Collections often begin with a single object — a lucky discovery, a treasured gift or something too interesting to leave behind. One becomes two, then ten, then hundreds, each adding another chapter to a personal story as the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
Nebraska Public Media’s new digital-only series Weird. Wonderful. Collected! explores remarkable collections and the passionate people behind them. From hundreds of vintage Jeeps to tiny worlds and board games, prairie seeds and pieces of Nebraska’s prehistoric past, each episode introduces passionate people and proves there’s more to a collection than what sits on a shelf.
New episodes of Weird. Wonderful. Collected! premiere on YouTube every Sunday from Sept. 13 through Oct. 25, so check back each week to discover a new collection.
Driven to Collect
A building just blocks from Main Street in Scottsbluff houses one of the country’s most remarkable private Jeep collections. Inspired by wartime news reels and a lifelong love of history, this collector keeps the classics rolling with more than 400 vintage Jeeps.
A World in Miniature
Thousands of tiny pieces come together to create one remarkably detailed world inside the Eloise Kruger Gallery of Miniatures at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. With more than 20,000 pieces, the expansive display spans centuries of detail, design and craftsmanship.
Game Night, Multiplied
Choosing a game for family nights takes on a whole new meaning when there are more than 1,500 options. Meet an Omaha family whose enormous board game collection brings together strategy, competition, creativity, connection and plenty of opportunities to play.
Seeds With a Purpose
Not every collection is meant to stay collected. On a farm outside Scottsbluff, native prairie seeds are carefully gathered so they can return to the soil. Its restoration work guided by respect for all living things and the hope of bringing back natural landscapes.
Art Outside the Lines
Folk art celebrates creativity without rules. Discover works shaped by imagination and personal expression rather than formal artistic training. And meet the Lincoln couple whose work is often spiritual, sometimes unconventional, but always deeply personal.
More Than Meets the Eye
A naturally formed knot of wood can become much more in the eye of the beholder. In Bayard, explore a collection of unusual wood formations turned fine art to see how shape, texture and a little imagination can reveal something different to everyone who looks.
This episode drops on YouTube on Oct. 18.
Millions of Years in the Making
Some collections tell stories that began long before the collectors themselves. A Lincoln man digs into Nebraska’s prehistoric past, discovering fossils from remarkable creatures that lived here 70 million years ago, when a vast inland sea covered much of the state.
This episode drops on YouTube on Oct. 25.
Across all seven digital episodes, Weird. Wonderful. Collected! goes beyond the objects themselves to ask what makes collecting so compelling.
Each Jeep, game, seed, fossil and tiny treasure carries a story. Each collection reveals something about the person who saw value in saving it. Because sometimes the things we collect end up telling a story about us.