A Kid at Heart

Matthew Shank has had a connection to collecting since childhood. Or perhaps it is a connection to his childhood that makes him a collector.

{larger}

Shank, an English department instructor, has a collection of about 400 Batman comic books and about 60 autographed baseballs.

Shank collected Batman comic books as a child, but at some point, he says he threw most of them away.

“I could kick myself now,” he says. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve tried to collect all the Batman comics from my childhood that I remember. So, I have probably most Batman comics within about a 20 year period.”

His home is decorated in other collections too.

“When people come over to the house, they always say, ‘You have such neat things,’” he says.

The items people admire are a good conversation starter and a fun way to decorate, Shank says.

His office, for example, is a hodge-podge of sports memorabilia, with a focus on baseball.

“When people come over to the house, they always say, ‘You have such neat things.’”

The room is decorated in an organized clutter, causing people to stop and let their eyes wander over the forest green painted walls adorned with baseball pennants, decorative plates painted with pictures of famous baseball players and framed Sports Illustrated magazine covers from the ’70s.

On the left side of the room, another of Shank’s collections is displayed. Above an olive green couch are about 60 autographed baseballs housed in two glass cases.

“I try to collect ones that are from Hall of Fame players,” he says. “I really haven’t gotten any for a while because I got most of the ones I wanted, and I guess I’m waiting now for more players to make the Hall of Fame, and then I’ll maybe get some of the more recent ones.”

next page ›› 1...3,4