Weird and Surprising Things That Celebrities Collect

Tom Hanks and a vintage typewriter (brightened)

Left: John Bauld / Wikipedia, Right: solidcolours / iStock

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Tom Hanks and a vintage typewriter (brightened)
Left: John Bauld / Wikipedia, Right: solidcolours / iStock

Stars They Are (Not) Just Like Us

Stars have quirks, too, just like you. The only difference is they can splurge on typewriters, model trains, or even actual planes. And when they collect weird stuff, it’s not "hoarding" — it’s a hobby.


Here are nine weird things celebrities love to collect.

Smiling Angelina Jolie Wearing a Black Dress, Arriving for the World War Z World Premiere, at Empire Leicester Square, London
Featureflash Photo Agency/shutterstock

1. Angelina Jolie: Knives

Fittingly, the "Lara Croft" star is an avid knife collector. In a 2008 interview with W Magazine, Angelina Jolie revealed that she bought her first dagger with her mother when she was just 11 or 12 years old. 


Jolie also mentioned that this sharp interest is getting passed down to her kids. She and her then-partner Brad Pitt bought their son Maddox daggers, but she ensured they were dulled for safety.


Tom Hanks
Shannon Finney / Contributor / Getty Images

2. Tom Hanks: Typewriters

America's sweetheart, Tom Hanks, has a nostalgic interest that makes him even more likable: he's been collecting antique typewriters since he was 19.


"I have almost 200 old portable manual typewriters. Most of them are actually working, and I keep them rotating," Hanks revealed in a 2011 interview with "Live with Regis and Kelly."


His passion for typewriters doesn't end with collecting, though. In 2013, Hanks wrote an op-ed in the New York Times titled "I Am TOM. I Like to TYPE. Hear That?" where he vividly explains the distinct sounds each model makes. 


"Remingtons from the 1930s go THICK THICK. Midcentury Royals sound like a voice repeating the word CHALK. CHALK. CHALK," the Cast Away star wrote.


He also created an app emulating an old-fashioned typewriter on a touchscreen called Hanx Writer.


Related: Family Ties: Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Related

Demi Moore
Georges Biard / Wikipedia

3. Demi Moore: Dolls

The "Ghost" star, aged 61, maintains a childlike spirit through an extensive doll collection worth a cool $2 million. 


Dubbed "the world's most high-profile doll collector" by The New York Times, Demi Moore owns around 2,000 dolls, which she once kept in her own separate home. 


Her passion for the figurines began when her ex-husband, Bruce Willis, gifted her a vintage porcelain doll.  


Demi's collection includes favorites like the Gene Marshall fashion dolls. She told Harper's Bazaar in 2019 that these dolls are "little faces reminding you not to take life too seriously."


Quentin Tarantino
Gage Skidmore / Wikipedia

4. Quentin Tarantino: TV and Movie-Themed Board Games

In a 1994 Rolling Stone profile, Quentin Tarantino revealed his impressive collection of vintage TV and movie-themed board games. 


The "Pulp Fiction" director started collecting board games after finding lunch boxes too expensive and dolls too boring to keep boxed. His collection includes games from the '60s and '70s, including "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "Dawn of the Dead."


Related: 11 Things From the 1960s That Are Now Worth a Ton of Money

Rod Stewart
Bielawa / Wikimedia Commons

5. Rod Stewart: Model Trains

To say that Rod Stewart is a model train enthusiast would be an understatement. The British rock and pop singer's collection of model trains is bigger than most people's houses.


Over the last 23 years, "Rod the Mod" has built an epic model railway city called "Grand Street & Three Rivers City," inspired by 1940s Manhattan and Chicago — a 1,500-square-foot masterpiece with skyscrapers, bridges, warehouses, and even a power station. 


In an interview with The Guardian, Rod revealed he works on it every day and even when on tour, he sets up his model work in an extra hotel room.

Leonardo DiCaprio
UNclimatechange / Wikimedia Commons

6. Leonardo DiCaprio: Star Wars Toys

Besides his collection of supermodels under the age of 25 (wink, wink), Leonardo DiCaprio is also an avid action figure collector. 


The Academy Award-winning actor secretly collects original Star Wars toys using a pseudonym to buy rare items online. DiCaprio owns around 80 Star Wars figurines, including a mint condition Vinyl Cape Jawa.

Phil Collins
Phil Collins by Raph_PH (CC BY)

7. Phil Collins: Alamo Artifacts

Like other celebrities on this list, Genesis frontman Phil Collins has a quirky passion: collecting Alamo artifacts. But what makes the "In the Air Tonight" singer's hobby a bit unordinary is that his collection is so big and valuable that in 2014, he donated it to the state of Texas.


Collins has spent decades amassing more than 400 artifacts linked to the legendary Texas battle, including musket balls, documents signed by Davy Crockett, and an original Jim Bowie knife.


The British rock star — who was made an honorary Texan — became obsessed with the Alamo at age five, after watching Disney’s 1955 release of "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier."


Since 2023, Collins' collection has been on display at the Alamo Exhibit in the Ralston Family Collections Center at the Alamo.


Related: Sorry, but These 32 Collectibles Are Now Worthless

Jerry Seinfeld
slgckgc / Flickr

8. Jerry Seinfeld: Superman Memorabilia

Jerry Seinfeld's extensive and expensive car collection is nothing out of the ordinary for a celebrity, but the comedian has another hobby that deserves a spot on this list. Seinfeld has a penchant for Superman memorabilia. 


His collection includes notable items like vintage Supermans with Curt Swan art from the '60s and a detailed model of Kal-El being loaded into the rocket, plus another model of the rocket landing in front of Ma and Pa Kent. 


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John Travolta
Richard Goldschmidt / Wikipedia

9. John Travolta: Planes

Not many people know that John Travolta, besides being a well-known Hollywood star, is also a certified pilot and an aviation geek. 


The "Grease" star, now 70, owns four planes and holds licenses for eight jets, including the Boeing 747, Gulfstream II, and British Vampire Jet.


 He also has an actual airport at his house,  and was named the Official Ambassador of Aviation.