Episode 3 Collectaholics

-From art...

-To antiques.

Ceramics to signs.

-Taxidermy...

-To toys.

-From the common...

-To the curious.

We're a nation of collectors.

Follow me, Mel Giedroyc.

And me, antiques expert and lifelong collector, Mark Hill.

As we go behind closed doors

to uncover Britain's secret collections.

And reveal what they're really worth, with surprising results.

-Collecting and curating.

-Selling and displaying.

-For collectaholics everywhere.

-We're here to help.

Oh, good God!

'On Collectaholics, we'll be delving into the extraordinary

'collections that have taken over people's lives.'

I've never seen so many signs.

'Swallowing up their space and using up their income.'

-What's the most expensive piece you've bought?

-It'd be sort of £8,000 to £10,000.

'And pushing their relationships to the very edge.'

It's this room and that's it.

'I'll be helping our collectors deal with their collections in crisis.'

-Could I possibly call it an obsession?

-It is bordering on that.

'And I'll be finding out what drives them to buy and buy and buy.'

Do you think this is what your collection's all about, Shirley, that one original doll?

'This week, the man whose buying habit is so extreme,

'he had to buy the property next door to house it all.'

I know very quickly whether I like a piece or not.

'But he still needs more room.'

A lot of the artwork is not more than sort of 2cm apart.

-Argh! It goes on for ever!

-Where?

'The Star Wars fanatic with a 35,000-piece collection

'that's taken over his entire house.'

I've threatened him with skips before.

One day he will push me too far if he doesn't change.

It has gotten out of hand.

They literally are everywhere, Shirley.

'And the woman who shares her home with a family of 300.'

I just like to take care of them.

'And we'll be blown away to discover what they're all worth.'

-Oh, my days.

-You're joking? Really?

Our first stop is Cambridgeshire,

to meet 57-year-old music teacher Graham.

So, Mark, an exciting day. We've got the sun

and we've got modern prints.

We have indeed.

In the past, Graham's excessive buying has forced him to take drastic action.

To house his expanding collection, he bought the house next door.

I think collecting has become an obsession.

It's a very pleasant obsession.

It's a hobby in the most compelling

and possibly compulsive way of looking at it.

But, despite all those extra walls,

every inch of space is covered by his 350-piece collection.

If he's going to live for another 20, 30 or 40 more years collecting,

not quite sure how we're going to fit everything in.

It's almost like an addiction.

Graham's obsession is with modern original prints.

They're hugely popular and I love them so I can't wait to see inside.

-Hi, are you Graham?

-Come in, yes.

-Hi, I'm Mel and this is Mark.

-Hello, Graham, nice to meet you.

-Hi, Mark. Please come in.

-Thank you very much, thank you.

Right, please come through.

-Whoa...

-Oh, God.

Is it a house or is it a gallery?

-It goes on.

-It's both.

-It's a cornucopia of colour.

And it literally... It moves everywhere in the house.

The whole of Graham's house,

every single room, every nook and cranny,

has got some part of his art collection in it.

(There are so many.)

It's absolutely everywhere.

'With so many different pieces, it's totally overwhelming.'

It does look slightly as if you are running out of wall space.

Now Graham's 40-year compulsion has left him facing a crisis.

Graham, you're not going to stop collecting,

you have a finite amount of space.

-How are you going to deal with that?

-Er, probably buy ever smaller pieces,

or move it even closer together,

although even that's becoming a bit of a challenge.

'Buying another house isn't an option,

'so we need to find a solution.'

'Graham thinks he's spent more than £50,000 feeding his passion for art.

'So we'll also be getting a valuation to find out how much it's all worth.'

'Has he got a good eye?

'It's impossible to tell with this wallpaper of art.

'Time to take a closer inspection.'

I haven't got a huge amount of abstract act,

but Bridget Riley's vibrant colours and lines are fascinating to me.

Now, this is very familiar. It's a Kandinsky?

-It is a Kandinsky, yes.

-Oh, you're getting good!

I've often bought artwork as a sort of souvenir.

Artwork has been acquired because I wanted a record of something

that affected my life at that particular moment.

How long has it taken you to collect all of these?

Well, I can remember exactly when I collected my first piece.

It was 1975 in the church where I was organist.

I was a student in Manchester. And it cost me £18.

It seems to me, Graham, as if a lot of different styles kind of draw you in.

I know very quickly whether I like a piece or not.

-How do you know?

-It's a gut reaction.

It's an emotional impulse.

But as the collection becomes more serious,

then you do start looking for more specific examples of pieces,

either the same artist or a completely different artist,

that will actually go with the collection as it exists.

This one looks interesting. Who's this by?

Paula Rego. Her work has become very desirable

and, not surprisingly, also very expensive.

So I was very pleased to get an early print of hers.

'Rego's work often uses folk tales from her native Portugal

'to create images with a dark and sometimes political edge.

'A prolific artist, her precise and linear drawing lends itself

'to the techniques of printing.'

How do prints actually work?

Print is an actual art form in its own right.

A number of artists are actually exclusively printmakers,

and prints can start from what's called a mono-print

where there is only one,

and of course they are comparatively expensive,

through to limited-edition runs.

'Known in the art world as original prints,

'they're not reproductions of existing art work.

'They are the art themselves, always conceived as a print.'

And what did you pay for this, Graham?

Well, I managed to get... buy that for under £400.

So, Graham, I know that you think you might have spent about £50,000 on the collection?

-As far as I can even begin to get my mind round...

-OK.

..30-plus years of collecting, nearly 40 years of collecting.

OK. Mark, would that seem like a...

I think...I think a little bit of an underestimate there.

When it comes to the value of the collection, what do you reckon?

Well, if I can't even work out how much I've paid for it,

the chances of working out what it's worth are even more unlikely!

We'll be valuing his collection to find out if he's spent wisely.

And with not an inch of wall space left, action is desperately needed

to find a way for Graham to continue collecting.

Limited-edition prints exploded in popularity

after the Second World War, in the '50s,

largely because people had money to spare for the first time in decades.

They'd recovered from the effects of the war and wanted to buy status,

and prints were an affordable way to put big-name artists on your wall.

