It's hard not to. There are about 5,000 of them: figurines, books, stuffed animals, posters.
"You know it's become an obsession when you look at a trash grabber and realize it's an elephant," said Mallernee-Briley's husband, Ron Mallernee.
But it's not an obsession, the Merced resident insists with a big smile on her face. It's not, it's not, it's not.
And she continues to insist -- even as she gets ready this month to enter the Guinness World Records.
The current record for "largest elephant collection" is 4,233 items, according to an e-mail from the Guinness World Records office in London.
It was set by the recently deceased Sandy Rosen-Hazen, who had been collecting items relating to elephants since 1940.
Mallernee-Briley, 50, claims to have 5,085 elephant-related items. But this number includes duplicates, which she cannot count for the record. This brings the total she will submit down just below 5,000, she said.
Elephants are hanging from the walls of Mallernee-Briley's living room, where she keeps most of the items.
Elephants fill shelves that reach the ceiling, unless they are either too big or serve purposes other than decoration -- like her favorite fuzzy elephant blanket; or her elephant rug and elephant trash can.
Elephant shower curtain rings? Sure, why not. Elephant Christmas ornaments? Of course -- would she have anything else?
And she actually does have a trash grabber with an elephant on top.
"One day I sat at home and said to my husband 'honey, I'm sick of elephants,'" she said. "Then I laughed because I'm not really."
Mallernee-Briley keeps a written inventory of all her elephant-related collectibles. It includes items such as movies about elephants and an elephant tusk replica.
She is also having her collection photographed.
She plans to send the pictures and her inventory list in as proof of her collection to Guinness World Records by late June.
Her pastor, the Rev. Dave Humpal of First Christian Church in Merced, will also send in a letter to confirm the amount of elephants in the collection.
The book of records has been published for 2007, so she hopes to make the book next year.
"She loves elephants and it's such a neat hobby," Humpal said. "People always run across elephants and give them to her."
Even people she doesn't know very well, her husband said.
Mallernee-Briley, a Merced resident since 1985, is employed as a sales associate at Wal-Mart. She buys some elephant items at work, but more often she receives them as gifts from customers and co-workers.
She said about a third of her collection are gifts from friends and family, a third she bought in stores, and a third she found on e-Bay.
"It's not an obsession," she said.
Her enthusiasm for elephants began at age 16 when her aunt and uncle gave her a plaster elephant they purchased from a road-side vendor for $5.
"Since then, people have just given them to me," she said. "I just love elephants. They are really cool."
She acquired about 400-500 ceramic figurines and stuffed animals before packing them away about seven years ago.
But after a couple of years, she realized she missed them.
"I kind of kick-started it," her husband said. "I started bringing (elephants) to her."
She even joined an online elephant collecting club, where she met current world record holder Rosen-Hazen about four years ago.
Rosen-Hazen, an elderly U.S.citizen, was living in Israel, but died last month, Mallernee-Briley said.
They communicated over the Internet often, where Rosen-Hazen told her online friend that she held the world record in elephant collecting.
Mallernee-Briley had 900 elephants at the time.
"She said she had 4,233 -- I nearly fell over," the Merced resident said. "I said 'I'm going to beat your record.' She said, 'go for it -- I've had my 15 minutes, you get yours.'"
eBay was a great way to collect mass quantities of elephants at one time, Mallernee-Briley said. She completed successful searches using the term "elephants, lots."
And in case anyone is confused about who she is, they can visit her site at www.myspace.com/elephantlady or simply check out the custom-made wood sign in her house. It says "elephant lady."
"It's not an obsession," she said.
Dhyana Levey can be reached at 385-2472 or by e-mail at dlevey@mercedsun-star.com
