Woman sets Guinness World Record for massive Slinky collection
'It's gotten out of control,' Susan Suazo says of her 1,054-piece stash
A New Mexico woman's lifelong obsession with Slinkys is now in Guinness World Records for her massive collection of the 1940s-era coiled spring toys.
Susan Suazo, of Los Lunas, N.M., was recently certified by Guinness for her collection of 1,054 Slinkys.
Suazo began collecting them more than 40 years ago after she got one as a Christmas gift from her parents. A vending machine at a restaurant where she worked fueled her Slinky addiction.
“I worked in a café, and it had a vending machine,” Suazo told KOAT-TV. “Every time I had a couple of quarters, I would go buy myself a Slinky.”
These days, Suazo, who works as a telecommunications specialist, spends her free time scouring eBay for rare and vintage Slinkys. Suazo is hoping eventually to go to China, which she describes as a Slinky mecca.
“There are so many that are produced in China that I can’t find here,” she told the Valencia County News-Bulletin.
So why does Suazo love Slinkys so much?
“They have a sound that is just kind of a white noise you get lost in it,” she said.
Not surprisingly, Suazo's home is filled with Slinkys. She even has a Slinky room:
Hanging from the ceiling are 200 colorful plastic Slinkys falling like rainbows from the sky. Many of them glow in the dark with the help of a black light, and movement in the room causes the glowing spirals to bounce in gentle animation.
Around the perimeter of the room are display cases filled with Slinkys in a variety of sizes, shapes and materials. Some are metal, others are plastic.
Suazo has vintage animal Slinkys, ornately painted Slinkys, metallic colored Slinkys and heart-shaped Slinkys. Several of the iconic toys line shelves in a window creating a colorful curtain.
But even Suazo admits that her Slinky collection has become a bit unmanageable.
"It's gotten out of control," she said.
