Mark Bellomo in Collectable Spectacle
A lot of people know Mark Bellomo from his work on the Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe and his Transformers identification guide. They may simply think of him as an author, but he’s actually an uber collector. You see Mark doesn’t just write about toys, he owns almost every toy he writes about. If you’re a toy collector (and thank you for reading this blog if you’re not) you should really check out a series of videos called “Collectable Spectacle” that features Bellomo and his enormous collection of toys. If you’re not an uber fan of G.I. Joe, I’d recommend at least watching the parts where Mark is digging around his storage shed. Some of the stuff he pulls out of there is simply amazing, if you know how much some of this stuff goes for.
Just looking at another persons collection may be boring particularly if you’re not interested in the figures that the person has. What’s neat about this is Bellomo’s commentary on both the items and his thoughts on collecting in general.
What I came away from this is that while I want a lot of the stuff he has, if I ever need that much storage space for it I’m doing a massive sell off. If Mark didn’t have an outlet for these things like his books, I think it would be fair to say he would have a little too much.
I also learned that I like Mark a lot more through these videos than I do of the other, more famous toy collectors like Steve Sansweet who just comes off as pompous and/or smarmy. Mark appears to be a genuinely nice and down to Earth guy. It’s kind of nice to see, and I dare say, perhaps a bit rare in someone that has a huge mega collection of toys.
To see the entire series you can go to either YouTube or here.
June 25th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
I was happy he pulled out and discussed the Eternia playset at the end, ’cause I was trying to get a good look at it the whole time.
You’re right about him. I mean, I could never relate to people who focus on the monetary value of their toys, but that’s clearly not all he’s about, and he seems personable enough that I don’t regret having bought two of his books, both dedicated to lines I don’t collect.
Christ, though, how’d he afford it all?
I’m with you; if my collection got like that, I wouldn’t even enjoy it anymore. Clearly he does, though, and so there’s nothing wrong with it, but anything more than one room’s worth is too much for me.
June 25th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
I don’t know. I find it hard to relate to or like a guy who lets it just go to waste.
June 26th, 2009 at 5:41 am
I got both editions of Mark’s GI Joe books and Transformer book. They are great.
June 26th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Mark posts a fair amount on some of the GI Joe boards and always comes off as a nice, down to earth guy. It’s fairly refreshing because often times like you said Paul, the uber collectors can be very stuck up.
I have the first volume of his GI Joe book and it’s great, can’t recommend it enough to anyone even remotely interested in Joes.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:57 am
It is interesting how he goes about it almost like a toy scientist or historian.
June 29th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
That’s a pretty cool look at stuff. Sadly my rooms are starting to get that full and much like him, boxes and such are starting to get damaged because of just how much crap I’ve got. It’s making me wonder if it isn’t time to get rid of a whole lot of it.
Once it takes you 45 minutes unpacking stuff just to get to a toy you wanted to look at, your collection might be too big.
June 30th, 2009 at 5:49 am
I’m about 1/2 way through the videos so far and this is a great series. He definitely has a lot of cool vintage toys in his collection. It is also interesting to see the variety of things he has.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Responses:
You know… after watching those videos, I feel I HAVE to take what PresidentJuggernaut said to heart. So then, for the past month and a half I’ve been cataloging, preserving, and protecting my entire toy collection (comics will wait–except for the Golden Age stuff). At this point, I’ve finished my 3 3/4″ Joes, my G1 Transformers (oddly enough, none made it into the film except for Fort Max), my vintage Star Wars, and many other 80’s properties. The rest have been moved to a climate-controlled space. I’m getting more serious about preservation because of the myriad comments…
Fear not, they’re getting treated properly for the first time in years…
– Mark Bellomo
July 17th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Mark, thanks for leaving a comment.
I for one am really hoping you manage to make some sort of toy museum with all your stuff. Even if you could just rent out a space at a strip mall and put your stuff in there, I’d be willing to travel to see it. heh