Coaster Collectibles is an ongoing series on We Were Inverted that showcases different enthusiasts coaster and amusement park themed collectibles. If you have a collection that you would like to share, please email me at [email protected].
The first time I ever hung out with Greg Lane was when we did a day trip to Six Flags America (SFA) in mid-August. We had met a few weeks before, by chance, when Sam and I visited his place of employment. Long story short, we became friends and soon thereafter, we had plans to go ride some coasters together.
The day prior to our trip, he shared with me that not only was he looking forward to getting new credits, but picking up some new ride photo keychains as well. He claimed that he had a large collection of them that he’s been collecting over the last few years. He also stated that he always brings the collection to every park with him and adds his newest keychains immediately following the ride.
Seeing the Collection First-Hand
That next morning, after Lane sat down in my car, he opened his backpack and low and behold, he wasn’t kidding! Then, about an hour later, Lane was scoring his newest addition in a ride photo of Bolliger & Mabillard’s first-ever coaster, Firebird. It was the only ride at the park that was offering photos on that day.
After purchasing the keychain, he placed it immediately onto the clip and we were made our way back to Superman to see if they were running their photo booth. Sadly it was not the case, which has been a side effect of the Covid-19 pandemic this year. Still, he managed to grab a few more additions to his collection in the months that followed. His collection was one of the biggest inspirations for me launching the Coaster Collectible series. I knew from the start that he was going to be featured at some point.
Lane's Earliest Park Memories
Lane’s earliest memories of riding coasters actually begin at SFA, oddly enough, with the Zamperella family coaster, Great Chase and the park’s historic Philadelphia Toboggan Coaster (PTC) woodie, Wild One. He, however, credits Great Bear at Hersheypark with being the coaster that really inspired this hobby for him.
“I didn’t get into riding the ‘big boy’ and more serious rides until an eighth grade chorus field trip to Hersheypark,” Lane explained. “My first experience on a ‘real’ roller coaster was Great Bear. I told my friends, ‘Make sure no matter what, I get on this thing.’ After that, I was sold.”
With Hersheypark helping to launch Lane’s enthusiasm for coasters, it only makes sense that it would be the same park where he would score his first keychain of his collection. That keychain came from Hershey’s first hyper coaster, Skyrush.
The Collection Begins
“I want to say that the first ever keychain in my collection was from Skyrush. The year before it was to to open, I had my first taste of more serious thrills and I became obsessed with Hersheypark. When I found out they were getting a new hyper coaster, I did all the research on it that I could and I knew I had to ride it,” Lane said.
Once the ride finally opened in 2012, Lane made his way up to the park and rode his first ever hyper coaster. To commemorate the experience, he bought a keychain and attached it to his school back pack. That back pack was nothing like the one he carries around now, however, which features more than 30 different keychains.
A Slow Start
Lane admits that this collection started off slow and has picked up more steam as he began exploring the coaster hobby further. It wasn’t until a few years after that initial Skyrush ride that he found himself purchasing a keychain for every coaster offering one that he rode.
“At the time, I only had interests in buying the keychains for whatever ride I deemed the ‘biggest and baddest’ ride in the park,” Lane recalled. “When I visited Hershey again in 2013, I grabbed a few, but it wasn’t until 2015 when I made my way to Cedar Point that I bought every keychain I could get my hands on.”
According to Lane, that visit not only inspired him to further pursue this hobby, but to also continue the tradition of picking up new keychains whenever he was able to ride a new coaster. While he fully admits there is an aspect of seeing how many he can amass along his journeys, that’s not the only reason he treasures his collection.
“I like having the memory of the whole day captured. Having the physical keychain that I can hold and reminisce about just hits differently than having a digital photo copy. When the picture is sealed and handed over to me, it feels like the memory and experience itself, has been sealed away,” Lane said.
Parks Found in Lane's Keychain Collection (SO FAR)
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Camelback Mountain Adventures
Carowinds
Cedar Point
Dorney Park
Hersheypark
Knoebels Amusement Resort
Kings Dominion
Six Flags America
Six Flags Great Adventure
Gotta Get Them All
With some of the larger parks out there, this is a certainly a collectible that can put a bit of a hurting on one’s wallet. When asked about this potential issue with his collection, he admits that he tries hard to budget himself while out at the park, but his collection is the one area where he will shell out money.
“When it comes to ride photos, game over! Shut up and take my money. It is the one thing I am guaranteed to buy at a park. If there are 10 rides at a park and seven offer ride photos, and they’re $10-15 each, then guess what? I’m out $70-105 bucks. No shame,” Lane explained.
Lane does speak the truth here as I have seen him joking around how during a Dorney Park visit that if the Woodstock Express Ride photo booth had been running during our visit that he would have bought a keychain from the ride. I mean, he did pick one up from Grover’s Alpine Express from a Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW) visit, so I guess he was telling the truth. Too bad Python’s Pit at Go-Karts Plus doesn’t offer them. Now that would be a notable addition to his collection! Yes, we totally have an inside joke about Python Pit if you haven’t noticed from our interactions on the Facebook group, Coaster Appreciation Society (CAS).
Park Employees in Awe
Aside from all the amazing memories Lane is able to experience when looking through his ever-growing collection, it has also been the cause of several other memories from his amusement park adventures. These weren’t captured on camera and didn’t cost him the normal $10-15. Nope, these were simple reactions from park employees who have seen his massive collection. Needless to say, they were stunned, just as I was.
“I had just got of I-305 and the woman working behind the merch counter was mic’d up. When she saw my collection hanging off my bag, she went, ‘Oh my God!’ over the loud speaker. She then muted herself and asked to rummage through my collection,” Lane recalled.
It didn’t end there, however.
“When I returned to ride later that day, I heard someone yell out, ‘That’s him! That’s the guy I told you about!’ at which time, she stopped me and gestured any and all employees in the area to come take a look. All the other employees were just as impressed. Not going to lie, it made me feel good. Made me feel like a bit of celebrity,” Lane added.
The Effects of 2020 on His Collection
With 2020 putting a bit of a damper on Lane getting some ride photos, he said he will be looking to revisit those parks to claim those photos at some point in the future. He’s making it his goal to grow his collection to over 100 keychains, but he isn’t planning on stopping there. One thing he does know he’ll need is another way to display them all soon. After some of his recent additions that ring is getting quite crowded. For him, however, that’s a good problem to have.
“I will never stop buying ride photos. I want as many as I can get my hands on and there’s still lots left for me. It’s a big world out there and I intend on capturing all those moments!” Lane said.
In addition to to that ring, he might eventually need to find himself a new shirt too. If you didn’t notice through the photos shown above, he makes it a point to wear his red “Keep calm and ride on” shirt throughout all the photos. Knowing Lane, I’m sure no matter what, he’ll always keep calm and will keep riding on. Well, as calm as he can be while yelling some goofy sayings along with fellow We Were Inverted flight crew member, Sam. It’s never a dull moment with them two on a coaster and many of those moments can be found throughout Lane’s ever growing collection. We are glad to be a part of them!