Director of the London Original Print Fair Helen Rosslyn has come

to meet me at an art gallery to explain the magic of print-making.

I think what's so lovely is that some of the real iconic images

that we recognise are prints.

Swimming pool, it's got to be Hockney. Am I right?

-It's Hockney, you're right.

-Come on.

Do certain artists lend themselves

better to the print-making process, do you think?

Well, I think certain artists lend themselves to

certain techniques, yes.

-These are absolutely massive.

-Aren't they?

And that's what's so spectacular, because these Bacon lithographs...

-Francis Bacon?

-Yes, Francis Bacon.

-And they're actual prints?

-Yes.

You would think being this size that they're paintings, but they're not, they're prints.

And this one's a great illustration of the fact that print-making's not

-just contemporary prints, cos this is Picasso.

-Picasso, wow.

Yes, and he, again, was a master of the techniques of print-making.

This is an etching,

-and you can see actually because etching is done on copper plate...

-Right.

..and you can see the indentation

where the plate sits on the paper, what's called a plate-mark.

They're cheaper, aren't they, than buying, obviously, a Picasso oil painting?

They're cheaper. It's often called a democratic art form,

and I think that's a reason why a lot of artists do make prints.

'Although this print would still set you back more than £50,000.'

Prints by big names like Picasso can fetch eye-watering prices.

His weeping woman recently sold at Christie's

for a staggering 5.1 million.

'Prints are big business.

'Helen's brought me to meet printmaker Bob Sachse

'at a graphic studio to see the process in action.'

The interesting thing about prints is there are probably really

five main printing techniques, of which this is one,

screen printing, and screen printing, really, is the most modern of the processes.

-(I used a potato print to get into Glastonbury festival once.)

-Did you?

Potato print, boom, on the hand. Straight in.

'Most American artists from the Pop Art era of the '60s,

'such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein,

'favoured the screen-printing method,

'and Bob here has been making prints with established artists

'for 45 years.'

What I'm doing here at the moment is I'm just putting another colour

on this Basil Beattie edition that we've been working on recently,

and the process is basically a colour at a time,

a sheet of paper at a time.

Bob, it strikes me that you are the man doing the kind of...

the donkey work. Not the donkey work, but you're doing

ALL the work, essentially.

It's more of a collaboration really. The artist is the key factor,

as far as it's their image and how they do it.

What we do is just try and facilitate the best way of producing that image.

-But don't underplay your role.

-Exactly.

-It's the technical know-how.

If you look over there, you can see a list.

This looks to me as if it's all the stages of the printing

-you've already done, on this...

-Yes.

-There are 23 steps here, Bob.

-23 steps, yeah.

-And is that going to be from start to finish on Basil's picture?

-Yes. Yeah.

-So that's incredibly laborious, though, isn't it?

-Exactly.

'Bob uses a sheet of acetate

'to ensure every print is placed perfectly.

'Each print in this run of 75 is placed under the screen

'in exactly the same place, before a layer of paint is added.'

So, there we go, that's the first layer of the blue.

That is so cool.

What's amazing about it, though, is the actual quality.

It looks as if it's been drawn.

Because it's a layering process, a lot of artists are always

-looking for thickness and texture and weight of colour.

-Right.

And that's something that the screen process can give.

-Now you've seen the whole process, I really want you to see...

-Ooh.

..the final print and how it's going to be.

-Look at that. Isn't it beautiful?

-(Oh, wow.)

'So there we have it, an original print.'

Isn't that beautiful? So the penny is slightly dropping.

Each of those 75 prints have been through the 23 steps.

-That's correct, yeah.

-Which makes each an original artwork,

-essentially, doesn't it?

-Yes.

They look the same but each has gone through the process and the work.

Exactly, which is why we call them original prints.

Our next stop is London, where an ordinary family house

is hiding a very extraordinary collection.

Star Wars is the ultimate story of good versus evil

and good overcoming evil.

It's the ultimate film for people of my generation.

But 41-year-old father-of-three James has taken it to the extreme.

This is James's collection, an estimated 35,000 Star Wars pieces,

all hidden inside piles of brown boxes.

It's a bit of a shock to the system when anyone walks in

and sees how much collection he's actually got.

Wife Sarah and their three children, Daniel, Yoni and Miriam

are literally living in a Star Wars storage facility.

The only rooms which it's really not in

are the bathrooms and the kitchen.

-There are a lot of figures.

-Star Wars Lego.

-There are lightsabers.

-About 10 or 12 of those.

-Gentle giant busts.

-Signed pieces.

-Life-size props.

-Got R2KT in Miriam's room.

And it's like an Aladdin's Cave.

It is so chock-a-block.

It's like Moscow at rush hour.

We're very much a Star Wars family. I just wish he didn't have so much of it.

'As a collector myself, I can sympathise with the temptation

'to buy and buy and buy, but James's collection is out of control.'

'So, Mark and I are coming to help James and Sarah find a way to live

'WITH the collection rather than under it.'

-Hey there.

-Hello.

-Hello. Are you James?

-Yes.

-Hi, I'm Mel.

-Hi, nice to meet you.

Hello, James, good to meet you. Go forth!

Oh...my...days.

-Do you actually know what's in there?

-Yes.

-Every single thing?

-Pretty much.

I don't believe you. You can't possibly...

How long did it take to fill this room?

'Despite two extensions built to house it all,

'the 35,000-piece collection has still engulfed the family home.'

-Argh! It goes on for ever.

-Where?

Mark, come and have a look, get your head round.

-How can you get to the stuff that's in here?

-I can't. Obviously.

So, why? What's it all doing there?

'And, worryingly, the boxes don't stop here.'

-B-bedroom. Is it a bed...?

-There's a bed in here?!

-Does somebody sleep in it?

'The kids' bedrooms are under siege as well.'

-Right, OK. Who...who lives here?

-Daniel, my eldest.

There's more Star Wars than Daniel.

This takes over the whole space, this takes over THEM.

-I mean, this is their bedroom. My bedroom was my lair, it was my cave, it was my home.

-Yeah.

You know, and all of a sudden, there's Dad's stuff!

