In the past, collecting (1) was / had been a hobby for rich people. Kings and queens (2) sent / were sending explorers to find new objects in strange new countries. Since those times, people from all types of background (3) collected / have collected every kind of object from the normal (stamps and coins) to the weird (lunchboxes and toilet paper).
Mike Bryant (4) collected / has been collecting antique bottles for years. Bryant (5) has built / has been building an extra room above his garage to keep all the bottles.
Another collector, Pat Sonnenberg, has also (6) created / been creating a special room in the house for her collection of 350 lunchboxes. She (7) started / has started collecting lunchboxes because she (8) didn't have / hadn't had one for school when she was a child.