Darren Haake loves collecting things. It all started when he was a youngster with a collection of ring pull tabs from drinking cans, then progressed to stamps, basketball cards, coins and hubcaps. In 1992 he decided to collect something no-one had ever tackled before – scratch cards. Darren hangs around outside newsagencies where scratchies are sold, and rummages around in the garbage bins looking for used cards. Today he has a unique collection of over 310,877 scratchies, including over 100,000 unscratched cards which could be winners. Darren could cash them in as scratchies are valid for ever in New South Wales, but he prefers to preserve them in his collection unscratched.
Scratchie structures and books
Darren spent 365 hours building a boat from 3,950 cards. He has also constructed an arch with lights using 3,777 cards, and one day hopes to build a house of cards. He writes poems about scratchies, and has written four books on the subject which are yet to be published.
Further information
Darren Haake
Phone: (02) 4334 2374