'I can honestly say I've never seen anything like this.

'Sarah must be a saint.

'Or she's just not putting her foot down.'

Is it difficult to see the collection taking over your children's lives as well?

They're going to be Star Wars fans. They didn't really have a choice in that.

It was inevitable!

But I do worry about the impact it has because they...they don't have normal bedrooms.

They have boxes of Star Wars stuff and it's not normal,

and I do worry about the effect.

'This is amassing, not collecting.'

-Ooh!

-Now, what I've got in this room, at the back there is a replica

of that, and it's signed, it's got a plaque that's signed by Mark Hamill.

-And that, you can't even get to?

-I can't get to it.

-James, that's ridiculous.

That's a key piece of memorabilia, that should be on display somewhere.

'So, how did it get so bad?

'James first began collecting when he was just seven years old,

'but as a teenager, his collection didn't survive.'

My parents got divorced in '86,

and...unfortunately my dad destroyed all of my Star Wars collection.

I'm sure he had his reasons because he was clearing out the house

and it was just one of those things.

I'm really sort of quite intrigued by what happened.

I mean, your father threw away your collection?

Extensibly, yes, so when I got our stuff back, it wasn't there,

and I didn't speak to my father for a few years.

'They've since made up but it was a difficult time for 16-year-old James.'

It was obviously a very, very painful experience, um...

that still is, you know... still hurts me today.

Um...but that's life. You get on with it, pick yourself up,

dust yourself off and carry on as best you can.

Do you think this is part of the reason why you're just amassing everything?

They're your items, it's your collection, you've got the control of it all.

There's obviously something like that that's harking me back.

'James didn't begin collecting again for another ten years.'

I was in Southgate and there was an antique shop there which had some vintage figures in the window,

and I went and bought him an Ewok, and it was just one Ewok.

That sort of re-sparked

something that was laying dormant for many years.

I don't know how much he's spent. I don't want to ask.

So, how would you like the house to change?

What would you like to see happening to your house?

I would like one room, which would house his collection.

I do appreciate the fact that it has gotten out of hand.

I need there to be some commitment from him that...

when we get the house in order, and it has to be a when, not an if,

cos I've threatened him with skips before and, it, you know...

One day he will push me too far. This is a family home not a museum.

If he keeps it all in boxes, he might as well just throw it

all away cos it's just sitting there and doing nothing.

'There's more at stake here than just the collection

'and something needs to change.'

You're not playing with it, you're not opening it up, you're not handling the actual goods inside.

And, aesthetically,

-you're not really getting a lot out of it either.

-No.

So kind of on both fronts it seems as if...

It's a waste at the moment.

-It's a waste.

-Oh, James, that seems too harsh, though.

-We need to do something better.

Well...at the moment it's a pile of boxes and it's not really a lot more.

Your home is a storage facility with boxes piled up into it.

You need to turn it back into a home.

'Unable to see it, this collection is pointless.

'Not least because James has hit upon one of the world's most popular collectibles.

'Star Wars merchandise is not only big business,

'it's also earned its very own place in history.'

Whether you're a Luke Skywalker, Han Solo or Princess Leia fan,

there are hardly any of us that haven't seen a Star Wars film.

It's one of the most famous film franchises of all time.

However, it's not just the movies that made big bucks.

'Since their first appearance in 1977,

'the films have revolutionised the toy industry.'

Movie tie-ins had been around since the very earliest days of cinema.

As stars of the silver screen gained popularity and notoriety,

theatres could purchase items such as pillow cases with

photographs of the stars to give away to or sell to the public.

And then, of course, there was Walt Disney and his big star, Mickey Mouse.

'But by the time Star Wars came along in the late '70s,

'the big toy companies had all but given up on movie memorabilia

'and simply weren't interested in making Star Wars toys.'

Even the distributors 20th Century Fox had no faith

in the virtues of merchandising, or even in the films themselves.

'In one of Hollywood's most famous deals,

'George Lucas agreed to a reduced salary in exchange

'for 40% of box office takings and all the merchandising rights.

'Lucas joined forces with toy manufacturers Kenner

to produce a range of Star Wars figures.

'It was a partnership that would prove to be an enormous success.'

The marketing team initially

had thought about producing a 12-inch figure,

so very much like GI Joe in America an Action Man over here in the UK.

However they very quickly realised that a 12-inch Han Solo

would require a five-foot Millennium Falcon.

They then turned to the president of Kenner, Bernie Loomis.

His response was this -

three and three quarter inches.

It was the new size of figure which kept manufacturing costs down,

and that meant everybody could afford a little piece of Star Wars.

And that was important for children and, of course, their parents,

because, as well as aiming to collect the entire set,

you could let your imagination run wild as you acted out

your favourite scenes from the films.

It was a whole new way to play, and today

the three-and-three-quarter-inch figure is very much the industry standard.

Lucas and his friends had surprised everyone

and surpassed all expectation.

The marketing strategy and production of such a vast range

of toys turned many a young boy into a collector.

Driven by nostalgia, prices for these early vintage

Star Wars pieces can be stratospheric.

A set of the 12 original figures,

mint on card and in exceptional condition,

recently sold at auction for over £12,000.

As of 2012, the Star Wars films have generated an estimated

4.4 billion in ticket sales, but that's compared

to an estimated 20 billion worth of merchandising sales.

Star Wars didn't just tell us about the exploits of an empire,

it created an empire.

And our next collector has created her very own empire.

We've come to meet a woman who's worried about the future

of her collection and has no idea of its true value.

KNOCKING

-Hello.

-Hello, pleased to meet you.

-Are you Shirley?

-Yes.

'And for grandma Shirley it's a very large collection.'

Wow.

They literally are everywhere, Shirley.

Goodness me! How many have you got?

I've got 73 prams and I've got approximately 300 dolls.

-73 prams.

-Prams.

Where are the other...65?

-You'll see them in a minute.

-Right, OK.

Shirley can't stop buying dolls, and has done so since her childhood.

They now fill six rooms of her home.

I don't smoke, I don't drink and I don't go out with men.

SHE LAUGHS

So that's my hobby.

There's something very odd going on with the eyelids on this one.

