Arizona man collects D-backs memorabilia from thrift shops
SUN CITY, Ariz. - For the past eight years, Ron Yankowski has been adding to his museum.
"It was one bobblehead, I don't know which one it is now, but one of these started this whole thing. One bobblehead," he said.
That bobblehead has a giveaway at a game. He doesn't seek out specific items – he finds them.
"It's like adventurous," he said. "It's like treasure hunting.
"It was $6.99, but Goodwill… they have $2 days or $1 days, so I probably got it for a dollar," Yankowski said of a specific item in his collection. "Every Saturday we go to garage sales," he said. "Every Thursday at Goodwill they have $2 for that specific color, so Thursdays is Goodwill and Saturdays are wherever."
Not knowing what he will find, fuels his fire.
"That's the bear from Randy Johnson," he said. "I think that's the most unusual T-shirt I have – it's Japanese. These are little D-backs, and it plays ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame.'"
Ron says he's embraced the chaos – organized chaos.
"These are all in alphabetical order," he said.
D-backs fan shows off his team collection
In a rather unconventional manner, an Arizona Diamondbacks fan in Sun City has built up a rather sizeable collection of team memorabilia. Ron Yankowskis collection of team memorabilia comes mainly from thrifting, and FOX 10 Photojournalist Brian Kae has a look.
"Every item is placed intentionally, with like colors, themes or other order. He's looking forward to creating a new section of 2023 World Series items, but he's not looking for those right now.
"It's expensive now, the T-shirts and things, but I figure that another year or two, it'll be at Goodwill," he said.