Neat Stuff

Oh I am Jim one feller I'm out walking the freedom trail here in Boston Massachusetts. You follow the red line it leads you to all the great historic stuff here in Boston like for example there's Paul Revere statue back there. His house is just a couple blocks away. But the reason I came to New England wasn't to find historic stuff. I'm really here to find some Yankee neat stuff. First the cradle of the revolution is the perfect place for Neil's American dream museum and grand slam. All right then what do you do with thousands of cartoon collectible toys. Play with them of course. Finally meet a man who definitely has all his marbles and then some see half a million marbles in Boston plus a whole lot more. Good luck. I don't know what you do for a living now but I'll bet when you were a kid you had big dreams of a I don't know maybe a

professional ball player maybe a cowboy or who knows maybe even president of the United States. Well I'm in West Hartford Connecticut to see Neil's American dream museum and it's chock full of just the kind of things that fueled those childhood dreams. Come on let's meet Neil. That's a good. Line for all the neat stuff. Famous Neil Neil's American dream led to me to Jim come on man all right. Neil Sacco's New England home is his museum. Filled with the stuff American Dreams Are Made Of. He has memorabilia from American politics this is the official John F. Kennedy trick or treat pumpkin to keep all your candy that's the envy that comes in handy. Collectibles commemorating America's TV cowboys. And dime store merchandise hailing an American sports hero. This is the American dream museum. Everything here is real is in fact.

They call me on the wall with all of this. And that's my spiel. A sizeable section of Neil's American dream museum is dedicated to New York Yankee star Mickey Mantle Mickey Mantle with the greatest celebrity baseball player of all time. The Knicks celebrity status made him the fifties equivalent of 90s indorsement Meister Michael Jordan. His face was everywhere on everything. Hey kids check it out. Mickey Mantle Western style jeans and their San fries. How's this. I have the glove box that the Mickey Mantle. Loves painting. Wow. The box is worth far more than the bluff. So Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris radio this hot collectible is now worth a cool eight grand. And look how it's got the diamond for the on and off switch. And. The baseball bat and ball for that to change your station. Cool I'm going to stay on this

station now. I'm going to say I need stuff we're not going to swish our dial. Mickey Mantle was on so many toys and games and such fun things because he was so great that I'm happy to be able to preserve this for the future in this museum number seven lives and play center field every day. As I said earlier give us more than ever from the day when Neil was a kid his dad owned the neighborhood five and dime. Oh how double oh so a good chunk of Neil's collection was in his father's store some forty years ago there. Was a grand slam our explains how Neil corral the cast of cowboy collectibles such as this Hopalong Cassidy a linoleum floor. What kid wouldn't have dreamt of stepping out of bed on to this every night. Or spending a rainy Saturday afternoon with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans America's favorite cowboy couple. Roy had a good ten go on in this picture. They'll wisely wore the sunscreen. Finally there's John F. Kennedy an American who fulfilled his dream of becoming president

of the United States and this is a ticket to the inauguration. I got it. Right. And on the back of it it has your seat number. Neil Kennedy collection includes a campaign button featuring the face of the future Jackie O. But it turns out the button was made in vain. This is a button. That was actually withdrawn from the campaign because Jacqueline Kennedy did not like the bouffant hairdo. And if Jackie didn't like it. That's as our. Take. My collection is so outrageous it's become contagious. OK so I had to spend an afternoon fielding one line. But I also got to dream about what it would be like to be a great American hero. All of the one and only Neil's American dream museum. And it's got the position as with the resume attached. To. It. This just in. Something in the Celtic news from need staff need to spy out.

Cape Cod hippies conduct a painting at the famous Provincetown colony for all of bombing us to do is stand around and automatically assume that you will notice the Chain Reaction and Suzi as. The psychedelic heroes dress up anybody's epidermis. But there are certain technical problems encountered when the artist is confronted by a. Sick relationship choices. This one is certainly the cat's whiskers but I've seen the one I want just wrap it up you look lovely in the day and the. Next stunning stuff. Visit a real to town. I wear the crims from Peabody Massachusetts and we have so much neat stuff that we had to

add on to our home. Is this room coming into the dining room here we have some you need old Mickey Mouse stuff. And then is this round chamber over here we have some great plastic windup stuff Marty. Debbie and Stephanie crim live in a world of animated lips. Any. Excuse you can find. What this all star cast of cartoon classics wind ups in action figures it's climber in the time he's taking over the entire house. OK Jim we're coming up to you Ed. Now the book is about five years ago because we were buying so much great stuff and we had no room for it in the house. Wow. Well we have so much because we were in the auction business for toys and character collectibles and being collectors ourselves we love the stuff. Felix the cat that wonderful wonderful cat. You laugh so hard your sides are like your heart go pitter pat lauching legs I want to look at that. All right not that only you can remember algebra.

