Danica Davidson
February 17, 2021 
Matthew Emblidge earned himself a place in the Guinness World Records for his Cardcaptor Sakura collection, which consists of 4,873 items. Emblidge recently spoke to Anime News Network about his collecting.
“I caught Cardcaptors on Kids WB, and I discovered the manga when my dad bought it for my sister, but I found it in his car and just took it,” he explained about how this all started. “Don’t worry, she doesn’t like the series anyway, so I didn’t rob her of anything.”
He continued, “Officially the collection began in 2000, when I bought the Clow Book toy from my local Toys’R’Us. But it wasn’t until 2006 when I went to my first convention, Connecticon, that I started collecting anime merch properly. I bought my first Sakura plushie there, along with other small things. Then I went to Japan in 2009 and bought the video games, as well as whatever else I could find.”
Asked what he likes or doesn’t like while collecting, he said, “I will collect almost anything from the franchise, but I prefer things that are ‘weird’ so to speak. Like a lot of franchises, Cardcaptor Sakura was licensed to many products to help move units, and I love the odd diversity that comes from seeing Sakura slapped on any number of random daily use products. One of the strangest things I own is a pack of dehydrated pudding mix . . . I would not try eating the pudding, but I own it for the novelty.”
Source: Anime News Network
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, and its sequel, Manga Art for Intermediates, with professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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