The most interesting collections in the world. Ties for all occasions

Have you ever loved collecting postcards, stamps, or gum inserts? Surely these hobbies have faded over the years... But these people have devoted more than one year to their hobby - collecting - and this is not the limit.

(Total 10 photos)

1. Dimitris Pistiolas from Athens owns the largest collection of video cameras - in total he has 937 models of antique and modern spotlights. (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP)

2. Since 2003, Chinese collector Wang Guohua has been collecting cigarette packs, some of which he keeps in his room in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. The collection includes 30,000 cigarette packs from more than 100 companies from 10 countries. (AP)

3. Lisa Courtney's Pokemon collection ended up in. There are 12,113 toys in the collection. (Paul Michael Hughes / Guinness World Records / PRNewsFoto)

4. Ron Hood's basement in Lewiston, Maine has been converted into a real-life PEZ candy museum. Now he has more than 3,000 PEZ candy toys in his collection, although he considers it “small.” (Daryn Slover/Lewiston Sun Journal/AP)

5. Farmer Heinrich Kath displays some of his 20,000 beer mugs in Cuxhaven. He himself does not drink beer, but has been collecting mugs since 1997. Heinrich's brother collects replica watches, but he is still far from matching his relative's collection. (Joerg Sarbach/AP)

6. Wally Hammer's collection of rubber ducks was not the largest in the world, although there is not a single repeating duck in the collection. Her collection of 2,469 ducks was just a few hundred short of breaking the world record set by one California woman. (Bob Holiday/The Pantagraph/AP)

7. The Guinness Book of Records recognized the collection of owls by Pam Barker from Leeds as the largest in the world. There are 18,000 owls in her collection. (Russ Dillingham/The Sun Journal/AP)

8. Mary Ann Sell of Cincinnati owns a collection of 40,000 View-Master films. (Mike Roemer/AP)

People love to collect various things. Children collect stamps, toys, chips and much more. But over time, everything changes. Some stop doing it, and some start from more serious and unusual things. For many of them, this becomes the meaning of their whole life. This article presents 10 of the most amazing collections.

A Belgian woman named Celine Cornet is very passionate about her collection, which consists of 2,200 toy pandas. At the end of the 1970s, her husband brought back from a business trip a souvenir in the form of a panda, which became the first specimen in the woman’s huge collection.
Who doesn't love sauces? Definitely not Vic Klinko. If big sauce lovers store up to 20 different bottles in the refrigerator, then Vic has already collected 6 thousand types. He has been collecting them for 17 years. Thanks to his work in a restaurant, he regularly learns about new products and immediately buys them.
Little Harry Burroughs, who is not even ten years old, loves vacuum cleaners. He managed to assemble more than 40 different models. It all started with early childhood– when Harry couldn’t sleep, his parents turned on the vacuum cleaner, which helped the child fall asleep quickly. He buys rare models of vacuum cleaners with his pocket money.
The Gibbins family regularly adds to their collection of sex dolls, the number of which has exceeded 240. Such dolls attracted my husband as a child, and even then he realized that he wanted to collect a huge collection. He purchased his first unusual doll for $4,000. It was not easy for the wife to come to terms with her husband’s hobby, but she still had to. Over their lifetime, they spent about 160 thousand dollars on this collection.
Barker Graham boasts a very unusual collection of belly button fuzz. He began collecting it in his youth, when he became interested in how much cannon could be collected from a navel in 30 years of life. He has been collecting it for 26 years. He replenishes the collection every day before going to the shower. It is worth noting that not long ago one of the museums acquired the rights to the Barker collection for a lot of money.
Barry Chappell always dreamed of quitting smoking, and one day he decided to try to break the habit with the help of nicotine chewing gum. While on the plane, Barry did not have the opportunity to throw away the gum, and at that moment he wanted to collect one large piece of gum from hundreds of small ones. Over the course of 6 years of struggle with smoking, he managed to assemble a huge ball of chewing gum, reaching one meter in diameter.
Little Hannah Walker, who is only 7 years old, collects erasers. Her aunt gave her more than one and a half thousand different erasers, which was the beginning of collecting. All erasers cost over two thousand pounds.
A Chinese man named Jian Yang collects children's dolls. His collection consists of 9 thousand different dolls that many girls would like to receive.
A Star Wars fan has collected more than 300,000 items related to the film series. Moreover, he even opened own museum, in which the most outstanding objects are exhibited. However, this museum is not popular.
Belgian Yvevet Dardenne collects various iron boxes. Many of them are associated with significant events in the world. On this moment she collected almost 60 thousand types of boxes.

