‘There’s no place like home’: Blacksburg man collects 1,000+ ‘Wizard of Oz’ items

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - There’s a man in Blacksburg who may have one of the largest ‘Wizard of Oz’ collections in Southwest Virginia.

Andy Farley started collecting when he was about three years old and saw the 50th anniversary of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ for the first time.

Since then, anytime he saw anything ‘Oz’, he kept it and the collection grew.

Now there are more than one thousand pieces.

The collection even includes a replica of Dorothy’s ruby red slippers.

Farley says the one thing the land of ‘Oz’ has taught him is, there is no place like home.

“But it’s just that that sense that feeling of home in your heart that you can go anywhere, but it’s always at the end of the day, or at the end of your journey. It’s just nice to come back home and to be surrounded by the people and the things that you love,” said Andy Farley.

Most of his collection is packed up.

Farley hopes to lend his collection to a museum, so other kids can go on an adventure down their own yellow brick roads. If you’re interested in displaying his collection at your museum you can email Farley at andyoz39@hotmail.com.

Copyright 2021 WDBJ. All rights reserved.