Man who has spent £60k on collectables and kept peel from Ian McKellen’s tangerine says his ‘obsession’ brings him joy

A collector who has spent approximately £60,000 on items such as vinyl records, celebrity autographs, vintage Star Wars figures, and even stole and kept the peel from Sir Ian McKellen’s eaten tangerine at a film press conference, has said his “obsession” for collecting items brings him joy and is “not about the price tag”.

Nick Gibbs-McNeil, 48, an entertainment media specialist, has been collecting items since he was two years old, with his first being a Corgi Batmobile toy from the 1970s.

Since then, his collection has grown to the point where he now calls himself an “extreme hoarder” and owns thousands upon thousands of items – too many for him to count.

His collection, which includes hundreds of vinyl records and celebrity autographs, including one from Michael Jackson, the complete collection of vintage 1978-1984 Star Wars figures, and a life-sized statue of Bruce Campbell as Ash from the film Evil Dead, occupies space in almost every room in his Kent home.

One of the “weirdest” items he has collected is the peel from Sir Ian’s eaten tangerine, which he took from the press conference of An Unexpected Journey in 2012.

“Occasionally I get little reminders of my fond days with Sir Ian McKellen’s tangerine peel,” he told PA Real Life.

A survey commissioned by the local services marketplace Airtasker with Atomik Research among 1,003 respondents from the UK in October 2023 suggested that 68% spend an average of £5,500 on collectables – however for Nick, he believes he has spent at least £1,000 every year, amounting to a total of approximately £60,000 so far.

Although some may view his passion for collectables as “silly”, he said the items represent “little time capsules of periods in your life – and that’s what you’re buying into”.

“When someone who loves their garden spends thousands every year on making it lovely, nobody questions it,” Nick told PA Real Life.

“If someone goes on holidays because they want to see the world but they’re very minimalist at home, no one questions it.

“But if you collect stuff – whether it’s Star Wars, Lego, Barbies – for some reason, everyone just sees the price tag of these things, and quite often, it’s not about the price tag.”

Nick believes his hobby of buying and storing collectables began after his father died in November 1977, as it provided a form of “escapism”.

The first item he collected, aged two, was a Corgi Batmobile toy which had a 5p-sized Adam West action figure inside it, which he still owns.

The father-of-three then fell in love with Star Wars and now has the complete collection of vintage 1978-1984 Star Wars figures.

One of the unboxed characters – Jawa with a plastic cape – which he bought for around 50p is now worth £1,000.

“I know that these Star Wars figures have great worth now, but when I look at them, I don’t really see worth, I just see me as a child, I see the escapism,” he said.

“I’ve got lots of the Star Wars toys that I grew up with on the desktop – Jabba the Hutt and Rancor – because when I sit here working, occasionally I like to go back to my childhood.

“When I’m a little bit stressed, I look up and there’s Jabba looking at me. It takes me back to a safe place.”

Nick’s next “obsession” after Star Wars was Michael Jackson, and he has a signed black and white picture of the singer, which is framed and hangs in his office.

He said seeing Michael Jackson in concert during his Bad tour, standing just metres away from him, made him think: “This can’t be real”.

“I have (the picture) just staring down at me all the time because I find the photograph fascinating,” he continued.

“He just looks so deep in thought and the fact that he’s actually touched that piece of paper just adds to it.”

Nick described himself as “a weird kid”, but he said he has since embraced his inner geek in adulthood and accepted that he “must be an extreme hoarder”.

He owns more than 400 vinyl records and more than 500 autographs in his home from people such as John Cena, Tom Cruise, Liam Gallagher, Jeff Goldblum, and has a signed Take That CD.

Each collectable brings back a fond and distinct memory, but there is one item, which has since disintegrated, which is more “barmy” than the others.

“Sir Ian McKellen was eating a tangerine and I stole the tangerine peel,” he said.

“Then for months, I posted photographs of how it was doing, to the point that it turned into just powder.

“(When the tangerine disintegrated), it was a tragic moment in my life – but it’s better to have loved and lost.”

Even though he has cleared out an entire room full of collectables, which he either donated or sold, his collection most likely takes up space in almost every room in his home.

He said he “wouldn’t even know where to start” when it comes to counting everything.

“They’re in my office and around me in my house,” he said.

“The average person probably has an alarm clock or something like that, but I’ve got a Muppet and a large, full-sized Ted, from the movie Ted, that talks beside my bed.”

He is planning to do another clear-out of the items he no longer wants over the festive period, but said he will continue building on his collection for the foreseeable future.

For Nick, having his collection is not about the money but rather the memories they keep alive as you “can’t put a price on that”.

“These items bring me joy – some things have worth, some things have just memories,” he said.

“(My collection) reminds me of the great moments in my childhood, the great moments as a teenager, the great moments as a young adult, and the great moments now.

“That’s why these things surround me. Some things are replaceable, some are irreplaceable, and the things that are irreplaceable tend to be the ones that probably aren’t worth much.”

Airtasker is searching for the biggest and best UK collections by launching the British Collector Awards.

Applications can be submitted at – airtasker.com/tasks/roll-up-roll-up-calling-all-90s-collectors-x01hddrs7506yy0xy7r7dr1rkkb/ – or via email to: ukcollectors@thewilful.com.