A British man has sold the Matchbox toy cars he collected for more than 60 years at an auction, which brought hime a great fortune of £300,000(₦141 million).
Simon Hope was able to collect 3,000 matchbox toy cars for 60 years
Simon Hope, Chairman, and co-founder of H&H Classics Car Auctions have a fascination for toy cars and took collecting them up as a hobby till his old age.
His parents and grandparents used to always buy him toy models of popular cars, emergency vehicles, and trucks for his birthday and Christmas celebration. Going down memory lane, Simon said his grandma wouldn't let him play with the toy cars on her mahogany dining table, with fear that he might scratch the surfaces. As a result, he kept them in the boxes and very carefully handle his joy every time getting them out to play.
Auction experts who saw the pristine condition of the toy cars as they were still in their original package, hailed them, adjudging them to be one of the world's finest.
Over the years, 68-year-old Simon was able to collect about 3,000 models. And now, his passion for them has paid off as he was able to pocket more than £300,000 by selling them.
Hope's family gifted him toy cars during his birthday and Christmas celebrations
This is the most pricey toy car in the collection, sold for £7,000(₦3 million)
Hope's passion for collecting toy cars paid off as he racked in £300,000 in the auction sales
Video: The 'world's finest collection' of Matchbox toy cars is sold at auction
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Naijauto.com gathered that the toy cars and trucks were auctioned off in three separate sales organized by Vectis Toy Auctions, a specialist toy auctioneer in Thornaby, North Yorkshire.
Hope stated that,
It was only when I got older that I realized there was actually a collecting scene out there and information on rarer versions and colors,” Hope told H&H Classics. “I never took part in that scene, preferring to simply track down the ones I wanted in perfect (or as near as possible) condition. It just grew and generally they were bought with amounts of money not missed at the time.
Julian Royse from Vectis Toy Auctions said,
The collection is the biggest range of any I’ve seen, including many valuable models from the ’70s, which have seen a recent spike in value.
The most pricey toy car in the collection was said to be a lime green ERF Dropside lorry which was sold for £7,000(₦3 million)
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