The world's biggest 'Simpsons' fan?
By Todd Leopold
CNN
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Rob Davidman, his friend Amy Kirsch, and some buddies.
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SPECIAL REPORT
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(CNN) -- Walking into Robert Davidman's office is like walking into a real, live Springfield.
Davidman has figures of most of the town's residents, including Itchy and Scratchy, Superintendent Chalmers, Homer's twin Herb Powell and many, many versions of Homer Simpson.
He has a "Simpsons" Rubik's Cube, a "Simpsons" Pez dispenser, and a "Simpsons" chess set.
Then there are the "Simpsons" Shrinky-Dinks, a talking family car, all three editions of the "Simpsons" issue of Rolling Stone, limited-edition animation cels, an "Eye on Springfield" that plays "Simpsons" stories when you push a button ...
The man may have more "Simpsons" paraphernalia than Bart Simpson has Krusty the Klown merchandise.
It all started when Davidman, the 32-year-old chairman and CEO of media-buying firm EarthQuake Media in New York, bought a wrist-rest with a picture of Homer and a half-eaten doughnut. He moved on to the toy figures, and soon he was hooked.
Davidman liked the show from the beginning -- the very beginning, when it existed as a series of short films on "The Tracey Ullman Show."
"I first saw the show at an animation festival in New York," he recalls. He remembers a poorly drawn Homer, some rather mangy kids, and a belch. But it was different, he says. "I was thinking, 'This is great.' "
His fandom was cemented a couple years later when the series debuted. "I thought it was brilliant," he says. "I was really taken with the writing."
A sampling of Davidman's "Simpsons" paraphernalia.
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Davidman has no idea what he's spent on "Simpsons" stuff over the years, but estimates that the cels are worth a few thousand dollars each, just for starters. (Many of the items, he adds, were gifts.) He also has the "Simpsons" DVDs, TiVo's the show regularly, and is a fount of "Simpsons" trivia. (For example, did you know that Matt Groening used to sign his initials on Homer's head?)
Davidman has a simple explanation as to why he's still so devoted to Springfield's first family after almost 15 years.
"It makes me laugh," Davidman says. "I'm in a stressful job ... and sometimes [when] I get so fed up and I need a break, I look at Ned Flanders as the devil and I just crack up. I just get a kick out of it. It's my release."
