Trevor's tremendous tin toy collection
Former member Trevor Morley left the police in 1977, but has maintained an ongoing interest in police memorabilia, which he began collecting in 1961.
He has hundreds of police-themed tinplate toys, including police trucks, cars and vans, dating from 1928.
He also has over one thousand police related postcards.
“I started to collect police shoulder patches, helmet and cap badges, and amassed quite a collection,” he says.
He got items from out-of-the-way locations including Papua New Guinea and Leichenenstein.
When he left the police his interest waned and he began collecting old bottles and enamel advertising signs.
The signs have been hired to film companies from time to time. Some were used in "Bad Blood", the story of a West Coast farmer who shot and killed seven men, including four police officers in 1941.
Mr Morley’s interest in tin toys happened by chance when a fellow collector visited him in the early 1980s and showed an interest in an “Amber Tips Tea” sign.
“It was marked with the NZ manufacturer's name, so it was a bit unusual and, I thought, worth a bit of money. He asked me if I was interested in disposing of it.”
Mr Morley says he thought the collector was going to offer him cash. Instead he was offered a tinplate, clockwork, wind-up Police van made by “Wells o' London”, a UK tinplate toy maker of the early 1900s.
“He offered to do a straight swap, toy-for-sign. I thought I was getting the best deal … he clearly thought the opposite.”
Mr Morley still has the toy and has dated it to the mid 1930s.
He says while he does not really have a favourite item, this is one of his nicest pieces.
He then started focusing on collecting old tinplate toys and today the collection is displayed in his home and office.
The item vary in size, with the smallest car being just 55mm, and the longest, an American pressed-steel patrol van, measuring over 50cm.
Tinplate is no longer used as a manufacturing medium which means every “new” item is actually second-hand.
Mr Morley periodically adds to his collection, using internet and local auctions to source items, but says prices can be prohibitive.
Friends and colleagues also provide tips on where to find interesting "stuff".
Trevor's tremendous tin toy collection