Take Bob Martin, for example. In 1988, he went to see the musical Cats at the New London theatre. He enjoyed it so much he went to see it again. And again. And again.... every week for fourteen years! He travelled 52,00 miles and saw the show 795 times, spending a total of 20.000.. ´I don't drink, smoke or run a car, so i could just about afford it, ´say the 71-year-old. But sadly Bob is now looking for a new hobby. The show closed last year after a sixteen-year run in London.

For some it's musicals that keep them coming back for more. For others, it's ... fast food. Peter Holden, from Washington DC, eats an average of two McDonald's meals a day. He has eaten at more than 11,000 McDonal's (There are 13,500 of them in the whole of the USA) and say, I'm a collector of the McDonald's dining experience. He is 1.9 m tall and weighs 90 kg- he says he doesn't put on weight partly because he is lucky and partly because he doesn't eat the fries.

Most people collect something at some time in their life, Whether it's dolls, trading cards or even stamps, but few take their collections as far as Rodolfo Renato Vazquez, who has the world's largest collection of books, posters and even life-size models related to his heroes, The Beatles. He divides his collection between his apartment and the club he owns in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he now organises a regular Beatles event which attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world.

But the 6,000 or so items in Rodolfo's collection are nothing compared to the 20,000 items belonging to Jason Joiner- all related to the Star Wars fimls. His collection includes an original Darth Vader costume! But such obsessions can have unfortunate results. John Weintraub became obsessed with collecting plastic figures of US presidents given as free gifts in the whole set apart from Thomas Jefferson.

Weintraub was so desperate to get the last one he broke into a factory and opened every box he could find. He was seen by a guard, arrested and sent to prison. It's OK though, he said, because at my first prison breakfast i opened the cereal packet ... and out came Jefferson.

Book: "New Cutting Edge"