Largest toy car collection auctioned for £100,000

[action-Jon]

Found this one interesting...

One of the world's most prolific collectors has spent more than 30 years collecting the colourful little cars, but after years of them taking up every inch of space in his study he has finally decided they need a new home.

Horace Dunkley is putting 2,281 of his prized Matchbox Models of Yesteryear up for sale - thought to be amongst the largest collections in the world.


Mr Dunkley, 65, has amassed an assortment which has left thousands of fellow collectors clamouring to get their hands on it.

The miniature toys range in estimated price from £5 to £2,200 for a single car.

The most valuable is an extremely rare 1965 purple Y3 Benz limosine.

Mr Dunkley, from Stamford, Lincs, started collecting the models in 1975 but only really started to take his collection seriously when an industrial accident left him out of work.

Former lorry driver Horace fell 12ft from a tanker in 1985, shattering both of his ankles.

Unable to walk or stand for six months, he began writing for a collectibles magazine while in hospital, eventually becoming one of the most respected authorities on Matchbox miniatures in the world.

Having travelled the world in search of the toys, Horace's collection is now the largest in the country.

He said: "I first started collecting the cars simply because I liked them and thought they were good value for money.

"Over the years I've built up my collection and now it's one of the most comprehensive of its kind in the world.

"I've got them from allover the place, from toy fairs and swap meets and from contacts I made through the articles I was writing.

"I was finding hundreds of variants that had never been spotted anywhere else before.

"I have no idea how much I've spent on them over the years - the most I ever paid for one was about £200 but most of them were just a couple of quid.

"But we never went without because of them. If it was a choice between a miniature and a Sunday dinner, the joint of meat would win every time.

"I only ever collected them because I liked them, I wouldn't recommend anyone get into collecting because they want an investment.

"But in recent years I have wondered what they would get at auction and my wife Jenny was starting to ask me what she would do with them if I ever died, so now seemed like the right time to sell them.

"We're looking forward to squandering the kids' inheritance after the sale, they are going to allow my wife and I to grow old disgracefully."

The collection goes under the hammer via Vectis Auctions on March 24 and 25.

Lorna Kaufman, of Vectis Auctions, said: "The reason this collection is of particular interest is the fact the collector has 96 per cent of every known Code One Model of Yesteryear, which is extraordinarily unique.

"If a collector wished to build a collection of this sort now, it would take several decades. In fact, it might not actually be achievable at all."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...or-100000.html

[CKinSD]

very cool. I got a lot of money wen i sold my old hot wheels. nothing like this though.

hey where do you find all of these wild facts and articles you post?