AOL discs, Walk Hard snow globes, and posters from the 1952 movie The Importance of Being Earnest
Over on my FAQ blog, I talked about how I have Hot Toys of Silver Centurion and Heartbreaker to accompany my 12” statue of Axol, Iron Man’s Ablative Armor. I also mentioned that I don’t have any others Hot Toys, ‘cause I simply don’t collect them. Then I asked myself (pretending that someone asked me) “What do I collect?”
Over the years, the answer to that question has changed quite a bit. I have a few small collections, but the strangest things I’ve collected are AOL discs, Walk Hard snow globes, and posters from the 1952 movie The Importance of Being Earnest.
Why? No, really, why?
Well, since no one asked, here’s the answer.
AOL Discs
Now just to be clear, I’m not currently collecting these, like actively searching them out. I collected them back in the early 2000s, and I still have them. Every time I’d go to the grocery store or Target I’d pick up two or three of the new ones, because new ones were coming out just about every week. They all tried to catch the eye so that you’d sign up with AOL. Some were packed in foil, others were oddly shaped, most had “fun” graphics.
Why collect these? The modern internet is the most important invention of my lifetime, and it’s going to affect people in some way for the rest of human history. (So, about eight years.) But it’s incorporeal; you can’t really collect “the internet” the same way that people collect comic books, baseball cards, stamps, coins, etc.
I have the first appearance of 3-Months Free!!!
I’ll trade it to you for your Hulk #181.
As important as it is, the internet has nothing tangible, despite being so vital and game-changing. The only part of the internet that could possibly become collectible are those old AOL (and similar services) discs.
As ubiquitous as those discs were, most of them were thrown away, either after someone used them or when they cleaned out their desk drawer sometime in the last twenty years. What people throw away today becomes the collectible of tomorrow for the simple fact that what people throw away reduces the supply. For example, 200,000 copies of Action Comics #1 were printed, and fewer than 100 copies are around today. Put together the importance of the internet and the fact that most AOL discs are in landfills and you have a potential demand for them in the future.
Do I really think these will become a hot collectible? Not really. Twenty years later and there are only a few AOL discs worth more than $10. Honestly, don’t invest in what I tell you to invest in, because I have a long history of being wrong in such matters (let me know if you want any NetScape stock.) But those few hundred discs are only taking up a little space in my basement, and I can’t imagine throwing them away.
“He’s dead! Let’s see what we got in the inheritan—
Well, bring the dumpster around.”
Walk Hard Snow Globes
Yes, that 2007 movie starring John C. Reilly. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story was a flop at the box office, but it’s still one of my favorite movies of the last 20 years. It just satisfies so many of my comedy needs, from satire to puns to physical humor to stupid humor to repetitive humor to its mockery of the biopic.
I honestly don’t know the history of the Walk Hard snow globes. One seller said it was given away to the cast and crew, while others say it was sold at the Columbia Pictures gift shop (if such a shop ever existed in the first place). I currently have four duplicates of these snow globes after about 10 years of looking, because I tend to pick them up whenever they come up on eBay for a reasonable price.
Like this, only four times more of them and four times less necessary.
To be fair, it’s not just the snow globes I buy and hide away because I don’t know what to do with stuff. I also have a few other bits of Walk Hard memorabilia, such as a guitar pick, a concert tour poster, the sampler CD, and probably a few other things that I’ve purchased and hide away because I don’t know what to do with stuff.
The Importance of Being Earnest posters
Well, posters and lobby cards and production stills. This movie from 1952 is very faithful to Oscar Wilde’s most famous play and contains some of my favorite movie performances. Seriously, how do you turn the word “handbag” into a 14-syllable word?
That’s how.
Basically, it’s just my favorite “old-time movie” with wonderfully over-the-top performances. For example:
Collecting posters for this film is also quite fun, because there are many clever designs and different sizes from all over the world.
Pictured: Clever designs and different sizes from all over the world.
ADDENDUM!
While going through my TIOBE posters, I found an interesting one.
This is a poster for a run of The Importance of Being Earnest at the Shakespeare Memorial Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s a nice keepsake as an Importance fan, but the most interesting aspect is the “Next Attraction” at the bottom of the poster.
The play Thunder Rock was a critique of American isolationism and its attitude to helping Europe as World War II ramped up. It debuted in 1939 with Michael Redgrave in the lead. When the play closed in London — partly from threats of air raids, from what I can gather — Alec Guinness took over for Redgrave and toured England. The Tuesday, November 19th date on this poster shows that it is from 1940…a full 37 years before Guinness appeared in Star Wars. As both an OT Star Wars and Importance of Being Earnest Fan, this poster is a great combination of the two.
Are Those Eclectic Enough For You?
Collections tend to be pretty silly, if you think about it. A person can spend a lifetime collecting matchbooks and see them go for $40 on eBay, but hey, they enjoyed it at the time, so more power to them. A man should always have an occupation of some kind.
