British man’s Matchbox car collection sells at auction for over $500,000
A British collector has sold his Matchbox cars for over half a million dollars.
Simon Hope, founder of British car auction company H&H Classics, had collected the toy cars since he was a child, receiving them from family members on birthdays and Christmases. Mostly the die-cast vehicles were kept in their boxes, as Hope’s grandmother would not allow their hard wheels on her prized mahogany dining table.
That was probably frustrating for the young Hope, but, boy, has it paid off.
Recently, the 68-year-old decided it was time to part with his prized toy cars, so he sent them to auction. Experts told him his pristine set of nearly 3,000 toys was likely the best in the world, and when all was said and done, Hope was handed a cool £300,000 (about C$510,000) for the lot.
“It was only when I got older that I realized there was actually a collecting scene out there and information on rarer versions and colours,” Hope said.
“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 of the toy auction house Vectis says the collection had “the biggest range of any I’ve seen,” including many valuable models from the ’70s, which, Royse said, have seen a recent spike in value.
The most valuable car in the group was a lime green ERF drop-side truck, which fetched £7,000 ($11,900) at the auction.