People know how to surprise each other. This is especially true for different collections. The choice of a collecting item is determined by the character and interests of the person. As a rule, people begin collecting their first collections in childhood, which in the future sometimes becomes an integral part of their adult life.

Find out about the ten strangest collectors and their collections:

1. Bob Gibbins and Lizzie: 240 sex dolls

60-year-old Bob Gibbins and his 55-year-old wife Lizzie have a rather unusual collection of 240 various types sex dolls that they dress up and take with them on shopping trips.

Bob says he was always interested in such dolls, but his passion really began to develop when he bought various rag dolls and other toys for his two children. He then moved on to buying mannequins for stores, which he spent two years acquiring, amassing quite an impressive collection. However, he only realized what he really wanted to collect when he got to an online forum of amateurs silicone dolls. In 2007, with the support of his wife, Gibbins purchased his first silicone doll, Beverly, for about $4,000. But that was just the beginning, as the couple continued to buy Various types sex dolls, from cheap inflatable ones that cost a maximum of $639, to realistic silicone dolls like Jessica, who blew a serious hole in the family's budget, cutting it by $11,202. Overall, Bob and Lizzie Gibbins estimate they've spent about $160,000 since they started collecting sex dolls.

Even though sex dolls are commonly purchased and used for sexual purposes, Bob says he has never used his girls in this way. He admits that he finds most of them attractive, especially considering the fact that they are created with perfect figures, but he considers them all family members.

2. Graham Barker: The largest (and probably the only) collection of belly button fluff in the world

Collecting belly button fluff may not be a hobby worth bringing up in conversation, but that hasn't stopped a 45-year-old library worker from collecting his own belly button fluff for 26 years.

Graham Baker from Perth, Australia, has been building his strange collection ever since he noticed lint in his belly button one night and became interested in how much belly button lint a human being can produce. The only way to get the answer to your question was to watch your belly button and collect your own belly button fluff. Contrary to what many people think when they first hear about his strange habit, Graham is not obsessed with belly button fuzz, nor does he spend all his time looking at his belly button. He is driven by pure curiosity and devotes only ten seconds of his time to collecting belly button fluff, doing it right before he goes to the shower.

The amount of lint he finds in his belly button each night depends on the type of clothing he is wearing that day, but he has found that warm underwear is the most productive in this regard. Every night he collects his belly button fluff and puts it in a clay jar that he bought specifically for storing belly button fluff. At the end of each year, he adds that year's belly button fluff to his vast collection. In the 26 years he's collected his own belly button fluff, he's been able to fill three glass jars and is already working on a fourth. Believe it or not, his entire extensive collection weighs only 22 grams.

After making it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest collection of belly button fluff, his three glass jars of belly button fluff ended up in a museum for an undisclosed sum.

3 Eric Ducharme: Latex Mermaid Tails

When Eric Ducharme dons his beautiful mermaid tail to explore the crystal clear waters natural springs in Florida as a waterman, he says he also transforms mentally. This is the unique, exciting life of a Florida man who says he eats, sleeps and breathes mermaids, while trying to physically look and act like them as often as time allows.

Ducharme has been fascinated by mermaids since he was a child. At the age of 16, he performed his first show, swimming as a mermaid prince at the Weeki Wachee Springs Little Mermaid Show in 2006.

Today, Ducharme has his own business called “Mertailor”. He produces custom tails made from silicone, urethane and latex, just like the ones he wears.

4. The largest collection of chewed nicotine gum in the world

Have you ever heard of someone who rolls chewed nicotine gum into a ball as if it were dough? No? Well, then listen.

When Barry Chappell was on an international flight, he started chewing nicotine gum because he couldn't smoke. Since there was no garbage disposal nearby where he could throw the gum, he simply held it in his hand and rolled it into a small ball. Piece by piece, his ball of chewed gum noticeably increased in size. It was at that moment that his amazing idea was born. Why not roll the world's largest ball of chewed nicotine gum and quit smoking in the process?