Yeah, she moves, her eyes move.

I just like to take care of them,

I always feel sorry for a doll if it's battered about.

I feel like I want to take it home and look after it.

Hello, little ones.

You look very at home there, I do have to say.

THEY LAUGH

'But now 69-year-old Shirley is facing a problem

'all collectors will have to deal with at some point.

'What happens to your collection after you've gone?'

I am concerned about the future.

If I sort of kick the bucket and go, like,

what's going to happen to them?

Who's going to look after them and do the necessary?

'This is Shirley's life's work and passion.

'She wants to pass the dolls on to her grandchildren

'but they have no idea

'what to do with them or even what they're worth.'

How much do you think you've spent in your 50 years as a collector?

-I don't know.

-Ah-ha.

Look at this little cluster!

'This is a collection that demands an extensive valuation.

'Until we know what it's all worth,

'we can't help Shirley decide what its future should be.'

'50s dolls, hard plastic dolls,

-are really coming into their own at the moment.

-Oh, really?

And I think perhaps that's partly to do with nostalgia.

-I think we like to collect toys that we had as children.

-Yes.

And maybe it's a generation now collecting the dolls

-of the '50s that they had when they were younger.

-Ah.

You could be talking sort of up to a couple of hundred pounds.

-Really?

-But it needs a little bit more work on that.

'What I really want to know, though, is how do you go from buying

'a few dolls to owning a collection of more than 300?'

Did you have one specific doll as a child

that you were very attached to?

My first doll I ever had, my mum bought me,

and I idolised that doll.

I came home from school one day and she'd gone,

and my mum told me that she'd given it to a family

who lived over the road who had about seven or eight children,

and a few days later I saw the doll

and it was just smashed to bits in the garden.

-Oh, Shirley, no!

-Shirley, stop it.

Yeah, I know.

Do you think this is what your collection's all about, Shirley?

It's the search to find that one original doll

-that was taken away from you?

-Maybe subconsciously.

-Shirley, onwards. I can't bear this.

-Absolutely.

-Onwards, please.

-Show us some more.

Oh...my...days.

You sleep in this room with the dolls?

-This is my bedroom.

-This is your bedroom.

This is like a car park of..

-A pram park.

-Isn't it?

'I have to say, I'm blown away and, if I'm being honest,

'(a little bit spooked.)'

Sorry, one of them is actually staring at me quite intensely.

-No, I can't look at him!

-Now look what you've started.

Shirley, be my buffer, please be my buffer.

'Shirley is a collectaholic in every sense of the word.

'As her grandchildren, Lucia and James, know only too well.'

How does it work in reality?

Every time she goes to an antiques fair

she will say to me on the phone, "I am not buying no prams,

"I'm not buying no dolls, I'm going to look."

You ring her up that evening, "Nan, what did you buy?"

"I bought two dolls and a pram."

-Ah. Oh, no!

-SHE LAUGHS

I remember going to these fairs with her

and putting the back seats down, trying to fit the pram in the back.

Put three prams in the back and... SHIRLEY GIGGLES

Yeah, with all the dolls and...

If I say, "James, there's an antique fair coming soon."

"No, no, I'm not coming, don't ask me." THEY LAUGH

'When the time comes, Shirley's grandchildren

'have no idea what to do with the collection.'

They did say when I kick the bucket

that they're going to stick 'em on eBay.

Are you daunted by the prospect

that you're going to have this huge collection to deal with?

I wouldn't know where to start.

-Really?

-Really.

Internet.

-Internet?

-Online auctions.

-I'm joking.

-Listen, she doesn't want that.

No, I know, she wants them to go to loving homes and...

I think she'd haunt me if I done that.

That was the first doll like that that my mum bought for me.

'I mean, I think it is fair to say that it's something

'that seems to worry Shirley a bit isn't, it?

'If you collect something,'

if you've got a passion for something and you love something so much

then obviously you're not going to want that thing

to get damaged or hurt,

so obviously that's when her feelings come into play.

It would be nice in a way to kind of find

some options for her, wouldn't it?

Yeah, keep her mind at rest.

It would be nice to have, like, a plan so it all goes smoothly.

Well, hopefully we can help.

-Yeah, sounds brilliant.

-Yeah, good.

'Getting everything valued is the first step to giving Shirley

'the peace of mind she's longing for.'

'And it's becoming clear that Shirley has no idea

'just how much it's all worth.'

-She's probably worth £150, £250 I would think.

-Yeah?

Art collector Graham is facing a crisis -

how to keep collecting when he's run out of wall space.

We've brought him to London to a very special house indeed.

This was once the home of 19th century architect Sir John Soane.

Something of a collector himself, Soane created this house,

with its picturesque and poetic interiors, to inspire amateurs

and students in architecture, painting and sculpture.

It was his gift to the nation.

Welcome to Sir John Soane's picture room.

Wow. Good heavens. Absolutely astonishing.

John Soane built this room in 1824, when he was 71,

to house his enormous and growing collection of pictures.

This room is not all that it seems Graham,

-there's a bit of an optical illusion in here.

-Right.

Cos he had a lot more pictures to deal with than

the ones you can just see hanging up.

'Soane was immensely proud of his use of large moveable planes

'to maximise hanging options.'

Good heavens, yes, this is the perfect solution,

I shall have one of these constructed as soon as I get home.

-More of them?

-Yep.

In fact, the whole room has doors that open up to hold more pictures.

How clever.

It's like a sort of gigantic advent calendar.

THEY LAUGH

'The effect was such that this 13 by 12 foot space

'is actually capable of displaying as many pictures

'as a gallery of 20 by 45 feet.'

It's just absolutely amazing,

just how you can show everything off quite so easily.

I think it's ingenious.

Housing works by great artists such as Canaletto,

Turner and Hogarth, it's said that Soane used more

than 704 books of gold leaf to gild their frames.

Do you feel a sort of connection across the centuries

with this extraordinary collector?

Yes, I think there are...

There's a strange vibe about all this,

because you can see the same single-mindedness

and the same joy of collecting and the same pleasure,

to get it on the wall so that others can enjoy it, as well.

Can you see yourself, Graham, doing something similar?

