VANCOUVER — Have you ever loved something so much that you started collecting those coveted items and the next thing you know, you have the world’s largest collection?
Well one woman from West Vancouver did and according to the Guinness Book of World Records, she’s got the largest collection of Scooby Doo material.
That’s right, Scooby-Doo. The talking brown Great Dane that started as an animated cartoon franchise in 1969 and has since has been spun off into TV specials, comics, movies and merchandise (under Hanna-Barbera Productions and then its successor Warner Bros. Animation).
And Becky Findlay has been collecting Scooby-Doo memorabilia since she was 17.
The first purchase that kicked off Findlay’s collection was a Scooby snack candy dispenser she found on in a shop on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver. It was $8.99.
How then did one purchase go on to start a 17-year collection of all-things Scooby-Doo?
“I have no idea,” Findlay laughed.
“Just something told me to buy it. It was unique and I had never seen anything with Scooby-Doo in any of the stores.”
Now, the married mother of two has a record-setting 1,136 pieces in her collection. She has everything from dolls, books and records to comics, clothes and a pinball machine.
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In August, Findlay decided it was to time to stop the overflow of Scooby stuff and pack all the paraphernalia away but before she did, she thought she’d count it and see if she had the world’s largest collection.
The day the items were counted was “a bit chaotic” according to Findlay.
“It took five hours. I thought it would only take two hours, so it took longer than expected. We were all pretty tired and anxious to get out of here when it was done. This room looked like it had a Scooby-Doo bomb go off in it.”
The process required the count witnessed by two people and recorded on video to then be sent off to the Guinness office. Findlay provided the video, pictures and a spreadsheet of every item and last week, she heard back from the organization.
Does this mean she’s done collecting? Not exactly, it’s been a part of her life for so long now that if she does see something unique, she’ll buy it.
In fact, she’s gathered a dozen more pieces since she learned she got the world record.
You just never know when you’ll find that perfect piece.
~ with files from Randene Neill
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