My name is John Sbeghen. As far as favourites I don't know, they're all favourites.
Maybe I'm an unusual person but I just liked unusual things.
I'm not the biggest fan of his collection obviously it's not what I would put on
my walls at my house but it makes him happy and that's the main thing like he
gets joy and pleasure out of it.
They'd be probably about 200 mounts here all together.
I don't trophy hunt myself. Yeah, I just buy other people's trophies
and yeah I enjoy them one more time.
I would say very close to hoarding but it is a collection.
I'm not one for clutter or mess and I feel that this is very cluttered.
It's big, it's huge, it's got everything.
He just hasn't got enough room to display it properly.
It started off with deceased estates and yeah some people were retiring
and they didn't want to have the animals there no more.
I just happened to be there holding me hand up at the time.
There's a few online I have got but no, I'm computer illiterate
and mobile phones, don't have one.
He loves the going to the auctions and
picking something out and fighting for it. I've never seen anyone so dedicated
and spent so much money on something he hasn't done himself but he likes it so
who am I to judge.
Yeah come on Joleen through this way, don't
fall over and break your neck will ya.
I've got something to show you in here. Oh, is it something new?
Yep. Oh, that's exciting.
It's pretty spectacular, I won't lie. It makes him so happy
so I love seeing him happy. When he gets a new
head he's like, 'I've got a new head!' and I'm, yeah okay Dad.
Here he is Marshal Dillo, what do you reckon about him?
Ah yeah it's got some little accessories going on there.
Yeah he's even got the badge look.
He's a long way from home, he came from Texas, USA.
They're all favourites, I like the wolverine.
I like the moose.
I got a squirrel out from America, he's called
the GI Joe squirrel and yeah I just thought he was so cute when I seen him
so yeah I got him.
When you mount an animal you bring it
back to life, it can virtually last forever on the
wall, if they look after it. A lot of blokes want a
boar's head or a deer head in their man cave.
I was bringing a full-size deer back from Sydney.
We come into Stanthorpe and we're going in to get fuel and I had him
in the back of a horse float and he was sort of looking out the back and these
people followed me into the service station and they said, 'he must be really
quiet he doesn't move or try and jump out' and I said
no he won't, he's dead quiet.
Dad's always collected since he was young but it mainly grew when he had a
big loss and trauma like in all our lives and he just turned all his energy into
collecting instead of, I dunno going towards another direction in life that
was negative, so this is kind of a positive way of looking at at that.
I really got serious after my wife died 13 years ago and yeah it was a way of
coping with life. She's not here no more and yeah so it took a lot to replace her.
I like coming down, sitting down here and having a
cigarette and just looking around and yeah reminiscing and yeah it's good.
He's a good bloke. He would do no one any harm. He's just a nice guy.
I wish he'd shave his darn beard off, he looks like
a rat looking through a straw broom at the moment.
Not your usual deco definitely not.
One-of-a-kind, extraordinary and it's quite quirky.
I hope they stay in the family and yeah, and for other people
to come and see and enjoy like I do.
Yeah it'll keep going until I stop going.