Corey Taylor showed us his memorabilia collection and things got really nerdy

Corey Taylor with shelves and shelves of geeky stuff
(Image credit: Travis Shinn)

THAT’S A LOT OF, UM, STUFF. WHEN DID THIS MEMORABILIA COLLECTION START, COREY?

“My mom kept this handful of ratty old comic books that we took everywhere we moved. I eventually took them over because she started to forget about them. I always remember a Spider-Man and Captain America crossover comic in there, The Power Of Electro. To this day, it’s my favourite comic and it’s not even an important issue, it was just a great story with awesome artwork and really cool action.”

HAVE COMIC BOOKS AND MEMORABILIA ALWAYS BEEN PART OF YOUR LIFE?

“Comics and action figures are, aside from music, the only things I can trace a straight line through my life all the way back to when I was 10 years old. With my background, it’s a little better than looking back on my life through all the shit I’ve gone through and done. It’s easier to look in the rear-view mirror at all the times I drive back to Iowa to mom and pop’s back rooms trying to look for comic books and action figures.”

WHICH ITEM MEANS THE MOST TO YOU?

“A friend got me a signed 8x10 personalised by George Carlin for my birthday. He’s my favourite comedian and I grew up memorising his concerts. My friend went to get something signed for me and it turned out his manager was a fan of ours and got George to personalise it for me. It says, ‘To Corey, fuck you!’ He died not long after I got it, which makes it even more meaningful.”

“Ping! Clang! Ding-ding! Tinkle! Whoosh! Boink! Ping-ping!” Repeat to fade

“Ping! Clang! Ding-ding! Tinkle! Whoosh! Boink! Ping-ping!” Repeat to fade

YOU ALSO HAVE A FUCKING SPIDER-MAN PINBALL MACHINE.

“My wife got me that for my birthday, it’s probably the coolest thing I own! I still play it, it’s even made me think about collecting pinball tables. I’m not sure if that’s good or not but I’m an addict, I’m only able to hold myself back because there are no special stores you can buy pinball tables from.”

DOES STEPH APPROVE OF YOUR COLLECTION?

“Steph realises she married a geek. She bought me a seated Pac-Man arcade machine for my birthday. I told her she’ll have a much harder time getting my attention when I’m with my friends when we’re crowded around that machine… She doesn’t seem to think that’s a bad thing.”

Corey Taylor “keeping it wolf”. (And he can definitely keep that plate)

Corey Taylor “keeping it wolf”. (And he can definitely keep that plate) (Image credit: Travis Shinn)

WHAT’S WITH ALL THE WOLF STUFF?

“I have a friend who has the driest sense of humour, he comes up with so much weird shit and one day he was determined to make a phrase catch on – ‘keeping it wolf’. What the fuck does that mean? It’s a response to how you’re feeling, what you’re doing – keeping it wolf. I thought it was fucking hilarious and I’ve used it for ages, so now me and my brother-in-law Jared get each other wolf-related presents. That plate is the centrepiece on my dining table, it’s atrocious but it’s one of my favourite things. I’ll take this shit to the bitter end, I’ll drive that joke off the cliff like Thelma & Louise.”

ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10, HOW METAL IS YOUR NERDY MEMORABILIA COLLECTION?

“It’s definitely an eight because that’s my number! I have several authorised Iron Maiden action figures, the full collection of the Sex Pistols Kubrick figures, I own the fucking massive Bark At The Moon 15in Ozzy Osbourne figure. I even have a weird Ozzy figure where he looks like Conan the fucking Barbarian. Plus, I have the Slayer pinball machine app on my phone… so I’ve got that going for me.”

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