Just can't get her out of his head

Troy-Anthony Baylis, of Henley Beach, has the world third-largest Kylie Minogue collection. Source: Sunday Mail (SA)

Troy-Anthony Baylis, of Henely Beahc, has the world third-largest Kylie Minogue collection. Source: Sunday Mail (SA)

TROY-ANTHONY Baylis saved up $2.99 to buy Kylie Minogue's first single, Locomotion, on cassette.

He's come a long way since then.

His Kylie collection now spans hundreds of musical releases, an empty chip packet with Kylie's face on it, puzzles, her underwear range, mirrors and magazine covers.

It is the third-largest Kylie memorabilia collection in the world - peer-assessed at international Kylie Conventions, and trumped only by two Frenchmen's collections.

Mr Baylis, 35, of Henley Beach, is one of 18 South Australians profiled in a Migration Museum exhibition to mark the 175th anniversary of European settlement in the state.

Mr Baylis, whose indigenous roots are in the Northern Territory, said he began collecting Kylie memorabilia when he was 11.

"Around that period of adolescence, your identity is forming and you start to lock on to what's popular," he said. "I came from a poor background so it started with things I bought with pocket money."

As a teenager, Mr Baylis was well-known to his local newsagent for begging for magazine cage posters when Kylie's face was on them.

He has met Kylie a few times over the years, but only when in drag.

He said he hoped to one day open a Kylie museum with his collection, which has cost him about $60,000.

"I see my Kylie collecti! on as an archive and an artwork," h says.