Meet Rockin' Robin Rosaaen

At Robin Rosaaen's home, Elvis Presley is appearing 24 hours a day. He's in her bedroom. He's in her bathroom. He's in her living room.

Just how many items with the King of Rock 'n Roll's face on it does Robin have around her house? "Thousands," Robin said."I can't give an exact number because I quit counting about 5 years ago."

The San Jose, California woman has one of the largest collections of Elvis memorabilia in the country. Robin has been collecting Elvis items for "about 25 or 30 years," and has appeared as a subject expert on Geraldo, Oprah Winfrey, and other talk shows.

She began collecting when she was about 12 years old. "I used to buy albums with my baby-sitting money," Robin said. She bought Jan and Dean, the Beatles, Ricky Nelson, "and all the rock and roll records of the early sixties." She also enjoyed going to see all of Elvis's movies. Her collecting really took off when she saw Elvis's 1968 comeback TV special. "I could see a new, fresh Elvis that I hadn't seen in a long time," Robin said. In February 1970, Robin went to see him perform in Las Vegas for the first time. She bought some souvenirs at the show, and her passion for "Elvis everything" intensified.

Although she has mugs, stamps, clothing, and even a joke item (bottled Elvis sweat!), it's her extensive collection of Elvis photos (over 8,000), and one in particular, that keep her "all shook up."

"My favorite item is a photo of Elvis giving me a kiss and putting his scarf around my neck," Robin said.She recalled the events that led up to that kiss: "I tipped the maitre d' so I could sit at the front of the stage during a concert at Sahara Tahoe. During the show, I held up a health club promotional bumper sticker that said 'I Want Your Body.' Elvis had seen me at shows with the sign before, and he came over to me and said, 'You got it, baby,'" Robin said, doing her best Elvis imitation. "That sign became a personal joke between me and Elvis."

"Elvis took the bumper sticker," Robin continued, "and I reached for his scarf. Elvis said, 'No, no honey...let me do it,' and he took off the scarf and put it on me."

Over the years, Robin smuggled her tape recorder into shows. Her collection includes 30 audiotaped shows, including a few where Elvis acknowledged her in the audience. "His nickname for me was 'Rockin' Robin," she said. A couple of times he even invited her backstage; however, because of the presence of other celebrities, security personnel kept her from going. If she could talk to Elvis one more time, what would she say? "I'd love to be able to sit down with him and share a cheeseburger and talk about the fun shows that we had at Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe," Robin said.

Robin's collection continues to grow ("I'll never, never be done!") with items she purchases on eBay and elsewhere. She recently bought photos, and added, "I'd like to win the California lottery so I could buy all the Elvis stuff on eBay!" Also through eBay, Robin met a Canadian Elvis fan who purchased her book ("All The King's Things," Bluewood Books, 1993) and is looking forward to meeting her someday.

Although she doesn't sell too many of her items, Robin recently sold a wine glass for $100 that was in Elvis's home in Palm Springs. "I had an extra one," Robin explained, "and I sold it to someone who wanted it really bad, but couldn't afford to spend too much."

Robin said she isn't interested in selling her entire collection, however, she would love to see it exhibited in a museum-type format in California. "I'd like to display it somewhere where people could see a timeline of Elvis's life through photos, books, and music," she said.

Robin has some advice for new collectors of Elvis, or any type of memorabilia. "You need to be well-versed in what you are collecting," she said. "Don't buy the first thing you see. There are lots of reproductions out there. Interact with fans and collectors that know the items you are interested in so that you can get to know what the items are really worth."