascinating to see dozens of random collections in hobby cases — I took photos of some of my favorites. 

Featured hobby collections here: Grateful Dead memorabilia, old Barbies, antique military coins, 1950s compacts/vanities, 1970s sports video games (might favorite), old robot toys, Matchbox cars of yesteryear, The Weekend collection, shot glasses from around the world, and Felix the Cat (1st prize). Let me know if you want any closeups!