The Ball, collecting as medicine for the soul

Ali Baba's cave is full of treasures. Cabini's cave, too. Treasures that excite you and satisfy your memory. This cave is called La Bola and it is on Carrer Sepúlveda in Barcelona, right by Plaça Universitat. Cabini is Jordi Viñas, but everyone calls him that because it was the name of his father's transport company and the huge letters on the truck have remained in the memory of everyone who saw him enter and leave the Encants every day. Half a century has passed since then, and Jordi has spent many years turning his little corner, on the border of Eixample and Sant Antoni, into a temple for fanatics of all kinds of collecting.

You can spend hours just looking at the contents of the display cases full of things, the variety is mind-blowing: beer bottles, yo-yos, corkscrews, trading cards, old photos, rolling paper, keychains, pennants, lead soldiers, rubber Indians and cowboys, nativity scene figures... All kinds of toys. From toy cars of all brands to the legendary Madelman and Nancy outfits. The paths of collecting are eternal and highly varied.

Long-time customers still visit La Bola, those who are chasing the completion of their comic book collection because an impossible issue is resisting them, and also those who cannot contain the impulse to add two, three, or four vinyls each week to their growing record collection. The case of vinyl is worthy of study. Jordi is very clear that right now it is what he sells the most. In fact, you only need to take a look at the shop to see that it is what takes up the most space. The revival of vinyl has been a phenomenon for years now. There are those who are moved by the fetishism of the object, but also those who enjoy listening to music with this format. And with CDs, which are now also rising from their ashes.

These days at La Bola they are busy, because they have set up a stall at the Antique and Second-hand Book Fair on Passeig de Gràcia, a true classic of Barcelona. They also set up a stall at the Comic Fair, which is another of their specialties. Now what is in fashion is the superhero comic, both the classic and the modern one. On the other hand, the classic comic book –TBO, Pulgarcito, Capitán Trueno–, which had been a pillar, is on the decline. The world of toys is also a universe of sidereal immensity. For many years, the classics were gold: Madelmans, Nancys, Geypermans, toy cars, toy soldiers, etc. Today, certain toys from the 90s and 2000s will be snatched from your hands sooner than these others. And advertising? Well, another fascinating subject. Before, old posters were like bearer bonds. Now they are much harder to sell. Also because there is less supply. “Unless a collector dies and the entire collection appears on the market, it is much harder for interesting pieces to come out”.

To know the origins of La Bola I have to go back almost fifty years, when Jordi and his sister sold lots of all kinds of second-hand objects at the Encants. With Albert, his first partner, they opened the first store, Casa Usher, on Carrer Aragó in 1986. And in 1994, with Miquel, the new partner, La Bola on Sepúlveda. Two simultaneous stores! And running at full capacity. In 1999 Casa Usher left Carrer Aragó and moved to Poblenou. Until the misfortune of the unexpected death of Miquel –everyone called him Mike– in 2012, and then everything was unified at the premises on Carrer Sepúlveda. Cabini plans to retire in about two years. It's his time. But he still enjoys discovering lost treasures among different piles of records or comics that someone has listened to or read many times, and who knows if they can now enjoy a second, third or fourth life in the hands of a new owner.

Before the internet era, everything sold. Now the competition has multiplied exponentially and it is harder. The hotels in the area provide La Bola with potential clients, fascinated both by vintage and by old posters or a vinyl by Queen, U2, Supertramp or the Beatles. Music, comic books and old books are the most effective medicines for the soul. At La Bola they can prescribe them all.