a collapsible reel for receiving windings of wire or the like includes a pair of opposed flange members and a plurality of folding support members defining the reel core and hingedly attached therebetween . each of the flange members may include a plurality of pockets for receiving the plurality of folding support members when the reel is collapsed such that the thickness of the collapsed reel is the substantially the thickness of the two flanges . an outward arcuate contour is provided for winding the wire or like . the hinge structures each have a hinge axis and a radially displaced force transfer contact portion whereby compressive loading of the reel is not conveyed through the hinge axis . interlocking surface structure is on the outside facing surface such as multiplicity of the reel flanges to facilitate stacking . the flanges , the folding core arms , and the hinge structure may all be formed of the same polymeric composition to facilitate grinding of the entire assembled reel for easy recycling .