Now, six years and 95,200 chews later, Barry is a non-smoking superstar. He rolled a giant ball of chewed nicotine gum that weighs almost 80 kilograms!

5 Paul Brockman: A Collection of 55,000 Dresses He Handpicked for His Wife

If love were measured by the number of dresses, Paul Brockman would most likely take the title of the most loving husband in the world. Over the past 56 years, the German-born, Lomita, California-based contractor has given his wife Margot 55,000 dresses, each of which he hand-picked.

The first ten dresses in Paul Brockman's impressive collection were free. He got them while working at the seaport in Bremen, Germany, where workers could choose what they wanted when bales of goods were opened. He gave them all to his then-girlfriend Margot. After they had been dating for some time, Paul asked his girlfriend's hand in marriage from her parents.

Margot shared his passion for dancing and they went to the dance floor every week, but Paul wanted her to wear a new dress every time, so he bought her more and more dresses.

Margot never liked shopping, so Paul chose and bought dresses himself. He bought dresses before work, after work and even during work, sometimes coming home with a pile of thirty new dresses. He bought them during end-of-season sales and wherever he saw something he liked. At some point, his obsession with dresses got out of control and he stopped caring about their size.

He never set any budget for his purchases. Sometimes he would spend everything he had in his pockets and wait until the next week if he didn't have any money. The most expensive dress was a dress that he spent $300 on and that Margot never wore. As you can imagine, most of the 55,000 dresses were never worn by Margot.

6. Jian Yang:

The white exterior and spartan gray staircase of Yang Jian's tidy home give no hint of what lurks inside - the pink floor in the living room and his collection of more than 6,000 Barbie dolls.

The 33-year-old from Singapore favors minimalist decor, but Barbie dolls and 3,000 other dolls fill three of the four walls of his living room, the nine mirrored cabinets in his dressing room, and the shelves in his office.

Jiang has a professional interest in toys as he is the director of marketing at Omicom Media Group. However, he began collecting Barbie dolls at the age of 13, when he bought a Barbie model called "Great Shape", dressed in a turquoise tracksuit and striped leg warmers.

His boyish interest has grown into a "crazy obsession" that is supported by his friends and accepted by his family. He spent more than 20 years and $404,681 building his collection.

Note: Although Jian has an impressively large collection, the 2013 edition of Guinness World Records gave the award for the largest collection of Barbie dolls to a German woman named Bettina Dorfmann, whose collection includes more than 15,000 of these dolls.

7. Chris Reid: The World's Largest (and Coolest) Collection of Super Soakers

Just look at Chris Reid's crazy collection of huge water pistols. The huge water pistol first appeared in 1989 and quickly replaced other types of water pistols. With its pumping system, the huge water gun practically gives you the ability to shoot water over long distances many more times than regular guns.

In all, he bought approximately 340 huge water pistols, including 240 unique designs(the rest are either models of other colors or repetitions). His very first huge yellow and green water pistol, a Model 50, was signed by Lonnie Johnson, who invented this type of water pistol.

8. Robyn Amato: Collection of 3,000 Raggedy Annie dolls

Despite being surrounded by more than 3,000 Raggedy Annie dolls, Tampa, Florida resident Robin Amato can't bring herself to stop adding to her collection. She never had a Raggedy Annie when she was a child, so her craze didn't start until she was 40 years old. Now the 58-year-old Florida woman admits the dolls have taken over every room in her home.

So far, she has spent more than $20,000 on dolls, Raggedy Enya cookie jars and other doll-related collectibles.

Amato loves to dress up as Raggedy Annie and takes some of the dolls from her collection on her daily walks. She hosts tea parties and also spends time every day in a special bedroom reserved for her clan of Raggedy Annies.

9. Vic Clinco: World's Largest Hot Sauce Collection

Vic Klinko has the most extensive collection of hot sauces in the world. His astounding collection consists of 6,000 bottles, which he has purchased all over the world. His collection even includes a rare bottle of sauce called Blair's 16 Million Reserve, which is the hottest sauce on the planet. The shelves in the dining room of his home in Phoenix, Arizona are lined with bottles of sauces from ceiling to floor. can also be found in built-in cabinets and refrigerators.

