Memorabilia, autographs, even celebrity hair. They are the staples for the collector who wants to get closer to their chosen star.
But what does one buy the billionaire collector who has everything?
For many, the ultimate collecting statement is to own the home of an iconic movie star or musician, living the life of luxury in a property preserved just as they left it.
Now, Bram Castle (the legendary setting from Bram Stoker's Dracula) is up for sale in Romania, while the mansion that played host to Scarface's epic standoff is offered at an impressive $35m.
Take a look at some of the most iconic famous homes:
Ferris Bueller's Day Off mansion
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Chances are, if you grew up in the 1980s, you wanted to either be Ferris Bueller, or date him. John Hughes' high school senior (played by Matthew Broderick) was the epitome of cool, bunking off school to spend a day in downtown Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane and best friend Cameron Frye.
In one of the film's most memorable scenes, Bueller visits Cameron's parents' house, before accidentally crashing Cameron's dad's Ferrari through one of the windows.
The actual mansion is based in Highland Park, Illinois, and has four bedrooms, four baths and a tempting all-glass garage (we'd love to recreate the Ferrari-smashing scene). It sold for $1.3m in January 2014.
Al Capone's Miami hideout
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We say "hideout", but Al Capone's Miami mansion was more of an in-your-face statement to the authorities than a place to lie low while the heat cools down.
The 36,000 square foot mansion, based on Miami Beach, is said to be where Capone plotted his most famous move, the 1929 St Valentine's Day Massacre, and where he lived after being released from Alcatraz.
According to his niece, it's also where the syphilitic gangster dropped dead from a stroke in 1947 - the result of years of living the high life.
It appeared for sale with Sotheby's Realty in February 2014, priced at $8.5m.
Home Alone house
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Thankfully, Macauley Caulkin's epic system of booby traps has long been removed from the Home Alone house, which is situated in the highly desirable village of Winnetka, Illinois.
Home to one of the most hectic screen families in movie history, the house is where Caulkin famously combated burglars after he was abandoned just before Christmas.
Compared with other houses in the area, the mansion was a steal, listed at $2.4m.
The Scarface mansion
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Tony Montana sits in front of a huge pile of cocaine, knowing that Sosa's men are coming for him.
It's one of the most famous scenes in movie history, captured in the iconic poster that has hung in thousands of teenage bedrooms ever since the movie's 1983 release.
And now those with a penchant for the gangster lifestyle can relive Montana's legendary demise - for the small price of $35m.
Based in California, rather than Florida as the movie suggests, Scarface's mansion is actually known as El Fureidis, or "Tropical Paradise". Created in 1906, it covers 10 acres in some of the most desirable territory on the west coast.
Featuring a "barreled ceiling painted in 24k gold leaf and depicting a scene of Alexander the Great conquering Persepolis by Henry Wadsworth Moore", the home is far from discreet, but the ultimate status symbol for the billionaire badboy.
Marilyn Monroe's bungalow
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Monroe was found dead in the bedroom of her Brentwood, California bungalow, in 1962 - just six months after she bought the place for $90,000.
The bungalow is massive, despite its lack of an upper floor (presumably Monroe didn't like walking up stairs) and had obviously been owned by a Monroe fan when it appeared for sale back in 2010, with portraits of the star dotted around the tastefully decorated abode.
In a desirable area of California, the house was listed for $3.6m, which seems reasonable given the burial spot near her grave apparently sold on eBay for $4.6m.
Bram Castle
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High on a hill in Transylvania sits the fortress of Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration behind Bram Stoker's classic Dracula.
Dating to 1211, the castle is now billed as "Dracula's Castle", despite the fact that Stoker probably knew nothing of its existence.
Nonetheless, it's is expected to realise at least £47m as its Romanian archduke owner puts it up for sale this month.
Perhaps more fascinating than the castle's tenuous links to the Dracula myth are its other owners, which include Queen Marie of Romania, a member of the Habsburg royal family, Teutonic knights and a host of Saxons and Hungarians.
Withnail and I cottage
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"We've gone on holiday by mistake."
The farmhouse that stars in the cult classic Withnail and I, better known as "Uncle Monty's Cottage", doesn't seem like the ideal purchase. Painted in the film as a dreary isolated building surrounded by oddball country folk, it's actually a rather lovely farmhouse in the Cumbrian countryside.
It sold at auction for £265,000 ($447,500) back in 2009, with the new owner planning to transform it into self-catering accommodation for the ultimate Withnail and I experience.
However, the sale fell through and it was later bought by an architect who wants to create a private home for die-hard Withnail fans.
John Lennon's childhood home
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Let's face it, you'd be mad to pay almost half a million pounds for this understated terrace on Liverpool's Newcastle Road - under normal circumstances.
Yet Beatles fans are known for their dedication, and one US collector recently paid £480,000 ($810,870) to be the proud owner of the red brick building - John Lennon's childhood home.
Lennon spent a few of his early years in the house, living with his beloved Aunt Mimi and Uncle George. Just a few streets away from the famous Penny Lane, it is steeped in Beatles history.
John's tiny bedroom was at the back of the building.
The Godfather house