Upon his arrival in Chicago, he met with his muse, tattooist Gib Thomas, who taught him how to operate early, rudimentary “ink” machines.

He joined the US Navy in the late 1920s and saw plenty of service, particularly in the Orient. He gained his moniker, “Sailor”, during this time. In the early 1930s when he’d completed his stint, he settled in Hawaii. He became a renowned tattoo artist and 1942 saw him open his own parlour in the then notorious Hotel Street district of Honolulu.

After WW2, despite his compatriots’, perhaps natural, collective mistrust of all things Japanese, Collins corresponded and collaborated with and learned from Japanese tattoo artists to perfect his art.

In the 1950s, Collins closed his shop in protest due to his belief that he was under “watch” by the US Government.

Some years later, he re-established his business in Smith Street, Honolulu, where, for the next dozen years or so, tattooists from around the world came to learn from an acknowledged master. He is still widely recognised as a pioneer in modern tattoo and body art.

Many parts of his life remain clouded. It’s known that he was married more than once. That’s it. He was married more than once. One of his (we don’t know how many) wives still lives in Hawaii, as do his children and grandchildren. He’s buried in a military cemetery, “The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific”, in Honolulu.