-It is food for thought, isn't it?

-And for the eyes.

It's going to happen.

-It's going to happen, Graham.

-It'd be a feast.

'Recreating Sir John Soane's picture room is a touch ambitious,

'but I think it's perfect inspiration

'for a collection as jam-packed as Graham's.

'So I've brought in builder Stewart to see what's possible.'

What areas are we looking at?

Well, Graham, what do you think?

Well, it's where you can actually hinge some of these partitions

on which you can then hang additional pieces.

We can certainly do something within here.

Just looking at it, perhaps a sliding door there,

so you could hang art this side and from that side.

-Right.

-As well as, you know, making the most of that wall.

What were you thinking, Graham, in terms of

where it will be in the house?

Well, I'm still trying to get my mind around the concept in any shape.

'It's a lot for Graham to take on board.'

How many pictures would you want to put on?

We're looking at one, two, three...

About half a dozen on either side,

so you're looking at another dozen pictures.

-That's...that's pretty amazing.

-It's achievable.

How about perhaps doing something here to form a screen

-so you separate the room.

-Double doors!

-That meet to form a single wall.

-Which we can slide.

Graham. And you can emerge through the wall to your guests.

This does have mileage, doesn't it? Which I don't have.

24 pictures, Graham. 24.

'Sounds promising, and I'm hoping there'll be more good news

'when it comes to the valuation.'

-It's remarkable, isn't it?

-It is rather.

He's choosing art which is technically very complex.

'Alex Hayter from Bloomsbury Auctions

'has come to give me the lowdown.'

At the end of the corridor here we've got a number of pieces

that are almost sort of like a roll call of contemporary artist's names.

Bridget Riley, for example, two pieces.

Very much so, and they're great works.

She's one of the most important British artists

of the 20th century, and it's very sought-after.

So what's that worth today, for example?

She's a fashionable artist, isn't she?

Well, two years ago, probably £1,500.

-Now, £3,500, £4,000.

-That's an enormous rise!

It is, but she's very in vogue.

'Whilst some have increased, others aren't what they seem.'

This series was...

It's one of the most important series of prints

by Hockney from the mid-1960s.

This was part of a book.

It was a book of 13 etchings,

and it's effectively been taken out of the book.

It's still an etching by David Hockney,

there's no question of that, but it's been taken out of a book.

'And so it's only worth about £100.

'But Graham's got a great eye for emerging talent.

They're by a relatively unknown artist called Colin Wiggins.

He's made these...these portraits of other artists,

and other artists have produced a portrait of him.

They're beautiful things,

they're really brilliantly crafted, clever etchings.

-And they're from tiny editions.

-Minuscule, minuscule.

These are incredibly rare things. I've seen this once.

'And that can only be a good thing.'

'There are some big-value pieces here,

'and whilst Graham has bought straight from the galleries

'at the highest prices,

'there are plenty of artists whose careers are still maturing.'

'With 350 separate pieces, this might take some time.

'You're not going to tell me anything, are you, Mark?

'Nope. Not yet anyway.'

'Star Wars fanatic James's

'35,000-piece collection can't be enjoyed.

'It's piled up in boxes and has completely overrun

'his children's bedrooms.

'He knows it's out of control, but he's ready to make a change

'and convert the entire attic into a purpose-built showroom.

'So, I'm taking James and wife Sarah to meet a fellow collector

'to see how a large collection can be balanced with a family home.'

-Hi.

-Hello.

-Hello, Debbie.

-Yes.

-Good to see you.

-Hi, come on in.

-Hi.

'Peter's die-cast van collection spans 22,000 items.'

It's really beautiful, Peter.

A whole new collecting experience for you, James.

Yes, unbelievable.

-It's like an art gallery.

-Yeah.

'But wife Debbie has put her foot down.

'The collection stops on the stairs to the attic and comes no lower.'

-Just a few bits.

-22,000, James.

-22,000, OK.

So, James, what do you think?

It's amazing.

-It's very organised.

-It's a bit of a collection.

It is, but it's all so well displayed.

It needs displaying.

-You need to see it, you need to be aware of what you've got.

-Yes.

'You said it. This is the total opposite to James's.

'The collection can be enjoyed

'and every available space has been used - even the sloping ceilings.'

For me to have the collection out on show is something that,

-you know, I want to do.

-It's great, isn't it?

So much pleasure.

-And I think I'll enjoy it a lot more.

-You will.

'Peter's love of vans began

'when he bought a life-size one more than 40 years ago.'

And I went to Spain and lived in the back of one

-for 13 months as a hippy...

-I'm loving that.

..on a strawberry farm. You were there.

Not actually, in Spain but you were of the '70s ilk, you know..

-Well, yeah, kind of, mainly '80s...

-Yeah, but we...

Is this all taking you back then to those hippy days

-living in the back of a van?

-Part of it, yeah, yeah.

Is that what it's about?

Everyone underestimates the vanning movement.

How much do you reckon you've spent in total?

What a question that is. I don't know.

You can't put a value on it.

-You can't put a balance sheet on enjoyment.

-Yeah.

'We're leaving the boys to it.'

Is there a board behind there?

So obviously you're not going directly into the...

-I've double plaster-boarded that.

-Right, OK, fine.

'I want Sarah to see how the collection

'doesn't have to take over the whole house.'

How did you manage to kind of mark out this territory so clearly?

-I just said, "I just don't want it everywhere in the house."

-Yeah.

You know, I just want some areas that I can call my own really, so...

This is the mistake I've made.

I clearly haven't been strict enough with that.

-Do you think that's what it is? About being strict?

-It really is.

I tell you, give them an inch, that's it.

How does it feel meeting a fellow collector's wife?

Good luck!

SHE LAUGHS

Aww.

It's great.

I'm very pleased that I can see how it could be at the other end.

'Whilst Mel's been finding out how they can display the collection,

'I've been trying to work out exactly what's here.'

'Most of the collection is from the late 1990s onwards.

'With many of his items produced in huge quantities,

'they don't command nearly as much value as the older late 1970s ones.'

'But James has kept all his modern figures mint on card,

'pristine and preserved in their original packaging.

