A Bahraini collector is bidding for a trifecta of Guinness World Records including the longest online auction, after having successfully streamed for more than 40 hours with more than 1,200 items sold.
Hamad Al Kooheji, owner of the Masterpiece Museum in Riffa, and a passionate collector of celebrity autographs, owns a collection of more than 3,500 signatures.
Speaking to the GDN, Mr Al Kooheji said the idea to pursue a world record attempt came after completing a marathon livestream that lasted nearly 18 hours.
“Me and a group of collector friends started using the Siin application to sell items from the comfort of our homes,” he said.
“Using platforms like eBay was not practical because of distance and shipping costs, so we turned to Siin instead.
“I gradually built up a collection and began hosting weekly auctions on the application every Monday. The live auctions kept getting longer, from six hours to eight, until one day, because I had more items than usual, the stream ran for 18 hours.
“That was when I remembered Guinness World Records. I loved the books as a child and discovered the current record was held by someone in the UK whose auction lasted 24 hours.
“I realised I effectively had the second-longest auction stream in the world, and knew I had to try to break the record by a significant margin.”
Mr Al Kooheji spent the next two months preparing for the record bid, carefully sourcing items and planning every aspect of the auction.
Based on the size of the collection he had assembled, he estimated the livestream would last around 30 hours.
Although he initially had doubts about whether bidders would show enough interest to sustain such a lengthy event, the auction got off to a strong start, with items selling steadily from the outset.
The vast array of lots included autographs, magazines, books, action figures, antiques, banknotes, stamps, films, VHS tapes, DVDs, video games, cassette tapes, vintage children’s meal toys, board games, puzzles, model cars and much more.
Football memorabilia proved especially popular, with the auction taking place during the FIFA World Cup. Signed memorabilia and team jerseys attracted strong interest from bidders. The highest-priced item was a limited-edition Willem Dafoe collectible card, which sold for nearly BD100.
Overall, the auction generated more than $10,000 (about BD3,770) in sales.
“More than 24 hours into the stream, there was still plenty of energy and support,” said Mr Al Kooheji.
“As the auction progressed, sponsors came on board and provided food, coffee and other refreshments to help keep me going and push for the record.
“Eventually, I ended up streaming for 40 hours and 44 minutes, and sold more than 1,200 items, surpassing the previous record of around 1,000 items sold in a single auction.
“More than 100 collectors took part, including about 65 from Bahrain, while the rest joined from Saudi Arabia.”
Mr Al Kooheji is also pursuing a third Guinness World Record, this time for the largest collection of autographs. Over the years, he has amassed more than 3,500 signed items and hopes all three record attempts will be officially authenticated in the near future.
“Ever since I was a child, I used to like the Guinness Book of World Records, and it has always been a dream of mine to be featured in one of them,” he said.
Most of the record holders he saw growing up were from the US, Europe or the UK.
“It was rare to see someone from our region represented. That dream could become reality soon. We have done everything we can, and now we just hope for the best,” he added.
nader@gdnmedia.bh
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