Largest Toothpaste Collection: Officially Recognised
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- Published: Friday, 29 September 2023 06:22
- Written by Peter Ingle
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There was a time when most practices had at least one cupboard full of toothpaste samples that eager representatives would deliver, whether they were used or not. In a more cost conscious age for the manufacturers, some dental team members find themselves having to plead for a few more tubes from the big brands.
This may not be a problem for dentist Val Kolpakov, who has just had his Guinness world record confirmed once again, for having the largest collection of toothpaste tubes. Some of the over 2000 tubes he has acquired are kept on display at his practice in Alpharetta, Georgia, with the rest kept at his home.
As well as examples of popular products from around the globe, there are some unusual items that are less familiar. “I started my collection in 2001 to learn more as a dentist about all available toothpastes on the market,” Kolpakov told Guinness World Records. It was first officially recognised as the world’s largest in 2012.
His collection includes products from Japan, South Korea, China, India, Russia and Germany,
Dr Kolpakov estimates that his collection’s value is over $30,000. Alternatives to mint flavour, include whisky, chocolate, rose, wasabi, bamboo and bacon. There is also a StarKist toothpaste tube that features the American tuna company’s logo — but it doesn’t taste like fish.
Other toothpaste tubes are packaged in unique shapes or branded artworks. Amongst these are a rocket-shaped toothpaste tube, and a pack of crayon-shaped toothpaste tubes, licensed by Crayola.
One tube, a product called Dormad, is radioactive. It was found buried in a World War 2 trench. According to its current owner it contains Thorium, believed by some at that time to be beneficial to the health of skin and teeth.
The rarest item is a tube of Brenner’s toothpaste. Rare, because it was never available to the public but is a made up brand invented for a TV series called “Prison Break,” where it played a key part in an escape-attempt plot line.
Even a collection this size has some gaps, and according to Dr Kolparov there is one item that he would particularly like to get. “It’s the toothpaste which has been in space, I’m not quite sure which astronaut had it, but it was there: it was designed in a specific way so that you could squeeze it out in space.”
While he waits for that elusive tube, two of his latest additions to the collection are toothpastes marketed at younger users, in the flavours “alien blood” and “eyeball juice.” Kolpakov had so far resisted the urge to try them, he told Guinness world records.
Strange in a different way is Nihilist toothpaste. Inspired by the philosopher Nietzsche its description reads, “No flavour, no colour, nothing.”
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