Even after he retired from teaching, the collection continued to grow. Some of Joe’s collectibles include spaceships, the Empire State Building, a sewing machine, a golfer, and a baseball player. Many of the figures have moving parts, too. “I have some from Spain, New Zealand, and Branson, Missouri,” says Joe. His wife, Helen, is a professor at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, and picks up more sharpeners for Joe’s collections whenever she travels. Although Helen isn’t as interested in the collection as he is, “she tolerates it,” says Joe. The last sharpener Joe acquired, appropriately, was that of an old-fashioned school chair.

Collecting garners dinner conversation
When Joe goes to dinner each night, he almost always brings at least three different figures to the Fireside restaurant. “My dining companions usually ask me ‘Did you bring any of your toys tonight?’” says Joe. “They look forward to them.”

“I always put a few on the table, and they get people talking.” Occasionally, he leaves one of his prized possessions at the table. “Then someone calls me and says ‘Mr. D…’ and I say ‘I know, I left one behind,” says Joe.

Special ‘toys’ will see future generations
To date, Joe has 169 of these distinct pencil sharpeners. “I like them because of the quality of the product,” says Joe. Although Joe keeps most of his collection in a special lighted display cabinet in his home at Fox Run, he says he does use them on occasion when he needs a pencil sharpened.

When he’s asked to choose his favorite, Joe says “I like them all.” Then, he narrows it down. “I guess my favorite is the VW car.”

Over the years, Joe says he’s never met anyone else that has also collected the sharpeners. Although he won’t come right out and say so, Joe will most likely keep the collection going. “I still have quite a bit of room for them,” says Joe. He would like to eventually leave his collection to his nine grandchildren. “They like them,” concludes Joe.