• 7 months ago
Meet the Harry Potter superfan with the world's largest collection of wizarding memorabilia - which has taken over her home despite her husband 'not being a fan'.

Tracey Nicol-Lewis, 49, has well over 6,300 wizarding items - including wands, special edition books, LEGO sets and artwork - spread across every room in her house.

Her husband, Martin, 47, a security officer, claims it's not his thing - but supports his wife's passion.

Tracey first watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2002 just after the birth of her son and fell in love with the characters straight away.

It wasn't long before she acquired her first Harry Potter collectible - a chocolate frog from her local corner shop.

She had 6,300 items in 2021 but since then her collection has significantly grown and taken over her house - including her bathroom, spare rooms and son's bedroom.

Tracey is gearing up to beat her previous world record - which she set in April 2021 - but hasn't counted them all officially yet.

Tracey, a housewife, from Bargoed, Wales, said: "I didn't even think I had that much in my collection but Martin said that I should go for the world record.

"I couldn't believe it when I found our I had the record for Wizarding World and Harry Potter - I couldn't believe it.

"I was friends with the man who was the previous Harry Potter record holder and I just didn't think I would beat him."

Little by little, the odd eBay bid and trades with friends grew her collection, and Tracey hit her first 100 items in about 2006.

Her hoard now includes special editions of the books and their spin offs, and at least 127 action figures.

Her largest item is her cardboard book display for 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' which stands at five feet tall.

She's never had her collection valued but she estimates she spends on average £100 every month on new items.

The mum-of-one said: "Everything I like in my collection is just amazing, I love it.

"They have memories attached to them as well because I can remember the bits from the films or the books."

Tracey also enjoys Harry Potter cosplay, and attends events to meet other fanatics while dressed in her clobber.

She says that her favourite items change over time, but her currents are her collection of 47 wands.

But when she met her now-husband Martin, he wasn't immediately taken by her hobby.

She said: "He knew about my collection so it was accept it or run.

"First of all I said I like Harry Potter and I collect Harry Potter, and he was kind of shocked when he came around and saw the collection.

"But in my last house he decorated it red and yellow because of Gryffindor and he put up shelves for me and made it more Harry Potter themed.

"Martin is amazing, he puts up with my collection and even buys me things for it."

The family moved to a larger property in 2019 to accommodate the collection, and now have three rooms dedicated to it.

Category

😹
Fun
Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:02 My name's Tracy Nicole Lewis, and I'm a Harry Potter collector.
00:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:10 2002 was probably when I got my first item.
00:20 It would have been something little like this.
00:24 Not this exact one, because I would have eaten it.
00:26 How many items have you got now?
00:28 For my Guinness World Record, I've got 5284.
00:32 But I've been shopping since, and I'd probably
00:35 say over 6,000 items.
00:37 What's your favorite item at the moment that you've got?
00:41 At the moment, it's between my wands,
00:45 which are totally different, or these little tiny golden eggs.
00:50 They are my favorites with a little dragon inside.
00:53 I swap things with my friends in America.
00:55 So if I know they're getting me something,
00:56 I'll buy them something from here, but eBay.
01:00 I got notifications set up.
01:02 So as soon as it pops up, something's on there,
01:04 I'll have a look.
01:07 I always say I'm going to stop.
01:09 I haven't so far.
01:11 There's a lot of stuff that I haven't got, so I'll probably
01:14 still keep collecting.
01:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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