Me with my Etch A Sketch collection

pikajane

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Yesterday I took on the gargantuan task of photographing and organizing the bulk of my Etch A Sketch collection!

I have over 500 photos to edit and organize - a task I sincerely look forward to. Fun fact! Before pursuing a career as a full-time Etch A Sketch artist, I worked as a photo retoucher for 3 years!

Some fun statistics about what's in the bins:
1. These bins contain 269 Etch A Sketch-related products! Of those 269,
2. 53 are repeats (you can thank bin 9 for containing most of my extras, which I use as canvases for my art)
3. 180 are unique variants, which included packaging variants from different eras, and products New In Packaging (NIP) but not loose if I had them NIP
4. 32 products are Etch A Sketch-related, but are not Etch A Sketch toys that you use by turning knobs. For example, I have Etch A Sketch napkins and an Etch A Sketch pool float, as well as the Etch A Sketch Freestyle (post-2016) that uses Boogie Board technology to draw on a screen that is meant to loosely resemble an Etch A Sketch.

These bins only contain a fraction of my entire Etch A Sketch collection. What is not pictured is another entire shelving unit that contains hundreds of Pocket (small) and Classic (Large) Etch A Sketch canvases that I use for commissions, workshops, live events, and more. The number of Pocket Etch A Sketches can fluctuate frequently for this reason. I also generally have around 50 Etch A Sketches in my office at any given time.

I recently reconfigured my office to accommodate a shelving unit which will allow me to properly display some of these beauties. I've spent the last 20+ years working on this collection, and it would be a real shame to banish them to the bins forever. So my plan is to treat my office shelving as rotating seasonal displays to give many variants an opportunity to shine while not over-cluttering the shelves.

Thanks as always for your support of my foolhardy endeavor to amass a small museum worth of Etch A Sketch history!

etchasketch

history

toys

TrevReactionClicker

Girl got a box that rocks...fk the haters

4 months ago |

mynamespaul

I like your socks. They look premium. High quality stitching.

Blasfemur

Revan1138

Two awesome people!

warpfactor1

😎

TayNaumStudios

You guys know those pads based off etchasketches that had a slider to erase stuff and a pen to draw that was connected by a string to the drawing pad?

Oh yes! Magna Doodle - my sworn enemy!

ZCadavericci

Too bad your name isn’t Stephanie. Your username could be Etchasteph

dinahmoe

Nice! I did this with all my tools, hot wheels, trains, slot cars, legos, tshirts, mugs, mighty max, zbots, micro machines, non sport cards, action heros mostly marvel, simpsons, ghostbusters/beetlejuice, Software boxes. Yea, a million pics!

nintendolunchbox

You've downsized quite a bit.

Hah, far from it! Just crammed a chunk of the collection into bins!

AShartInTheWind

Marvelous!

ReelPoop

i pray that all your containers are earthquake-proof

gardengnomeii

that's fantastic. and I love your artwork.

Omnislash9

This makes me wanna share my polly pocket collection, haha

I would love to see! My sister still has all hers from the 90s

A few years ago I started collectingthe ones I'd wanted as a kid, which turned into trying to get all the sets from the original 1989-1997 run, before they got bigger and lame lol. I still have a few more to find but when they do pop up on ebay they're crazy expensive

I see quite a few that I had growing up that lives in my sister's collection! These were apparently prices I set for a few that I had but ultimately decided not to sell in 2017 (thank god lol)

Ooooo that's a good deal!

CHARCHIMUS

It's so ORGANIZED! Love it.

once I complete editing of every photo, I will be creating photoshop documents for each bin, then I will add those images to my website and link them to QR codes that I can tape onto each bin! I am SO excited for that step.

I thought about doing a spreadsheet for each bin but realized Photoshop would be way more fun for me lol

Wow yeah that's an EXCEPTIONAL plan i love it so much!! It's a really great visual way to use technology for quicker access to your information. Bravo! I don't know though, spreadsheets are pretty fun :D I get lowkey excited at work when i have to run numbers in excel lol why not do both!?

