Dano Collins is the first person that has graced us with the chance to tell a little bit of his

story and
allow us the chance to see what it is to be a legend. This new section on our page will attempt to tell
our readers about some of the men and women who have given their all to a profession that for a long
time was shrouded in stigma and negative myth. Even with that being the case these men and
women, these legends, did what they did before it was cool. They began their careers when tattooing
was looked down on as a whole and was not a profession that people or "popular culture" found to be
a legitimate art form. The legends that will be featured in the following articles looked past all that, and
their love of the art form made it what it is today. You can hardly flip through the channels today
without seeing some kind of tattoo show and that is just part of it. Thirty years ago not many people
were sporting tattoos. Today its up to something like !" of people have at least one tattoo, and
many have more. The legends in this section are a huge part of the reason that tattooing is where it is
today. #o when you see one in passing or go to the shop to sit down and get a memory inked into
your flesh. $emember to thank them for all they have gone through to bring tattooing to where it is
today.
%ano &ollins
%ano &ollins did his first tattoo in '()*, hand poking the ink into the skin. This was
something he continued to do until he started his apprenticeship in '()+ under &harlie %ufresne out of
,incoln -ark, .ichigan. /fter finishing his apprenticeship he decided to serve his country in the most
selfless and patriotic way an /merican can, by offering up his life in defense of us, our country, and
the freedoms it offers. %ano spent the ne0t five years of his life serving our country in the .arine
&orps stationed in 1awaii, where he learned machine tuning tips from the late .ike "$ollo" .alone
2picture below3 who is another well4known legend in the tattooing world.
5n '(+6 %ano opened his first tattoo shop back in his native state of .ichigan under the name
"Tattoos by Tatu %an" and the shop thrived due to %anos great understanding of the contemporary
/merican tattoo style that was all the rage at that time. 7hile the shop did well %ano could never
forget his love of the island life that he had grown accustom to while in the .arines, and soon it pulled
him back to 1awaii. 1e spent a few years back and got his fill of the island life and the beautiful
views. %ano then headed back to .ichigan and opened up his current Tattoo shop Bluz Tattooz and
Body Piercing, home to the Motor City Tattoo Museum.
8n top of being a killer tattoo artist %ano also builds world renowned and award winning tattoo
machines. 1e has also written two books on the subject of tattoo machines and how to tune and build
them. 1is first book "The Elusive Electromagnet" is widely considered to be the 1oly 9rail of machine
building : tuning guides. This book has been read by most, if not all, of todays machine builders, all of
whom love it and find its writer to be a master on the subject. 1is second book "Coil Guys For Life" is
a look at the machine builders of the present.
You would think that with all the accomplishments %ano has achieved he would have no time left
for anything else, and that is where you would be wrong. %ano is a very talented guitar player and has
his own band, as well as having played in a few other peoples bands. 1is true love of music and the
blues is truly skin deep in more ways than one. 1e wears his love of the greats of modern music upon
his back like a badge honoring the greatest men in music, from ;imi 1endri0 to the late <n great /lbert
=ing.
>:/ 447ith %ano &ollins
$.444You started to tattoo at the age of '6. 1ow long was it before you knew this was what you would
do for the rest of your life?
%ano444 5 began hand poking tattoos at ', and started professionally by apprenticing at '). .y
parents knew when 5 was @ that 5<d be an artist. The tattooing came as a surprise to them though.
,8,.
$.44 /nyone who has seen one of your machines can easily see that you have found a very happy
balance of functionality and working art. 5s this something you always had an eye for? 8r was it
something that took you years of tinkering to perfect?
%ano445<ve tried to make ugly worn looking machines in the past and have never really been able to
pull it off. .y machines always look cleaner...prettier if you will. 8nce the basic for function are there,
it<s pure aesthetics afterwards. Auilding is a very creative outlet for me.
$.44Tattooing has come very far in the last @! years. %o you feel that it has been change for the
good or for the worse and why?
%ano445ts current popularity has brought many talented artists into tattooing that have taken the art to
new levels never even imagined ! years ago. Aut with it came tattoo shops on every corner.
$.447hen you started to sling ink it was a much more tight4knit group of tattoo artists who guarded
the secrets of tattooing with their lives. Aecause of this tattooing, as a whole, was regarded as an
outlaw biker thing...now it is very main4stream with shows like .iami 5nk, ,/ 5nk, and 5nk .asterB even
soccer moms are getting tattoos. 1as this change affected business?
%ano447ith the internet, the days of closely guarded trade secrets are a thing of the past. / wider
variety of people are getting tattooed now, which is good for business. Aut the TC shows are very
misleading, and now everybody wants to be a tattooer. The industry is over saturated right now.
#hops come and go. Ae on top of your game or fall to the wayside.
$.445 know personally that some machines take a long time to build......how long does it take you
from day one to finish on one of your artistic masterpieces?
%ano445<ve never been able to put a project down. Cery rarely does a machine take longer than one
day for me to complete. /bout 6 hours average from start to finish.
$.44 5n all your years have you ever had to refuse doing a tattoo due to subject matter? 5f so, what
did they want?
