Guinness World Records has recognized one X-Men superfan with an uncanny knack for collecting.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Eric Jaskolka of Des Moines, Iowa has been recognized by Guinness as the owner of the Largest collection of X-Men memorabilia in the world. Jaskolka’s 15,400 piece collection includes everything from action figures to video games, backpacks and watches, candy, X-Men movies concession materials, and pizza boxes.
In the video above, Jaskolka tells the story of how his Sunday school teacher introduced him to the X-Men.
“I started reading comic books in 1989 because I needed a form of escapism, and in the mid-’90s I started collecting everything X-Men,” Jaskolka says. “my synagogue Sunday school teacher owned the local comic book store where I lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, and he said, ‘You might be interested in X-Men. There is a tie to Judaism and the Holocaust.
“Mutants have powers, and people didn’t quite understand them, similar to the way the Nazis felt about Jews, gypsies, blacks, anyone who wasn’t part of their race or nation and there’s actually several storylines in which they build these giant Sentinels, which are to capture mutants and put them in camps, and there is even a storyline with the Mutant Registration Act, where all mutants had to register their powers. So a lot of connectivity to Jewish history.”
He started collecting X-Men comics and toys, and in 1994 began escalating to figurines and other items. However, his copy of Uncanny X-Men #268 and the ToyBiz X-Men toy line from 1991 remain his favorite pieces.
Jaskolka even includes some unique items, includes prototypes of toys and watches that were never released to the public and items that were given to members of the cast and crews of the X-Men movies.
“It’s great to be recognized,” Jaskolka says. “I like to share my accomplishments with others. Actually, I think my kids enjoy it more because they like to show their friends my collection.”
As far as his favorite X-Men character goes, like many other X-Men fans, his favorite is Wolverine.
“He constantly struggles with the question: is he a man or a beast?” he says. “He has these deadly claws that kill easily, like an animal, but he wants to be better, more man than beast; so he is in a constant struggle to contain his rage and anger. I think we all have different sides of our personality that we struggle with.”
