We love a good collection here at Boxman – of course we do! And since we pondered some of the more eccentric ones recently we’ve also been thinking about the largest. Here in the UK we have a passion for amassing some truly astounding and quite museum-worthy collections of things, and so we felt it was high time to celebrate that… weirdness. Kudos, folks!

Magazines

Many of us moan about piles of semi-forgotten magazines around the house (many more of us on the receiving end of an argument about why exactly it’s necessary to hold onto five years’ back catalogue of Empire magazine), so if you need to get it in perspective chances are you’re nowhere near the record breaking number: 50,953 as at August 2012, when James Hyman’s collection entered the record books. Now, the collection holds more than 4,500 individual titles and over 120,000 individual issues and continues to grow at the giddying rate of 30% per year.

Daleks

It probably comes as no surprise that the record for largest collection of Daleks is held by a Britishman. Rob Hull’s museum-worthy haul of plunger-toting bots weighs in at an impressive 1,801. Exterminate! Exterminate!

Police officer patches

We’re assuming that ‘patches’ here refers to badges, rather that pirate-style eye coverings or nicotine fixes, but whichever it is, Richard Doyle’s 10,050-strong collection is impressive nonetheless.

Matchboxes (and matchbox labels)

Great Yarmouth’s Steven Smith holds the record for largest collection of matchboxes, which totals 20,736. Maybe it’s just that we’re in the business of storing things safely, but we hope they’re kept somewhere very, very un-flammable indeed…

Bagpipes

Daniel Fleming has been collecting bagpipes since the age of 10 and each of the examples in his collection (which numbers an impressive 105) is playable. We’ve no doubt Mr Fleming is extremely competent in his ability as a player, but based on our experience having to pass the bloke on our local high street butchering the instrument on an almost daily basis, we’re rather glad the neighbours favour Coldplay…

Lip balms

Megan Baker is the proud holder of the world record for the largest lip balm collection – and the 1,061 examples are sure to see her through many winters of chapped lips, that’s for sure. We have to wonder how many lip balms the average household has, given how many we lose down the backs of sofas and in the bottoms of bags in any given week…

Lipstick prints

Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK decided to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the medical condition in 2010 and succeeded in collecting 54,949 blue lipstick prints, setting a pretty impressive world record in the process.

Model trams

Geoff Price’s record-holding collection of model trams (830), (in addition to world-record-holding numbers of model buses and coaches) is now so big that they’re housed in three rooms, his loft and a double garage. That’s untrammelled commitment for you, right there.

Fairies

It seems that there’s a perennial appeal to dressing up as a fairy: there have been several new world records for the largest gathering of fairies over the past few years. 871 was the number that’s proven hard to top, set in Lichfield, Staffordshire in 2013.

Mouse mats

At the point it was verified in 2008, Daniel Evans had a collection of 3,673 different mouse mats. We’re more impressed with the fact that there’s apparently a committed community of other ‘Mousematalogists‘ out there…

Costumes

It’s no coincidence that Angels is situated close to the country’s main movie studios. The vast repository has supplied costumes for the likes of The Titantic and The Great Gatsby as well as being open to the public (die-hard costume party fans take note) and is the largest privately owned costume collection in the world.

Superman memorabilia

If were ever in any doubt about how seriously Marco Zorzin takes the Superman universe, you need look no further than the fact he changed his middle name to Superman. Now this uber fan has the additional title of world record holder for the largest collection of Man of Steel related memorabilia. We could include a quip here about hoping that his wife doesn’t find the collection to be her own particular brand of Kryptonite, but we won’t… (You just did - Ed.)

We love hearing about collections, collectibles and collectors, so if we’ve missed a fantastic record-breaking (UK based) example, let us know in the comments! Also, while we’ve got you here, it’s worth remembering that if your collection – whatever it might be – has outgrown the space you have for it, Boxman could help. We’ll deliver super-sturdy boxes to your door, leave you to package up your precious haul, label it and then we’ll return when you’re ready to whisk it away to our secure warehouse.