A love for the X-Men and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned into a lifelong hobby for Jason Klein, a New York doctor who shares his home office with us today. Check out his collection, which includes several crochet pieces made by his wife, below.
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Hello everyone! My name is Jason Klein and I'm from Long Island, New York. My wife, a teacher by trade and a crocheter on the side, and I share our home office. She runs her online business out of here and I fill it up with comic, pop culture, and baseball paraphernalia!
I've been reading comics since the late 1980s, starting with X-Men titles and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures from Archie (hey, child of the times, what can I say?). Over the years, my interests have expanded, became strange at times, but my love for the X-Men has always remained.
This is the entry to the office. I'm not a huge Cap fan, but it makes the room instantly recognizable by people who come to visit as The Comic Room. Plus, it covers up a big scratch in the paint on the door. Big bonus for someone who hates to paint.
Here's the scene when you walk in. Hanging over the desk is a Joe Madureira Age of Apocalypse poster, which has hung on my wall since 1995 (nearly 20 years!). The wall facing the door includes a Dave Cockrum Colossus, gifted to me by my amazing former camp counselor, and art of the soon-to-be-Generation X from the Phalanx Covenant novelization.
Close up of the desk. I've put some more sentimental pieces and stuff that I really love here so when I'm sitting at the computer in the corner, I don't feel so depressed. Some Disney creatures and Lady and the Tramp stuff sits here; my wife and I have been collecting Lady and the Tramp since we started dating back in high school. One of my favorite characters, Kitty Pryde, who appears a few times in the office, is represented a bunch here, including the only statue that I own. "Lockheed" sits on top of the X-Men lamp; he was a companion for my wife's Kitty Pryde costume that she wore to a friend's Avengers Vs. X-Men themed 30th birthday party.
Just to the right is the rest of the comic art -- a color reference page from one of my favorite X-Men issues (Uncanny X-Men 325), a Gene Colan Dracula, Kitty Pryde by Ray Sumser, and my dog, Oreo, by Carol Lay.
The center of the room holds the bulk of my trades and toys. The toys are a bit X-Men/Marvel-centric. To the left of the bookcase are some autographed baseballs (for any fellow Mets fans out there, they are signed by Jose Reyes, Bud Harrelson, Darryl Strawberry, Cleon Jones, Lenny Dykstra, and Ed Kranepool).
Some Legos in the background and smaller figures up front. I don't play Heroclix, but I ended up with a bunch from a cheap eBay lot. The group displayed here (including Thing, Kitty Pryde, Magneto, Ragman, Ambush Bug, and Songbird) are all Jewish or of Jewish heritage (just like me!).
My 4 year old son is WAY into Squinkies (we've got a huge bin in the other room), but the X-Men ones hang out in the office. He'll sit in here and play with these guys all day -- he thinks they're special since they are in here. My 1 year old daughter just thinks they're for throwing.
The X-Men figures down front are metal ones that I've had for a long time. My original TMNT figures were sold in the "Great Tag Sale of 2000" (while I was away at college); I replaced the three that were my favorite -- Space Usagi, Fugitoid, and Mondo Gecko. No idea why I loved those three the most.
The shelves below hold the trades. They're divided up by publisher (for the most part). Some Summers clan love in front of the Marvel books and more old Mets figures from the late '80s.
Generation X (go mid-90s X-Titles!) was happening right around when I really got into reading comics, so that team holds a special place in my heart.
Age of Apocalypse gets a second display here, battling in front of another dystopian character re-imaging, Weapon Brown by Jason Yungbluth.
The final shelf is a mini-tribute to my favorite X-character, Cyclops. With some GL rings for good measure.
The bookshelf on the side holds a bunch more stuff. The top shelf has some superhero-themed children books, X-Men novels, and Kickstarter-backed project rewards. The middle shelf has got a mix of science-fiction novels, Scott Pilgrim, and comic/pop-culture books. The bottom shelf has some old baseball programs and, as the last '90s mention, my old collection of comic cards in those 4 binders. The X-Men belt ("X-Belt"?) from the Kitty Pryde costume hangs off to the side and my custom Cyclops knit hat (made by my wife) is up top.
And finally, this is a view of the closet, which takes up the entire opposite wall. My single issues are in longboxes towards the right (and scattered in other places throughout the house), but this is mainly my wife's territory for her business.
Thanks for checking out the pictures! It's been a great 20-plus years of comics reading -- here's to 100 more!
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If you’d like to see your collection featured here on Robot 6, here’s what you need to do:
1. Take some photos and save them as jpgs.
2. Write up a little something about your collection.