Collector Profile: Myla Malinalda

Hello, my name is Myla and I am a college student in my 20s from Connecticut, USA.

It all started after I saw The Fellowship of the Ring when I was 8 years old. Since then I’ve become a Tolkien collector and enthusiast, and I hope to one day be a Tolkien scholar.

How did you get started in collecting?

After my dad brought me to see FotR in theaters I became a fan instantly. He saw that I wanted to know more, so he showed me the LotR box set he read when he was younger and bought a newer one volume edition. Soon after that I ended up taking his box set for myself.

Since I was so young and couldn’t afford to buy anything, my dad was the one who did all the work for me. It’s because of him that I became so interested in collecting. He got me the DVDs, board games, books, action figures… my collection grew a lot during the first few years thanks to him.

As I grew up I started to look for books myself and was shocked to find out that there’s so much. I knew I couldn’t own everything but I wanted to try and collect as much as I could. I visited (and still do) second hand shops, flea markets, used bookstores, and countless online shops in search for more books I didn’t have.

What do you collect?

I would say that I’m still in my beginning stage as a collector. I haven’t exactly picked a topic to concentrate on yet.

Over the years I’ve started to slowly break away from collecting mainly movie merchandise. I collect Tolkien books in general and still really enjoy finding items relating to the LotR film trilogy.

My goal is to one day concentrate on collecting artwork relating to Tolkien like art prints, calendars, maps, cards etc.

How big is your collection?

I have a little over 300 items, most of which are books. I moved in a second bookcase this year and I think that I’ll need to start looking for a third one soon!

What has been your greatest find so far?

I don’t know if I have a “greatest find”. One of my favorite items in my collection are my copies of LotR illustrations by Frank Frazetta which was given to me by a family friend.

I do have a set of an old set of LotR from Houghton Mifflin, though they don’t have the dust jackets. They’re still definitely beautiful and very different from the other books I own.

Tell us about your Web site.

Though I don’t have an official site for my collection, I do talk about it a lot on many of my social accounts. Mostly on my Twitter, Tumblr and Blogspot.

What does collecting mean to you?

Collecting makes me happy; it’s as simple as that. I love the feeling I get when coming across something I’ve been searching for or never even knew existed. I can spend a long time just looking at my books to calm down and feel better. I like knowing that in my collection I can immerse myself in Middle-earth any time I want.

Many of the items in my collection have a special memory attached to them, like my replica of the One Ring I won in a giveaway from the Ring Makers. Or my first copy of FotR which is worn-out and held together with tape, or even those torn up paper LotR bookmarks I got from my elementary school.

Collecting is like a never ending adventure. There’s still so much I want to get my hands on and so much I probably don’t even know about. It’s a lot of fun and is something that will always be part of my life.

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