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A HIGH Wycombe man may snap at the bosses of Guinness World Records if his bid to be become the planet's biggest collector of crab memorabilia is thrown out.
Dr Darren Martin, 40, has amassed almost 400 crab-branded items - including toys, puzzles and mugs - over the last 15 years and has sent a tongue in cheek entry to the world records authority.
The Gordon Road resident's crustacean collection began during his marine biology studies at university, where his doctorate focused on Zinc and Cadmium in haemolymph of the crab – summed up by his friends as 'Darren studied crabs'.
Items adorning the side-walking creatures flooded in from friends and family, resulting in the father of one – whose two-year-old daughter Hannah has the star sign cancer - giving in and adding to the collection himself.
He now hopes to be recognised as holding the largest cluster of crab collectables in the world. But the records authority say he may not have enough competition to be crowned as a crab champion.
He said: “It's all a bit of a laugh really, I don't take it seriously.
“They are dotted around all over my house but I have a bookshelf in my house which my Vietnamese wife has an incenses candle on the top and then underneath is the main bulk of crabs – so it likes a bit like a crab shrine.
“Most of my friends and family know all about it so they buy me bits at Christmas, but any visitors to my house are either to polite to say or must think it's a bit odd.”
The scientific officer – for a cancer charity – has signed an agreement form with Guinness World Records but now needs to find two witness statements to verify his collection and supply media coverage before it can be considered as a potential record.
Mr Martin added: “It's not a major part of my life, I'm not obsessed and I don't take it seriously but I just think it would be very funny to be a world record holder.”
Dr Darren Martin Crab Memorabilia Collection Photos and Video
