Prop designer Chris Wolfe's house is packed with cool stuff; but some of the coolest lies in an "unmentionable", works-in-progress section on his lounge room floor.
The Higgins resident, along with his partner Stephanie Hillman, will be parting with some of it at this year's annual Garage Sale Trail on October 19 and 20.
While the unmentionables will remain behind closed doors - but feel free to ask to see Mr Wolfe's props featured on stage and screen - punters along the trail will be able to nab a taste of his work with retro console and video game-inspired magnets, mini Star Wars dioramas, a BioshockInfinite salts bottle, Skyrim-esque aluminium-dipped daggers, sweet rolls and glowing mushrooms.
"I specialise in hero props, costumes that are more armory, and sci-fi," Mr Wolfe said.
"Billy Zane's hero costume in Blue World Order was my gambeson that I used for live action role-playing with leather shoulders, so it looked very military, but also medieval and futuristic.
"It's some sort of weird blend."
Apart from the items out of Mr Wolfe's company, Combustible Props, the couple will be selling odds and ends - including a kitchen sink. There will also be about 600 books from Ms Hillman's collection up for grabs, and several retro gaming consoles.
"We've had too much stuff for two people shoved in cupboards or piled up in a corner," Ms Hillman said.
"I was living overseas last year and so when I came back I was like right, fresh slate.
"I've done without if for a year, so what do I really need?"
Their inclination towards selling, not dumping, is in line with the philosophy behind the Garage Sale Trail, which was founded in 2010 by Sydney-based Andrew Valder and Darryl Nichols.
More than a month out from the event, more than 90 Canberra residents, community groups and businesses have signed up to take part. Mr Valder expects numbers to triple between now and then, with the ACT's registrations up 25 per cent from the same time last year.
More than 10,000 people are expected to visit the sales in Canberra.
Nationally, registrations are up 63 per cent from the same time in 2018. More than 400,000 people are expected to visit about 10,000 garage sales on the October weekend.
"The ACT seems to be quite a community oriented place and it's obviously socially progressive in lots of ways," Mr Valder said.
"Having a garage sale is pretty inclusive; not many people can't do it."
The growth of the event, particularly in recent years, could be attributed to increased awareness around waste and the trend of opting for second-hand rather than new goods, Mr Valder said.
Whereas the public might have once "looked at you blankly" when the idea of reusing items was mentioned, people in 2019 were interested in tackling environment issues on a micro scale.
"The global issue is obviously that the rate at which we're chewing up the world's resources is unsustainable and causing climate change," Mr Valder said.
"But on a local level, it's also about shining a spotlight on the fact that our consumption choices dictate the amount of waste we create."
