- You got it tied up real good to the fan?
No, I mean the fan.
- [Robert] Yeah.
- All right.
Can you pull?
Do you have a higher?
Can you pull the one up from the higher, from his chin?
- [Robert] Oh, the fan's off.
- I was gonna say he fell off the fan again, didn't it?
- Hopefully that'll help to get him upright.
Is this supposed to be over this other leg?
I don't even know how this is supposed to go now.
- I think the legs cross, and now.
Okay, smile.
Going down.
- Oh, he's off the fan again.
He's off the fan again.
(bright orchestral music)
The biggest thing that I love about Garfield
is his attitude.
The Garf-isms, "I'd like mornings better
"if they started later," I hate Mondays."
I really didn't set out to say "Hey,
"I'm gonna be a Garfield collector."
By the time we figured out that it was really a collection,
I probably had a couple thousand items.
- [Woman] Okay.
- Some collectors just keep it to themselves
and just never leave the house,
but other collectors get together on a regular basis,
go to conventions.
Instead, we just leaned into it.
(suspenseful music)
- I've been a Garfield collector
for probably over 35 years, since about the mid-1980s.
My brother had a couple things that I thought were cute,
and he was getting rid of 'em, so I just took them over,
and then, I guess people saw
that I had some Garfield things and then said,
"Oh, her birthday's coming up.
"I'm gonna get her something Garfield."
My entire collection, I have well over 14,000 items,
but that's counting duplicates, triplicates,
many, many similar items,
but for the Guinness World Record, the number is 6,190.
I've spent well over $60,000 collecting Garfield items.
I've bought, I already have many, many times.
A lotta times, I'll turn to Rob.
I'll show him a picture.
"Do I have this?"
And he says, "Yeah, you do."
I'm like, "Are you sure?"
I'm like, "I don't think I do.
"I'm gonna get it just in case,"
if it's something that I think is a real steal
for a really good price.
- Prior to our marriage,
it was probably maybe 1,000 or so,
but the explosion started because the invention of eBay.
(upbeat rock music)
Garfield is not a character that you can usually find.
This was the '90s, and actually the 2000s, at that point,
and so retailers like Walmart
and Target never stocked Garfield.
So, if you found one stuffed animal a month,
that would be a lot.
But when eBay came out,
you could buy anything and everything.
It was just search, find, buy, search, find, buy,
search, find, buy.
There were weeks
that we would receive 30, 40, 50 items at a time.
When eBay first came out, most people were
on dial-up modems.
(modem squealing)
And it was painful to watch an image of something draw in.
Five minutes, you realize
that it wasn't a Garfield after all.
It was a President Garfield plate.
And we were actually the first people on the block
to get high-speed internet
just because Cathy was tired of waiting
to see what the image load.
And when your wife says get high-speed internet,
you order high-speed internet.
- I always start just with a plain Garfield search,
so you see just about everything that's available.
Sort by newly listed so you see what came up most recently.
That way, if somebody's listing something
for a really good price, you see it before it gets
to too many eyes.
So, I usually just scroll through pretty quick
and see a lotta the same items over and over again,
a lotta stuff I already have.
Pins, these Garfield mugs are a dime a dozen,
but I always laugh at people
who think they're worth a fortune.
Bicycle reflectors, a lotta basic stuff,
but every once in a while,
you do come across something that's pretty rare.
Lately, I haven't been on much, but back in the day,
I could spend about five hours when I get home from work
because I always sort by newly listed
up to what I've seen, whether I was on the day before
or two days before.
So, I try and scroll 'til I come across
what looks familiar,
and then I'll go and I'll see
what's gonna be ending soonest,
and then I know if there's something coming up
that I'm not gonna be able to be on my computer
the next day, I might have to go two days ahead
to make sure that I don't miss anything.
- eBay is considered an auction,
but Cathy really, she treats it
as if it's a competition against herself,
not against other bidders.
You can't end up having over 14,000 items
if you're gonna pay top dollar
and be the highest bidder every time.
So, when no one else is paying attention,
she'll just swoop in and snag it,
knowing full well that if she loses at that time,
it might come around again.
When it comes to the actual collectable items,
Cathy probably could be on any "Antique Roadshow"
if it's Garfield-themed and know exactly what they are
and what they're worth.
What's nice about a Garfield collection
is it's not something you put behind velvet ropes
and just stare at.
Garfield items are practical in a lot of cases
because tote bags and pillow cases and sheets.
In a way, you're almost stocking your house
but with a theme.