Barrie has a little known reputation for having some very cool and crazy collectibles.
The Great Canadian Roadshow is coming to town next week and organizers are looking for more unprecedented items like they've seen in the past.
One Barrie resident had a Dutch family monarch death ring.
"It's a ring that has a small little compartment that opens up from the inside and you supposedly put poison inside and you give it as a gift. And then poison seeps out through the ring into your bloodstream and kills you over a period of a month or so," explains Roadshow founder and President, Max Smirnov.
Then there was the Barrie woman with a vampire killing kit.
"It had a silver neck guard, a wooden stake, a cross and it had an empty vial that I assume people would put holy water in," said Smirnov.
Experts said that about 300 years ago, there were rumours about vampire creatures in Europe so any North American who travelled there would pack a vampire killing kit to be safe.
A collector from Europe paid about $5,000 for the unique find.
Smirnov did some research on the buyer and learned he belonged to a group from Romania that pretends to be vampires, right down to drinking blood (in cups) and altering their teeth to look like fangs.
"They collect anything anti-vampire related," said Smirnov. "I don't know what was weirder the person that brought it in or the collector who ended up buying it."
Smirnov started The Great Canadian Roadshow 11 years ago and he says it's a cross between Antique Road Show and Pawn Stars.
Next week's show in Barrie marks a milestone.
"Barrie is very special to us because our first event ever was in Barrie ten years ago," he said
People are invited to bring in their antiques and organizers will match them up with collectors from their large database.
Every time he does an event Smirnov sees something new.
Last time, there was a woman from Orillia who came in with a handkerchief with a map of North Africa on both sides.
One side had a red line on it and a green line on the other.
The war memorabilia expert on location identified the item as a Paratrooper handkerchief from the Second World War that served as a more durable cloth map versus paper that would get destroyed.
"The red line was the enemy line and the green line showed allies," said Smirnov.
The item was valued at $1,700 but the woman decided to keep it because her husband was a Paratrooper and it brought back precious memories.
There was a four-hour line-up in Barrie last time the show was here and Smirnov's team saw about 500 people.
"Not all of it is treasure. Some people do show up with their 1987 Dennie's uniform and ask me how much it's worth," he said, adding this advice.
"Don't be shy to bring anything because sometimes some of our best finds happen when someone comes in and starts the conversation with 'I'm sure this is not really worth anything.' You never know what you have."
The Great Canadian Roadshow will be held at the Monte Carlo Inns Barrie Suites at 81 Hart Drive from Sept, 20 to 23.
Appraisals are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free entry and there's no limit on items you can bring.
