The pages of the Guinness World Records (GWR) books are full to bursting with the most mind-boggling collections. Yes, we monitor the classic categories and have done so for decades – stamps, coins, postcards and trading cards – but what’s emerged over the years is the revelation that people collect all sorts of unusual items.
We literally cover everything from A to Z… Airline boarding passes, bagpipes, condoms, dinosaur coprolites (that’s poo!), ear trumpets, four-leaf clovers, gnomes, hamburger items (see photo above), handcuffs, ingested objects, jet fighters (yes, in private collection!), knives, lip balms, mouse mats, nail clippers, olive oil bottles, police officer hats, quartet cards, royal memorabilia, spoon rests, traffic cones, unicorns, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, X-Men memorabilia, yo-yos and ZX Spectrum games!
There’s even a Guinness World Records collection record for the most Guinness World Records memorabilia! It’s owned by superfan Martyn Tovey (UK), who owns 2,164 unique GWR mementos (posters, games, beer mats, etc.) and 353 different versions of our book – more than we have in our offices!
The largest collection on record was amassed by Ed Brassard of Seattle, Washington, USA, who collected a phenomenal 3,159,119 matchbook covers.
And as you’ll hear in the latest episode of our podcast series Guinness World Records: Behind the Book (above), the second-largest collection on record is for human teeth!
As well as sharing his favourite collection records, our host - Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday – also digs into the WHY? What drives people to spend potentially millions of dollars on amassing thousands or even hundreds of thousands of related items? Is it just a harmless hobby, or is it a dangerous obsession? Plus, find out how to have your collection ratified by Guinness World Records.
Follow GWR: Behind the Book on Twitter @gwr and @craigglenday – just search for #GWRPodcast. Please leave us a review or rating, and if you have any questions, just ask and we’ll answer them on a future episode.
See more incredible collections in Guinness World Records 2020, available now.