'And, with duplicates and triplicates everywhere,

'selling them could bring in several thousand pounds.

'And he does have some star items that should be out on display.'

'But finding them all is impossible with the collection in this state.'

Well, that's all about to change as we're taking drastic action.

To get the attic converted into James's Star Wars haven,

everything's going to be packed up and shipped out

to a huge storage facility.

No matter how much wall space you've got, you'll need more.

Yeah.

'At last James can see beyond the boxes,

'and Sarah can see life without the boxes.'

So what do you reckon?

It's amazing, absolutely amazing collection.

-Beautifully displayed.

-It looks cool, doesn't it?

-Really cool.

-But I really, really like some of the ideas.

I like the shelf in the middle. Really good food for thought,

I'm getting a bit excited now.

'Moving everything is going to be a huge job for us,

'but for James it's finally time to relinquish control.'

'We're back with Shirley,

'who doesn't know what to do with the dolls she's hoping will be

'an important nest egg for her grandchildren.'

I think they need help, you know what I mean?

I mean, I could kick the bucket tomorrow,

I might live another 20 years, we don't know yet,

but I think they would need help and advice from somebody.

-Mark is your man.

-Absolutely. I'll do my best.

'Inheriting a collection is hard.

'Inheriting a collection this big is terrifying.

'And valuing it all is an intensive process.'

Could I have a look at those two?

-I can sort of see value there already.

-Can you?

-Absolutely, yes.

'When it comes to valuing dolls,

'you've got to know what you're looking for,

'and Mark knows where to start.'

-What are you doing? Winding the doll?

-THEY LAUGH

What I'm doing is looking at the back of the head

because, as Shirley well knows... Can you see here?

-What does it say? Oh, Germany!

-All the clues here on the back.

On the back of the neck.

And these marks will often give you clues as to

-when the doll was made and who made it.

-Ah.

And look at that. Nice little bit of detail up there.

Her eyelashes are intact.

-If we turn her over, let's see who made her.

-Germany.

-There we go, but AM here stands for Armand Marseille.

-Marseille.

Who are one of the most prolific doll makers.

'German manufacturer Armand Marseille

'was so popular that in the early 20th century their factory

'was producing up to 1,000 porcelain doll heads per day.

'These were affordable, but well-made dolls

'and they're just as popular now as they were back then.'

And with the clothing I could see a dealer

easily selling her for £250 or so.

'It's not just the dolls.

'Shirley's got 73 prams.

'And with prams it's the maker that's all important.'

-This is Silver Cross, isn't it?

-Silver Cross Princess.

-But this is the Rolls-Royce of prams...

-Yeah.

-I mean, my goodness me.

-Yeah, definitely.

'For me, dolls are just a childhood memory of playing mum,

'but that's not what the collector market sees,

'and it's a huge market.

'I've come to the Museum of Childhood in London

'to meet an expert who knows all about the value

'and history of dolls.

'Rachel Gotch has been a doll valuer

'at a specialist auction house for 15 years.'

Dolls, I believe, go back to as early as the Egyptian times,

but the dolls that we consider as collectible now,

the first commercial dolls, if you like,

-are William and Mary period, so about 1680s.

-Right.

'We're being given a very special treat -

'a private look inside the museum vaults.'

-Oh, my word, look at this, Rachel.

-Is this solid doll world?

-Absolutely.

-Floor to ceiling.

-This is the heart of the museum.

-I want to open all the boxes!

I know, but you'd be here all day, I'm afraid.

'The museum has over 4,000 dolls in their collection

'with everything from modern day Barbies to early wooden dolls.'

-She would date from about 1750, 1760.

-That old?

Oh, look! She's got a little...

-It's like a little watch.

-I love her clothes.

That's her little pocket watch to keep the time.

They think that these were made possibly by travelling

furniture makers, and they would do this as a sideline.

So the popularity of dolls would be literally word of mouth

or people seeing one and thinking, "I'd like one of those."

Yes, I think a sign of prosperity within the family

because they would have cost quite a lot at the time to be made,

and I think probably passed around after dinner parties to talk about.

It was a trinket.

So not given to your six-year-old to have a good old...?

No, I don't believe so. They're very rare.

We have quite recently sold an extremely rare example,

a little earlier than this one here, and she actually achieved £58,500.

-Wow.

-Yes.

'The 19th century Industrial Revolution

'led to the mass production of dolls.'

Ooh, it's like Christmas!

'A growing demand from the emerging wealthier population was fed

'by an increasing number of factories

'based primarily on the Continent.'

Ooh, wow. Oh, look.

'And one of the most popular materials they used was bisque,

'which was faster and easier to produce than wood.'

It's like a china material, it's fired, then it's painted by hand

and it's not glazed, so it doesn't have the shine of china.

'A number of factories in France became renowned

'for their fine quality, artistry and beauty.

'Jumeau, who made this Emile doll, were one of the best.'

These would have been extremely expensive in their day,

perhaps as much as a week's wages.

And today, presumably, she's much sought after, a doll like this?

Jumeaus are one of our most popular dolls with collectors.

They can achieve anywhere between sort of £3,000 and more.

She's got more outfits than Cheryl Cole, this one.

'By the 1930s bisque had become too expensive to make,

'so a cheap and simple alternative was found -

'composition.'

A bit like papier-mache, it's sort of sawdust,

I think perhaps a bit of chalk,

and it's all mushed together and moulded into shape.

And, yes, they would be much more affordable.

'Composition dolls are still very popular

'and collectors can pick up the most common for as little as £15 or £20.'

I rather like her, actually.

'Shirley's collection is predominantly

'composition and bisque.'

'But the dolls range in size, variety and, therefore, value.'

How much do you reckon you have spent on amassing the collection?

The most I've ever spent on a doll was £300,

but that was just a one-off, and some I've only paid £20, £10.

Yeah.

How much do you reckon the collection is worth?

Could be hundreds, I don't think it goes into thousands,

but it could be hundreds.

It would be interesting just to see

-if they have increased in value or gone down.

-Yes.

'So, just what secrets does Shirley's collection hold?

'And what kind of nest egg has she built for her grandchildren?'

