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When Joe Krein was 9 years old, his grandmother started his Elvis Presley collection with a Christmas gift of 3 recordings-2 albums and a 45.

Now, 39 years later, Mr. Krein has hundreds of Elvis records and CDs, including an original acetate of the soundtrack for G.I. Blues once owned by The King himself. He has also collected thousands of other Elvis items, from bubblegum cards to autographs to Mother's Day menus from Las Vegas hotels.

Many items from the collection have been featured in books on Elvis. And a soon-to-be-published book Mr. Krein co-authored with Sue McCasland, Elvis Live at the Sahara Tahoe, includes memorabilia, rare photographs and interviews Mr. Krein conducted with the star's family, his entourage and his co-stars in the movies.

Elvis died 30 years ago this month. Had he lived, he would have been 73 this year.

Mr. Krein has no trouble finding items for his collection, because he's well known in what he calls the Elvis World. He maintains his own website, and he hosts a 4-hour live webcast on another site every Friday for a radio station in England. Locally, he emcees a tribute show on WZCR ("Cruisin 93.5") three times a year, on Elvis' birthday, the anniversary of his death and Christmas.

"Do I like the music? Ask my wife," says Mr. Krein. "I love educating people about it."

One floor of his home is devoted to the collection, and dehumidifiers run constantly to keep it safe. In addition to the vinyl and CDs, there are movie posters and lobby cards, tickets and backstage passes, sheet music, scarves, Styrofoam hats, tour books and lapel buttons. Everything is original, and obvious souvenir items are ignored. "I don't bother with plates or ashtrays or t-shirts," he says.

Neither does he collect anything produced after 1978, with a few exceptions such as an Elvis stamp issued in 1993 by the U.S. Post Office. Some items are very rare and valuable, including scarves and menus from the International Hotel, Elvis' base in Las Vegas for three years before the hotel became the Las Vegas Hilton in 1971.

Mr. Krein owns small, medium and large "hound dogs." While the small ones Elvis threw into the audience during concert appearances are relatively easy to come by, Mr. Krein has another one twice that size and another that's almost two feet tall.

He also has an Elvis "poodle" skirt, the rock'n'roll version of a popular teenybopper fashion of the 1950s, and an Emenee four-string guitar in mint condition, in its original cardboard box. The guitar, manufactured during the 1956 promotional blitz for Elvis, originally sold for $12 in the Sears Roebuck catalog.

He owns hundreds of photographs, including a framed one that was given away by theaters promoting Love Me Tender, Elvis' first movie, and another that glows in the dark. There's a 1970s jukebox with plenty of Elvis tunes among the selections, and several portable phonographs geared to play at 33, 45 or 78 rpm. One has an Elvis autograph embossed into its lid.

There are autographs from other rock legends as well: Roy Orbison, John Lennon, Ricky Nelson, Dick Clark, the Everly Brothers. Mr. Krein has original Sun 45s signed by rockabilly legends Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, as well as two of the five 7-inch singles Elvis recorded on the Sun label. His dream, he says, is to own all five.

Mr. Krein is especially proud of a leaded-glass window that came from Vernon Presley's house behind the mansion at Graceland, where he once stayed for a week. It didn't cost a thing: Mr. Krein saw the window in a dumpster and asked if he could have it.

Mr. Krein says most of the things he buys come from other collectors, because online auctions make it too easy to pass off reproductions as the real thing. Several significant items, including a double-platinum award from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), were acquired from the estate of an RCA executive.

Mr. Krein's children share his enthusiasm. Aaron, 12, says he uses his natural talent for organization to keep the back office in order. And Kelsie, 17, is president of King's Kids, an Elvis fan club for teens.

What he would like most, Mr. Krein says, is to make contact with others who share his passion. "I'm so looking for other collectors," he says. "Maybe you could put my number in the paper, and if anybody sees the story they could call me."

Source: Z-Wire

Collector Chronicles Thrills of the Hobby

Joe Galiardi doesn't like the word "no." If he did, he wouldn't have been very successful at his unique hobby: collecting autographed golf balls.

"I don't give up," says Galiardi, a resident of Cupertino for the past 29 years. "I just will not give up; it's not in me to do that."

To date, Galiardi has 130 autographed and authenticated golf balls as well as a number of photographs, first-edition books and other priceless golf memorabilia--all of which are hand-signed.

"I probably have the largest collection of autographed golf balls in the county," says Galiardi. "There is something in me that likes to collect. I think it's the thrill and the challenge of it."

