Step into Indian expat Ketan Shah’s five-bedroom villa and be ready to be transported to a galaxy far, far-off.
Tucked within the quiet Umm Suqeim district in Dubai, the villa contains a personal museum with a jaw-dropping assortment of TIE fighters, lightsabers, blasters, Millennium Falcons and R2D2s ― sufficient to stage an assault on the Loss of life Star.
Mr Shah’s stockpile consists of greater than 400 fashions and souvenirs and Lego collections.
A curious and compulsive collector for the reason that age of 8, the Gujarati businessman additionally owns 60,000 comedian books, 800 caps and lapel pins, discarded cigar and chewing gum wrappers, outdated aircraft tickets ― and rather more.
I share it with my associates. It’s my world. I discover pleasure right here
Ketan Shah
He reckons he is spent about $500,000 on the gathering over the many years. It could possibly be value tens of millions of {dollars} if ever bought.
“I’ve been accumulating issues for greater than 50 years. It began as a pastime. Now it my ardour,” Mr Shah, 60, instructed The Nationwide.
Retired and residing alone in Dubai, along with his two grown-up youngsters within the US, accumulating is his full-time job and keenness.
He saved his assortment “strictly personal” till he invited The Nationwide in to doc it.
“I share it with my associates. It’s my world. I discover pleasure right here,” stated Mr Shah, who’s the son of the late Bharat Bhai Shah, a businessman and influential Indian neighborhood chief in Dubai.
Whenever you step in to his major assortment room, the area opera heroes of George Lucas stare at you from each angle.
“That is my favorite place. I can really feel the combat between the nice and the evil,” stated Mr Shah, who has watched each Star Wars film “a minimum of 100 instances”.
Mr Shah has additionally inked his love for Star Wars on his physique, with tattoos on his biceps, arms, and calves.
“There are numerous extra coming,” he stated with a smile.
He stated he grew to become hooked Star Wars after watching the primary film that was launched in 1977.
“I liked the films a lot that I began accumulating the smooth toys, and now I’ve round 55 Funko Pops. I even have round 500 Star Wars caps, T-shirts, neck ties, socks, pyjamas and even masks that I used to be sporting throughout the peak of Covid-19.”
Mr Shah additionally has a dozen miniatures of Star Wars characters equivalent to Darth Vader, Grasp Yoda, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi fabricated from Swarovski crystals. Every prices something between $200 and $800.
“I discovered them in a showroom in New York and I couldn’t take my eyes off them,” he stated.
“Now I’m eyeing a Millennium Falcon fabricated from crystals and valuable stones that prices round $15,000. That’s past my funds now.”
He believes his Lego assortment could possibly be one of many greatest any collector has. “What you see right here is barely 20 per cent of what I’ve. I’ve not assembled it attributable to area constraints,” he stated.
Passion was ardour
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Mr Shah stated his love of accumulating began with comedian books equivalent to Indrajal and Amar Chitra Katha (Indian comedian sequence primarily based on epics equivalent to mythology).
“I by no means had sufficient pocket cash to purchase a variety of them, in fact. So I used to comb by outdated guide stalls and in addition ask associates and kin for outdated comedian books.
“Generally, I might discover a couple of dozen mendacity coated in mud on a roadside bookshop, and that may make my day. I’ve all the assortment of Tintin, Commando, Indrajal and Amar Chitra Katha, Archies, Richie Wealthy and Phantom. A few of my subscriptions are nonetheless on and I get eight to 10 copies a month.”
After transferring to the UAE in 1983 to hitch his father’s enterprise, Mr Shah stated he zealously pursued his pastime regardless of his busy work life and household.
Enterprise travels and e-commerce helped him to broaden his assortment, he stated. “Wherever I journey, I search for attention-grabbing issues. The web additionally makes it straightforward as one can at all times discover issues on-line.
“My youngsters are additionally massive cheerleaders of my pastime and so they at all times deliver me stuff after they go to me in Dubai.”
So, how a lot does he spend on his pastime? “It’s an costly pastime,” Mr Shah stated. “However as soon as a collector, you can not rely the penny. You do it since you find it irresistible.”
Opening a museum in Dubai
Mr Shah stated he had no thought what to do along with his possessions as his assortment grows.
“Although I’m residing alone, I’m retaining this villa to retailer my assortment. I painstakingly care for every merchandise I’ve. For instance, I individually wrap the comedian books in acid-free paper to protect them for a protracted time period. I even have an inventory the place all of the gadgets I’ve are numbered.”
He stated he was open to the thought of opening a museum or a themed cafe so that folks can get pleasure from his assortment.
“If somebody approaches me with an excellent thought, I’m open to it,” he stated. “However I’m not actively pursuing anyone. The one factor that I chase now could be possibly extra Star Wars souvenirs.”
Up to date: September 28, 2022, 2:37 AM