%ano44/bsolutelyD 5<ve become very selective as to the designs 5 do. 5 refuse to do anything that might
have a negative impact on the art. Eothing racist or hate fueled, no facial tattoos, no hands unless the
client is heavily tattooed. /n '+ year old kid might think that pentagram on his hand would be a cool
thing, until he<s ! and .c%onalds still won<t even hire him.
$.44 #o you have your hand in a little bit of everything. Youre a great tattoo artist, a piercer, a builder
of top Fuality tattoo eFuipment, a published author of multiple books on tattoo machines, you have
e0tensive graphic arts knowledge, you are the curator of the .otor &ity Tattoo .useum, and you play
guitar and have your own band. 5t is obvious that you are a jack of all trades. That being said if you
had to give it all up to continue doing only one what would it be?
%ano44Tattooing, of course. Tattooing is still the bread winner of all my ventures. The other stuff,
machine building, music, etc. are very creative outlets for me that 5<m very passionate about, but they
don<t pay as well. 5f 5 had to do it all over again, going back to my teens, 5 might focus more on my
music. Tattooing screwed me out of becoming a rock starD ,8,DD
$.44 7hen did you come up with the idea for your .useum? 7as it just a collection of yours that got
out of hand and you decided to share it with the world?
%ano445<ve always been a collector, of many things, ever since 5 was a kidG &ards, coins, and what not
when 5 was younger. 5 currently have an e0tensive guitar collection and a music memorabilia collection
2original concert posters dating back to the mid H!<s3. / lot of my tattoo collection was stuff that 5<ve
hoarded over the last *! years of tattooing. .ost of it was stored in bo0es collecting dust, and wasn<t
being enjoyed, so 5 decided to display it. .any items have been added since, some purchased, some
traded for, and a lot of it was donated by very generous people that are also very passionate about
preserving the roots of tattooing. 5t was a fun transformation watching the shop morph. 5t still is
morphingDDD
$.44%o you know how many pieces the museum has? 8ut of all the items in your museum, what one
is your favorite or most precious to you? 7hy?
%ano44 5<ve never really counted all the pieces, but there are '!!!<s. Eot all of it is displayed. 5 know 5
have over 6!! tattoo machines right now. The holy grail of the collection is my Edison Electric #tencil
-en, the predecessor to the electric tattoo machine. -atented in '+)6, and there<s only ( of them
known to e0ist, most being in major museums around the world. Aut it<s Edison<s electric pen design
that #amuel 8<$eilly modified and patented the first tattoo machine with on %ec +, '+('. Edison<s pen
was also the first device ever patented that had an electric motor, so it<s Fuite significant not only in
tattoo history, but in history in general.
$.445f you had one piece of advice to give to today<s up and coming tattoo apprentices what would
that advice be?
%ano44 9et a real job. Tattooing is over saturated with tattooers right now, and only those at the top of
their game will survive. The new guys are at the bottom of the game. 5t<s a long climb.
$.44%o you remember the first tattoo you ever did? 5f so what was it?
%ano44 The first tattoo 5 ever did was a cross on my hand, hand poked when 5 was '. 5 continued
tattooing like that until my apprenticeship at ') in '()+. The first tattoo 5 did with an electric machine
was an old %on Eolan design on myself, a skeleton hand with a shackle and an + ball, done with an
acetate stencil with charcoal powder and some old #paulding machines. 5 still have the tattoo. 7ish 5
had the machines.
$.44 Today if you were to order a tattoo machine to use for everyday work in your shop and you
yourself did not build machines what machine would you purchases?
%ano44 5<d be looking for an old ;onesy or $ogers. /s far as a new machine, its hard to say. There are
a lot of talented builders these days. There<s also a lot of big name production junk, not to mention the
influ0 of I'! &hina crap. #o needless to say, 5<d be very selective regardless.
$.J%ano, 5 want to thank you for taking the time to answer all of our Fuestions, and for being the
first in our Tattoo ,egends section. 1ow can our readers get in contact with you to buy your machines
or schedule some time to sit with you and get some killer custom ink?
%ano44Thank you $yan. 5t<s been a pleasure chatting with you. 5<ve always got time to talk tattoo
stories.
Kolks can contact me through any of my websites.
www.AluLTattooL.com
www..otor&ityTattoo.useum.com
www..otor4&ity45rons.com
Eow that 5 have had the chance to say a little about the man, the myth, the legend, the one thing that
really surprised me with %ano is how easy he is to talk with. 5 am sure this comes from sitting with tens
of thousands of people while he does their tattoo work. 1aving just met him, at the end of the
conversation you feel like you have been friends for years. 5 am sure that this comfort adds to his
ability to calm a person down so he can lay down the beautiful tattoo work that he does. .y overall
impression of %ano is that he is a great guy who loves his work and has the utmost respect for a
profession that has given him much in his life. 7ith that being said you can also tell that nothing was
given to him for free and that his determination and drive combined with years of very hard work can
account for everything that he has ever gotten. Tattooing is not some easy job that hands you the
world on a platter as the media would have you believe, leading everyone and there mother to buy a
@H dollar tattoo machine calling it a gun and scratching up their friends. 5t is a profession that is only
perfected by years of hard work and discipline. This hard work and discipline is what makes %ano the
legend that he is........
7ritten by...$yan .eagher