Galiardi's autograph collection includes golf legends such as Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam, professional athletes including Jerry Rice, Willie Mays and Evander Holyfield, such celebrities as Bob Hope and Clint Eastwood, and former U.S. presidents Gerald R. Ford and George H.W. Bush.

When Galiardi hears that a particular golfer or celebrity is going to be at a golf tournament, he will make arrangements to attend. Once on the course, he waits for the perfect moment to ask.

"There are ways that I can get people to sign when they initially tell me`I don't sign golf balls,' " Galiardi says.

"For example, when the best player in Ireland, Padraig Harrington, was at the World Golf Championship at the Olympic Club two years ago, I approached him and he said, `No.' I said, `Not even for a fellow Irishman? My mother was born in Cork.' He walked over and signed the ball."

Galiardi has obtained most of his autographed golf balls this way, using a personal connection or anecdote. However, he has received some of the autographed golf balls via snail mail.

"I write them a nice letter and include the golf ball, a stamped return box and a Sharpie pen," he explains. "I tell them to keep the Sharpie as a small appreciation and it usually works."

Whatever the means, the fact is that Galiardi has never bought a pre-signed ball off eBay or elsewhere.

"I am very selective about who is going to be in my collection," he says. "I am looking for the real famous."

Galiardi is also selective about the type of golf ball the person is going to autograph. He does not use generic white balls, but rather ones that have a significant tie to the particular person going to sign it.

For example, tennis star Jack Kramer signed a golf ball that was made to look like a tennis ball, football coach Lou Holtz signed a ball with the University of Notre Dame crest and Bush's signature sits just below a replica of the presidential seal.

In addition to working on getting the autographs of Sheila Drummond, the first blind woman to get a hole-in-one, and Roger Federer, winner of 50 tennis titles, Galiardi is in the process of writing a book about his trials and triumphs in collecting his autographed golf balls.

"I've had so many people tell me, `Joe, you have to write these stories down because if you don't, they're going to get lost,' " he says.

Galiardi started writing the book three months ago and has already completed 10 chapters. He has recruited a number of friends who have writing and publishing backgrounds to act as his editors.

"My chance of getting published?" asks Galiardi. "A million to one. But I'll do it myself if I have to. I can go online and sell it, I can tie-in with collector's societies and so forth, so I'm not worried about that. If nothing else, all the stories in my head will be on paper."

Like many people with interesting hobbies, Galiardi's passion for collecting didn't start when he retired, but rather when he was 11 years old.

As a child growing up in the small town of Connellsville, Pa., he worked two newspaper routes and played marbles to collect comic books. "My school desk at home was completely filled with comic books."

When Galiardi turned 13, his collecting interest switched to autographed baseball cards.

Although his hometown was 50 miles south of Pittsburgh, he and his father were diehard New York Giants fans and they went to a number of games. During batting practice, Galiardi would walk right up to the players and ask for their signatures.

"Back then players were flattered when you asked them for their autographs," says Galiardi. "Today they are not."

Galiardi was successful at getting the autographs of such New York players as Johnny Mize, Bobby Thompson and Sal Maglie. He also got autographs of visiting players Preacher Roe, Hank Greenberg, Bob Feller and Larry Doby.

Today, Galiardi says, it's nearly impossible to get professional athletes such as Barry Bonds to autograph something.

"If they don't want to sign a golf ball, that's fine," he says. "I have enough people that are willing to do it and are happy to do it." He quickly adds that he has yet to give up on Bonds and will send another ball his way shortly.

"Sometimes you have to go through the back door to get them," says Galiardi.

Despite a collection dry spell - his college days at Pennsylvania State University, where he played tennis, and during his working years for Allstate Insurance Co. - Galiardi's love for collecting was re-ignited when he moved to Rancho Deep Cliff, a gated community located by an 18-hole executive length golf course in Cupertino.

"I got addicted to golf and decided that I was going to start collecting golf balls from every course that I played at," he recalls. "Four years later I said,`This isn't fun anymore, I want to start collecting signatures"'

That same year, 1989, Galiardi obtained Arnold Palmer's signature and his new collection quest officially began.

Galiardi has many stories about meeting Hollywood actors and all-star athletes. Among his favorite tales is interviewing fellow Cupertino resident Elizabeth "Betty" Hicks, a pioneering women's golfer.

"She has so many great stories," says Galiardi. "My favorite one is when she bet Joe Louis an ice cream cone and won."

Galiardi has a chapter in his book devoted to Hicks as well as his stories on holes-in-one, his six-year struggle to get Jack Lemmon's autograph and a photo tour of the "Golf Room" in his home.

"The book isn't just for collectors or golfers," he says. "They are just really great stories and I hope people can learn a little something about the sport along the way."