Meet Australia's number one Snoopy fan with more than 20,000 items collected

The Advertiser

09-05-2025

21,507. That's how many Snoopy figures, plushes, and toys Lisa Ridey had in her home when ACM, the publisher of this masthead, sat down to meet her.
Even people who have never read a Peanuts strip in their lives undoubtedly know the breakout star of the strip - a black-and-white beagle named Snoopy.
Nobody knows him better than Mrs Ridey, Australia's number one Snoopy fan, however.
Her collection of Snoopy memorabilia began at eight years old when she was gifted a small trinket of the dog, but it really took off a few years later when she got her first plush Snoopy.
"I went to Hong Kong when I was 13 years old and got my first Snoopy plush ... I've still got him. He's a bit grey and had a few nose jobs, but he still exists," she said.
"They're now in all the rooms, the hallway, I'm waiting for one of the kids to move out and then I'll take over one of their rooms," she said.
The collection has grown since then, and she now houses a collection worth over half a million dollars - so many Snoopies that she's had to create her own database to keep track of them all.
Even her wedding ring is Snoopy-themed.
"At the time, [my husband] said 'Where am I going to get a Snoopy ring?' but he got the best man to get a gold Snoopy ring from Japan while on a business trip," she said.
"He had planned to put a diamond in Snoopy's collar on the ring. I had no idea ... on our wedding night, he gave me that ring. I was so surprised and thrilled because I didn't think I would get it."
There isn't much of a Snoop scene in Australia, and the search for more Snoopies has guided most of Mrs Ridey's international travel.
Fortunately, she's found other collectors to bond with.
"Every two years, we have a get-together [Beaglefest] and there's usually about 200 collectors. We talk, we buy and sell and swap. It's good to have that because at one time, I thought it was just me."
Mrs Ridey has even delivered a speech on Snoopy in Japan.
2025 marks the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, and Mrs Ridey said she was on the lookout for any particularly exciting new additions to the flock that could come from the anniversary celebrations.
She was especially looking forward to this year's Beaglefest in July, held in Santa Rosa outside a museum for Charles M. Schulz - the creator of Peanuts.
It's fitting for the put-upon protagonist of Peanuts, Charlie Brown, that he has no place in Mrs Ridey's collection.
"It's just Snoopy. The other characters only appear when they just happen to be there," Mrs Ridey said.
As Charlie Brown says - Good grief!
21,507. That's how many Snoopy figures, plushes, and toys Lisa Ridey had in her home when ACM, the publisher of this masthead, sat down to meet her.
Even people who have never read a Peanuts strip in their lives undoubtedly know the breakout star of the strip - a black-and-white beagle named Snoopy.
Nobody knows him better than Mrs Ridey, Australia's number one Snoopy fan, however.
Her collection of Snoopy memorabilia began at eight years old when she was gifted a small trinket of the dog, but it really took off a few years later when she got her first plush Snoopy.
"I went to Hong Kong when I was 13 years old and got my first Snoopy plush ... I've still got him. He's a bit grey and had a few nose jobs, but he still exists," she said.
"They're now in all the rooms, the hallway, I'm waiting for one of the kids to move out and then I'll take over one of their rooms," she said.
The collection has grown since then, and she now houses a collection worth over half a million dollars - so many Snoopies that she's had to create her own database to keep track of them all.
Even her wedding ring is Snoopy-themed.
"At the time, [my husband] said 'Where am I going to get a Snoopy ring?' but he got the best man to get a gold Snoopy ring from Japan while on a business trip," she said.
"He had planned to put a diamond in Snoopy's collar on the ring. I had no idea ... on our wedding night, he gave me that ring. I was so surprised and thrilled because I didn't think I would get it."
There isn't much of a Snoop scene in Australia, and the search for more Snoopies has guided most of Mrs Ridey's international travel.
Fortunately, she's found other collectors to bond with.
"Every two years, we have a get-together [Beaglefest] and there's usually about 200 collectors. We talk, we buy and sell and swap. It's good to have that because at one time, I thought it was just me."
Mrs Ridey has even delivered a speech on Snoopy in Japan.
2025 marks the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, and Mrs Ridey said she was on the lookout for any particularly exciting new additions to the flock that could come from the anniversary celebrations.
She was especially looking forward to this year's Beaglefest in July, held in Santa Rosa outside a museum for Charles M. Schulz - the creator of Peanuts.
It's fitting for the put-upon protagonist of Peanuts, Charlie Brown, that he has no place in Mrs Ridey's collection.
"It's just Snoopy. The other characters only appear when they just happen to be there," Mrs Ridey said.