He has been collecting sauce bottles for the past 17 years and is rightfully the owner of the largest private collection hot sauces in the world. Mr. Klinko, who works as a cook at the Four Seasons Hotel, said his most prized bottle of hot sauce in his collection was worth about $900 and that it was unique. The most expensive bottle of hot sauce in his collection cost $4,000.

10. Paul Luke: World's Largest Collection of Milk Bottles

A former milkman was forced to build a museum behind his home in the garden after his house became too small for his collection of more than 10,000 milk bottles.

Dedicated to his craft, Paul Luke, 33, saved his first milk bottle when he was just nine years old and earned his own pocket money by working as a milkman's assistant. However, over time, his collection ballooned to more than 10,000 bottles, the rarest of which date back to the 1890s.

A person’s penchant for collecting sometimes provokes him to collect the most unexpected things and objects with which he gradually surrounds himself. Sometimes unusual collections quickly cease to exist due to an acute shortage of exhibits. But those that continue to exist, despite all the difficulties, become real legends.

One of unique collections belongs to a Belgian named Ga van Keer, who lives in Brussels. During his life, he collected more than four thousand passports and replacement or identical documents from 130 countries. The oldest item in his collection dates back to 1615 and is a true historical rarity that adorns the collection.

Another example of an unusual collection is the collection of Darren Haake from Australia. His collection was born relatively recently in 1993 and began with a small decal. Over the years, the collection has been replenished, the number of exhibits in it has almost reached 280,000 pieces.

An interesting collection is that of Yakov Yosipov, who collected more than 14,000 used bus tickets. At first glance, you can find many identical exhibits in his collection, but this is where the special interest lies - he preserves those tickets that are at least in some way different from the rest. It should be noted here that collections of this kind very often do not even require special effort, you just need to go to work every morning and evening.

Whiskey collections belonging to two people living on different continents can be considered very impressive and interesting. One of them is Giuseppe Begnoni from Bologna, Italy. He inherited his collection from Edoardo Giaccone, whose collection at the time of his death in 1997 amounted to 5,502 unopened bottles of whiskey of various varieties, among which bourbon and Irish whiskey were of particular pride. Another, no less distinguished collector of this drink is Clive Vidiz, president of the Brazilian Whiskey Collectors Association. He owns more than two and a half thousand complete and completely different bottles of Scotch whiskey. His collection is kept in the Museum of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

It’s hard to even imagine that sometimes the most simple objects, surrounding a person, become a collectible. But Angelika Unfergau from Germany is ready to argue with this. She chose the object for collecting ballpoint pens and in less than ten years has collected almost 200,000 unique exhibits from 137 countries. According to Angelika herself, she is simply shocked and fascinated by the variety of their shapes and colors. It is worth noting that the cost of the most expensive exhibit was 500 euros.

Fans legendary film « star Wars» are familiar with the collection of Jason Joyner from London. Being a special effects expert on the set of this legendary epic, he could not resist the desire to collect a collection of toys and other items that are directly or indirectly related to the film cycle. The decoration of this collection is the original models of the robots S-ZRO, R-2D-2, as well as the Darth Vader costume, which were used during the filming of the first three episodes of the film.

One of the most unusual collections was put together by French winemaker Michel Pont - more than a hundred jet fighters. In his collection you can find aircraft of various eras from different countries of the world, ranging from British Vampires to Russian MiGs. It should be noted that Pon’s passion for fighter aircraft arose only in 1986, and before that he collected motorcycles and cars with particular passion; there are more than five hundred of them in his collection.

The collection of lawn mowers collected by Andrew Hall and Michael Duck from the UK may also be interesting. They managed to collect 680 different models of this garden equipment.

And the collection of adhesive plasters from Brian Weiner is truly amazing. It’s hard to even imagine that this simple first aid item can be performed in different ways. color scheme, styles, shapes and sizes. Brian managed to collect 3,750 unused exhibits.