'In London it's removal day at James and Sarah's house.'

-It is huge!

-Massive.

It needs to be big.

It does need to be big, Sarah, exactly.

'Everything must go so the building work in the attic can begin

'and the collection can be valued.'

-Until now the flow has been in, one way only.

-Yes.

We're about to reverse that and move everything out.

-I'm so excited.

-I've got a bad feeling about this.

Why?

No, it's just, you know, nervous, anxiety, you know.

It is positive.

'But, with so many boxes, it's going to be a huge task.'

What do you think about this, guys?

It's the first time I've ever seen anything quite like it, to be honest with you.

'And a huge upheaval for James.'

There was a loose figure that just went on the top.

Just be careful with the bubbles.

Dad's been threatening to cancel.

-Knowing him...

-He feels a bit nervous.

Your collection is in safe hands, James.

-Yes, exactly, exactly.

-Don't worry, it's in safe hands.

-Deep breaths.

-Yep, I'm absolutely fine!

Are you really?

Um...

Valium would be quite good right now. A valium or a drink.

I notice your voice has gone up a few octaves there.

I think we'll leave it at that for the moment.

'No time to dwell, James, it's all happening today.

'Builder Stewart has arrived to work out how to get the collection

'out of boxes and on display.'

The first challenge is space, of course. What are you thinking?

Bearing in mind...

-This as well as what we've just seen?

-It is, yes.

Wow, OK. You may have to get rid of some of it.

'The plan is to renovate the attic into a purpose-built showroom

'combined with storage units.'

And I know you had some concerns about lighting, Mark.

-I think we could either go for LED for halogen.

-Yep.

-And I believe it's LED that doesn't generate heat.

-That's right.

And I think with plastic figures you don't really want

to introduce them to a lot of heat.

And, most importantly, Sarah is putting her foot down.

This is it, isn't it?

James has his boundaries set for the Star Wars collection.

It's this room and outside on the landing, and going

down the stairs, up to Miriam's door and above her door, and that's it.

'The boxes are gone, everything's out

'and now it's time for everyone to see the transformation.'

-Ooh.

-Wow!

-Wow!

-This is so good.

-It's so good!

-Night, Dad.

-Look at this space!

Last time I think I probably touched the back wall,

I think...six years ago, when I was four?

-What do you think of the space?

-It's amazing.

It's a really good use of the space.

-Miriam's enjoying the space down there.

-SHE GIGGLES

'The Star Wars collection has all been moved

'to a 2,400 square foot storage space.'

'And I want to show James

'and Sarah just how much stuff was stuffed into their home.

'I think they're in for a surprise.'

OK.

Welcome to your collection.

That's mad. It's absolutely mad.

Ridiculous!

It sort of questions why you need to do this, doesn't it?

When you see a collection like this, why you need to have so much.

You don't need to have so much.

You need to choose what you want to collect and stick to that.

-Oh, 100%, 100%.

-That's what you need to do.

'It's a positive step.

'James is starting to realise he doesn't need to have it all.'

SHE LAUGHS

The hysteria really has set in, hasn't it, now?

The shock of it all.

We made our house bigger

and squeezed the children into smaller and smaller spaces.

-This is obscene.

-Do you feel a bit ashamed of it, as well?

Um...

I think I'm ashamed that I've let it get this far

without stepping back and doing something about it.

Self control is something you're going to have to

-exercise from now on.

-100%, 100%.

See this?

-BANG

-I'm putting my foot down.

That's fine. That's absolutely fine.

'An eye-opening experience all round, but there are signs James

'is becoming more of a collector and less of a hoarder.

'I can't wait to see everything displayed in all its glory.

'And, of course, find out how much it's all worth.'

'Like any collector, Shirley has invested time,

'money and emotion into her tribe of dolls.'

'After 50 years of collecting,

'it's time to reveal how much it's all worth.

'This will help Shirley's grandchildren make an informed

'decision on what they should do with the collection

'when they inherit it.'

Do you have figures in your head?

Not a couple of grand, but in the grand, I'd say.

-You'd say in the thousands?

-Yeah.

-James?

-Four grand?

Shirley, you said to me that you thought the collection

-was worth maybe the late hundreds, £800, £900.

-Yeah, maybe.

OK. I'm desperate. Mark, please.

Come on, four eager faces.

Your collection of dolls, Shirley, and prams...

..if sold on today's market...

..would be worth in the region...

..of £27,000.

You're joking?

Oh, my days.

You're joking. Really?

£27,000.

£27,000.

Do I spot a little tear in your eye?

Well, it's shock, isn't it?

We need another of your cups of tea, I think, Shirley.

-I think we do, a nice strong brew.

-A massively strong brew.

I never thought it'd be that much.

'Nor me, but Shirley's made some great investments.'

'Indeed.

'The prams alone are worth around £200 each,

'making up a staggering £14,000 of the total valuation.'

What did you pay for her Shirley?

Er, £16.

She's worth about £150 today.

I bought five of them like that.

'Shirley's intuition for buying dolls has paid off.

'When it does come time to sell the dolls,

'Shirley and the grandchildren have a number of options.

'There are auction houses, but they can carry heavy fees.

'Online auctions have lower fees, but can be time consuming.

'As Shirley wants her dolls to go to good homes,

'we're recommending a specialist dealer.

'They'll still charge a fee

'but they'll be able to find the best homes for the best prices.'

Shirley, I should imagine this will appeal to you.

They'll make sure they go to good homes.

-So it's less hassle.

-Yeah.

And then you know you're getting your money's worth, as well.

'Hang on, though. Shirley's got other ideas.'

-I'm just not going anywhere.

-Shirley!

-I'm staying for ever.

We'll just get a big enough coffin to put them all in.

Actually the old Kings of Lithuania used to be buried

with all their horses buried around them.

I'm going to have a pyramid built, there we are.

I love this idea,

an enormous great mausoleum full of dolls watching you.

I'll get my own pyramid built.

Could you do something just with that space? A little cupboardy...

Yeah, we could do for smaller artworks, you know,

like you say, little bi-fold doors that concertina against each other.

'To show off his ever-expanding collection of 350 prints,

'Graham took drastic steps,

'buying the house next door and knocking through.'

