Inside the whisker-licking Garfield collection of Albury's Lorraine Boyd

"It is really hard to explain why I collect these things," she said.

"If you try to make sense of it, you can't. How do you tell someone you're in love with an orange cartoon cat?"

Garfield, an American comic strip first created by Jim Davis in 1978, chronicles the life of Garfield the cat, his owner Jon Arbuckle and Odie the dog.

From TV cartoons to films, video games and even theatrical productions, Garfield has left an indelible mark on popular culture.

"The minute I first read the comics in the paper, I fell in love," Mrs Boyd said.

"His sense of humour and his attitude just really appealed to me, and I've been hooked since the beginning.

"He's a smartarse, he's a sloth, he loves lasagne and hates Mondays - he's just the whole package."

Mrs Boyd received her first collector's item as a gift not long after she moved to Albury when she was 22.

Since then, her collection has swelled to "thousands and thousands" of items, along with 15 tattoos devoted to the cat.

"If you're going to be obsessed go all out I say," she said.

"I look at the Garfield things and they just make me smile.

"There's not much else you can say - it's very hard to justify or validate if you try to put it in words but it's just a feeling, bigger than a warm hug, which brings me an endless amount of joy."

Her husband Craig Boyd, however, doesn't feel the same.

"My husband will see another Garfield toy come into the house and he will just roll his eyes - that happens a lot."

The couple joke that upon Mrs Boyd's death, all her beloved Garfield toys will be buried with her, akin to an Egyptian Pharaoh and his cats.

"When I pass away, I want to be cremated and my coffin will be one of those big, fat Garfield toy's bellies," Mrs Boyd said.

"My husband will then toss all the Garfield stuff onto the pyre, and the fire will burn for about three months.

"I want to create a Garfield pyramid, where I'll rest with all my cherished toys."

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