lol, to someone like me (being associated with both hobies) this thread is funny and ironic. Some of the reactions , viewpoints, etc are on point (other a little one sided and somewhat hipocritical) when you think about it.
In regards to the original post and his friend: Thats not a bad collection but it is unfortunately the standard issue case of quantity over quality and presentation.
Your friend should contemplate selling a third more of what he has left and contributing it to a renovation with much batter flooring, lighting and display cases as well as some lounge/entertainment area.
For those not familiar there is a scene just as rabid and even broader then ours when it comes to statues (1/4 scale primarily), figures and props from Film, Television and videogames. Many of the pieces that you can find in the hoby are absolutely amazing (see here:
http://www.cinemaquette.com/cgi-bin/cinemaquette/predator.html) and at least when you have people over they can relate to or appreciate these pieces allot more than they can a home cart.
The problem, just like allot of what you see here is that many get carried away, try to fill voids, and let thier collection overwhelm them. Not nearly enough time, money, ettention and effort is spent on the storage, diplay and presentation of the pieces they aquire that make thier collection more appealing and something that will actually make want people to look at and appreciate as well instead of raise red flags.
I'm in the process of doing this right now actually (see here:
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220115).
You can collect and display almost anything well, it's just that most collect with the blinders on and let it go from hoby to bad habbit.
It's like the case of MVS and Neo home carts: if you think owning a HC collection isn't less fruitfull (in terms of what you miss out on with others and how it helps you to allienate yourself) your batshit.
BTW, someone please check on Charlie and make sure that he hasn't imploded.