Between 1979 and 1985, a third section developed into more than 600 bottles of fine wine. A local Food of All Nations wine manager used to call to see if The Collection had a specific Chateau Lafite or Chateau Petrus Pomerol for a customer when they didn't. Almost thirty five percent of the wine collection was made up of 1940's vintages including 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild and 1945 Chateau Margaux with the balance being a high quality variety of 1950's to early 1980's selections.
Striking a chord in the heart.
In 1989 during a stint with music production in Nashville, The Collection shifted toward a fourth section of vintage guitars. At first it was just to have good instruments on hand for use in recording. However, the mutual love of cigars and guitars developed into a friendly competition with Scott Chinery to acquire guitars during the 1990's. By the time Scott passed in 2000, The Collection had amassed 439 instruments, mostly Fender and Gibson electrics along with several hundred rare vintage Martin acoustics. It became a logistical nightmare because the older acoustics, in fact all of the instruments required special humidity and strict climate-controlled storage.
Begrudgingly by 2008, most of the entire guitar section of The Collection had been liquidated. Some instruments went to museums or collectors and others now reside in major recording studios or hang on the walls of a well-known restaurant chain.
1949/50 Factory Prototype Fender Esquire 
1934 Martin D28 ( both extremely early models )
It's just like money.
Once again The Collection went through a drastic evolution. The Collection went back to its roots and began acquiring U.S. and foreign paper currency. That led to the unique wooden Depression money issued in Tenino, Washington during the early 1930's, wooden nickels, Mexican Hacienda tokens and various U.S. tokens. Trade script and tokens became a pathway to casino chips, jetons/plaques then dice. Many purchases came from well-known major collectors, Bill Eichhorn, John Bittel and Steve Clark. Many of those fifth section chips and dice are enshrined in the Museum of Gaming History.
Thousands of dice sets, casino chips and tokens later once again The Collection was confronted with the daunting storage and maintenance issues. Old dice of the early 1930/50's gradually break down and begin to crystallize and disintegrate to dust and old casino chips curl up unless they are stored properly. To protect the investment, most age susceptible casino memorabilia began to be sold off. As of 2024, The Collection again holds a world-class repertoire of hundreds of ultra-rare vintage Las Vegas dice.
Some of the most rare casino dice in the world including the Red Rooster Nite Club, Meadows Casino, Apache Club, S.S. Rex and Bar of Music.
Finding a Unicorn ...
Sometimes previously unknown treasures border on the realm of mythical. An inconceivable once in a lifetime find.
Amber gold color dice from the Arizona Club, 1905-1942 cataloged in the Museum of Gaming History.
A taste for the exotic.
The main office wall contains an extensive selection of rare world-class cognacs and liquors.
Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch 7 Whisky
Yamazaki 18 Year Mizunara Oak Cask Whisky 2017
Suntory Hibiki 30 Year Gold Label Whisky
Ballantine's 30 Year Whisky 1922-24
Yamazaki Owner's Cask Whisky 1999
Francis Darroze Bas Armagnac 1944
Talleyrand 8 Year Grande Fine VSOP Cognac
Brora 30 Year Whisky 1976
Pierre Ferrand 1er Cru Grande Champagne Cognac
Baron Gaston Legrand Bas Armagnac 1964
Bisquit Dubouche Grande Fine Champagne Cognac 1865
Gagneur & Co Reserve Imperatrice Josephine 1811 Napoleon Grande Champagne
Maison J. Prunier Fine Champagne Cognac 1800
Maison J. Balluteaud Louis XV Grande Champagne Cognac 1858
Brugerolle Napoleon Aigle-Rouge Cognac 1847-1947
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1865, 1811, 1800, 1858 & 1847 Cognacs
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It's just cardboard.
It had been quite a journey so far from U.S. coins, currency, skateboards, wine, vintage guitars and tokens, casino dice and chips, but The Collection needed something simpler and less demanding to maintain. Cardboard became the new frontier. After months of research The Collection ventured into the sixth section, collectible matchbooks and then into the seventh section, baseball cards. Many people would be stunned by the value of vintage matchbooks.
Today, The Collection contains some of the rarest matchbooks ever issued including a Washington Crisps (21 years as the most expensive in the world), the hand drawn Cafe Wha? and the ultra-rare salesman blank for the 1930 Red Rooster Nite Club from a dusty Highway 91, later Las Vegas Boulevard.
Cafe Wha?, opened by Manny Roth, uncle of David Lee Roth (Van Halen) was the club during the early 1960's. Hendrix, Dylan, Springsteen, in fact dozens of great performers got their start there. It's a matchbook the Cafe Wha? museum doesn't even have. The Red Rooster Nite Club sales blank, red and white and red and black covers are also an only known set.
Washington Crisps
Cafe Wha?
Red Rooster Nite Club Set
The Collection's foray into the baseball card arena has amassed one of, if not the premier collection of modern-day Ty Cobb cards including over three dozen one of a kind issues. In fact, in one group of over 1200 cards almost 100 of them are of less than 15 in existence. There have been several beautiful 1909 Honus Wagner T206 and 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle 311 originals pass through The Collection. There is a real desire to keep them, but every time one of those rare old grail cards comes along someone steps up and offers an amount that can't be turned down. There's an entire wall of almost all the Topps 1952 Mickey Mantle RP cards, most graded mint and perhaps the most stunning collection of Tim Lincecum autographed cards in the world.
1910 T225 Khedivial/Surbrug Prizefighter 102 Series Kolb/Cobb and 1946 Propagandas Montiel Los Reyes del Deporte #42 Ty Cobb Cuban issue.
Original 1969-70 International Hotel & Casino Passport, ( The first mega-resort developed in Las Vegas and performance residence of Elvis Presley ).
The Super-collection.
Even in times of inflation or recession there are the sanguine driven to pursue seven, eight and even nine figure value collections. The Collection continues to aquire casino related memorabilia at a rapid pace while it helps to develop casino and real-estate assets in Las Vegas and supports energy, medical and technological advances.
Several times the casino chip section had crossed the 1500 distinct chip milestone before selections would be released to other collectors. The focus is now on historical casino memorabilia more than large collection volume. Many of the people exposed to The Collection focus exclusively on how many or the high value/dollar amounts, but it's simply not about just money. It's an investment, but to the true purist collector it's more about the appreciation and preservation of artistry, craftsmanship and history.
The Collection, like an uncompromising aficionado provides a glimpse into the vision of world-class collecting.
(Baseball signed by Bobby Thompson and Ralph Branca - "The Shot Heard Round the World" Oct. 3, 1951)
