Web Site News

Site Map

Contact Us

Home

In Mike Masters' mind, his passion for collecting must be hereditary.

"My biological father, he collects tons of stuff that people never think of," said Masters, a life-long Holland resident. "My mother, she collects jewel tea (antique dishware)."

Masters, 42, started his most colorful collection about 12 years ago.

"I was in an antique mall with my mother about 1992," Masters said. "I found a Partridge Family lunch box. I thought, 'That's kind of cool.' I started looking around for some others."

Masters has since amassed a total of 188 lunch boxes, most of them decorated television or movie characters, shelved all the way up three walls in the kitchen. The oldest one is from 1952, and his most valuable is a Looney Tunes box in near-mint condition, which Masters estimates could fetch $600. Some other notables are a trio of BeeGees boxes on a top shelf.

If for some reason he sold his entire collection, it could command about $15,000, he has calculated. He has sold a couple lunch boxes on eBay, but mostly he just collects -- and not just lunch boxes.

His basement is full of Green Bay Packers paraphernalia, and he also has 66 black-and-white photographs of television casts and show business stars. In the kitchen are MAD and Old Farmers Almanac magazines, and the living room houses a couple shelves of small cat statues and ornaments.

John Harbison of Grandville, a long-time friend of Masters, said Masters will sometimes call him when he buys a new item for his collections.

"He's pretty proud of it," said Harbison, whose wife buys and sells Snoopy and Peanuts collectibles. "Mike's just the kind of guy who likes nostalgia. He likes things from when we grew up."

Masters first found lunch boxes at various collectible shows, but when eBay blossomed on the Internet, he found that route to be more convenient.

"It would be impossible to collect these things without eBay," he said.

Masters had to sell part of his lunch box collection, including his first one more than a year ago, but he has since built the stash up again.

"Before last spring I had less than 100," he said. "Then I just went nuts. I was buying like crazy. I got good deals."

Masters, who is unemployed and on disability, said he is open to the possibility of opening a small, collectibles shop in the future, but has no specific plans as of yet.

Harbison wouldn't be surprised to see such a venture.

"I could see him trying that someday," he said. "With Mike you never know."

Comments or Suggestions?