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Apparently its a sea creature called the Carrier Shell (Xenophora). Its been collecting shells for thousands of years lol. I suppose you could collect collectors as well.

Hi, So, what do you collect and why do you collect?  How did you start?

I guess I've been collecting from the age of 4 years. I suppose you could call me a collector-maniac. I've collected: toy soldiers, metal badges, jokes, cacti and old coins. I even bought myself a metal detector so that I could dig up my own collectibles for free from Mother Earth. It was great for exercise, especially when escaping angry farmers and castle owners lol.  I wasn't the most talented metal detectorist, although I did find a 1000+ year old roman coin and an unexploded bomb.

I finally settled on a collectible that covers an infinite range of topics and is easy to store, and quite safe lol: vintage cigarette cards. Although they were only issued during a relatively short time (1880s-1940s), this was perhaps one of the most turbulent and creative in the history of mankind. They cover the first movie stars, fashion, art, soccer players, ww1 heroes, ww2 weapons and military uniforms, now endangered flowers and wildlife, the beginning of aviation itself and many other technological revolutions that had just emerged, including the nuclear bomb.

Do you, your friends or work colleagues have an ancestor who was famous from 1900s-1940s? If they were a famous sports person, movie star, inventor, politician, or awarded a Victoria Cross etc, I might be able to track them down on old trading cards and cigarette cards. I don't mind doing it for free since its quite interesting anyway and it doesn't cost me anything. It's amazing how many people are related to famous people from the past. I've had quite a few contact me during my time on eBay.

I've built up a huge database over the years of the names and titles of nearly every card I've put on eBay since 2000. I've created an online card museum on eBay displaying a sample of the rare and more unusual cards I've had over the years. You can visit my museum by clicking on my About Me or store link. If you can't find anything there please feel free to contact me and I'll do a search on my database.

It's fascinating how there is renewed interest in early movies amongst youtubers - people who are at the cutting edge of the next generation of movie creation (check out awinecone's Charlie Chaplin parody or stevieryan's silent movie inspired clips). Many silent movie film reels have been lost in the depths of time but cigarette cards and other memorabilia have helped plug the gaps in the jigsaw of movie heritage. This is why I collect and trade in cigarette cards. These cards have immortalised the early movie stars without whom YouTube might not even exist.

I've done a Youtube video clip of the above at::