Looking for an ashtray shaped like a crab, or an 1894-sprinkler? Then the International Collectors Fair in Utrecht is your best bet. UITagenda Utrecht browsed through the collections of sugar sachets, promotional pens, coffee-milk cup tops and other curiosities. If you know exactly what you’re looking for, you’re fine on the internet. But if you’ve got no idea and you need a fun, original gift, then the International Collectors Fair is the ideal place. During this annual event, the enormous halls of the Jaarbeurs exhibition centre are packed with antiques, curiosities, vintage, old-timers and weird collections. From an antique magic box to an oyster-shaped trinket box with pearl earrings, and from an ice hockey helmet to a stuffed dog wearing a bicorne hat. Old metal film cannisters are piled onto a table. They’re labelled ‘Moscow’, and still contain the films. ‘Is there anything on the films?’ I ask. ‘No idea,’ says the dealer looking bored. For €20, you can find out whether these are the long-lost rolls of film belonging to a former spy. Police raid The International Collectors Fair is the perfect setting for the opening scene of a thriller, where the main character buys a magical object, a diary full of secrets or a mysterious photo album. In fact, some of the visitors look as if they’ve stepped out of a story or time machine themselves. Like actors on a film set. There’s a woman in a dark dress wearing copper goggles on her forehead. Is she being paid to walk around like this? ‘No, this is steam punk,’ she replies, obviously irritated. ‘There’s a group of us.’ Anything goes at this fair. Even guns. ‘You could easily come across a pistol or a revolver, like the ones in Pirates of the Caribbean,’ says Ruben Hoogland, one of the organisers. This can lead to misunderstandings, he continues. A concerned passer-by once phoned the police after seeing pistols and revolvers in a van in the carpark. An armed police contingent surrounded the van, only to discover that everything was legal and above board. Ruben: ‘That’s the charm of this event; you never know what you’re going to find.’ ‘Dekselse Lientje’ A special section is reserved for the ‘real collectors’. This is where you’ll find matchboxes and sugar sachets. Willem Roes, who collects promotional pens, is a cult hero in collectors’ world. His treasures bear the names of De Braamsluiper bungalow park, the Netherlands camper van club and thousands of other companies and organisations you’ve never heard of. Lieneke ‘Dekselse Lientje’ Prüszner-Hoefman is another familiar face. She collects coffee-milk cup tops. Andries Timmerman’s collection of sprinklers is another standout. Andries is a member of the voluntary Zuidoostbeemster fire brigade and has a collection of 2,400 sprinklers dating back to 1894. Much to his surprise, there’s only one other collector of sprinklers he can swap with in the Netherlands. As far as we know, he’s the only sprinkler collector in the world who exhibits his collection. And then there’s the crab collection belonging to Ko Visser’s, better known as Ko Krab. He collects anything in the shape or image of a crab. Ko Visser can’t say how many crabs he has. No two crabs are alike, which makes them difficult to count. ‘I’ve got a few thousand on postage stamps to start with. And this crab ashtray is a crab and an ashtray, so that’s two things.’ Caravans & Pokémon Whether it’s promotional pens, sprinklers or guns, every collection and every table full of curiosities shines a unique light on recent history. They show how trends, culture and technology have changed through the years. The vintage caravans at the March edition of the fair are a good example of this. Drop in and take a look at the inside of caravans from the 1940s and 50s. Interestingly, there’s increasingly more vinyl on offer now. The International Collectors Fair used to be combined with the Mega Record & CD Fair, which attracted visitors from around the world. During the Covid-19 pandemic, much to the dismay of many collectors, this enormous record fair was moved to the Brabanthallen. Luckily, there’s still a vinyl corner in Utrecht, where you can spend hours searching for that one rare pressing. A new feature at this year’s fair is the extra room set up for Trading Cards. Visitors can gape at the extensive collections of Pokémon cards, Yu-Gi-Oh and other TCGs (Trading Card Games). Ruben: ‘I think this will attract new visitors, and I’m hoping to see a nice crossover with the vintage game-lovers on the Arcade game square.’