Down-home nostalgia at Das Collection Haus of West Lafayette

WEST LAFAYETTE − Nostalgia of sitting on your living room floor as a kid playing with the items that made you happy is the atmosphere Brian Lewis wants to conjure up with his new collectibles store.

Das Collection Haus of West Lafayette opened mid-September. It features a variety of vintage comic books, sports cards and memorabilia, toys, action figures, autographed photos and other items, local history, coins, gold and silver and more. Most of it is from Lewis' own collection amassed from a lifetime. Without blinking an eye, he said he could refill the store about 10 times from what he has squirreled away.

Some unique items either in the store or can be pulled from Lewis' collection include tickets from the 1954 Cleveland Indians World Series, baseball bats signed by Pete Rose and Johnny Bench, floorboards from the Milwaukee Bucks basketball stadium, training shorts worn by Brett Favre, a baseball signed by Mickey Mantle, boxing gloves autographed by Muhammed Ali and silver and gold coins dating back to the 1600s.

Lewis said most items came from auctions or estate sales. Many signed items are certified or can be authenticated. He also has newer cards, comics and action figures.

The West Lafayette native has traveled the world via the U.S. Army and through his own business. He moved back home in 2014 and built a small farm on property bought from his uncle. Now that he's more or less retired, he wanted something to not only keep him busy, but that he could share with his 5-year-old grandson.

"Things I've always collected throughout the years with comics, action figures and sports memorabilia just built up and built up and at one point we just wanted to have a place where we could go to and set everything up and talk to local folks around here to give them a chance to see things of a vintage era," Lewis said. "I'm still running my company, but I also wanted to move into this and focus on things I like to do and things I enjoy."

The store is in an old house on Main Street that Lewis said had the right feel. He didn't so much want a storefront, as a place that felt like where many people grew up and first started their own collections.

"We bought it because of the old interior, the way it was designed, the woodworking and everything that was wonderful about the whole place. We decided to keep everything pretty much original, the way it is, and have a downhome atmosphere. People could come in and feel like they're shopping in their living room," Lewis said. "I want to keep the hometown atmosphere. Come in, stop in, sit down, visit and we'll talk about things. No rush."

Lewis also wants to offer help and advice to people regarding items they might have or don't know what to do with when a loved one dies. He is certified, licensed and bonded and will give free appraisals.

"We've been collecting, but also understand the values of different things," Lewis said. "They might only have a few really good set aside pieces, but we're able to tell them you have enough for an auction, you don't have enough for an auction or I'd go this route or this route and here's your options."

Das Collection Haus at 420 E. Main St., West Lafayette, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. See items for sale and contact the store on its Facebook page.

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Das Collection Haus of West Lafayette provides nostalgia