The Japanese manga/anime One Piece follows the adventures of a young pirate – Monkey D. Luffy – and his search for the ultimate treasure, the ‘One Piece.’
Inspired by the character, a young man named Lam Siu Fung from Hong Kong, China, began his own search for all the treasures of the One Piece world.
Over a decade later, Lam now possesses 20,125 pieces of One Piece merchandise, breaking the record for the largest collection of One Piece memorabilia.
The previous record was 5,656 items owned by Yoshikazu Sanada (Japan).
Lam owns One Piece umbrellas, jigsaw puzzles, alarm clocks, snow globes, sleeping masks, passport covers, a dustbin, and pretty much every other object you could think of.
His collection also includes many rare items, which he spends much of his time – and money – hunting down.
“One Piece inspires my attitude towards life.” – Lam Siu Fung
Lam began collecting One Piece merchandise after becoming a big fan of the manga.
“I want to collect all the official One Piece products and use these collections to express my respect and support for the author,” Lam explained.
The author Lam refers to is of course Eiichiro Oda, who holds a Guinness World Records title for the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author, with over half a million copies of One Piece printed and circulated since 1997.
Lam is in possession of three straw hats personally signed by Oda, and Lam is always sure to wear one of them when cosplaying as Luffy.
Perhaps the single most expensive item in Lam’s collection is a limited edition Japanese ‘Electroplated Ace’ figurine, of which there are only 100 in existence. It cost Lam 17,000 Chinese yuan (£2,033; $2,505). Unsurprisingly, Lam has vowed to never take the figurine out of the box, due to its extreme rarity and high value.
The entire ‘WCF (World Collectable Figure)’ series of figurines set Lam back over 85,000 yuan (£10,200; $12,500). Despite the huge price tag, Lam could actually make a tidy profit if he ever decides to cash in, as some of the figurines – such as the ‘Strong World’ sub-collection – have massively appreciated in value.
As for his favourite item, Lam chose the “No.34 extra-large Shonen Jump magazine published on 4 August 1997,” because the first chapter of the One Piece manga was serialized from this magazine.
Lam also gave special mention to the ‘P.O.P (Portrait of Pirates)’ series of figurines: “When this series was first launched I was too young to be able to buy it, and I made a promise to myself when I started working to stock up on this series.”
In total, Lam estimates that he has spent over 500,000 yuan (£60,000; $73,700) assembling his record-breaking collection.
He stores it all in a 1000-sq-ft (93-m²) warehouse, which additionally serves as both a museum and as a gathering place for One Piece cosplayers to work on their costumes.
As Luffy’s 26-year-long search for the ‘One Piece’ continues in the eponymous manga and anime, so too does Lam Siu Fung’s search for every piece of One Piece memorabilia.
Let’s hope the Big Mom Pirates don’t get their hands on his valuable collection!
“Whenever I see my collections, they remind me of the spirit of One Piece, and remind me of my persistence in my dreams.” – Lam Siu Fung
