Is a Speedmaster a “must” for watch collectors to experience?

I have a confession to make: Speedmaster does nothing for me. I know all the history and have tried it a few times because it seems to be such an essential watch - always left me cold..

As much as I want and NEED (LOL) a Speedy, there is no way ANY watch is a "Must Own" for a collector. 

Denoting anything "Must Own" in a hobby of collecting essentially useless items is nothing short of gatekeeping & shaming. 

I have an older Speedmaster Reduced and a new Moonwatch. Both are great but as @UnholiestJedi say, no watch is a must. There is so many watches to choose from and you have to spend your money wisely. For me that means to spend your money on what you like without any prerequisite. Maybe not even spent on watches. 

The only thing that is a "must" own for a watch collector is a watch. 

Like people above mentioned, there is no particular watch all collectors must own/experience. Things like that tend to be said by people trying to control/define what a "real" collector is. 

Those types are as repulsive as people who insist you need to know every song by a band to be a "real" fan. 

There is no such thing as a "must have" watch. Everyone is a unique blend of personal taste, lifestyle, career, shape and size. Add available budget to the mix, and it really is impossible to build a watch that is just right for everyone. 

I agree completely with @UnholiestJedi , @KristianG and @Richierich - there is no such thing as a watch that anyone "must have" in their collection. When I first started collecting, and started to see several posts concerning the "need" to have a Speedy, it turned me off the idea of ever owning one. Although I always liked it, it never appealed enough to me to consider buying until the 3861 version was announced.

I voted yes but I don‘t have the original speedy that went to the moon. Like @robwei said, it does nothing for me. 
Instead I chose other variations of #omegaspeedmaster that were love at 1st sight. Here are my #omega speedmasters 

Also, I never use their chronograph function. Unless there come a time where I have to burn my engines for precisely 14 secs, I am just going to look at my Apple phone and say “Hey Siri, put a timer for 14 sec”. 
 

Not a “must”  have but completes my collection. 

I said no and I do own a speedy.  Truth be told I think Omega has milked it to death, that's my word on it anyway.

No.

No from me, I own a Speedy Moonphase that I love, but own and buy what you like. Nothing is mandatory. 

Luckily I'm not a collector because if I have to pretend to like [criticism redacted] then I'm outta here. The only must-have is the F-91W, and there are acceptable subsitutes for that.

Oooff… I don’t have an F-91W but if you’ll send me one, I’ll gladly become a collector.  LOL 

I like the way the Speedy looks but it took years for me finally decide to buy one.  I didn’t click with it for a variety of reasons so I traded it for something else. 

NO! but a Seiko 5 GMT is !😂

Absolutely not. And I say that as someone with a Speedy in his collection. If you can experience the watch, then go and try it on and play around with it. Get familiar with it and then decide if you‘re a Speedy guy or not. I wanted one since getting into watches and eventually bought one. Now, about a year later, it even feels boring and I always have to buy new straps and bracelets for it it keep it interesting for me. If I got a good offer, I‘d even let it go. It is a very cool watch, but certainly not a „must-have“.

Nope.  I've tried a few on; they're nice, but not for me.

I have had a speedy (2 in fact) and had it because I believed you needed to have one in your collection to be a true collector….. I was wrong on both occasion, do believe you need to own one because of the history and understand just how good it is. However for me it’s just not my style (tried with leather / NATO / rubber / metal bracelet) I love a chrono they are just not my stick…… I’m a time and date guy…. 42mm — 44mm.