'But to solve his display problems,

'we've come up with a rather unusual solution -

'put the walls back up.'

Think I preferred the sliding panels.

Certainly it's worth considering in a way

that I would have even remotely thought of it before today.

'That's great news, and it means he can buy more prints.'

'Only if they're worth it.

'Graham thought he'd spent £50,000 plus on his collection.'

Graham, I'm in the dark.

So, Mark, come on spill the old financial beans.

If you were to sell your whole collection on the open market

at auction, we feel that it would fetch in the region

of £85,000.

Mm-hm.

Well, that's nice to know,

and nice to know it's moved in that direction, I must say.

'Our valuer identified 48 key prints that make up

'more than 50% of the total value.'

'There's a Paula Rego piece from her hugely popular

'Peter Pan series from the early '90s.

'At nearly £2,000, it's more than double what Graham paid for it.

'And, of course, the quartet of Colin Wiggins collaborations

'that are so rare.'

Do you know how much you paid for them?

Yes, £600 each.

Your £600 each has turned into, for the full set,

around £6,500.

MEL WHISTLES Wow.

That's, er, produced a rosy glow.

This was certainly one of my better judgments.

'It certainly was.

'Graham's clearly got a great eye,

'and if he takes Sir John Soane's lead,

'he should have plenty of room for more purchases.'

-Tempted to sell it?

-No.

Not for anything?

No, it's part of me,

and it's been part of nearly 40 years of collecting,

and if we get the sliding partitions done

we might even have a few more pieces.

24 pictures, Graham. 24 pictures on two doors.

-Well...

-Quite exciting, eh?

Yes, and I wonder how long I can spin that out for.

There's one more person to see.

It's been six weeks since James's 35,000-piece collection

was removed from his house and the attic conversion began.

Seeing all of those boxes laid out was just an unbelievable moment.

It has changed my whole outlook on collecting.

I didn't have the control before over what was coming

into the house and how it was being displayed, and...

And now I have that control back, and it's not going to take over

the rest of the house again.

Cos I won't let it.

Well, it looks the same from the outside.

It does indeed.

'It's finally time for us to see the renovations

'and reveal just how much James's collection is worth.'

-Hello.

-Hello.

-How are you?

-Good to see you, James.

'The empire begins on the staircase.'

Oh, my lord, I can see it.

Oh!

'James's mint on card figures line the walls

'like a piece of postmodern abstract artwork.'

-You can actually see the stuff.

-Yes.

So is that the kind of invisible barrier there?

Yes, just here and also above Miriam's door.

I think they look absolutely extraordinary.

What do you think guys?

I think it's great. I think it's absolutely brilliant. Sarah?

It's worked out so much better than we could ever have imagined.

'But it's in the attic where the real change has taken place.'

That is beautiful. Look at it!

Oh, my goodness, it feels so big!

This is the room where the bunk beds were, isn't it?

-Yep.

-Yeah.

'Gone are the bunk beds and boxes,

'and in their places LED lighting,

'glass shelves and plenty of storage.'

-Slightly freaked out by the Vader head.

-THEY LAUGH

'Even the sloping ceilings have been put to use.'

Look at all these amazing things.

They all look as if they're doing

the thing that they were meant to do.

They were made for display, not for storing in a box

-in a big pile in the corner of a room.

-100%, 100%.

Whilst we're here, do you want to handle a lightsaber?

So when did you actually last handle these?

Some of them had never been opened.

How on earth could you leave it that long?

They were in a box, he couldn't get at them.

-Says it all, doesn't it, really?

-It does, it does.

'It's an amazing contrast and a whole new attitude to collecting.'

This whole process will change what I buy moving forward and how I buy.

Instead of buying five or six, you know, just buy one thing

because I actually like it.

Do you think you've turned into a different type of collector?

-Yeah, definitely.

-And would you see that as a progression?

-Yes, yes.

-In what way?

-It's growing up.

-Are you proud of him?

-I'm really proud of him.

He's saying things that I never thought I'd hear him say.

So if it was like this, would you mind it growing a little more?

As long as it grows in the room. The line has been drawn.

'James finally has the collection under control

'and Sarah and the kids have their house back.

'And, even better, James is showing a commitment to keep it that way,

'as he's agreed to sell 29 boxes off at auction.'

'So, come on Mark, tell us what the whole collection's worth.

'James thinks he's spent between £25,000

'and £30,000 on his Star Wars stuff.'

We've had a specialist go through your collection,

and we feel that if we were to put it into auction

it would fetch somewhere in the region

of £45,000 to £55,000.

-OK.

-That's...

That's a good thing.

-It's nice to know that it hasn't gone down. That's really nice.

-Yes.

Does that make you happy, James?

I don't know what it makes me, to be honest, because I'm not...

I genuinely am not really bothered about the money side of it.

I'm doing it because I enjoy it.

'James has nearly doubled the money he spent,

'and the star item is his much-loved Clone Trooper.'

He's incredibly scarce. What is it - five of these were made?

-Yes, that's right.

-Only five?

-Only five.

'Our valuer thinks James could expect around £1,000,

'but with no previous sales as a benchmark

'it could fetch far, far more.'

There will always be more than five people

who'll want to collect this.

-I mean, if two people get behind it, 3, 4, £5,000.

-Yep.

They've never been seen for sale before on the open market.

But it's plastic bricks!

But the hands are moveable, slightly.

-Ooh!

-SHE LAUGHS

'Luckily for me, the money doesn't mean that much to James and Sarah.'

'They've got their house back

'and a wonderful collection they can now enjoy.'

I don't think either of us

had any control over what was being collected.

Now I know that we've got the control back.

James has control, I have control - it's a better situation to be in.

I'm very happy that I've given the family their home back.

I think that was very, very important.

It was obviously selfish of me for what I was doing

and I think I needed a kick to break that cycle.

I can't remember the last time it was a proper family home,

and now it's a proper family home again.

Our work here is done.

Oh! There we go.

It's turned out nice again, hasn't it?

-Mmm, it has, actually.

-Very clement.

DEEP BREATHING

SHE COUGHS

'Excuse me.'