Honestly, I didn't start out with any intention of collecting
camels. I didn't even particularly like camels.
I did buy one once as part of a craft kit to make
palm trees and a camel out of beads and pipe cleaners (right).
I got it because it reminded me of
Oasis Dance Camp
and I liked the palm trees.
But I thought the camel was really stupid-looking.
Sometimes people would give me one
as a gift (left), probably because
they had some connection with the Middle East.
I also remember buying one at a craft fair (right)
because he was just a cute critter and I liked critters in
general, but that's all.
I should have known I was starting to get "the bug" when I
went questing for a camel in
Virginia City, NV.
I had heard about them having International Camel Races there,
and I figured if they have camel races,
then they must have camel figurines,
and bygod, that was what I wanted.
Despite a plethora of touristy shops with assorted
souvenirs, however, it was not easy to find camels.
Finally I hit a gold mine (or more properly considering
the location, a silver mine :-) though: a shop that
had several different styles of camel figures for sale.
If I recall correctly, this shop was, oddly enough,
in the Gambler's Museum.
Anyway, that was where I found Wally (left).
Isn't he just too cute?
I couldn't deny my interest in camels after that, but still,
things moved slowly until I discovered
eBay.
On a whim, I did a search on "camel"
and got an enormous quantity of hits!
(I soon learned to remove "joe" and "humphrey" from that
search. And if I think of it, "cigarette" and "lighter" also.
Why "humphrey"? Hey, I like Niles, but I think
Humphrey (like most of the camel beanies I've seen to date)
is really stupid-looking.)
I've felt compelled to bid on quite a number of
camels on eBay
(sometimes I see one and say,
"Oh, he's so CUTE! I MUST have him!"),
and I've won several.
That was where I found Flopsie (right) and many of the others.
Check out the following to see more pictures of some of the more interesting camels in my collection (organized as separate files to save on loading time).
I'll update the files above from time to time, as I take more pictures or get more camels!