As Charlie Brown says - Good grief!
21,507. That's how many Snoopy figures, plushes, and toys Lisa Ridey had in her home when ACM, the publisher of this masthead, sat down to meet her.
Even people who have never read a Peanuts strip in their lives undoubtedly know the breakout star of the strip - a black-and-white beagle named Snoopy.
Nobody knows him better than Mrs Ridey, Australia's number one Snoopy fan, however.
Her collection of Snoopy memorabilia began at eight years old when she was gifted a small trinket of the dog, but it really took off a few years later when she got her first plush Snoopy.
"I went to Hong Kong when I was 13 years old and got my first Snoopy plush ... I've still got him. He's a bit grey and had a few nose jobs, but he still exists," she said.
"They're now in all the rooms, the hallway, I'm waiting for one of the kids to move out and then I'll take over one of their rooms," she said.
The collection has grown since then, and she now houses a collection worth over half a million dollars - so many Snoopies that she's had to create her own database to keep track of them all.
Even her wedding ring is Snoopy-themed.
"At the time, [my husband] said 'Where am I going to get a Snoopy ring?' but he got the best man to get a gold Snoopy ring from Japan while on a business trip," she said.
"He had planned to put a diamond in Snoopy's collar on the ring. I had no idea ... on our wedding night, he gave me that ring. I was so surprised and thrilled because I didn't think I would get it."
There isn't much of a Snoop scene in Australia, and the search for more Snoopies has guided most of Mrs Ridey's international travel.
Fortunately, she's found other collectors to bond with.
"Every two years, we have a get-together [Beaglefest] and there's usually about 200 collectors. We talk, we buy and sell and swap. It's good to have that because at one time, I thought it was just me."
Mrs Ridey has even delivered a speech on Snoopy in Japan.
2025 marks the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, and Mrs Ridey said she was on the lookout for any particularly exciting new additions to the flock that could come from the anniversary celebrations.
She was especially looking forward to this year's Beaglefest in July, held in Santa Rosa outside a museum for Charles M. Schulz - the creator of Peanuts.
It's fitting for the put-upon protagonist of Peanuts, Charlie Brown, that he has no place in Mrs Ridey's collection.
"It's just Snoopy. The other characters only appear when they just happen to be there," Mrs Ridey said.
As Charlie Brown says - Good grief!
21,507. That's how many Snoopy figures, plushes, and toys Lisa Ridey had in her home when ACM, the publisher of this masthead, sat down to meet her.
Even people who have never read a Peanuts strip in their lives undoubtedly know the breakout star of the strip - a black-and-white beagle named Snoopy.
Nobody knows him better than Mrs Ridey, Australia's number one Snoopy fan, however.
Her collection of Snoopy memorabilia began at eight years old when she was gifted a small trinket of the dog, but it really took off a few years later when she got her first plush Snoopy.
"I went to Hong Kong when I was 13 years old and got my first Snoopy plush ... I've still got him. He's a bit grey and had a few nose jobs, but he still exists," she said.
"They're now in all the rooms, the hallway, I'm waiting for one of the kids to move out and then I'll take over one of their rooms," she said.
The collection has grown since then, and she now houses a collection worth over half a million dollars - so many Snoopies that she's had to create her own database to keep track of them all.
Even her wedding ring is Snoopy-themed.
"At the time, [my husband] said 'Where am I going to get a Snoopy ring?' but he got the best man to get a gold Snoopy ring from Japan while on a business trip," she said.
"He had planned to put a diamond in Snoopy's collar on the ring. I had no idea ... on our wedding night, he gave me that ring. I was so surprised and thrilled because I didn't think I would get it."
There isn't much of a Snoop scene in Australia, and the search for more Snoopies has guided most of Mrs Ridey's international travel.
Fortunately, she's found other collectors to bond with.
"Every two years, we have a get-together [Beaglefest] and there's usually about 200 collectors. We talk, we buy and sell and swap. It's good to have that because at one time, I thought it was just me."
Mrs Ridey has even delivered a speech on Snoopy in Japan.
2025 marks the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, and Mrs Ridey said she was on the lookout for any particularly exciting new additions to the flock that could come from the anniversary celebrations.
She was especially looking forward to this year's Beaglefest in July, held in Santa Rosa outside a museum for Charles M. Schulz - the creator of Peanuts.
It's fitting for the put-upon protagonist of Peanuts, Charlie Brown, that he has no place in Mrs Ridey's collection.
"It's just Snoopy. The other characters only appear when they just happen to be there," Mrs Ridey said.
As Charlie Brown says - Good grief!