Passions is what they have. You know how they start, not how they end. When Miguel Ángel Gimeno began to collect books, stickers, figures, posters, replica weapons and other merchandising inspired by ‘The Lord of the Rings’ he kept the pieces like a treasure at his mother’s house. Now, more than 20 years later, he can boast of being one of the great collectors of the JRR Tolkien universe. His treasure has reached such a size that he keeps it in ships in which his Gollum or Gandalf pieces share space with others from ‘Star Wars’ or Marvel.
The passions, you know.
From this week until July 23, part of the Gimeno collection can be visited at the Alcobendas Art Center, in what is already announced as the largest exhibition on ‘The Lord of the Rings’. And while it is true that fans of Tolkien’s universe are legion and the collection of figures from Peter Jackson’s films is widespread, Gimeno’s exhibition has tricks to be.
More than 25 years of collector passion
The assembly includes 75 figures, including three life-size: one of Gollum, another of Gandalf the Gray and a spectacular sculpture of an Uruk Hai over two meters high. They may be the most striking pieces, but not the only ones capable of astonishing fans. The exhibition incorporates original props from the film or the helmets of the Noldor elves, the captain of the Rohirrim or the guards of Minas Tirith. “An exhibition never seen before”, in the words of those responsible.
All accompanied by small-scale figures, posters, masks… Gimeno’s collection, after all —and as he himself recently explained to SER— dates back to before Peter Jackson released his first film in the saga.
“I started collecting items related to the saga more than 25 years ago“says the collector, whose personal treasure includes, for example, an LP in which Tolkien himself can be heard reading an excerpt from ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ or posters and photochromes of the cartoon film about ‘The Lord of the Rings’ directed in the late 1970s by Ralph Bakshi.
“I had read Tolkien’s books before. I discovered the world of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ through the original trilogy, written by Tolkien,” says Gimeno: “With the success of the films, a lot of material related to the universe. Before there were some things, like first editions of ‘The Hobbit’. But the emergence of merchandising occurred after the release of the films.”
Gimeno started a few, with pieces that he accumulated at his mother’s house when he was single. As time went by and as that collection demanded more and more space, he nevertheless needed pull imagination: he asked friends to keep pieces for him in their houses, he moved them to his, he rented space in a storage room… And finally he made use of several ships, in which he now gives free rein to a passion that extends to the Marvel universe and ‘ Star Wars’.
“In order to be exhibited, it needs logistics and infrastructure. The sculptures go in some showcases that it is also necessary to store, in turn. A team is needed for assembly,” explains Gimeno: “It has been necessary to create an infrastructure of its own.”
Money and space are not the only things needed to achieve a treasure like the one now on display in Alcobendas. There is a third ingredient, just as or even more necessary: dedication. Hours and hours surfing the Internet, reading forums and negotiating on the phone with potential sellers. “The world of collecting takes a lot of time. For me it was important that all that effort could be enjoyed by people, to be able to share it,” Gimeno confesses to the SER chain.
Some of these pieces required a special effort or have earned a prominent place on Gimeno’s shelves and ships, such as the figures of the 13 dwarfs from ‘The Hobbit’. “I had a hard time getting them together, a very laborious work“.
Another of the peculiarities of passions, when they are authentic, like that of this collector from the saga of the ring, is that they are insatiable. Neither the 75 figures in the Alcobendas exhibition nor the rest of the material that he keeps safe have been enough to quench his thirst to revive Tolkien’s world.
in your private letter for the Kings There are still dream pieces, such as a replica of the sword of Gandalf the Gray or a first edition of the Hobbit, a jewel for its fans for which a good sum can be paid.
It’s what passions have, you know.
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