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Anyone know any? I only ask because an old (Late, sadly) mate of mine and a fellow Trap Collector once mentioned to me how he was going to visit a couple of other guys here. These two sounded quite serious and advanced Collectors too; Not just blokes with a few rusters nailed to the wall.
Conversley though, prior to that, I only ever heard of one guy over here. He, apparrantly, had very little and was bitterly lammenting the 'fact' that all that was ever to be found here was commonplace, and rusty at that, stuff.
Not really here nor there, to me. My own Trap Collecting interests have moved away from Gin Traps some time since. I want nothing from my fellows. Just be nice to chat to one or two, if I could find them!
I once came across some small, private (though publicly funded) rural museum somewhere. Found it on the net. That guy liked a few old traps. Anyone got a clue where that place might be?
I came here full of plans to open my own museum, actually. But, sadly, security issues mean there's no way I'd now advertise my where abouts and basicly invite certain known faces to hop on a ferry and come rob me!
ivanthehunter
i have a few. I know a bloke who has told me that he has 3-4 old gins he wants shot of but i think the might be fenns..
DitchShitter
Ivan; Tread carefully, mate. Fact that he says Gin's and you, for what ever reason, think they might be Fenns leaves a third option: That they be niether.
Now, I happen to Know (because I've seen them) that there are some screamingly rare and valuable traps cropping up in Eire.
Like, yeah, sure; There's shit loads of shit. Much of it rusty. Some of it in full working order. But still basic stuff. But I know myself of one trap in Monn' which is 99.9% certainly not recognised by either it's name or it's unfeasable value. Would ye believe I caught sight of it as a tv camera panned a room? Pure fluke that I was sat in the pub, the tv was on and I was watching at that second. But I saw it.
Now, there's always the chance that one may actually win the Lottery. Equelly, there's the same level of chance that someone here could be in posession of one of " The Lost ". You wouldn't recognise such. Ye mate wouldn't. But there Are those who'd have a clue and would suck ye into PM and bleed ye dry for a pittance.
Me? I wouldn't offer tuppence for such a trap. Because I've actually given up Collecting since I wrote the above. And, anyway, I couldn't afford to pay the true value of the rarest traps, if I did want them. But I still know what " The Lost " look like. And I'd never lie to anyone about the value of such.
Make sure ye have a look at ye mates traps. If they're anything but Fenn's or Gins, let me know and I'll tell ye what they are. I have traps here with a thousand pound price tag attatched. Maybe, to you and ye mate, they'd just look like traps? Turn up any such stuff yeself and, to too many sharks out there, you'd just look like a sucker about to be fleeced.
And remember; I Know some of the rarest, most valuable shit out there is alive and well and nestling - unrecognised - in Eire.
Like I say; Tread carefully.
ivanthehunter
cheers for the heads up.. cant wait for a look at these traps.. do people collect new traps as well as old ones, i would think that there are rules about importing trap. Its just that they are fantastic objects to gaze upon
DitchShitter
Rules about importing traps into Eire? Too bloody right there are mate! These days. In fact, it's just as well I didn't know this when I came here. Not knowing made for a far less stressed journey!
There was me, sitting in a big, white van. And the f*cking thing's virtually on it's back axles due to the ~ liturally ~ Thousands of Pounds Worth of old traps I have in the back of it! And 95% of those were Illegal Imports!
If that bored Gard at Dublin had so much as asked me what was in the back, I'd have unhesitatingly said; " Mostly a load of old animal traps, mate. I'm a Collector and have hundreds of the things back there. " And oh how the shit would've come down on me then!
As it is, my interest in the Gin Traps was first to fade and I've since sold all those as a job lot to a couple of lads from england. They came over and shipped all those back out again! No reason to lie to ye but; I honestly haven't got a single Gin Trap on the property today. (Gin Traps, in case ye not certain, are the ones - usually - with teeth and which were most often designed to clamp onto a limb)
Of course, having once 'smuggled them in' though, I was perfectly safe. Plenty of Gin Traps existed in Eire, prior to that very recent law change. No bugger could've proven I hadn't aquired mine here. I frankly doubt, to be honest, anyone outside of Dublin Council would give a f*ck anyway. I personally know guys who are using them right now. Always have done and always will do. But I never used mine. Their lovingly cleaned and oiled surfaces showed that. Far too valued to leave out over night.
Anyway, modern traps? Any Trap Collector who knows his game will want to aquire a specimen or two of what ever comes out next. Obviously, he'll pay the retail price, same as the next man. But then he'll preserve his traps as perfectly as he can. They'll only ever be 'set' on a shelf, in a dry room.
Craic is then, ye see, that they'll bring out the " Mk II " with some little variation (and he'll buy that one too!) or, even better, the design may prove a shitter and it'll dissapear from the market. That's how traps become rare! But what ever happens, our shrewd Collector will have his.
Take the boring and mundane little " Fenn Mk IV " for example; Buy one today, couldn't ye? Boosh! So now ye reckon ye a Trap Collector, because ye have a Fenn Mk IV on ye shelf in pristine, Factory condition? Think again! I have Dozens of Fenn Mk IV's. Each and every one showing a subtle difference from the others.
See? Fenn produced Six basic " Mk's " of Vermin Trap. Dozens and dozens of " Types " within that catagory. Then he made his Cage Traps, Mole Traps and god knows what else. I own examples of the vast bulk of his out put - I don't have every one though - and my lot would form a Collection in their own right.
So ye see? The short answer to ye question would be that Trap Collectors do indeed buy modern traps. And anyone thinking of becoming a Trap Collector as of today? My advice would be to spend all ye have available on buying up every type of trap which interests ye and is currently in production.
I could never afford a Fuller Garden Trap, back in the seventies. They retailed then at around seven quid or something. As I got older and so had more cash available I was able to afford them. Only, by then, they'd long since ceased production. Had become quite rare. And I happily paid Seventy quid for one!
" Fantastic objects to gaze upon " ? You've said it all there. That's Exactly what they are, to Trap Collectors. We have absolutely no interest in using them - even though we insist they be in full working order - and we get our buzz simply out of holding them. Examining them. Dreaming of their history and the men who made and those who Did get to use them. Then we place them back on their hook, shelf or in their box and dream about the next one we may find. Always that next one!
