Simpsons superfan, who hid room full of expensive memorabilia from dates, now shows it off to 40,000 TikTok followers

A Simpsons superfan, who has an entire room dedicated to the cartoon’s memorabilia and shares videos of his collection to his 40,000 followers on TikTok, says he has so much merchandise that he would hide it from dates if they ever came over.

Michael Irving, 35, a journalist from Melbourne, Australia, has watched early episodes of the show over 50 times and thinks his current collection – including stuffed toys, ceramic figures and mugs – is worth at least £8,000 (15,000).

Before meeting his partner, he hid the collection from any dates or had to seriously prepare them for the extent of his hobby – but his current partner is a fellow Simpsons fan, and they love watching the show together.

Michael began collecting The Simpsons merchandise in high school over 20 years ago and continued throughout university, saying: “Even back then, I was known as Simpsons Mick because of my obsession.”

Michael’s collection is so extensive that not all his items will fit in his Simpsons room, he has around 1,300 items on display, and another 700 stashed away in wardrobes and drawers, and in storage at his parents’ house.

He has a sentimental attachment to the television show, saying: “It’s kind of a cultural touchstone for my generation, specifically.

“I remember it being a big part of my childhood and even into the uni age. You appreciate it at different levels, at different ages.

“It works well for kids, and once you become an adult, you start to identify with Homer and Marge more than you would say, Bart.”

Explaining why he collects The Simpsons memorabilia, Michael said: “There was just so much merchandise to collect. You can get a variety of items, essentially.

“So if I was collecting Pez dispensers, they kind of all look the same.

“Whereas, if you’re collecting something as broad as the Simpsons, you’ve got Pez dispensers, but also stuffed toys, mugs, glasses, figurines, DVDs, videos, cassettes, records, Lego, collected coins, ceramic figures.”

Michael’s loved ones are familiar with his collection, but he says no one really understands the extent of it until they walk into the room, saying: “Just to see people’s jaws drop when they walk in is always a lot of fun.

“Before I met my partner, I would always close the door to the room if there was a chance that someone might come over to my place because I just didn’t know how someone would react. You know, it’s a lot to show someone.

“At first, you need to get a base-level understanding of how they will react before you reveal this to them.

“But, my current partner is a big Simpsons fan, so it worked out well.”

Michael’s girlfriend saw the room a month into the relationship, Michael explained: “We were out with some of my friends, she was meeting them for the first time, and they asked her if I had shown her the room yet.

“I was like, shut up,  don’t worry about it, and she came back to my apartment later that night.

“She said she was going to the bathroom, but she opened the door to the room, and she told me later she did it on purpose.

“She was stunned by what was in there, but in a good way, and asked why I didn’t just tell her.

“But, I sent a photo of the room to someone once and they immediately unmatched me on the dating app.”

Michael’s favourite item is an autographed storyboarding page which cost him just under £700, saying: “It’s from the production of the episode where Ned Flanders has a mental breakdown.

“So it’s him yelling at the townsfolk. It’s autographed by one of the directors of the show, and I love it.”

The storyboarding page and a fully working arcade machine are the most expensive items Michael has bought so far, with each costing him just under £700 (1,200 Australian dollars).

Michael has watched some of the original Simpsons episodes over 50 times and often finds himself quoting them in everyday conversations.

He joked: “There’s always a Simpsons line to relate to any situation that you find yourself in real life.”

His favourite characters are Kang and Kodos, the aliens who feature in Halloween episodes, and Professor Frink.

He said: “Every single line he has is hilarious, so I have a special soft spot for Professor Frink merchandise, which is hard to find.

“I don’t have many items of him. But when I do find some, I always love them.”

Meanwhile, Michael has recently found a community of fellow Simpsons collectors on TikTok, and began posting videos of his collection in July 2021 on his page which now has 40,000 followers.

One post, which has almost five million views, shows a Homer Simpson figurine from a classic Treehouse of Horror episode in which he is forced to eat “all the donuts in the world”.

In Michael’s TikTok video, the figurine Homer chows down on replica donuts as they fall continuously into his mouth.

Michael said: “It has been a lot of fun, just to share it online and be part of the community.

“People are really supportive, and I always get a lot of positive comments. I always thought I was too old for TikTok.

“I wanted to show people my collection, and I follow a few other collectors who have quite big collections themselves, and so I wanted their attention in a way, and now I’m at a stage where I’m chatting to them regularly.

“It’s kind of not much fun if you sit quietly and don’t tell anybody about your collection, so it’s great to have people appreciate it.”

Michael usually buys items online, and since launching his TikTok, he has purchased items from his followers who often come to him with pieces at good prices.

He said: “Many people will message me out of the blue and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this item. Do you have it?’ And if I don’t, they often will sell it to me for a decent price.

“I found some rare items from people who just found me on TikTok or Twitter.”

Looking to the future, the Simpsons hoarder hopes to continue adding to his collection and is still hunting for more rare items, while he has his eye on some prized memorabilia from the show’s creator, Matt Groening.

“I’ve been speaking to someone in the US lately, and she has a couple of sketches from Matt Groening himself – that’s the kind of thing that I would really like to have,” he said.

“Other things would be samples, which are items that never actually made it to production, but there might have had internal prototypes.

“So little like figurines or soft toys, which they never actually made commercially, but they might have made 10 or 20 to show Fox.

“Those things are super rare. It would be ideal if I could get one of those. But they’re really hard to find, and they’re expensive.”