I'm that way too, surfwalker.
Old reliable plugs I keep around because each one has a story to tell, to me. As I pick it up I remember if I had a nice fish on it, and re-live that fight. Just like a trusted old bird-dog or beagle that has brought many a prize back to the hunter, these plugs have served me well.
If they were junk in the first place, I'm ok to get rid of them during the winter. The good producers I'll sand down and re-paint, put new VMCs on them and split rings.
The metals I use something called "Magic Wadding" to shine them up, it's like lambswool with a metal cleaner soaked into the fibers, works pretty good. You can also dress up the metal spoons by gluing red beady eyes on them, that works sometimes too.
As for the plastics, I tend to use them as is, but a neat trick is to scuff them up a bit with fine sandpaper and spray the old ones chartreuse, black, or bright yellow, 3 colors that have produced well. I also like to swap out the rear treble on a lot of my magnum bomber types with a single bucktail siwash.
I met a guy a few years ago in MoCo, and old salt who's not too much into the newest styles of anything.
This guy not only made his own wooden plugs, he took all the plastic ones we use...bombers, redfins, magdarters, ets, and made them better, either with paint, bb's, or some modification. I was drooling as I looked over the weatherbeaten old army issue green canvas container he was using as a plug bag, and all the custom mods he made with these basic plugs.