Don't tempt me I just might! 🤣

CouldntCakeLess

Wow, stunning!

ILoveVaginNomNomNomNom

Agreed, she is!

Always. Look at the artistry and the hairdo, @OP‘s a treasure!

Shaows

Do you keep the images on all of them when they're stored?

The bulk of these don't have drawings on them, as I keep them more for archival purposes. I have 3 entirely separate bins in my office which are dedicated to the storage of either permanent art or art that has yet to be preserved!

speeeeaking of which - while it's on my mind, I do have a number of preserved works available to purchase which can help me empty some of those bins! I will be clearing out the sold out listings with more new art soon.

https://princessetch.bigcartel.com/category/permanent-art

NoIdeaWhatToUseHere

I had no idea there are knock-off versions. I guess I should have just assumed there are given how successful it continues to be. How many off-brand EAS do you have in your collection?

ClutterMonkey

I thought it would be bigger.

This is likely 1/3 of the full physical collection! But most of it looks boring. A lot of the other 2/3 is red Etch A Sketch red Etch A Sketch red Etch A Sketch red Etch A Sketch red Etch A Sketch red Etch A Sketch red Etch A Sketch red Etch A Sketch red Etch A Sketch

player2joined

wow ... awesome collection

Rosenaa

WOW... You are something special... in a Good way :-)

octopusinkfoot

It's a "would" for me.

sme2812

I'm starting to get the impression that you like
Etch A Sketches.

Omicron416

But ... where's the banana for scale? :)

osser

When I was a kid there was only one etch a sketch. When were different sizes introduced? Or am I remembering it wrong

Etch A Sketch has been around since 1960! In the early 90s the Travel and Pocket sizes were introduced. The Classic (large) Etch A Sketch was shrunken a bit around 2007, and the Pocket (small) Etch A Sketch was shrunken a bit around 2012!

Thanks for the reply. I was born in 69 so yeah it makes sense now.

Kevinbfree

And still not enough right??

My stomach was making the rumblies that only Etch A Sketches would satisfy

highstream

Do you have the Etch a Sketch pen? I had one that actually had a very nice grip to write with.

I do! I keep them on display in my office. I also used to have a Bop It pen with a similar grip. I really miss that Bop It pen.

Whatdoyousaytoanicecupoftea

Sketchy AF

Murrdogg

Guilty as charged

OhIfIMust

EarthmanPerson

I hate that Etch-A-Sketch changed the packaging so the knobs are blocked so we can’t play with them at the store anymore.

I totally understand your disdain about packaging changes in more recent years. I too appreciated being able to test them out before buying! The only major upside is that when the stylus inside still used to be made of metal, buying new Etch A Sketches was trickier when they had heavy use because you could see the previous wear and tear on the glass screen from previous testing.

Yea, the packaging makes sense, like you said to keep the glass new for the buyer, to protect the knobs but also it stops people from writing/drawing anything inappropriate and leaving it for someone to find. But still, that was my go-to entertainment when I was bored at a store and they took that away!

hah, they need a floor model or something! Let people go wild!

0p12

"Etch A Sketch pool float"

I have yet to use it in the water!

Such a classic item!! Love the cupholders!!

Aranon1183

Huh. Not nearly as many as I thought you had. You've been slacking!😜😜

The number is likely around 600 or so if I were to do a full count - someday I'll know the true answer!

You've most likely said it, but why are you so passionate about Etch-A-Sketch?

It's my hobby and my career! I started drawing on an Etch A Sketch when I was around 4 and never stopped. I love how Etch A Sketch is so analog and nostalgic - it's a unique medium to draw on and has a surprisingly interesting history that I enjoy learning about too!

Since Etch-A-Sketch can only make one-line drawings, you think you could do those in pencil or pen?

Yes! I have a degree in Illustration and love drawing, painting, etc. But Etch A Sketch is a unique medium that cannot be perfectly replicated with other tools.

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