Simpsons fanatic who hid memorabilia from dates now engaged to fellow fan and will wear themed accessory on wedding day

A Simpsons fanatic with more than 2,000 collectibles, who once hid his memorabilia from dates, is now marrying a fellow fan and will wear an accessory inspired by the show on the big day.

Michael Irving, 37, a journalist and editor, began collecting The Simpsons merchandise in high school more than 20 years ago and was known as “Simpsons Mick” because of his obsession.

Michael has a collection of around 2,050 items, ranging from mugs, figurines and toys to more unusual finds like a 34-year-old packet of Simpsons-shaped pasta, shoelaces, and guitar picks.

He estimates his collection is worth at least £7,700 (16,000 Australian dollars), and he has spent around the same amount on the items.

Before meeting his fiancee, Anita Scarton, a 34-year-old teacher, he hid the collection from dates or had to seriously prepare them for the extent of his hobby – but his wife-to-be is a Simpsons fan, and they love watching the cartoon together.

Michael, from Melbourne, Australia, told PA Real Life: “My fiancee has even started her own collection of these little Japanese toys called Gashapons, so it’s nice to share the hobby of collecting together.

“The proposal wasn’t The Simpsons-themed, but I’m going to wear cufflinks from the show, and she’s excited about it too.”

After building up such an extensive stash over the years, Michael has needed an entire room to house his collection.

In his first apartment his spare room was filled with collectibles – huge shelves lined the walls, with colourful lights illuminating the displays.

Michael’s fiancee first saw the room about a month into their relationship in 2022.

She was “stunned in a good way”, which was a huge relief for Michael, who had once shared a photo of his Simpsons hoard with a match on a dating app, only to be unmatched immediately.

Earlier this year, when he sold his apartment, he felt the need to give the estate agent a “heads up” about the room.

Michael recalled: “He was just blown away by it, he had never seen anything like that.”

Now, Michael and his fiancee are renting an apartment together, and he is in the process of perfecting his display.

When the couple buy a house in the coming years, they will make sure they “prioritise” space for Michael’s hoard.

The pair got engaged earlier this year, and Michael plans to wear pig cufflinks inspired by the show on his wedding day – a nod to the episode where Lisa Simpson visits a fortune teller and sees her future wedding, with Homer giving his prized pig cufflinks to Lisa’s fiance.

Over the past two years, Michael has added around 50 items to his collection, with a particular focus on finding all of the new 2.5-inch and 5-inch figurines of the cartoon’s characters.

“So there’s a company called Jakks Pacific which has released a new line of figures, and those have been really fun to collect,” Michael explained.

“They’ve also done some really bizarre items as well, so I have a Krusty doll and it actually has a good and evil switch on the back.

“When you pull the string, it’ll say nice or evil things depending on the setting.

“I also have a replica of Moe’s phone from the bar, and when you pick it up it has Bart doing prank calls on the other end.

“I’m not sure why they chose to make it, but I’m really glad that they did.

“I got those from Kmart or a collectibles store and they were about 100 Australian dollars each (£48), and the figurines are about 20 each (£9.65).”

He is also excited to build his new 1,635-piece Lego set of The Krusty Burger fast food restaurant from the show.

Michael’s favourite item in his collection is a signed storyboard page featuring Ned Flanders shouting at other characters, autographed by the cartoon’s directors.

The storyboard, along with a fully operational Simpsons arcade machine, are his most expensive purchases, each costing £580 (1,200 Australian dollars).

Most of his items are unboxed, such as figurines and Funko Pops.

He said: “I don’t expect them to go up in value and I’d prefer to have them out so they’re on the shelf.

“If something is brand new, I take it out of the box, and if it’s a retro item, so if it’s been in the box since the 90s, I’ll tend to leave it in there, just because you don’t want to wreck it now!”

Alongside his collection, the superfan has rewatched some Simpsons episodes more than 50 times and often slips quotes from the series into everyday conversation.

Through TikTok, under the handle @CollectSimpsons, Michael has connected with Simpsons fans across the globe – and since launching his page in July 2021, he has amassed more than 69,000 followers.

He added: “We actually had a funny experience – my partner’s work friend’s cousin came to our housewarming party.

“We were all downstairs drinking, and I ended up giving people tours of the room.

“It turned out the work friend’s cousin was a fan of my TikTok page of the collection.

“So she was really excited to be there and had been following the page for ages, and didn’t know that it was just a few degrees of separation between me and her.”

Although he buys most of his collectibles online, Michael also purchases memorabilia directly from TikTok followers who regularly offer him rare pieces at fair prices.

Looking to the future, Michael plans to keep expanding his stash and would love to find another original storyboard page one day.

“My dream item is a figure called a Save Blinky Bart,” he added.

“It’s from 1990 and you had to send away to get it, and rumour has it only four or five are known to exist in the world now.”