by Jessica Carreras
Martin Collica needs a boyfriend, and not just for companionship or to grow old with. He needs someone who plays board games.
The Harper Woods resident has over 40 boxed sets, including everything from Life to Risky Business to lesser-known favorites like Lie Detector and Roller Coaster, relics from his youth.
"I have been collecting board games since I was around 14 years old," recalls Collica, now 62. "My first one was the game Risk by Parker Brothers. I remember calling the J.L. Hudson Store from our home on Detroit's east side and ordering it."
Collica still has the game, too, which is marked with his name and his school year. It's just one part of his unique collection, which includes several variations of Clue and Monopoly, including the Motownopoly set that his coworkers gave him in honor of his nickname: Motown Marty. Then there are the board games for "Titanic" and "LOST." Another game from his childhood, Park and Shop, is very rare, and normally goes for over $100 on bidding Web sites, Collica says.
But he's not looking to sell.
Though some collectors gather their goods in hopes of making a profit someday off of originally packaged G.I. Joes or still-tagged Beanie Babies, some just collect out of sheer love for something.
That includes Diane Nothaft of Ann Arbor. The 43-year-old is, well, somewhat of a WNBA and Detroit Shock nut.
"My collecting coincides with my tenure as a season ticket holder for the (Detroit Shock)," she explains of her collection, which began 12 years ago. "I had a lot of up-close-and-personal access to the team, so I was able to get a lot of autographs at team functions and various parties. Getting various things autographed became a unique way to interact with and get to know professional athletes in a way I only dreamed about when I was a kid."
Dreams do come true. Of those signed pieces – most of with Nothaft gathered in person – she has 14 jerseys or shirts, six posters and calendars, 22 basketballs, three Wheaties boxes, three pairs of shoes, five hats, two floor boards and one seat back.
Unlike Collica's relatively contained collection, which stacks neatly into a shelving unit, visitors to Nothaft's house had better love basketball – or at least be prepared for what they'll see. Beyond her signed materials, there are WNBA and Detroit Shock bobbleheads, wristbands, cards, photos, ticket stubs, Beanie Babies and scrapbooks from every season she's been a ticket holder for.
"It's hard to pick a favorite because just about every piece has some kind of special memory or brings up some kind of emotional attachment," she shares. "This Shock/WNBA thing basically became kind of a way of life and the whole collection is somewhat a representation of that."
For Collica, it's about the joy of adding to his collection – which is usually more for show than for use. "I seem to get a thrill from the purchase of a new game … open it up and see the contents and then keep the game safe and sound and protected," he admits. "I rarely play them."
That is, of course, until he finds a suitable partner: smart, funny, must love Monopoly.