Because Felix was so popular in the US throughout Europe really almost all over the world. They did a lot of different things and a lot of things had different images. Yeah this is definitely Felix like it wasn't worth a rise to but it was got that Felix look so bright because like I feel like I feel like somebody like four double espressos his heart's going pitter patter. Now one thing looking at these old Mickey's I realize that like a lot of stars you know I after he started getting successful he had a little work done in his quest for stardom. Mickey not only got a nose job he nicked and talked a few digits along the way going from five fingers to four. But he probably had to give up the piano. Of course he had the turn of the ukulele first. To this is a Graham one.

Before he goes to college and this is a green one after his freshman year Stephanie you have an impressive array of plastic wind up toys you all you've been collecting. I don't know. Where you're what you're six now so for at least six years. OK. Do you get any wind up first like when you go to fast food restaurants and places like that are you worried. God. Every hour I. Get that and they're going down. Down. However it really got a Bunsen. So much of that marketing idea. After an hour just Stephanie politely asked if we could wind things down a bit. Are you having all the fun you can stand that you're. Now for. Your legs again you're six. Talk to me in 33 years. One of the bedrooms houses the crim family's cartoon game collection. And the

two story Ed. stories in our motto popular action figures the cartoon collectibles of the future. And I think this guy was doing steroids because look at this back at me. Really bad. Yeah. He's on the roads. Lot of people react you know when you have more for dinner or something you're coming over to your house for the first time and they're walking around and you know from room to room everywhere they go they see all these wonderful items that probably cause them to go under like mist algae fifth's computers or just they don't even want you to think that we're crazy or they really enjoy it. I think they think initially you're crazy. And by the time the evening starting to wind down they're all fixated on stuff. That was true to some things to do anything crazy. Write. Down your name.

My. Name. We want to. Hear. Here we're on the back of the truck but we're actually in Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Tim Forsberg is a collector of Pee Wee paraphernalia. There's the king of cartoons who always announced the cartoon of cartoon. And then this here is Conkey the robot robot. You know he's having a tough time here he's going on studio Terry the terror attack. Don't Miss Yvonne. She has been here. Yeah. Miss Yvonne spoke to some of the earlier Steve stirrings and the adolescents who were watching the show I think he's right. He was also one of the more active cross-cultural characters really. He incorporated a lot of things on a show that they would he would have Ricardo come in. Would go to would say just be where any of that will work out oh in the window would often announce who was coming in. So more cars coming or going.

And so actually we're we're having Mr. window there is what made himself probably fresh from a matinee you know which is a Pee Wee Fun Pack. You did get things like the tattoos. Oh great in fact that we have a couple if you like to try one. Sure why not. So I get a feeling my age is going to look like a bruise. And there it is a contusion Cowboy Curtis and Miss Yvonne and Laurence Fishburne another one who's gone on to great fame he was Cowboy Curtis Cowboy Curtis one of the great solos I have a boat collecting. So you might argue lack of Cowboy Curtis Curtis less so if there's anyone who happens to have an extra couple of Curtis now I could trade you have an extra king of cartoons. Get out your can I said Hanky marbles are next. I. Think you've lost your marbles. Well this man probably hasn't.

Any idea how many marbles you've got. Well when I'm asked a question I tell the people please do a favor stay for we can count them. The First Stone has more marbles than any other kid in his neighborhood. He lacks them talks about them. If you go to Europe looking for Malvo you will not find him because 99 percent of them were shipped to United States. And he never moved down with the best of them. People collect anything and when arcs like marble they don't take up too much room. Where does one put nearly half a million marbles. That's how many marbles bird guesses he has jammed into yards mounted on the mantle and piled on top of a pool table inside his Boston townhouse. Byrd has all marbles goes like this. We're put in King Tut's told that when he died four thousand years ago if you still play marbles things you lowball in the afterlife. One marbles. Tell me whose face that is. Oh Teddy