But more than others, one eccentric American, whose name, unfortunately, is unknown, was able to amaze. He collects snowballs, storing them in special refrigerators. For example, one of the most interesting exhibits is a snowball made during the heaviest snowfall. But most collectibles are made by hand famous people. Sometimes the collector organizes birthday parties for his exhibits. For these events, guests dress up in all white, and the host treats them exclusively to white dishes.

This is only a small part of the collections that amaze the imagination. In fact, many of us are collectors of strange objects ourselves, sometimes without even thinking about it. But if you think about it, each one can be classified as an amazing collectible.

As children, many people were interested in collecting. Some people collected stamps or calendars, while others were more interested in exchanging coins from different countries, or carefully place miniature figurines of your favorite animals, cars, dolls on the shelf. And in many kitchens today, the refrigerator door is literally hung with various magnets. What is this if not a collection? However, all these are examples of completely traditional hobbies, and there are people in the world who at some point decided to collect rather unusual things. Many of them have succeeded in this matter, but only 10 of the most unusual collections are presented here.

10. Banana Paradise

Children are sure that a banana with a sticker is much tastier than without it. These small labels are in great demand among children. But with age, interest in them goes away on its own. But for American Becky Marts, this childhood hobby has grown into an adult hobby, which she has been doing for 20 years. Today, the Miss Marts collection includes more than 7 thousand banana labels from different countries. Becky is not alone in her passion for such stickers. She meets like-minded people in collecting banana labels at thematic conferences around the world.

9. Erasers for every taste

Once you enter a stationery store, you can become a respected collector with worldwide popularity. This happened to young Hannah Walker from Great Britain. A girl enthusiastically collects fancy-shaped school erasers. It must be said that this hobby was inherited by a 7-year-old English girl. As a child, her aunt also selflessly collected erasers. Now she happily handed over her entire collection to her niece. As a result, Hannah Walker collected 1,500 erasers, many of which were born much earlier than the youngest collector. Thus, the decoration of the collection is considered to be elastic bands with the symbols of the 1986 FIFA World Cup. According to conservative estimates, the total cost of all exhibits is 2,000 pounds, which is a fortune for a seven-year-old collector. But there are other unusual collections of these stationery items in the world. Thus, Russian woman Yulia Kokina collected about 1000 erasers from all over the world.

8. You can never have too many balls

In 2015, his collection celebrates its half-century anniversary. Since 1965, Dick Falensky from Pennsylvania (USA) has been collecting golf balls. It must be said that the 74-year-old collector was very successful in this matter. To date, he has collected more than 36 thousand exhibits. Among them are balls that previously belonged to Bill Clinton and Michael Jordan - iconic personalities for every American. There are also real rarities on this list, the age of which reaches up to 200 years. To organize the collection, Dick uses furniture made according to his individual drawings. And even despite this, many balls are simply dumped into spacious baskets. The American's house is located on the street Right way, and for the determined Mr. Falensky this name is very symbolic. After all, he is confidently moving towards expanding his already extensive collection, dreaming of collecting 50 thousand balls.

7. Basic truths

Polish Szajnowski family long years collects primers. To date, they have already managed to collect 260 books in 30 languages. But Latvian Juris Cibuls can boast of a much more significant collection. A teacher by profession, he was able to collect 7,300 primers and alphabet books. Its collection includes books from more than 200 countries in 948 languages. Cibuls actively exhibits part of its grandiose collection. Thus, his primers became participants in 160 exhibitions, at which the collector himself met with the audience, talking about the most interesting exhibits. The man claims that using the alphabet you can not only learn a language, but also get to know the culture of a particular people. You can trust his authoritative opinion, because he began collecting primers back in student years. And in 1996, Cibuls himself became the author of a Latvian primer.

6. Do not disturb!

With German methodicality, Reiner Weichert expanded his collection over the course of 25 years. In total, since 1990, the man has collected 11,570 “Do Not Disturb!” door signs. His collection includes artifacts from 188 countries that called for silence in various hotels, cruise ships and airplanes. With such a great selection of signs at hand, Rayner doesn't have to worry about anyone disturbing his peace. It’s just that the unusual collection made Weichert famous, which means you can forget about silence. After all, great glory awaits him.

