Philip’s incredible toy collection is child’s play

ON paper, he’s a pensioner.

And to look at the whitehaired granddad in his woolly jumper, checked shirt and comfy shoes, you’d think so too.

But 81-year-old Philip Hamilton is a big kid at heart.

In fact, the self-confessed manchild probably has a bigger toy box than children a fraction of his age.

Philip and wife Patsy, 80, are the brains behind the Hamilton Toy Collection – one of the largest privately owned toy assemblages in the UK.

And boy, it’s mind-blowingly big.

In fact, so big that even Philip, who started with just a couple of toy soldiers back during the Second World War, can’t even say how many pieces are in it.

There are definitely tens of thousands …possibly a million. But he’s not sure because he’s never counted!

The museum, run by the couple and their kids Catriona, 46, and Cris, 51, takes up half of the Hamilton family’s 13- bedroom home in tranquil Perthshire. The other half has been converted into living quarters for the whole family, as well as Catriona’s husband John and children Callum, 14, and Lachlan, 8.

The toy collection, which spans over two floors, includes vintage bears and dolls, toy cars and trains and stacks of sci-fi and TV memorabilia.

And it fills every single nook and cranny.

Shelves above doorways bevel under the weight of Edwardian dolls and prams, Action men and spitfires suspend from the ceiling and threadbare Sooty and Sweep puppets peer out from Perspex cabinets on the hallway walls, alongside Muffin the Mule and the cast of The Magic Roundabout.

Bulging bookshelves boast classic children’s collections from Enid Blyton to Biggles; slot cars and Corgis are lined up next to Tri-ang and Trix trains and every hero, from Dan Dare and Dr Who to Spiderman, Superman and the cast of Star Wars can be seen in the sci-fi section.

Philip’s 4,000 plus prized toy soldiers have their own room.

There’s even a Percy from Thomas the Tank Engine choochooing around the landing at the top of the stairs and a model railway circling the back garden.

Philip has no idea of the value of the collection, but that doesn’t matter, he says he just collects for pleasure.

Now that’s what you call an amazing toy story!