Here are the lucky winners from our Jan/Feb 2018 #76 issue, retail competition. These three win a bloody beauty Milwaukee Sawzall worth $190. Congratulations to Joe M, Shane D and Mike W. We’ll be in touch by email to arrange delivery of your prize.
Preserving the past – by the tonne
13 June 2025
What do you do when your passion for collecting means you are accumulating objects that can be measured by the tonne?
One answer is to buy a big building and open it up to the public – Mike’s Museum in Eltham displays the extraordinary results of Mike Coil’s collection mania.
Two upper stories and a huge basement of an historic building in the small Taranaki town are bulging with the strangest things. A big collection of antique chainsaws, World War II objects, including an anti-aircraft searchlight and US submarine generator engine, steam boilers of all sizes – you name it – Mike’s collected it.
There’s also a great collection of historic tools and objects from New Zealand’s past.
Mike began collecting when he was a young fella. One of a family of 12, he was raised on Taranaki farms and he recalls when aged eight his father coming home from a stint at sea with a handful of coins.
