is something all her own, something
that expresses a part of her 12-year-old
developipg self.
Rachel Kahan, 11, and her 8-year-old
sister, Jessica, of West Bloomfield, are
partners in a collection of San Rio items
(which, Rachel explains, consist of "tons
of different characters") that totals in the
hundreds.
San Rio, with its largest and original
store in San Francisco, has girls (and a
minority of boys) all over the country
collecting inexpensive miniature items.
From Hello Kitty to Keroppi the frog
and Pochacco the little duck, the char-
acters adorn hairpins, jewelry boxes,
tiny colored pencils in cases, knick-
knacks and accessories.
"We like them," says big sister
Rachel. "We think it's cool, that's why
we collect them. The characters are
awesome."
Rachel and her mother, Susan, have a
shared project of collecting rubber
stamps, which they use to make col-
lages, bookmarks, or, says Rachel, "just
pieces of nothing. We have hundreds:
Flintstone characters, Tweety Bird, Wiz-
ard of Oz characters and the ruby slip-
pers."
What's
Big In
Coilections?
But Rachel is most interested in her
San Rio collection.
"We've been collecting this stuff since
the `80s," she says. "It goes back that
fat"
Agigepr,-,
Aork.
kvoi
4411 '" 10-
*Jennifer Epstein, 10, of West Bloom-
field, collects dolls and key chains.
*Julie Moss, 9, of Farmington Hills, col-
lects
T HE APP L ET RE E
*Avi Linden, 9, of Birmingham, collects
Pez dispensers, coins, dice and key
chains.
*Jake Keller, 10, of Birmingham, col-
lects Goosebumps books and parapher
nalia.
*Sean I2Fond, 12, of Southfield 7 collects coins 7 hats stamps magic cards , drag-
on and wizard figures.
*Eden Litt, 10, of West 13loomfleld, collects thimbles.
*Sarah May, 7, of Birm
. Ingham, collects snow domes from around the wotTd.
Robert Levine, 11,
can make it snow all year round.
Jason Moss, 13, has a Mickey Mantle
baseball card that goes back even further
than the long-ago 1980s. He also has a
Dino Cicarelli, a Tommy Hearns, a Cecil
Fielder and a rookie Cal Ripken card.
He likes "any kind of sports parapher-
nalia I can find, stuff like sports cards,
hockey pucks, autographs."
Jason, who lives in Farmington Hills,
has about 10,000 items of this sort, and
he estimates that close to 20 of them
are signed by players, many of which he
had autographed in person.
"I have three hockey pucks, from
when they get shot in the stands, that
I've caught at games," he says.
And then there's Robert Levine. How
many world capitals can the average 12-
year-old name? Robert, of West Bloom-
field, rattles them off like ice cream
flavors. That's because he has amassed
84 (at last count) snow domes.
"I've been collecting for three years,
since I saw a girl who had them. Now
I've got them from Ireland, Australia,
Poland, Africa, the Eiffel Tower, and
more from the United States and Cana-
da."
His favorite? "I've got one from Flori-
da, and besides just the dome it has an
alligator stuck on the top."
Robert says that his mother used to
sell antique snow domes at her store,
and he prefers those. But he also likes
"the ones that are of places in the
world," and the antique ones aren't.
Robert's parents, Toni and Hirschel
Levine, own Ilona's Gallery at Orchard
Mall, and they are helpful in adding to
his collection.
"We have a lot of customers who
travel," Robert's mom says. "We always
ask them to bring one back. It's fun that
other people are involved.
"My husband and I go to a lot of flea
markets and antique shows ... Robert
has a really cool one from Italy that
ligh ts up and plays music. Who knows
if they're worth something? For now
it's just very fun, very challenging for
him." ❑
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