I don't remember who originally made this quip, but a line from an old show comes to mind...
"This isn't an antique store, it's just a bunch of stuff!"
On one level, part of me doesn't see much of a difference. On another level, do you want a collection or a "bunch of stuff?"
That is, are you approaching this as a collector or a shooter? (These aren't mutually exclusive, so please bear with me.) There are a lot of classic pistol designs, and I suppose I could come up with a Top 10 as well as the next person.
Having ten or so totally unrelated pistols (different chamberings, different magazines, etc.) isn't real practical from a shooter's standpoint, and it probably isn't a "collection" in the usual sense of the word. There's nothing wrong with that. A Top 10 is a theme, after all.
I own the pistols I own because I like them. I've wasted a lot of time, money, and effort finding this out for myself. I own some 1911s at the moment, but I wouldn't own any if I didn't like them. The sad truth is that it took me some years to really warm up to the 1911, and I missed out on some real deals about ten years ago.
The only handgun I would really like to own for its own sake would be a Mark II Hi-Power. I really loved Hi-Powers and owned a FEG P9M-SA, but I discovered the CZ 75 shortly before purchasing a "real" one. Short story: I prefer the CZ.
Personally, the only thing keeping me from "collecting" guns* is my budget.
* Collecting as in the sense of "I'm going to buy one specimen of every pistol ever chambered in 9x18mm," for example.
