Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 9 JA N UA R Y 2 6 , 2 0 2 6 L ike a rec room frozen in time, the expo hall was crammed with "Star Wars" action figures as Aquaman rubbed shoulders with two-dimensional TV sleuth Jessica Fletcher on a game board to the sounds of Bon Jovi "Livin' On a Prayer" and Ozzy Osbourne riding that "Crazy Train." Inside the Kittery Lions Club on a Saturday morning, Rob Piccirilli was arranging armies of G.I. Joes and Masters of the Universe at the New England Toy and Record Show. "I only sell what I collect, so if I don't sell it I'm not upset at the end of the day," the pro chef says of his side hustle. Starting a collectibles business occasionally crosses his mind, but "I'm just not sure it would pay the bills." Dom Cote of Taunton, Mass., launched the show in his home state in 2021 and moved it to Maine in 2022. At his own table near the entrance, Cote was peddling "Star Wars" parapherna- lia, vintage comics, toys and autographs of past guests. is year's VIP, a client of Cote's talent agency, was Howie Weed, a visual and special effects artist of "Star Wars" and "Ghostbusters II" fame who created and played ice creature Wampa in "e Empire Strikes Back." Un-Wampa'd on this day, he was selling autographed photos for $40 a pop and selfies for $20. Making his first appearance at this small trade show, Weed gushed about how he's one of the only people besides George Lucas to name a "Star Wars" character. Weed's contribution was Ketwol, from "low-tech" pronounced backwards. ough he never got a roy- alty payment, "I would take one one- hundredth of a percent if they would give it to me," he chuckles. While there were few female action figures in the room, Ben Bergin of Hudson, N.H., had Strawberry Shortcake dolls and two versions of Princess Leia – one in "space buns," the other with flowing hair — mus- cling for space with Masters of the Universe muscle-men. A retail store manager in the swim- ming pool industry, Bergin says he's been collecting since the '80s and keeps his holdings in a 10-by-20-foot stor- age container. His side hustle, at trade shows and via Toybox Treasures New England on Facebook, is "selling all this sh*t I've had forever," he says, cud- dling his French bulldog, Lucas. Like a living toy among the stuffies, the pooch with the pink ears was amazingly chill amid all the activity, sticking his tongue out for the camera. At another booth, beanie-clad Cory Lafleur from Swansea, Mass., stood behind plastic crates randomly stacked with vinyl records from Dire Straits to Joni Mitchell. "If you did alphabetize, say somebody wants a Police record. ey go right to the P's — no Police, they walk away," he explains. "is kind of makes people flip through, and then you get to have a conversation about stuff that they night have seen, might not have seen." Lafleur has a pop-up business called Tiny Vinyl, inspired by his tiny house filled with about 2,000 records, and says he only sells ones he's attached to if he has a second copy. On a shopping trip from Saco, David Warren and seventh-grader Damon Wilson were both pleased with their finds. "My walls are being taken over by displays," says Warren. He bought a 1950 "She-Hulk" comic to add to his collection, while Wilson netted Pokémon trading cards the young man may sell after organizing them and looking up their prices. Around 200 people attended the show, including a fellow in a "Partridge Family" T-shirt with the avian-themed logo. All came to "come on, get happy," thanks to 16 vendors selling nostalgia. The Wampa comes to Kittery: Nostalgia sells at regional toy and record show Street Sense by Renee Cordes, Mainebiz deputy editor, is a new monthly column offering on-the-ground glimpses of small business life in Maine. Renee can be reached at rcordes @ mainebiz.biz Street Sense P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R Howie Weed, a visual and special effects artist who created and played the Wampa ice-creature in the 1997 Special Edition of "The Empire Strikes Back," signs autographs at the New England Toy and Record Show in Kittery. Ben Bergin of Toybox Treasures New England with French bulldog Lucas at the New England Toy and Record Show in Kittery. Dom Cote, organizer of the New England Toy and Record Show, is also a collector. Nostalgia was on full display at the New England Toy and Record Show in Kittery.

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