The collection consists of over 300 meticulously hand-crafted polyhedra, most constructed from cartridge paper. Derrick made the collection during his tenure at the University of Canterbury in the period from the early 1970s through to the mid-1990s. Following his death in 1996, a dedicated gallery and teaching space was established to showcase these extraordinary objects to individuals, school tour groups,and university students alike. Regrettably, this popular outreach activity was ended by the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.

On occasion, some of these models have been borrowed to help to illustrate the concept of symmetry. Even in today's world of sophisticated computer graphics and virtual reality they are useful to understand genuinely three-dimensional concepts, both mathematical and scientific. The models in the collection range from the easy-to-construct to highly intricate models that require great technical skills and immense accuracy.

The collection is widely acknowledged as being without parallel in the Southern Hemisphere.

The present custodians of the collection are Maths Craft New Zealand, who are currently carefully cataloguing the collection, and restoring any damage that was done to the models during the earthquakes, and in boxed storage since 2011.

The eventual goal is to display the collection once again, with information about each polyhedron available.

A subsection of the collection in its current storage, while the processes of cataloguing and restoration are undergone.