5. Seafood

Some people add to their unusual collections without spending a penny. Thus, Kari Hansen from Norway carefully collects all the objects that she finds on the seashore. For more than 20 years, the waves have brought the most incredible exhibits to her collection. Kari loves to walk along the coast, looking closely at the sand. To tell the truth, for many years the collector did not come across any particularly valuable specimens. But one day she came across a bronze decoration in the shape of a horseshoe. At first the woman did not attach much importance to this, but very quickly the find glorified Trondenes, hometown Kari Hansen. The fact is that the necklace turned out to come from Bronze Age, and its age is 2500 years. At the same time, the find was in excellent condition, but it did not become an adornment of the collection. According to the laws of the country, a valuable artifact is the property of the state. And that means its place is in the museum.

4. A student's dream

Thanks to his students, physics teacher Alexander Smirnov has collected an interesting collection. Over 30 years of work school teacher, he has accumulated more than 6,000 different cheat sheets. Epochs changed, but students still sought to make their work easier. Each new generation has shown more and more ingenuity in this matter. The transformation of crib sheets can be traced by studying the collection of A.I. Smirnova. There are handwritten and printed exhibits disguised as an eraser or embedded in wrist watch. The most resourceful students managed to write several formulas with inside long false nails, and the boys wrote the necessary information on banknotes. And if at first the teacher’s vigilance was explained by pedagogical zeal, then over time the collector’s passion was added to it.

3. Ties for all occasions

Most of the house of Englishman Tom Holmes is occupied by an unusual collection of clothes. It's about about this accessory men's suit like a tie. This hobby has scientific name– Grabatology. The namesake of the famous detective is not yet so famous on a global scale, but in his homeland his name has long been known. After all, in almost 80 years, which is exactly how long it took Holmes to create the collection, he collected 10,625 ties. The man is so popular in the UK that every year on his birthday he receives a gift in the mail from the Prime Minister himself. There is no need to guess about the contents of the parcel; of course, there is a new tie every time.

2. Penny by penny

Despite his specific hobby, Yuri Babin from Novosibirsk cannot be accused of pettiness. Although he collects coins in denominations of 1 kopeck, the scale of the collection is amazing. Over the years, penny by penny, the pensioner has collected as much as 5 million rubles. At the same time, Babin’s capital has serious weight. His entire collection weighs 7.5 tons. The idea to collect change came to the man in 1998 after the default. At that time, Russian money depreciated significantly, and penny coins became absolutely useless. Yuri not only received coins in change or accidentally found them on the street, but also purposefully bought them in banks in whole packages of 4,000 pieces. A resident of Novosibirsk found a use for his collection in his home. Coins serve as decoration for walls and floors. And he spent several thousand on decorating his own clothes. Thus, a millionaire's jacket weighing about 6 kg was born. True, due to the abundance of metal decor, the fabric is completely invisible, and it looks more like chain mail. Babin shows the collection to everyone, inviting them on a tour of his home.

1. Down collection

It is completely incomprehensible how Graham Barker came up with the idea of collecting umbilical fluff. But he spent 26 years of his life on this venture. The main source of the collection was Barker's own navel. For more than a quarter of a century, a modest Australian librarian from Perth collected 22 grams of umbilical fluff. His unusual collection is very compactly housed in three small glass jars. This meeting was honored to be included in the Book of Records, but the main sensation was another event. A local museum became interested in the collection, offering Barker to buy the treasured cans of fluff. The collector immediately agreed, although he still prefers to remain silent about the amount of proceeds. In general, for some reason the topic of umbilical fluff worries many people on the Green Continent. Thus, the Australian scientist Karl Kruzelnicki was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in 2002 for research in this area. This comic award fell into the hands of the scientist after he established the nature of the occurrence of umbilical fluff. It turns out that this is a mixture of tissue microfibers and dead skin cells, which is formed as a result of friction of a hairy male belly against clothing. Well, a sensational discovery, to say the least. But who knows, maybe this information will inspire someone to create a new unusual collection.

There are an incredible number of the strangest collections in the world. Eccentrics never tire of proving that you can collect anything. Some people carefully store tea bags or toilet lids, while others have room in their collection for a couple of airplanes. It doesn’t matter what a person collects, the main thing is that it brings him joy.