Roosevelt That's correct. Look. And Pocket Full of mesmerizing marbles. OK this looks like a milking novel. Nothing special. Yeah actually it's made a fiber optic telephone cable to that effect or all it sees right through it. That's why I love that you know I've never seen anything like it. Byrd began amassing this multitude of marble some 35 years ago Katsav onion skin. Government. World. Lots of China and clam broth. Anything that's raw is a marvel if it's flat it's a paper. THIS ONE OF A KIND Marvel believed to be the world's largest is a rolie polie £17. I'll let you have fun holding it we have more the sea dance the more

marvel of them still I gotta see this. OK. Oh my gosh. Burt. Where does this end. Well it ends in this room. I have. 80 different producers of less novels. Is a very unique novel This is made in 1991 as part of the Berlin Wall and there. Is just no end to what you can do it I will. It's a cliche but it's eye catching paper look at this check it out. I'm a cartoon character. OK so I can only be serious about marbles for so long. But it's this type of marble that draws a crowd whenever burden rolls his collection for the public. Everyone loves. Models. You know but I've got to confess something to you I've never actually played marbles.

You haven't Jim. This game is played with teen models. I'm going to take a model and shoot if my model stays in. And one goes up. Then I continue not to judge her. All right knuckles down. What I like about playing those you mix with your friends you get along with and the best thing is if you're lucky and your win you take home a bag of marbles. Good. Yes. I suppose if you're going to collect nearly half a million of something. Better marbles than let's say a bowling ball. On the marble collecting game. Burt Cohen is playing for keeps. OK kids. Time to check your feet of the ringer last

clams. Newark killer. Bon hall and Holy Bang all day to lead characters in Quentin Tarantino's next movie be the names of Frank Sinatra's Rhodey sees rejected names for a new subway samurais for the games you play with marbles. The answer is D by. Advertising icons are popular collectibles but their origins can be downright confound some advertising icons look so simple you're tempted to say could a come up with that. In the case of the Planter's Peanuts companies Mr. Peanut could be right. Mr. Peanut is one of the most collected advertising icons because of all the premiums planner's has offered over the years for a few empty wrappers and a handful of change in 1960 when the company offered a prize for the best trademark character idea. The winning drawing was submitted by a 14 year old boy. When we return head west with the king of the wild frontier then go now.

And now it's time for my needs stuff which is not actually my neat stuff your new

stuff but who's keeping track. Hi I'm Paul DeVito and this is my I need stuff Davey Crockett memorabilia. And that was it. He just he just hit me right and just stuck with my friends think I'm crazy. This is my Davy Crockett bike that I got for my birthday. My. Body's seventh. Birthday. But. This is the Davy Crockett. I pull back this is the official Davy Crocket tool kit. Davy Crocket pipes and of course the Davy Crockett cruise in the past. I don't really like the dolls at all but you gotta have them. Sometimes I'll just come up here by myself and look around check out all my items make sure everything is still on the walls and just relax and enjoy.

Davy Crocket woodburning save the croc and her Uncle Bob moccasin kit look of autumn Indian headdress on glasses. Plus. I didn't have too many things are very cocky when I was a kid but I do now. Hey if you see it in your view mirror you've gone to off load John who is a roadside attraction. I am an old Lyme Conn. I'm here to tour America's not Elysium get in you've got to bring a net to be on the safe side I brought two pounds of filberts. I'm. Going to net a museum devoted exclusively to the advancement of acorns the furtherance of Filbert. There. Is only using but through music art and sport. Elizabeth passed Ginny sharing her enormous knowledge of not us.

Who are our own. And the weird corruption of the way the house looks like a beer. I did not know that you're learning something. That's why I'm here. The cornerstone of her not collection is this curvaceous Kokoda mare. It's what I think of when the national. Weighing in at a flashy 35 pounds. It's not only the largest but the nuttiest not on the planet. But a pair of pants and this would look like the new Norge refrigerator repairman. Oh my wow. Elizabeth gathered a store of net knickknacks for these little. Hands. And neck crack. Or you could use it as a puppet. I'm always thinking. Back in 1981 I had a raid of squirrels got a little busy in their. Exhibit. Oh no. But yes and you know

they're cute on the outside but they can be rascals now is what's what's the deal with these gnats. In a nutshell. Elizabeth makes these to help visitors identify nature's mixed bag of nuts. Right now it has a pretty bare. I forgot how come on your listening room. Yeah OK. It pricked my memory. Elizabeth is going to show me how to play it rolling. I coconuts right now only at the not using one pint culture and athletic competition. She's got the lighter coconut. But in the end I was the one who cracked. Elizabeth 1 but what do you want to be She's the Abner Doubleday of rolling I coconuts. I need places Boston in New England. It's full of neat stuff like the famous TV bar here. You know I think I'm going to go downstairs and see if everybody knows my name. Until next time. Cheers.

You'll. Be cool. Eco. Eco.