Sideshow Featured Collector: Wheeler Freeman

Collector: Wheeler Freeman

Location: San Francisco

How and when did you start collecting?

I’ve been collecting ever since I was a kid and started with the Mego Comic Action Heros and then there came this little film Star Wars and I had to have every single figure…then Clash of the Titans…so yeah, I have been collecting since I was about 10.

What do you collect? Does your collection have a theme, such as Star Wars collectible, Batman, etc.?

I mainly collect Star Wars and since discovering Sideshow a few years back having introduced me to the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy, Guardians of the Galaxy, and now little by little the Avengers and DC’s Man of Steel to my collection. Most of my figures are still in the box as I slowly get display cases.

What makes your collection unique?

I think what makes my collection unique especially with the Star Wars and Clash of the Titans figures is that these are the original figures I purchased as a kid with paper route money and birthday money and I still have them after all these years and in mint condition. They were not an afterthought purchase of an adult collector but right then when they first came out in the stores and I was an excited kid buying them with my own money, in that way they are unique and personal and Sideshow has reintroduced me to that in these past few years.

What are your favorite or the most prized pieces in your collection?

Right now I will have to say Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, I still have to take it out of the box, but only when I find the perfect solo display case and can recreate the loft where he…um…shaves…his “clientele”.

What items are on your wish-list?

1/6 scale Princess Leia Endor Version, 1/6 scale Yondu, 1/6 scale Thor Gladiator Version, 1/6 scale Hela, 1/6 scale Aquaman, 1/6 scale Scarlet Witch, 1/6 scale Black Panther…do you seriously want me to go on, it won’t end.