via ocregister.com
HUNTINGTON BEACH – Carol Griffith can't put her finger on why, but one thing is certain when she hits Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland: She's on a mission to find the one Donald Duck collectible she doesn't already own among the almost 700 that have crowded an entire room of her house for the past 25 years.
Carol Griffith, of Huntington Beach, has a huge collection of Donald Duck memoribilia that she has collected over 25 years.
Her most expensive piece is a Donald Duck statuette that she purchased for $200. According to Griffith, she spends an average of $25 to $35 on each item.
Griffith doubts she would ever be able to part from any of the items.
"Now, I don't buy as much as I used to. I don't have room for anymore," she said.
Her son, Price Griffith, 46, has witnessed his mother's ever-expanding collection. Although she can seem nonchalant about collecting Donald Duck memorabilia, she is actually obsessed, he says.
"She's totally into it," he said. "I don't think she'll ever sell her collectibles. They're going to be handed down to her granddaughter."
Housed in her son's childhood bedroom, each piece bears some degree of sentiment or story. She received her favorite collectible, a group of Donald Duck statuettes, as a retirement gift in 1996 when she retired from her accounting position of 21 years at Savala Construction Co. in Irvine.
Friends and family contributed about 15 percent of her collection and Griffith purchased the rest from a variety of places such as swap meets, antique shops and Disneyland. She bought her oldest collectible, a Donald Duck poster paint set manufactured in 1937 at an antique shop here in O.C.
To celebrate her 70th birthday, Griffith hosted a Donald Duck-themed party, complete with Donald Duck décor, a Donald Duck cake and even a Donald Duck inspired outfit. Every year, Griffith decorates her Christmas tree exclusively with Donald Duck ornaments, she said.
Although Griffith attended a collector's convention in Garden Grove a few weeks ago, she has yet to meet anyone else who collects Donald Duck memorabilia. Despite the fact that ladybug stuffed animals, porcelain dolls and wooden duck décor cover the walls of her house, Griffith denies collecting anything other than Donald Duck memorabilia.
Griffith says ducks are one of her favorite animals, second to her vivacious puppy, Rudy, a 10-month-old Shih-Tzu and Maltese mix.
When she takes a break from Donald Duck treasure hunts, she enjoys golfing, tap dancing and spending time with her son and her two grandchildren, Price, 10, and Haley, 14, she says.
Contact the writer: pmahdad@ocregister.com
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