Meet Zero Freitas, a 62-year-old wealthy Brazilian businessman who has spent his life amassing a collection of "several million" vinyl records. For years, he's been scouring the world, buying up records from some of the world's most prominent collectors, including former music-store owner Paul Mawhinney, who sold his collection of over 3 million LPs back in 2008.
Freitas now has a team of international scouts scattered across New York, Mexico City, South Africa, Nigeria, and Cairo—all of whom negotiate deals on his behalf and ship thousands of records back to Brazil every month.
Freitas is aware that the collection is mostly useless if people aren't able to access it, and has now begun preparing the Emporium Musical—a non-profit organization which will act as a music library. He's also on a mission to digitize as much of the collection as possible, as up to 80% of Brazilian music recorded in the 20th-century is yet to be transferred. (Source)
2. World's Largest Collection of Pokemon Memorabilia
When it comes to Pokemon, the aim is to collect them all. Lisa Courtney has tried to do so, and is the proud owner of the world's largest Pokemon collection, with more than 16,000 pieces of the Japanese game. The 26-year-old has been collecting and storing the trinkets for the past 17 years. She held the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of Pokemon memorabilia since 2009 when she had just 12,113 items but that hasn't stopped her from collecting more, and she claims to spend over 7 hours a day looking for new releases. (Source)
3. Every Beer Can Ever Made
The beer can is making a comeback, and the proof is on the shelves and in the stacks of boxes inside collectors' homes. Central Indiana resident Gene Judd has an extensive collection in his Zionsville residence—well, he has a separate "can cave" to house his breweriana. Antique or new, and from all over the world, this guy has it all.
His rarest cans include those made by Krueger, some of the very first to go on sale in 1935, just following the repeal of prohibition. He also has a Fox Deluxe can, which was not known to exists until Judd purchased it in 2014. (Source)
4. 300 Ultra-Realistic Dolls
Marilyn Mansfield has spent tens of thousands of dollars on her incredible doll collection, which includes 300 ultra-realistic handmade dolls. Every room in her Staten Island, New York home is filled with them, and she cares for them like they are her children.
Marilyn, 36, takes them for walks in a stroller, feeds them, and cuddles them. Husband Zoth Ommog, 40, fully supports her obsession, and the family always makes room for additions. While Marilyn sometimes receives negative criticism for her inanimate family members, some people are fooled by their realistic qualities.
5. Every Christmas No. 1 since 1952
Most of us are sick of Christmas songs after a few days, but they are music to Gordon Lewis's ears—because he has collected every festive No. 1 since 1952.
He has added U.S. rockers Rage Against the Machine's "Killing In The Name Of" to his collection of 60 Christmas chart-toppers. Gordon hates rock and disapproves of the language in Rage's surprise hit but says he is delighted for them.
His obsession began in 1971 when Benny Hill's "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)" knocked T-Rex from its top spot. He spent years searching for Dickie Valentine's 1955 hit "Christmas Alphabet," which is also the most expensive, at £100 (around $150). (Source)
6. World's Largest Private Rum Collection
Over four decades Steve Remsberg's collected over 1,000 bottles of rum. In fact, he remodeled his house around his rum collection. Like an action figure fanatic who keeps his treasures unopened in the original packaging, Remsberg's rum display features almost all unopened bottles, but that doesn't mean he doesn't dip into his own supply. (He's been lucky enough to find duplicates.) The unopened bottles are for display, but he pulls out the opened ones for sipping with special guests. (Source)
7. Every Single Nintendo Wii Game
You probably had no idea that there have been 1,262 games released in North America for the Nintendo Wii, but NintendoAge forum user NintendoTwizer did, and since late 2015 has been working to collect every single one.
Not only does he own all 1,262 games, but he also owns the console in all four different colors and the Wiimote in all twelve different colors. (Source)
8. $160 million Worth Nazi Collection
Birthday present from his parents—a bullet-pocked SS helmet with lightning bolts on the ear-flaps. The next year, at a car auction in Monte Carlo, he asked his multimillionaire father for a Mercedes—the G4 that Hitler rode into the Sudetenland in 1938.
When Wheatcroft was 15, he spent his birthday money on three WWII Jeeps recovered from the Shetlands, which he restored himself and sold for a tidy profit. He then invested the proceeds into four more vehicles and a tank.
Wheatcroft is now 55 and worth $190 million. He lives in Leicestershire, England, where he looks after the property portfolio of his late father and oversees the management of a racetrack and motor museum.
The ruling passion of his life, though, is what he calls the Wheatcroft Collection, which is widely regarded as the world's largest accumulation of German military vehicles and Nazi memorabilia. The collection has largely been kept in private, under heavy guard, in a warren of industrial buildings. There is no official record of the value of Wheatcroft's collection, but some estimates place it at over $160 million. (Source)
SOURCE: Oddee.com
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